Stupid Protestors

As dumb as those Americans are in your picture, the fact is, I and every other military man will be able to walk right through them unmolested. I've done it before in San Diego protests (I'm pretty consicuous too). The protestors know that if they harm me, degrade me, or even try and intimidate me, they'll be buried in an avalanche of public support (It's one of the realities that keeps many of us in the service).

Can you say the same of those Korean Protestors outside your Gate? Do you honestly think they pose the same Zero-threat level? Are you that obtuse?

I don't think that's it.

You're just dishonest.

So there is no equivalence.

And thus, no basis for your equivocation.

GI korea is a shit eating korea lover. He just wants to equate every shitty thing in kroea and show that america does it too. Deep down GI koera loves his new country Koera and will fight you and fight anybody who critizes korea. However he doesnt mind the anti-american koeran/kyopos. they are just expressing free speech.

What part of my post do you not understand? OF COURSE some of them want to harm US Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen as much as inhumanly possible.

The POINT is that it is NOT possible without drawing heavy public fire and scrutiny. American protestors like to use Setup and Provacteur tactics just as much as Koreans do. Whether they will be believed by other Americans is quite another story. They know that the cultural atmosphere Stateside isn't conducive to them (how many protestors are in your picture?), and their false charges and antics fall flat in the national conscience.

For example, I understand that the protestors at Ft. Benning claimed a soldier walked straight into the middle of their protest and then poured red paint and smeared feces on some of them while yelling profanities. The problem with their story was that he used tactics commonly being employed by the protestors (these people need originality), the supposed soldier was masked, and the protestors somehow let him (or helped him?) walk away, conveniently keeping his identity anonymous.

What would happen if this charge were made in Korea?

What happened when this charge was made in the States?

Have you heard about the latest outrage in America?

Senator Dick Durbin likened Gitmo and your men to Gulags and Nazis and the like. But the fury isn't directed at you is it? It's being directed at the lefty Senator.

Who was the Senator's target audience? The American public?

Walk the streets of American cities and towns (you need a re-orientation)and you'll find before too long that even the liberal confines don't take issue with servicemembers (or keep their tongue behind their teeth). They don't sympathize with your protestors (however much you want them to). You're smearing the very people who support you with a Red herring.

For what? So you can feel better about the Koreans you NEED to be friends with?

The Senator was talking to those Friends of yours. People like them and other "international" populaces are his target audience (The Georgia protestors target the same).

I know that EVERY foreign protest I've ever personally seen (and I've seen alot too) is far more frightening and vitriolic than anything in the US. To the degree that I fear protests in the US against military personell, it's because of foreigners who invade our country and take up common cause with the lefties. The synergy that results is dangerous because the foreigners don't know that harming a Servicemember is an American PR debacle (or don't care).

What happened to the protestors who dumped paint on the Guard (or even just got rowdy)?

What has happened to the Koreans who have done worse to your men?

Who does the American public sympathize with?

The Korean public? Which atmosphere do you think encourages protestors to act that way?

There is no equivocation. Your attempts to find one are pathetic.

And I have a message for people like you:

Stop worrying about your image in Korea. You've got worse image problems…

With me.

With the other services.

And for God's sake, with the Marine Corps.

Are you honestly going to depend on those limp-wristed Roks to come to your aid when the shit hits the fan? (The Japanese?!) Are you that frivolous with your men? Do you think to tell me that you DO trust the Roks in the hopes of never having to find out?

Who fought with you in Afgahnistan when all the Koreans did was wonder if youand your country deserved 9/11? Who takes Nasariya, Najaf and Falluja? Who ensures that the Oceans and Seas become a Lifeline and an escape Route rather than a wall to your back? Who's itching for a fight when they hear American forces are being attacked. Who then provides Air support and re-inforcements in a crunch, with or without Korea or Japan's permission to cover your ass.

Not the Koreans, dammit!

The Marines really don't care whether or not you can fire an M-16 at 100 yards and hit a fly. What they DO care about (when you get right down to it) are enthusiasm, initiative and esprit de corps. Weapons and training can only get you so far. And everyone has it to one degree or another. If you don't, you can be taught.

But we can't teach Faith. Sure, it's the Marine ethos, but that doesn't comfort them much in your case. You guys in Korea have been backstabbing and selling each other out for so long, they can't imagine how you're going to act when the bullets start flying (never mind the Roks).

Are you going to empathize with the Koreans and question our mission and our motives [and by extension, your country] when Marines start to bleed? While Navy corpsman try to stanch that bleeding? Someone who comfortably posts that mealy-mouthed drivel on the Worldwide net for everyone to see? Do you think we want to fight beside someone who tells his countrymen "You're on your own" and walks away satisfied? Because in spite of everything you think you've written, I think that's what you've been doing to your men:

"Don't look at me, it's your fault anyway."

Alot of Marines think you're a disgrace.

You're only consolation is that it will be the last time that I spell it out. I'm tired of being disgusted. I don't hate you because you're the worst. I despise you for not being better. For letting your people down.

Rykehaven

I'm Sorry. I lied. It's not the last.

You also have lots of friends who give weak rebuttals and seem to have internalized the philisophical sophistry of George "use the Force" Lucas.

Emilie,

You're in over your head. Next time, post something comprehensive and substantial if you want to defend someone. You do them no favors by being this shallow.

But I'll play your philisophical game this once: It's not whether we kill that matters. It's who we kill and why. The same applies to "hatred".

Most people in the military must eventually understand this one way or another. Even the poor schmuck you're defending is probably cringing as he looks at your post, although (for what it's worth) he's probably grateful for your compassion.

But to care for something or someone inevitably requires a person to reject an antithesis or opposite persona (in your case, me). If you hate something, it's because you like something else, or something more. If you love everything, you love nothing.

THAT is Nihilism. In philosophy, a person without values or standards, who believes in nothing and retreats into non-judgementalism where everything is equal and nothing is "True".

In the Baby Boom generation, this philosophy had a slogan: "Make Love, Not War."

The anti-war movement proclaimed universal love without hate (Does that taste bland or bitter on my tongue?). The truth was that their message, if not its title, was full of hatred. What they really wanted was some excuse to avoid the draft and/or embrace our America's enemies.

In logical fashion, they espoused hatred for the opposing side ("Why do you hate Vietnamese? How many babies did you kill?"). When Nihilism was no longer necessary, the anti-war crowd discarded it to attack and rail against America (especially its loyal soldiers). When we demanded to know if they sided with the Communists, they scurried back into their Nihilistic cant. The entire routine was a sight to behold (for those who recognized and remember it).

Nihilism in practice is never pure. It's always a cloak to hide the lack moral character or intellectual depth – a mask to be cast aside and re-worn whenever convenient.

Look at the anti-war protests then and now. Look at the statement you just wrote.

I think there's a reason you decided to address (or not to address) my points by retreating into the same worn-out cant, a cultivated result after suffering decades of amoral cowards.

Done. Going. Gone.

Ryhehaven,

I am speechless: a morally-sexy American man. Thanks for speaking-up (wonderfully intelligently) for America and its soldiers.

Excuse me, I have to swoon now.

Now you are expecting Koreans to act like Americans. Of course protestors in America are looked down on with a war going on. Why do you think Republicans keep winning elections because the Democrats can't get a majority with their anti-war stance.

With that said protests here by Koreans is not looked down upon by the public because many people in the public were once protesters against the former military govnernment here. So going to college and protesting something is just looked at as a right of passage around here. I'm not about to hate Koreans for protesting. I just don't like it when a small minority beat the cops and cause property damage. They should be arrested but hardly ever are. I have long complained about this on this blog.

The rest of your post just goes all over the place. You don't need to tell me about leading men into combat. Been there done that, got the medal and scar to prove it.

Also get off your high horse about the Marine Corps. I saw them in action in Iraq and I wasn't as impressed as you seem to be about them. Our Army units were just as effective as the Marines. The Marines just talk a bigger game. Who did the Marines call on for help in Fallujah? The Army. Who led the assault on Baghdad during the war? The Army. I know because I was there.

You know what? I am an Army spouse currently living in Dongducheon. I can certainly see how some Korean Nationals hate Americans. I can truly say that I am ashamed and embarrassed to be an American here. Soldiers are rude, degrading, hateful… you all think your here "deterring war" and saving the Koreans from invasion? Whatever!!! Wake up– stop believing all the bullshit propaganda that your so-called leaders are feeding to you. You are all so busy patting yourselves on the back that you fail to see the real picture. I think that 9/11 was horrible, but that doesn't mean that the US doesn't do rotten things to other countries in order to benefit itself, especially under George Bush. You think that just because you were born in the US that you are better than everyone else, that you deserve more respect than anyone else? Well guess what, you DON'T. Think your a big hero because you went to Iraq to fight for "freedom"? What's so free about FORCING a nation to take your own government? Have you ever heard of the Downing Street Memo? Maybe if you weren't so busy wasting American tax dollars on beer, drinky girls and big screen TV's you'd have time to educate yourself about what's really going on. Soldiers are PUPPETS. You aren't fightning for shit but oil. Wake up almighty Americans. WTF.