General Mattis Receives Paik Sun-yup ROK-US Alliance Award
It great to see that the Joong Ang Ilbo is sponsoring this award in honor of the late ROK General Paik Sun-yup:
![Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, left, is presented the 8th Paik Sun-yup ROK-U.S. Alliance Award by Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo-hyuk in a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Washington on Tuesday for his contributions towards the bilateral alliance and security of the Korean Peninsula. [JTBC]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2021/05/05/ddba0d4d-8788-407a-bda1-a60291f841bb.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis received the 8th Paik Sun-yup ROK-U.S. Alliance Award in a ceremony Tuesday in Washington for his contributions to bilateral relations and the security of the Korean Peninsula.
Joong Ang Ilbo
Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo-hyuk presented the award and medal to Mattis, a retired Marine Corps four-star general who served as Pentagon chief from January 2017 to January 2019, on behalf of Defense Minister Suh Wook at the U.S. Embassy in Washington.
The JoongAng Ilbo is a sponsor of the award, named after the famed Korean general critical in establishing the early military ties between the allies.
The Korean Defense Ministry said that Mattis was selected for the award in recognition of his stable leadership during a period of crisis on the peninsula in 2017, helping lay the foundations for the pursuit of diplomatic talks. He also helped create a blueprint for how the alliance would operate following the transition of wartime operation control (Opcon) from the United States to Korea.
You can read more at the link.
Deep state snake in the grass.
At least this newspaper recognizes General Paik as the great Korean hero.
General Mattis did a great job of almost winning the war in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
With victory so close, I can see why he would be upset that Trump would want to pull out and concentrate on solving American problems first.
There is no fun or profit in ending endless wars.
I hope he got a participation trophy as well.
He did a good job in 2017. I mean that without sarcasm, I am grateful to Mattis.
My spouse’s last job would’ve been a lot harder with the type of leadership Obama left us with.
CH, General Mattis got a chest full of ’em… Not so many for actual combat though. He was in-theatre for the circus, in Afghanistan and Iraq, I don’t know if he saw the elephant himself…
Obviously more than me, since any combat I would have been in would have involved SIOP (Single Integrated Operational Plan). And after that, we wouldn’t likely be here discussing it.
BTW, speaking of OPCON, here’s what some person thought the next war would look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JdnCzLDI6I
My impression is General Mattis resisted any attempt to untangle America from the Middle East and America’s forever wars… which seems to have been the wrong side of history as the last year of Trump’s administration, when he finally realized that American institutions were truly broken and corrupted, and he finally built a team of pro-Americans, a lot of peace broke out in the middle east.
Further, he was unsupported of Trump’s dealings with North Korea… which was a brilliant choice of stick or carrot… threats or respect. Since giving up nukes is a fantasy, the second best choice is containment… they keep to themselves and don’t have their hand out. And NK stopped being an issue under Trump’s plan.
The problem with Mattis is, like anyone who gets those stars and commands, especially within the 8 years of the Obama administration, they are compliant with an agenda that is not in America’s best interest.
While he may have been a good administrator for those in the American military, his globalist party line talking points on global warming, denial that so many American fair-weather “allies” are freeloaders, acceptance of the Iran nuclear giveaway, etc., display who he really is.
Plus he never achieved victory in Iraq or Afghanistan… likely because that was never the intention.
I am not fixed on this idea… as this is just my impression without being fully informed on the matter… so I can be sold on an alternative take.
Any Man who never gets married, never knows what the true meaning of stress is.
Tanker you are on target!
I’m pretty happy with my wife… no smoking, drinking, or drugs… has a good job… good with money… can be counted on to get stuff done correctly in an emergency… low maintenance and isn’t too needy… competes with her siblings to collect graduate degrees… gracefully manages social situations (though she secretly thinks most people are bigger idiots than I do)… excellent driver… adequate shooter… fights the world with me… still fits her high school uniform.
Being single would be more stressful.
CH, you are also on target.
A good marriage is worth more than words can express.
We often avoid talking about our spouses because not everyone needs to know everything about them.
But they are terribly important.
There is the stress of living one. This makes lonely people selfish and sharp-tongued.
There is also the stress of living with someone. This can be more unbearable than loneliness unless we mature enough to put other people’s comfort ahead of our own. But it becomes a friend once we master that skill. I’m much farther along now than I was.
You’re not wrong, CH.
I don’t think it is possible for find military leadership that high up (under the prior administrations) who doesn’t support military adventurism. You’ll never see a commander recommend troop withdrawal from his/her AO. To be fair, you won’t see this in other areas of government either. (the HUD, for example, isn’t going to say they have too many resources). And I’m sure Mattis had a lot of personal connections with folks on the ground in these places, and likely made some promises.
On the flip side, he did more than I thought I’d ever see for cutting through red tape and regulations. Which was the biggest time saver imaginable (for the commanders who used it). Unfortunately, the “culture of compliance” was so ingrained not everyone did. He also produced this research document about transgenders in the military, in support of NOT allowing entry (this isn’t easy to find anymore).
https://media.defense.gov/2018/Mar/23/2001894037/-1/-1/0/MILITARY-SERVICE-BY-TRANSGENDER-INDIVIDUALS.PDF
I’m not sure if Mattis was responsible, but the USAF at the time set a moratorium on investigating sexual assault charges that were over a certain timeframe (think it was 5 years). Used to be an intense waste of resources when a divorcee would charge her soon-to-be ex husband with rape on their first date 15 years back. Under Biden it will probably go back though.
I should add, the moratorium was in place for investigation of cases over a certain timeframe without any evidence. Of course if there was some evidence they would pursue it but before no matter how frivolous any charge required a thorough, time intensive and resource wasting investigation.
(again, it has been a couple of years so I don’t know if that policy returned)
“still fits her high school uniform.”
Dare I say a trait associated more with mongoloids than causcasoids.
And now that it’s spring – I’m frequently in awe at how many Korean mothers I see walking around Seoul with better bodies than even the best-looking cheerleaders we had in high school.
American women have become painful to look at.
Lumpy doesn’t get any better when covered in tattoos.
Lumpy doesn’t get any better when covered in tattoos.
Or stuffed into spandex.
(FWIW, I still fit into my high school clothes too. Hurray for Mrs CH!)