At 3/16/03 03:37 AM, RaspberryLock wrote:
It never fails. Every country in the world hates America until they need us. South Korea is no exception. Remember a couple months ago they were burning American Flags, chanting "Americans Go Home"?
Now they are burning mock North Korean missiles, in support of our troops. Their new line is "Yankees Stay Here." Maybe they are starting to understand that if it were not for our Battleships, Aircraft Carriers and 37,000 heavily armed troops, their piddly country would be non-existent right now.
Americans don't mind helping out. When our Boys come home in body bags we understand it’s sad yet necessary. But one day the criticism will become too much and we'll leave the American haters to their own devices. We'll see how well they get along then.
oh jesus...where should i begin. let's start out with your uninformed, "yankee go home" scenario. as i am quite sure you don't know, the reason why they were having protests was because the US GIs ran over two middleschool girls in an armored vehicle. what's more is that they were cleared of any criminal charges in a US court marshall.
now, if, for some odd reason, we had Canadian military bases on US soil, and one of those Canadians ran over a ten year old boy, i'm sure all of us would want those Canada-type people to go home. but we wouldn't know about that, now would we. but the Canadians know (somewhat) when the US pilots bombed a Canadian outpost in Afghanistan. and although Canada and the United States are allies and friends, i'm sure you Canadians were pretty pissed.
now in Slizor's Korean resource, although a little one-sided, brings up a good point that the US military isn't necessarily needed. but let's keep this in mind. the 5 million reservists all happen to be civilians, as most reservists are, and the reason there are relatively so many by percentage is because every male who doesn't have a physical or mental debilitation is required to serve a mandatory 2 years in the military and follow that by reserve status until they become, not sure of the number, 45.
not only that, how large do you think the Korean population is in thie coutry alone? beside China, Koreans are the largest Asian population in the US. the last time i check, it was somewhere around 2 million people. about half of them emigrated from Korea in their mid-twenties for graduate school and decided to raise a family here. the other half are mostly FOB, fresh of the boat. which means a good chunk of those people have already server their compensatory duty and are now, technically, reservists. so there are a lot less reservists than you would originally think.
also, you must think of the proximity of Seoul to the DMZ. if you looked at the map the is on Slizor's link, the huge bright spot on the upper-left hand side of South Korea is Seoul. north korea doesn't have to advance, nor do they have to use nuclear weapons. they can shoot standard artillery and turn a metropolis of 12 million into rubble within days if given the chance. strategy must always be thought before any attack or preparation for preemptive strike.
due to the close proximity of such a huge city to the most heavily fortified border in the world, civilian losses becomes a factor, unlike how it is in iraq. also, conversely to Slizor's text, it would be difficult for US or South Korean forces to penetrate. and if an amphibious attack were to take place, ie. In Chon, north korean troops will be there waiting.
you should never question a hungry, brain-washed man's resolve. this isn't iraq. they won't give up just like that. also most of the things we know about north korea is based on defectors and sattelite surveillence. unlike popular belief, the CIA is a joke. if they were so good, Osama bin Laden would be dead or captured, Saddam Hussein and his sons and top generals would be assassinated, and 9/11 would have never happened. let's not forget that the things we know about north korea would be much more extensive. but i just went to left field with that tangent. hungry man's resolve, right. in north korea, you either obey, and be the best, or die. and you will die if you don't do well enough. and you will die if you try to defect and you're caught. you will die if you believe in God. you will die if you say the wrong thing at the wrong time. you will die if you complain. so i'm pretty sure most people don't want to die, so they pretty much listen and do as they are told.
God, i'm getting tired. if you find any holes, i'll be sure to yell at you.. er.. patch them up for you.
