------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 27, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
EDITORIAL: KOREA'S PASSION At a recent anti-war teach-in in New York organized by ANSWER, a South Korean woman told, with intense pride, how the people in her country are finally able to stand up to the U.S. by the millions and demand an end to military occupation. But her pride was mixed with unbearable pain. Tears ran down her face and her voice broke as she recalled the tens of thousands of her compatriots who were jailed and tortured, especially during the long years of military dictatorship, because they spoke out for Korea's sovereignty and self-determination. It was a moment that should have been shown by every television network in North America. If ordinary people here could see her honest passion, they would begin to get a sense of what is really happening right now in Korea. Instead, they hear the same old lies over and over again. The same tired phrases are repeated from network to network, newspaper to newspaper, by people who know nothing about Korea. But they do know what their job is: to sell the public on the righteousness of a bloody war that killed millions of Koreans, and to justify the 50 years of U.S. military occupation of the south that have followed. Nothing seems to outrage the right wing in this country more than the idea that the U.S. should get out of Korea. When there was talk for a brief period during the Carter administration about reducing the number of U.S. troops there, the Army brass almost mutinied. Gen. John Singlaub, who led this right-wing revolt and was relieved of his command, went on to become a darling of the "World Anti-Communist League," set up by the notorious Rev. Sun Myong Moon, himself a creation of the CIA. Even though Singlaub was forcibly retired, however, the militarists won. The U.S. force in Korea was not reduced, not even by one soldier, and it is this that is provoking yet another crisis in the world today. If the Vietnam War had ended in the division of that country, there would undoubtedly be the same lobby in the U.S. to keep that occupation going indefinitely. U.S. military occupation anywhere provides lucrative business for all kinds of profiteers. Fortunately, that didn't happen. The U.S. "lost" all of Vietnam. But it was no loss for the people here. It was the beginning of a new phase in the struggle that will only grow as the billionaire class tries to push the people into new military adventures. The anti-war movement of the 1960s and 1970s was no mere "syndrome." It took a while before the people became conscious of Vietnam's history, its long struggle against colonial occupation, and the deep desire of the people there for self-determination. But eventually the masses of people here saw through the "domino theory" and all the other justifications being given for the war. By the millions, they passionately rejected the role of being killers and cannon fodder for billionaire corporations and banks. Now the movement is back bigger than ever, and if the next target of aggression is Korea, it will educate itself on this subject, too. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
