6. Seoul Reasons to Say Goodbye
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
On June 25th 1950 the Cold War turned hot. A large North Korean force invaded South Korea with the moral backing of the Soviet Union. Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State, had placed Korea outside of America’s defense perimeter in Asia and Kim Il Sung took this as a sign that South Korea was ripe for the taking. The US quickly responded, sending a detachment of soldiers known as Task Force Smith from Japan. This small under-equipped and vastly outnumbered blocking force was quickly swallowed up by the massive North Korean communist army. Thus began a war that would last for three years and consume the lives of 36,000 Americans with another 103,000 wounded. The war would end just where it began with both sides staring each other down across the 38th parallel. The US military never left Korea. Today over 29,000 servicemen and women protect prosperous South Korea from their destitute kin in the north.
With the economic situation as it is, now would be the moment to begin to engage North Korea in a lasting peace to eliminate the threat of war between the two Koreas. South Korea, since the war, has had one of the most effective armies in the region. Stories of South Korean bravery in action alongside the US military during the Vietnam War is legendary. South Korea’s industry is progressive and it is time they begin to use this wealth to provide for their own defense. Fifty Eight years has been enough of a buffer for South Korea. This is not to say we wouldn’t come to their aid if North Korea got obstreperous but the time of the current large scale US commitment in Korea has passed. 
The United States could use those assets elsewhere and the drag on our budget is high. Coming in at number six is a need to draw down our forces in South Korea.
There were several options on the ballot but Putin’s control of the government meant access to information on these other candidates was severely limited in most cases and outright restricted in others. The one man most known in the west, Gary Kasparov the chess champion, was denied inclusion on the ballot and is one of the key opposition leaders who has called the election a “farce”. Assemblies have often been broken up by law enforcement officials within Russia and the media is run by the state and thus is pro-Putin. 
A win by him in either Texas or Ohio will send his opponent “to the showers”. If he manages to win both it will bring down the curtains for sure. The Obama campaign has learned a valuable lesson from the Kerry campaign of four years ago. Whenever there is an attack from either Clinton or McCain, they waste no time in returning fire; sometimes in a matter of hours. They understand the power of the “swiftboat” and it appears, like in the famous line in Jaws, that his opponent are going to need a bigger boat.
Bush claimed that such a meeting would give credence to the authoritarian regime. I am so sick of this administration’s callous disregard for precedents and a strange neglect of history. When Republican President Richard Nixon visited China, a move seen as one of his few achievements, China was one of the most authoritarian nations on the planet. Look at Chinese-American relations now. Granted the economic policy highly favors China and that needs to change but China has moved beyond their insular foreign policy and has begun a new movement of openness that will not be reversed. After Senators Kerry and McCain pressed the President to normalize relations with Vietnam in 1995, trade restrictions were lifted and in 2000 President Clinton became the first US President to visit the nation since the war ended. (President Nixon actually visited the Vietnam while still at war in 1969). The communist state has followed China’s lead and they have allowed free trade to flourish in this once closed country. And now there is debate over Cuba. Is there anyone who does not doubt the same result we have seen in the communist nations of China and Vietnam will also ensue in Cuba? It is time to return Cuba to the paradise it was in the 1940s. Resuming ties with the island nation will bring their society closer to ours, not vice versa.
The problem is many Western companies have moved their factories overseas to take advantage of kinder profit margins. To impose a tariff would hurt these companies. So what, you say. They are traitors anyway, right? Well, many Americans own these companies’ stocks and such punitive measures would cause a ripple through the market. Even if we were prepared to aggressively go after the unequal trade situation,