Admiral Harris is now on the job in South Korea and he has decided to keep his little mustache he has grown out since retiring from the Navy:
Harry Harris
New U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris on Saturday expressed his resolve to further cement Washington’s alliance with Seoul, casting the security partnership as a “pillar of strength and stability” in the region and beyond.
The retired admiral issued a brief public statement after arriving at Incheon International Airport on Saturday to fill the ambassadorial post that has been vacant since his predecessor Mark Lippert stepped down upon the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017.
“President Trump and his administration have made clear strengthening even further America’s alliance with Korea is one of our top priorities. Our presidents have been in regular contact as we work together to persuade North Korea to chart a new course,” he told reporters.
“Over the past 65 years, the U.S.-ROK (Republic of Korea) alliance has served as a pillar of strength and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. America could not ask for a better friend, partner and ally than the ROK,” he added. The Republic of Korea is South Korea’s official name. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Harry Harris, during his Senate confirmation hearing, talked about bringing #KimJongUn to his senses and not to his knees. Unfortunately, to bring Kim to his senses we have to bring him to his knees.
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR HICKAM (May 30, 2018) — Adm. Phil Davidson, left, relieves Adm. Harry Harris, right, as commander of U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM). USPACOM is committed to enhancing stability in the Indo-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies, deterring aggression, and, when necessary, fighting to win. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James Mullen)
For those that haven’t heard, Defense Secretary James Mattis during the Change of Command ceremony renamed Pacific Command to “Indo-Pacific Command” in response to Chinese militarism in the region. I am just wondering what do we call PACOM now? iPAC? It makes it sound like a tech company.
Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command in Hawaii, was slated to start work as ambassador to Australia this month. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Trump White House announced on April 24 that Harris would be assigned to South Korea.
The assignment was unprecedented at multiple levels. Assigning a military officer as ambassador to Korea when Seoul is trying to develop peaceful ties with North Korea, and the rest of East Asia, is extraordinary. Assigning a military officer who has close ties with the far-right in Japan is also extraordinary granted the sensitivity about Japan’s colonial domination of Korea.
The fact that Harris was born in Japan to a Japanese mother is not a reason to oppose his appointment. Yet his being awarded the “Order of the Rising Sun” at exactly the same moment he was assigned at ambassador to Korea was extremely odd.
And then there is that matter of his role at the Guantanamo Prison camp at the time that torture and abuse were carried out within a carefully constructed legal limbo. In normal times, Harris’ role in that blatantly illegal operation would be enough to end a career, at the very least.
You can read the rest at the link, but his article reads like he received his talking points straight from Beijing. He made sure to bring up Admiral Harris ethnicity just like Beijing and he even tried to equate that Admiral Harris was running a Unit 731 like operation at Guantanamo Bay. Talk about hyperbole when three terrorists getting waterboarded is equated to 3,000 mostly Chinese being used as human lab rats for biological weapons testing by the Imperial Japanese.
He even made sure to call him names just like Beijing by calling him Dirty Harry in the article. Probably the most ridiculous thing was to claim that Admiral Harris was put in charge of Pacific Command to stop global warming initiatives with China. He even claims Admiral Locklear was replaced “unceremoniously” by Admiral Harris two months after giving a speech about global warming at Harvard. Admiral Locklear had long been scheduled to be replaced by Admiral Harris, but was held up because of the accusations made against Locklear in the Fat Leonard Scandal. Admiral Harris was the Pacific Fleet commander prior to taking command of PACOM making him highly qualified for the job. He was already selected for the PACOM job before Pastreich’s claim of Locklear being “unceremoniously” removed. Plus the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter came out to Hawaii to give remarks during the Change of Command ceremony held for Admiral Locklear. A big ceremony with the Secretary of Defense presiding over it does not seem like something that is “unceremonious” to me.
PEARL HARBOR (May 27, 2015) – U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) and U.S. Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) held a joint change of command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. During the dual ceremony, Adm. Scott H. Swift relieved Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. as the PACFLT commander and Harris assumed command of USPACOM from Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III.
Another incredible claim in Pastreich’s article is that he equates the 12 nautical mile exclusive economic zone around Hawaii with the artificial islands being built in the South China Sea:
“Freedom of navigation” is a catchy way of saying that the U.S. is obligated to send military vessels into the waters surrounding the islands claimed by China in the South China Sea regularly, often intentionally crossing over the 12 nautical mile EEZ (exclusive economic zone).
This is a needless provocation (imagine how the U.S. would respond if Chinese ships regularly sailed close to Hawaii) became central to the planning in the Pacific Command.
First of all it is nothing new for Chinese Navy ships to sail by and stop at Hawaii. So his analogy is not even true. Secondly a better analogy would be if the United States started dredging up a bunch of sand and built an island off the coast of China and militarized it because that is what the Chinese are doing to their neighbors in an attempt to consolidate control over the South China Sea.
Admiral Harris is well known for being tough on China because of this and thus why the Chinese have used everything in their propaganda apparatus to discredit him and it appears Pastreich believes this propaganda. The Chinese government have even asked the US government to fire Admiral Harris. However, history has shown that Admiral Harris has been right about China as they continue to bully their neighbors and intensify building artificial islands in the South China Sea in their attempt to claim the entire body of water.
Here is where out of no where Pastreich goes into an anti-military screed:
American politics is incomprehensible because, at the moment that the military is playing an increasingly central role in the administration of the global system set up by the U.S. after World War II, military officers, whether fighting for justice or indulging in corruption, are completely inaccessible to the population and almost never the subject of investigative journalism.
The guidelines issued to military officers direct them to avoid social exchanges with ordinary citizens, and even with other branches of the government, or with other branches of the military.
This is quite the accusations being made here that the military just likes to indulge in corruption and directs its personnel to avoid social exchanges with civilians or even other branches of the military. This is beyond stupid considering that for officers to get promoted to senior ranks they have to have joint time serving with the other branches of the military. The command Pastreich highlights in his article, PACOM is a joint command with its headquarters at Camp Smith, Hawaii filled with officers, NCOs, and servicemembers from all the branches of the military. As far as interacting with civilians this is actually promoted in the military. For example USFK has its own Good Neighbor program that encourages US servicemembers to help out the surrounding Korean community. The ridiculousness goes on and on in Paestrich’s article such as calling Chelsea Manning a “legend” and Admiral Harris a Chinese “warlord”. Overall Paestrich is extremely uninformed about the US military and how it works.
To me it seems that Admiral Harris is heading to South Korea for the simple reason that he is someone that the President fully trusts to promote his policies on North Korea. Admiral Harris’s command, PACOM was responsible for the executing the “maximum pressure campaign” that many have credited with helping bring North Korea to the negotiating table. Putting Admiral Harris in charge of the US embassy in Seoul, along with putting John Bolton in place as National Security Advisor, and Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State signals to the Kim regime that President Trump has strong advocates of his policies across the US national security apparatus at a time of upcoming tough negotiations with North Korea. Using Occam’s Razor the simplest reason is usually the right one instead of wild global warming, military cabal, military industrial complex, etc. conspiracy theories.
The Trump administration may be sending a message to North Korea by sending a well respected US Navy admiral to possibly be the next US ambassador to South Korea instead of Australia as previously announced:
Admiral Harry Harris
U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Harris, who was formerly nominated as ambassador to Australia, may be re-nominated as the ambassador to South Korea, according to media reports, Wednesday.
The U.S. and South Korean governments have not confirmed the nomination, but Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop noted the change, Wednesday, after being informed by U.S. Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan a day earlier, according to an AP report.
“While we would have welcomed Admiral Harris here as the ambassador to Australia, we understand that there are significant challenges for the United States on the Korean Peninsula,” she was quoted as saying.
U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Harris to be ambassador to Australia in February.
Harris, 61, reportedly planned to retire this year, but decided to take the post as ambassador to Australia based on his deep interest in bilateral relations between the countries. He is known to have less experience in dealing with South Korea. [Korea Times]
Here is what the PACOM commander says Kim Jong-un will do if the US military pulls out of Korea:
Admiral Harry Harris
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would do a “victory dance” if the United States pulled its troops from South Korea, a top U.S. military commander said Thursday.
Adm. Harry Harris, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, was offering his assessment of how Kim would respond in the event the U.S. succumbed to the North’s longstanding demand to remove its 28,000 troops from the South. [Yonhap]
I think it depends on the context of the pull out. If the US unilaterally pulls out of the US-ROK alliance due to a split with the South Korean government, Kim Jong-un would of course do a “victory dance”.
However, if the US pulls out after an intrusive international inspection program verifies the end of their nuclear program, reduction in forces along the DMZ, elimination of ICBMs, and other measures then he likely would not. We will see what the upcoming talks lead. It should be another interesting year for those of us who follow events on the Korean peninsula.
Where are his sources? And did he say this as head of PACOM or as the new US Ambassador to Australia? Does his Japanese roots influence his hardline stance? The Times: “[Harris] said it was crucial that the United States “bring Kim Jong-un to his senses, not his knees.”’ https://t.co/2p25i357xs
In my opinion Admiral Harris is a great pick for ambassador to such an important regional security ally as Australia:
US President Donald Trump meets with Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr. in Hawaii on November 3, 2017
China is seeking to “undermine” the international order in the Asia Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Australia, said in Washington on Wednesday.
Addressing the US Committee on Armed Services on the challenges facing the US military in the region, Adm. Harris, the highest commander of US forces in Asia Pacific region, said the Trump administration must work to counter Beijing’s influence in the region.
“China’s intent is crystal clear. We ignore it at our peril,” he said in public testimony. “I’m concerned China will now work to undermine the international rules-based order.”
Plain-spoken and well-known in the international community for his remarks on US policy in the Asia Pacific, Harris has often provoked a vitriolic reaction from Beijing, in particular for his passionate calls for action in the South China Sea.
His appointment would raise the stakes in the battle for influence in Asia, with experts saying Harris could push the Australian government to tighten military cooperation with its traditional ally. [CNN]
You can read more at the link, but Australia has very strong economic ties with China with their mining industry exporting massive amounts of resources to the Chinese mainland. Picking such a high profile US military figure that has been so outspoken about Chinese intentions, is a good counter to any influence the Chinese may try to use on Australia economically.
We have seen in the past how the Chinese used their economic leverage against South Korea in the ongoing THAAD dispute. If they try the same tactic against Australia, for example in a South China Sea dispute, the US will have a strong voice in Australia to speak out against it.
