Comments on: Fisking the Hani

By: The Marmot

The Marmot — Sun, 26 Oct 2003 04:17:19 +0000

A definition of “fisk,” courtesy Samizdata.net’s blogging glossary:

Fisk
verb. To deconstruct an article on a point by point basis in a highly critical manner. Derived from the name of journalist Robert Fisk, a frequent target of such critical articles in the blogosphere (qv).

Usage: “Orrin Judd did a severe fisking of an idiotic article in the New York Times today…”

Is Korean anti-Americanism reflected in the army? I’m not an expert on this, and there are readers who could probably give you a better answer, but from what I’ve read, it would appear that the answer is “no.” If combat troops are going, they’ll be composed of professionals, not conscripts (note: Oranckay posts that conscripts may volunteer for service, but need permission from their parents), and the Korean military and the Americans have traditionally enjoyed a very close relationship - they do, after all, spend considerably more time with one another than do, say, college kids and the Americans. In terms of quality, that would depend on the units getting sent (although the Korean military, as a whole, runs a relatively tight outfit). The boys the Americans reportedly want to get their hands on come from the ROK special forces who are, by all accounts, pretty bad-ass mo-fo’s. Coincidentally, ROK Special Warfare Command apparently wants to send its boys in, feeling that a) they need to improve security for other units and b) ROK special forces - especially the Sangnoksu Unit that just came back from East Timor - have the skills and experience in this line of work and may prove useful. The problem is, the Blue House is EXTREMELY uncomfortable with sending in special forces, given the domestic political climate here in Korea. Peace keepers are one thing, but “peace makers” like the special ops guys apparently do not conform to the kind of image the Noh Administration is trying to sell on this thing.

PING:
TITLE: Marmot: Fisking the Hani
BLOG NAME: Solomonia
The Marmot’s (Final) Hole: Fisking the Hani The Marmot translates an anti-American editorial from a Korean paper, and fisks away. Where else but the blogosphere can you get this stuff!? Today’s Hankyoreh ran a column by Prof. Kim Yeon-ch’eol of…

By: luisalegria

luisalegria — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 15:03:52 +0000

If they will replace the 101st in Mosul, they should be sending at least a brigade.

I understood that National Guard units are in the pipeline to replace the 101st, so I don’t think the DOD is counting on the Koreans.

One problem with Mosul is that it is on the most easily infiltrated routes from Syria, and any unit there is going to have to be very pro-active. Is Korean anti-Americanism reflected in the army? How would morale go in a unit deployed to Iraq ? Are the Korean troops trustworthy ? Are they still of the quality of the divisions sent to Vietnam ?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 11:09:50 +0000

FISKING?

is it a new word?

By: Wedge

Wedge — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 09:39:16 +0000

Good fisking. One only needs to look at the example of Gray Davis when considering rule by opinion poll and special interests. Anyway, if I were in the 101 I wouldn’t be packing my bags just yet. I’ll believe this dispatch when I see it.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 06:59:54 +0000

Here is a choice quote:
“Even in the United States, it’s acknowledged that northern Iraq - including the area around Mosul - together with central Baghdad are the most insecure regions in the country.”

That kind of like saying something like “It is well known that Buffalo, along with New York City, are the largest cities in New York State.” OR “Every sports fan knows that the Devil Rays(63-99) , along with the Marlins are the best baseball teams in Florida.”

Yeah, it might be technically true, but there is a world of difference between Mosul and the Sunni Triangle.

By: Peter Schroepfer

Peter Schroepfer — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 01:19:06 +0000

RE: “I’m getting just as sick of the way in which the Chosun, Joongang, and Dong-A have been gangbanging the President and Song Du-yul as I am of the way in which the Hani and OhMyNews attack Bush and USFK.”
ME: All the more reason to blog in Korean.
RE: “OK, I should be fair to the Hankyoreh - frankly, they aren’t all that bad.”
ME: And it’s a guest column.

By: The Marmot

The Marmot — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:50:06 +0000

OK, I should be fair to the Hankyoreh - frankly, they aren’t all that bad. Yes, they have a left-wing, relatively anti-American editorial slant, and some of their op-ed pieces can be a little off the wall, but they seem pretty fair in terms of their news coverage, which is more than can be said of the Chosun Ilbo some other papers. It’s true that they have some axes to grind, and ever since I stopped fisking the Korea Herald, it provides me with the bulk of my fisking material (besides the NYT). But ALL the major dailies carry with them their own individual axes, and to be frank, I’m getting just as sick of the way in which the Chosun, Joongang, and Dong-A have been gangbanging the President and Song Du-yul as I am of the way in which the Hani and OhMyNews attack Bush and USFK.

Oh, BTW, Mr. Peters, thanks for your compliments concerning the translation, but my translation skills still leave much to be desired. Keep that in mind when you read a Marmot translation - I know of one blogger in particular who, if he actually compares the original with what you see above, could probably find a ton of errors.

By: Len Peters

Len Peters — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 00:06:05 +0000

Excellent translation, Robert. You are doing many a great service by using your skills to get the message out about what is really happening in Korea vis a vis the US-Korea “alliance.” One has to start from this point in dealing with this kind of piece. First, the Hankyoreh is in the business of selling newspapers to a crowd that likes to read this kind of thing. Second these people has absolutely no concept of what “reform” is. To them, it is replacing enemy cronies with their cronies. One thing the reformers leave out is they are every bit as paternalistic as the GNP ever was and that democratic values mean very little to them. They have also convinced themselves that the “alliance” is only for the benefit of America and that America would bend over backwards to keep its precious bases in Korea. That America is so willing to give them up comes as kind of a shock to them.

The Korean language us full of hyperbole and overstatement on such issues. The real issue here is that Korea, and the vast majority of Koreans, see the world as not a place were they want to participate but a place from which to gain benefit. The vast majority of Koreans want no foreigners of any kind in their country but also admit that they need our technology. Why they cannot develop that tech is beyond them.

Save to say South Koreans really do not want USFK here. However they are intelligent enough to realise that the departure of USFK would lead to a rather fast tanking of Korea’s economy and when you are trying to pay the rice bill that is the prime issue.

By: slim

slim — Fri, 24 Oct 2003 22:03:01 +0000

I frankly think you let “professor” Kim off light. The Korean left’s debasing of language, Korean and English, with smugly self-applied terms like “progressive” and “forces of reform” and most egregiosly, people with “moral fibre” to decribe rank DPRK sympathisers, should not be tolerated from the start. The “forces of reform” Kim refers to are VERY FIRST PACK OF AMATEURS Roh should boot out of the Blue House. If professor Kim wants to live in the craven, devious, solipsistic, morally ass-backward Korea he’s urging Roh to create, he should simply move 50 miles North of Seoul — and take the(buk)Hankyoreh with him!