Return of Korean Troops from Iraq
Rarely do I agree with anything from the Korea Times, but this editorial about the need to return Korean troops from Iraq is actually quite accurate and supports what I have been saying since the troops deployed:
First of all, there is not much for the Korean soldiers to do in Irbil, the Kurdish autonomous state. Contrary to some media stories, the local police, not Korean soldiers, are maintaining public security. The engineering corps of the Korean unit, called Zaytun, is bent on either maintaining Korean compounds or supervising construction works done by local firms. Its medical team has only dealt with the minor complaints of residents, according to soldiers and civilians familiar with the local situation.
We are not belittling the struggle of the Korean troops who are trying to contribute to a bilateral friendship and improve the nation’s image there. In sum, however, the Korean troops seem mostly to be killing time. The government’s keyword is safety, meaning Seoul wants to maximize the Korean troops’ stay and have minimum casualty. And their latest excuses for cementing Korea-U.S. ties are the ongoing negotiations to take over the wartime operational control and bargaining for the free trade agreement.
The Korea Times though just couldn’t help themselves and made sure in the last paragraph they took a cheap shot at the US:
After all, this has been an unjustifiable war from the start, as most U.S. analysts now point out. The time has long past for Korea to pull out from the war triggered by the U.S. invasion based on its own strategic interests. The only thing left is to make the process as smooth as possible.
Most people back in the 50’s thought the Korean War was not a justifiable war too ending Truman’s presidency and Eisenhauer being elected president because he promised to end the war, which he did with the ceasefire in 1953. Plus who are “most US analysts”? The ones leaking to the New York Times?
