Michael Paranzino of RightPolicy.com posted some pretty interesting commentary on South Korea’s Northern policy and the ways in which it [negatively] affects American national interests. It’s long, and you should read it it full, but just to give you a taste:
Which United States ally is presently a greater threat to American security: Saudi Arabia, or South Korea?
It is an important question, and one too hot for most analysts to touch.
But while Saudi Arabia gets all the ink as “ally-gone-bad,” South Korea is increasingly becoming a direct threat to the lives of Americans.
Like I said, read the rest on your own.
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4 Comments
The Southies still don’t get the consequences of the U.S. waking up from its pre-9/11 security slumber: The U.S. is much more willing to take threats head on. They want to keep the Northies imprisoned so as to not jeopardize their hard-won economic miracle, but don’t see that such appeasement policies actually make war more likely as they fund Nork research projects that threaten the U.S. mainland. They refuse to acknowledge they’re caught between a rock and a hard place and that the only peaceful way out is to cut aid completely, facilitate the flow of refugees, and encourage the collapse of KJL’s regime. Their head-in-the-sand short-term selfish attitude spells their doom, and the balloon could go up before they have a chance to elect a Churchillian leader. Poor, delusional bastards.
The best thing the U.S. could do is pull the 2ID and 8th Army out of artillery range. That act might actually save Seoul once we start bombing nuclear and rocket facilities with B-2s and F-117s based on Guam.
No argument here, although to be frank, I would pull out the 8th Army regardless of who’s in the Blue House. The kind of paternalism our troop presence here in Korea breeds isn’t healthy for either partner. For the US, it’s a burden and embroils us in South Korean domestic politics, while for the South Koreans, reliance on the American military (even if its by choice) encourages a rather naive view of the world and retards the nation’s development as an independent power (and a useful ally).
Besides, if the shit does hit the fan with the Norks, having 8th Army in South Korea gives the North Koreans just one more excuse to hit Seoul, and if the South Koreans want to sit the next potential conflict out, hey, that’s their right.
Your last paragraph is what I was thinking. Get our troops out of range and it would leave only South Korean targets. If we attacked the North unilaterally it wouldn’t make sense for the North to attack their “brothers” to the south. If we still used Yongsan garrison for 8th Army that would be an excuse for the Norks to rain a sea of fire upon Seoul (they don’t use smart bombs, do they?).
Pull our troops out completely, not just move them south.
Next, we will never attack North Korea unless provoked by an attack from them. Period. Seoul is to important and just think how the rest of the world would react! US attacks North and Seoul is destroyed, not the kind of press we are looking for.