syriacus
Since Nov 2, 2000
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syriacus
Since Nov 2, 2000
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Dear Senators, Please do not instigate another Korean War
Truman's calamitous decision, to withdraw our troops from S. Korea by 1949, led directly to the loss of 30,000 American lives in Korea in the last 30 months of his presidency.As you can see from the following abbreviated overview,
The situation in Iraq today is analogous to the post-WWII situation in Korea The comparison between the situations in Iraq and in Korea is stronger than the comparison between the situations in Iraq and in 1960's-70's Vietnam .
This is especially true because political leaders like John Murtha tell us we can rely on using redeployment to keep Iraq safe. They tell us that we can abandon our posts within Iraq and still be able to promote stability in the Middle East.
Reliance on redeployment has been proven to be calamitous in the past.
Please don't encourage a repetition of the disastrous mistake made by the Truman administration.
In case you are unfamiliar with the the Korean Conflict, America's "Forgotten War," here is some background.
I'm sure that the similarities between S. Korea in 1949 and Iraq in 2007 will be self-evident.
- In the early years of South Korean freedom, (which began in 1945) the politically and socially unstable country was wracked with Civil War ( -- as an example, see information about the 1948 Cheju Uprising)
- The South Korean government was young, and inexperienced
- S. Koreans had only recently begun to learn how to manage their own country, which had been micro-managed by the Japanese for many decades.
- The S. Korean army was not strong enough to resist invasion.
- South Korea was surrounded by countries governed by an ideology (An "ISM") known as Communism, which had, as one of its goals the imposition of its way-of-life on its rivals, the free countries.
Now we are at a decisive moment in our relationship with Iraq. President Bush has made a decision to resist the Democrats' calls to withdraw troops too quickly.
President Truman made the opposite decision regarding our presence in S. Korea. He removed our troops from S. Korea by 1949, a mere 4 years after we had freed that country from decades of oppression under the Japanese.
As was foreseen by many thoughtful people, S. Korea was invaded and almost totally occupied within a year of Truman's troop withdrawal.
Truman must have been shaken by the realization that he had made an error of the greatest magnitude.
Nevertheless, he told the press he was merely sending US troops to S. Korea to fight a "police action" against "bandits."
Redeployment of US troops from Japan was not easy. Among other problems:
US troops were undermanned
US troops were undersupplied (Truman had slashed the military budget)
US troops were underprepared for what they faced. (The first troops sent from Japan were the closest but were the least ready to fight.)
Landings in Korea were difficult and had to be diverted because of bad weather.
Initially, American planes had no airbase in Korea and had to fly to Japan to refuel. (The S. Korean airbase had been taken over by the N. Koreans)By the time the Korean War ended
1. 33,000+ Americans had died (at an average rate of 1,000 US deaths per month in Korea under Truman You can view a table comparing US deaths in Iraq and in Korea)
2. the military draft was in full swing, drawing in young men who had never been interested in joining the military
3. the severest wartime censorship in memory was imposed on the press (please read the about shocking censorship rules at the link)
4. millions of Koreans were killed, displaced, starving or homeless (read a sample story at Tragedy, Starvation and Incessant Plodding is Lot of Korean Refugee)In 1948, Truman erroneously thought that we could abandon our posts in S. Korea without endangering our interests in the Pacific.
He was wrong.
As a matter of fact, in the first days of the resultant Korean War he actually endangered security in the US as well as Japan by hastily sending men and equipment from those countries to Korea.
Footnote: In spite of our heavy sacrifices to free them, our European allies were angered that we were involved in Asia and weren't directing all our energies to defending them. What MacArthur told them is applicable today.
"The issue is a global one and failure to comprehend this fact carries the germs of freedom's ultimate destruction. If the fight is not waged with courage and invincible determination to meet the challenge here, it will indeed be fought and possibly lost, on the battlefields of Europe."
Bush interrupted Saddam's comeback on the world stage.
A beneficial side effect was the dismantling of Libya's WMD program.
Containment of Iraq was failing more each day.
1. The oil-for-food program was corrupt
2. The weapons inspections were a farce
3. There are indications that Saddam was co-operating with Qadhafi on programs to develop weapons in Libya
4. US and allied planes were targeted
5. Uninspected flights to Baghdad gutted the sanctions
6. Terrorists were training in Iraq
7. Saddam supported terrorism - paying $25,000 to each family of a suicide bomber and $10,000 to the families of other Palestinians killed in the intifadah.
8. Saddam created the Jerusalem Army [the Jaysh al-Quds] to "liberate" Jerusalem
9. Saddam refused to destroy his Samoud 2 missiles which violated the UN mandate
10. Saddam brutalized our fellow human beings
Saddam was thumbing his nose at decent people as he rewarded his collaborators.
Analysis: Saddam steps up defiance, 1 December, 2000, By BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy
A pre-9/11 Presidential candidate
Who would have thought that we would see A choice as weak as Huckabee? Another Clinton, who when pressed, Will not defend the brave, free West. "Fools rush in," it's often said. But wimpy men can make us dead.