A reader was kind enough to send me this heartwarming story — Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the performance of Mongolian troops serving in Iraq during an official visit to Ulaan Baator:
ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) - Gen. Richard Myers, America’s top military official, inspected a line of Mongolia’s soldiers Tuesday and thanked this central Asian nation for sending troops to support the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
“They are disciplined. They are tough. They are physically fit. They are highly motivated,” Myers said as he reviewed troops expecting deployment to Iraq later this month. The first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to visit Mongolia, Myers also met with Mongolia’s president and military chief of staff.
A contingent of 173 Mongolian soldiers began serving in Iraq last fall under a Polish-led multinational force. They are operating around Hillah, in the southern part of the country.
Although their area has been subject to mortar and grenade attacks, they have taken no casualties, said Maj. Gen. M. Bombatar, Mongolia’s deputy chief of staff. At the end of the month, they will rotate home, and another company will be sent to replace them.
Don’t let the small numbers fool you:
The number of Mongolian troops in Iraq is small, compared with the thousands of U.S. and British troops in Iraq, but their presence represents the former Soviet satellite state’s efforts to gain international prestige and America’s good favor by supporting peacekeeping missions worldwide.
Bombatar said his country plans to triple the number of troops available for such missions.
“The Mongolian government has openly supported the global war on terrorism,” he said.
Mongolia, situated between the giant nations of Russia and China, is also said to be planning to turn their country into a training center for other peacekeeping forces. Already, a group of U.S. Marines have ridden horse patrols in the Mongolian steppes alongside native troops.
This is just the kind of piece I needed to read after reading this rather embarrassing tale from yesterday’s Korean-language Hankuk Ilbo.
6 Comments
Hello, are you born on Dec 10?
Seemed like it. I am also a Dec 10 product, but I am a 1978 guy.
That link to the Mongolian lady is really sad. I am full Korean, but these people treat other races very badly. Yet, they’re always interested in having foreigners say, “Korea, Wonderful country.”
This is a very good site to read, by the way.
And they haven’t even built a pyramid of skulls this time around.
JK - don’t feel so bad about it. Yeah, it’s a crappy story, and Korea needs to really do something about its foreign worker situation, but at the same time, you have stories like this that shows somewhat of a different side.
Conrad - Maybe that’s the problem. I think you were the one who pointed out that the Mongols didn’t have much of a problem with an insurgency.
Robert,
I didn’t send you that link.
???
Brian
Sorry, got the Brians confused. My bad.
Situation has been corrected.
About the Marines in Mongolia, there’s a series of stories here:
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink.....urus=FALSE
PING:
TITLE: A Kinder, Gentler Horde
BLOG NAME: The Argus
The Marmot pointed me to this praise for Mongolian troops in Iraq. There’s also a mention of Marines patrolling with Mongolian troops on horseback across the steppe. I highly reccomend riding with members of the Horde or their scattered descendents
PING:
TITLE: The Versatility of the US Marine Corps
BLOG NAME: Interested-Participant
The Marmot reports:
“. . . a group of U.S. Marines have ridden horse patrols in the Mongolian steppes alongside native troops.” This has to be considered fairly extraordinary.