-Caveat Lector- U.S. to Abandon Seoul, South Korea: TOTAL U.S. NEWS BLACKOUT
http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=704 by Todd Brendan Fahey February 24, 2003 The U.S. "mainstream media" continues its blackout on disturbing military and diplomatic moves on the Korean peninsula. Recently, EtherZone.com via this writer brought to U.S. attention the Pentagon's discussion of troop withdrawals and/or repositioning in South Korea. The news initially broke via South Korea's MBC news network, prompting heated denials from Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and spokespersons at the Pentagon. Articles running in South Korean newspapers and Web sites were reversed, obviously at the behest of the Pentagon, and it appeared for a few days that MBC broadcasting had egg on its face. Now, of course, given the spate of Pentagon statements, we know that MBC reports were correct; that Secretary Rumsfeld lied; and that the Pentagon is, indeed, withdrawing U.S. forces from the capital region of Seoul, to be followed by a "reduction" in U.S. ground troops, generally... The reasons given by Rumsfeld and General Leon J. LaPorte, who heads the U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) are, that housing troops in a dense capitol city--and especially in light of the recent so-called "wave of anti- Americanism in South Korea"--is too cumbersome a task; that U.S. troops stationed in Seoul affect the daily lives of too many South Korean citizens, and are, generally, too exposed. On these counts, and as a resident of South Korea since 1999--having seen the behavior of G.I.s in Seoul's many nightclub strips, "boys being boys," and all-- the Pentagon is probably correct in repositioning our forces to a less populous area. But there is more to the decision than has been stated by the Pentagon: As we speak, the Pentagon, the U.S. Joint Chiefs and General LaPorte of the USFK are planning to alter the structure of command under which U.S. and ROK (South Korean) forces serve. The current structure--which has been in place since the 1954 armistice that marked the informal end of the Korean war--is such that the President of South Korea and his Ministry of Defense have a vital say in the command/control of the joint-troops (roughly 2/5ths, in Board of Directors' terms), but as a matter of reality and policy, it is the governing General of the USFK, by way of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, by way of the U.S. Commander in Chief, which has ultimate control of U.S. and ROK troops. To summarize: Currently, the U.S. President has ultimate command over U.S. troops and, for that matter, South Korean troops, where concerns the safety and security of the South Korean portion of the Korean peninsula. But being drafted now is a fundamental alteration in said structure, and which would give the President of South Korea ultimate control over the USFK forces--both the U.S. forces and the ROK's own forces. Sources in the U.S. Intelligence community, meanwhile, point out that 90% of the SIGINT (signals Intelligence) received by South Korea on the secretive goings-on of Kim Jong-Il and the DPRK (North Korea) come from the United States--either by way of satellites, U2 aircraft, or electronics aboard U.S. naval vessels patroling the waters surrounding the Korean peninsula. It has also been estimated by U.S. military and Intelligence officials that the ROK (South Korea) would need 3 years and over $18 billion to reach any semblance of America's SIGINT-gathering capacity toward a hostile Pyongyang. North Korea is secretive enough as it is. For the U.S. to "reshape the USFK" and cease its Intel. functions in the region, placing the onus upon an unready and unequipped South Korea would be a willful act of homicide on the part of the Pentagon. Questions of "should our forces be in South Korea at all" aside: Should U.S. forces remain in South Korea, command and control of said forces must remain in the hands of the Pentagon. To blindfold the average U.S. infantryman for lack of information as to North Korea's movements is unthinkable and unconscionable. In light of the impending pullout of U.S. troops from the capitol region of Seoul, and in light of this incredible Pentagon proposal to hand over to pro-Pyongyang South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun the command/control reins of the USFK (combined U.S.-South Korean military forces), one wonders if the long-rumored "Seoul-grab" by North Korea isn't about to take place. The men and women of the USFK, serving to protect a free South Korea from communist aggression not 30 kilometers from its capitol city, deserve transparent and honest answers from the Pentagon. Immediately. *** Fahey, a strategic writer stationed in South Korea, has served as aide to Central Intelligence Agency agent Theodore L. "Ted" Humes, Division of Slavic Languages, and to the late-Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) chief Lt. General Daniel O. Graham; to former Arizona Governor Evan Mecham (R- AZ), former Congressman John Conlan (R- AZ) and others. Forwarded for your information. 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