Get a load of this, courtesy the Korea Times:
President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday said that he would not make a hasty decision on the size and composition of a ROK contingent to be sent to Iraq.
In a meeting with a group of journalists based in South Chunchong Province at Chong Wa Dae, Roh said, “Although some argue for an early decision, I don’t think that there is anything to lose regarding the timing of our decision so we should take our time to go over all important details before finalizing our stance.”
Roh’s remarks came after repeated calls by Washington to send a larger contingent including combat soldiers.
Chong Wa Dae officials said that a decision may not be possible before year-end.
Look, even I have said that the government shouldn’t rush a decision on this, but come on, what do you think the Americans are going to think when they hear a quote like that? Even if you don’t lose anything by taking your own sweat-ass time (which is mistaken, BTW), the American and the Iraqis sure will, so please, if you don’t mind, a timely decision would be appreciated.
“Even if we decide not to send troops to Iraq, there would be no significant problems in maintaining our alliance with the U.S.,” he said. His spokesman Yoon Tai-young said that Roh’s remarks were intended to show the strength of alliance.
Nice try, Mr. Yoon, and I really do admire the attempt at spin-doctoring, but really, do tell me where your boss is getting his weed. “No significant problems in maintaining our alliance with the US?” Only a man smoking some serious grass could possibly make a statement like that. Hopefully, once the President’s head clears up, he’ll reflect upon that choice of words and act accordingly.
Roh’s policy on the troop dispatch has meandered. He seems unable to come up with a definite stance regarding the sensitive issue.
Gee, you don’t say?
This inability has been fueling uncertainty, triggering concern over the discrepancy among relevant ministries. It has also caused worry over a possible schism in the Seoul-Washington alliance.
The rest of the KT piece covers the meandering course this Blue House Administration has followed up to now on Iraq - I’ve covered much of it in previous posts, but it’s still interesting to review.
5 Comments
Would it be overly simplistic to say that we’re being stalled.
Based on the last news coming out of the DOD regarding troop deployments to Iraq (Marines, National Guard in the rotation mix), I don’t think the US government is counting on the Koreans.
I thought the Times piece did a very good job of showing why Koreans call Roh a frog — he has hopped all over this troop issue and made things worse.
I will say yet again, I don’t care if SK sends troops or not. They will not provide a crucial amount of help. Korea has problems of its own. And they will not, contrary to what Koreans seem to believe, do MUCH of anything to help solve the problems in the US-SK alliance. It would be a good jesture, but not a whole lot more. There will be little quid pro quo here.
But now, I am getting seriously annoyed by the Korean government and worried for the SK troops.
In an effort to please both sides and limit opposition at home, Roh is going to get Korean soldiers killed. More killed than would have happened if he had addressed the troop disptach from a military standpoint first and political one second.
The Koreans could provide a lot of help if there is the political willpower, and there lies the rub. The Ministry of Defense wants to put in the combat troops, and I get the feeling that the Special Forces Headquarters is itching to see what its boys can do, but usinkorea hits the nail on the head - Noh’s going to get his men killed if he doesn’t heed what the MoD is saying and decides to make this a “political deployment” rather than a military one. If he sends in noncombat troops without the men to protect them, engineers and doctors may very well come home in body bags, and military morale will go straight into the crapper. Of course, I think Noh is counting on the Americans to provide the protection, but I gather the Americans aren’t too thrilled with this idea, which is why they rejected Noh’s first offer last week.
Personally, I think the combat troops are going in - and I’ll be the first to thank Noh when he finally makes the decision - but I hope to hell he makes his decision in a way that doesn’t cause undue resentment in Washington and alienate even further those segments of the Korean electorate that are concerned with the future of the ROK-US Alliance.
I am surprised any ROK troops were deployed. This admnistration is so pro NK.