Posted on 09/17/2003 5:00:45 PM PDT by Renfield
SEOUL, South Korea — Washington's request that South Korea dispatch thousands of infantry troops to Iraq has sparked a new round of anti-American protests in Seoul.
The controversy erupted after Seoul officials acknowledged that the United States has requested the deployment of a "light infantry division" consisting of between 2,000 and 10,000 combat soldiers to Iraq.
Hundreds of anti-U.S. activists staged a rally in central Seoul Tuesday to oppose any further role for South Korean troops in Iraq. In May, South Korea dispatched about 675 army engineers and medics to assist the U.S.-led rehabilitation of post-war Iraq.
Sending troops to Iraq is a very politically charged issue here as many have criticized the United States for starting the Iraqi war without U.N. authorization. The South Korean government plans to convene a National Security Council meeting of senior ministers on Thursday to discuss the U.S. request.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed local news reports cited a U.S. warning that it would pull thousands of American troops out of South Korea to send them to Iraq if Seoul refuses its request.
Local newspapers, including Donga-Ilbo, reported that the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division would leave South Korea to reposition in Iraq if Seoul rejects Washington's request to dispatch combat troops to assist the U.S.-led peace-keeping efforts in the post-war Middle East.
South Korea's defense chief denied the reports, but they fueled security jitters as the redeployment of the U.S. front-line troops would weaken its deterrence capabilities against communist North Korea.
About 15,000 troops of the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division are scattered among dozens of camps and bases near the heavily-armed inter-Korean border, serving as a "tripwire" that could automatically lead to Washington's involvement in the event of an invasion by North Korea.
"The press reports on the U.S. troops withdrawal are groundless," Defense Minister Defense Minister Cho Young-kil told journalists.
"I see no possibility of such a U.S. troop relocation plan," a senior foreign ministry official said. "The U.S. troops has stationed here under a mutual defense pact. The 2nd Infantry Division has never relocated for the past five decades," he said.
The United States maintains some 37,000 troops in South Korea to deter attacks from North Korea under a bilateral defense treaty signed after the 1950-53 Korean War. The North says the troops are a "source of another war on the peninsula and obstacle to the Korean unification."
2 stand-off aircraft carriers, bombers from Guam and 1 submarine can neutralize North Korea in minutes.
North Korea knows this.
Their threatening posture will soon subside.
A coup instigated from China is in the works.
Just watch.
Great idea. Let's go.
I can still remember her from her high school days: pretty, sweet, a little goofy, decent student, band, color guard, etc. She looked like a Calvin Klein model, not a future soldier.
Underneath that youthful silliness was a young mind very interested in politics, that appreciated America's greatness and was particularly interested in the Constitution and the origin of Rights.
When she came home for leave recently, she was very much changed. Still young looking, very pretty, very slender, but physically hardened. The aire of silliness has evaporated; she was solemn, respectful, and carried herself with a sense of purpose.
I asked her how things were going, what was the most unique thing about her military experience.
Her reply? "People listen to you when you carry a weapon." A matter of fact statement, no boasting, no power tripping. A wealth of meaning in her somber tone.
She was all grown up, and ready to die for her country.
Pray for our troops, stationed all over the map!
Dog is quite nutritious, in fact, and is certainly preferable to chilled monkey brains.
Cut Seoul LOOSE!!
Also today-- Seoul demands that we play footsie with the NK commies before they'll help us in Iraq
I want the Japanese panicking and resurecting their military.
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