i wonder How Much This One Will COST?
North and South Korea announced Wednesday that their leaders will hold their second-ever summit this month, reprising the historic 2000 meeting that launched unprecedented reconciliation between the two longtime foes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will meet Aug. 28-30 in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, South Korean presidential security adviser Baek Jong-chun told reporters.
At the only other such North-South summit, Kim met then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in June 2000, also in Pyongyang.
North Korea also released a statement confirming an agreement on the summit signed Sunday between the heads of the two countries' intelligence agencies.
"The meeting between the top leaders of the North and the South will be of weighty significance in opening a new phase of peace on the Korean peninsula," the statement said, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
"The second inter-Korean summit will contribute to substantially opening the era of peace and prosperity between the two Koreas," South Korea's presidential office said in a statement.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, but the 2000 meeting led them to embark on economic cooperation projects and hold reunions of families split by their shared border — the world's most heavily fortified.
Kim Dae-jung won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to engage North Korea through his so-called sunshine policy.
However, the first summit's achievements were tainted by later revelations that the South Korean government made secret payments to foster the meeting.
Kim Jong Il believed the timing was right for a second meeting due to the state of relations between the two Koreas and the improved regional situation, South Korean National Intelligence Service head Kim Man-bok quoted his North Korean counterpart as saying earlier this month. Kim Man-bok twice visited the North to arrange the summit.
Kim Jong Il promised in 2000 to make a return visit to South Korea for a summit, but it appeared security concerns made that impossible for this month's meeting. Kim Man-bok said North Korea had proposed Pyongyang as the venue and that Roh accepted it. Kim rarely travels abroad, and leaves the country solely via train.
The two sides will work out the agenda for the summit this month in meetings at the North Korean border city of Kaesong, site of a joint industrial park that is one of the most tangible achievements from the 2000 meeting.
At the first summit, Kim Jong Il warmly greeted his South Korean counterpart on the tarmac immediately upon landing, showing a human side of the reclusive North Korean leader known for his trademark jumpsuit and sunglasses.
The summit comes at a time of optimism on the peninsula as North Korea has made strides in abandoning its nuclear weapons program, including shutting down its sole operating nuclear reactor last month in exchange for oil aid. The United States and other regional powers are negotiating with North Korea on a timeline for the communist nation to declare all its nuclear programs and disable the facilities.
Roh has repeatedly said that he would meet with Kim at any time and any place and there has been persistent talk this year that a North-South summit was possible. The conservative opposition blasted such potential plans, however, calling them an election ploy ahead of South Korea's December presidential vote.
Roh is set to leave office in February and has seen his popularity plummet amid perceptions he has bungled handling of the economy and security policies.
___
Associated Press writer Kwang-tae Kim contributed to this report.
MORE INFO
The Blue House has just announced that Pres. Roh will make a state visit to Pyongyang from Aug. 28th ~ 30th and hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jeong-il.
There has been speculation in this blog regarding the visit and it has now become reality. Although I doubt it, if there is some sort of breakthrough during the talks, fine by me. But if this is an attempt by the current administration to leave something of a legacy for Pres. Roh, while increasing Uri’s chances before the elections, and if this involved a huge payment to the North, then I’m afraid that this visit is nothing more than an expensive publicity stunt.
UPDATE 1 (by Robert Koehler): Here’s the link to theYonhap (Korean) breaking news report. Apparently Cheong Wa Dae and North Korea’s KCNA announced the upcoming summit simultaneously. Ain’t that special?
Comments.....................................................................
slim
Unable to find a Taliban leader senior enough to surrender to, Roh turns to the next worst thing.
SOMEGUYINKOREA.
“Can you smell it? That’s a Nobel Peace Prize cooking.”
It’s unlikely that the Nobel committee will fall for that trick twice.
How much do you figure Roh will give to Kim Jong Il in order to secure a visit to Seoul before his time is up?
R. Elgin
There are so many things one could say about this but I think I can safely say that the average South Korean will not be impressed at all, especially considering Roh’s tenure, the revelation of KDJ’s money-for-summit deal and the North’s steady provocations.
If the north and south wanted to talk, they can do so without such a visit. This is pure political show.
Lankov
Well, this is what I normally say: the more exchanges, the better even if it means compromising. But in the case of a summit there are three important considerations. This summit is exclusively a pre-election trick, do not forget this. Normal summit would be a good idea, but it should be planned carefully and hold in Seoul or other location outside Pyongyang.
1) Roh and his group are pressed by their low ratings, and this means they will make far more concessions than necessary. There might be illegal payments again, and a lot of other things the South Korean public will not learn about any time soon (until after the elections, at least).
2) A visit by a South Korean leader is supporting the new assertions of NK propaganda. Now the NK propaganda-mongers admit that South is relatively influent, but they strill insist that it is spiritually corrupt, so the Southerners are looking to KJI as the only hope for their moral redemption. They presented Kim Dae Jung’s trip as a visit to submit tribute, and they will do this again. It is especially important that the summit will take place in Pyongyang. Within NK symbolism this is clearly a sigh of an inferior position.
3) There are almost no chances that the additional aid Pyongyang will receive will be subjected to any control by Seoul. This means that 90% of the aid will go to strengthen the system, e.g. to provide full rations to the security police and their families, to give some special rewards to the most zealous officials, to boost propaganda and the like.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
and this will cost me how much?
According to Yonhap, President Roh will go to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong-il 28-30 August (Anyone care to speculate how much this summit cost?):
President Roh Moo-hyun will visit Pyongyang Aug. 28-30 to hold a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Roh’s office Cheong Wa Dae said in a statement Wednesday. “The two Koreas have agreed to hold a summit in Pyongyang Aug. 28-30. For the summit, Roh will remain in the North Korean capital for three days,” said the statement. “The second inter-Korean summit is expected to contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The talks will also provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem,” it said.
The U.S. was “surprised” by the announcement, but ”expressed deep interest”. Well, da prez needed something to bolster those numbers and this summit, if successful, will also give him something to be remembered by.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
MY OPINION, I SAW THIS COMING AS OF LAST YEAR. HIS #'s ARE LOW AND WITH HIS SCREWING UP THE HOSTAGES, HE IS SEEING THIS AS HIS SALVATION. MY ONLY QUESTION IS HOW MUCH WILL THIS SHOW, COST THE SOUTH KOREAN TAXPAYER. MORE INFO LATER..........
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
No Use Staring at the U.S. in Hostage Crisis
With the hostage crisis in Afghanistan dragging on while the number of casualties rises, certain groups in Korea have begun to shift the blame on the United States. One group opposed to the dispatch of Korean troops overseas has held a candle-lit vigil saying the U.S. caused this tragedy, while the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy issued a statement saying the negligence of the U.S. government was the reason behind the lack of progress in negotiations. Certain news media are starting to take that perspective, and the Uri Party hopped on the bandwagon.
It is difficult to believe Washington will be completely open to the idea of freeing Taliban prisoners. The U.S. government has refused to deal with terrorists even when its own citizens were taken hostage. There may be exceptions, but in Iraq alone, six American hostages were killed after the U.S. government refused to negotiate with terrorists. At present, the fate of 10 American hostages remains unclear. U.S. government officials say if this principle is compromised, then terrorism may spread like wildfire around the world.
Even though that may be Washington’s position, this crisis cannot end simply with a decision by Washington. The government of Afghanistan may rely on the U.S., but the people of Afghanistan are fighting against the Taliban since their own livelihoods depend on winning that fight. The government of Afghanistan freed Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist and the Taliban have reportedly learned the value of such tactics. If such incidents are repeated, the government of Afghanistan is afraid its stability may collapse and their very lives come under threat.
The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, who is briefed on relevant information, said Seoul does not think Washington has independent authority. He said it was wrong to think the U.S. held all of the cards. He added the U.S. was cooperating very closely with Korea in the areas of diplomacy, military and other information.
The goal of the Taliban is to dump all of the responsibility on the U.S. government. The fueling of anti-American sentiment by certain groups in Korea will only play into the taliban’s hands and justify their atrocities. As Mehra Juddin Patan, the governor of Ghazni Province said, the U.S. is in a dilemma too, because the Koreans had come to a country where they shouldn’t be.
The more anti-American groups demand the participation of the U.S. in the hostage negotiations, the more they are trapping Korea within Washington's policy of not making concessions to terrorists. The floor leaders of Korea’s five main political parties are seeking to visit Washington D.C. to call for U.S. participation in the hostage negotiation process. But there is a strong possibility that this trip may end up being a political show to get more votes during the presidential election in December.
As the situation grows more serious, efforts by certain groups to use it to fan anti-American hatred will only intensify. Already, those groups may be planning a second version of the mass rallies that happened after the deaths of Shim Mi-sun and Shin Hyo-soon, two schoolgirls who were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle here. The public must be able to distinguish between those who truly want to save the lives of the young Koreans and who are simply trying to capitalize on the suffering.
Kevin
Easy thought experiment: replace "the Taliban" with "North Korea," then note that South Korea's strategy is consistent in both cases.
Day 19
The summit between President Bush and Afghan President Karzai has made it quite clear, he is not giving into terrorist demands:
U.S President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karazi agreed on Monday morning not to give in to Taliban kidnappers of 23 Koreans in Afghanistan. In a meeting at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, the two made it clear there will be no release of Taliban prisoners in return for the freedom of the surviving 21 Korean hostages, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. “The Taleban are brutal and should not be emboldened by this,” he added.
This is probably joy to the ears of the anti-US groups in Korea. Now all they have to hope for is that the terrorists kill the Korean hostages and then they can really start jumping for joy because they will probably get more traction with their anti-US campaign. Truly disgusting people, but when you are used to making excuses for North Korea making excuses for the Taliban comes easy.
Meanwhile the Taliban continues to want the UN to intervene to set up direct negotiations with the South Korean government, but the UN is unlikely to get involved because they say they don’t deal with terrorist groups. The Africa Union has condemned the Taliban kidnappers as well today if anyone cares because I’m sure the Taliban doesn’t.
The Korean media is beginning to come around with the Joong Ang Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo releasing editorials bashing the anti-US groups, politicians, and media who are trying to foment anti-US sentiment over the hostage crisis. It is good to see some sanity returning to the Korean media, but we’ll see how long it lasts once the Taliban starts killing more hostages.
With the hostage crisis in Afghanistan dragging on while the number of casualties rises, certain groups in Korea have begun to shift the blame on the United States. One group opposed to the dispatch of Korean troops overseas has held a candle-lit vigil saying the U.S. caused this tragedy, while the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy issued a statement saying the negligence of the U.S. government was the reason behind the lack of progress in negotiations. Certain news media are starting to take that perspective, and the Uri Party hopped on the bandwagon.
It is difficult to believe Washington will be completely open to the idea of freeing Taliban prisoners. The U.S. government has refused to deal with terrorists even when its own citizens were taken hostage. There may be exceptions, but in Iraq alone, six American hostages were killed after the U.S. government refused to negotiate with terrorists. At present, the fate of 10 American hostages remains unclear. U.S. government officials say if this principle is compromised, then terrorism may spread like wildfire around the world.
Even though that may be Washington’s position, this crisis cannot end simply with a decision by Washington. The government of Afghanistan may rely on the U.S., but the people of Afghanistan are fighting against the Taliban since their own livelihoods depend on winning that fight. The government of Afghanistan freed Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist and the Taliban have reportedly learned the value of such tactics. If such incidents are repeated, the government of Afghanistan is afraid its stability may collapse and their very lives come under threat.
The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, who is briefed on relevant information, said Seoul does not think Washington has independent authority. He said it was wrong to think the U.S. held all of the cards. He added the U.S. was cooperating very closely with Korea in the areas of diplomacy, military and other information.
The goal of the Taliban is to dump all of the responsibility on the U.S. government. The fueling of anti-American sentiment by certain groups in Korea will only play into the taliban’s hands and justify their atrocities. As Mehra Juddin Patan, the governor of Ghazni Province said, the U.S. is in a dilemma too, because the Koreans had come to a country where they shouldn’t be.
The more anti-American groups demand the participation of the U.S. in the hostage negotiations, the more they are trapping Korea within Washington's policy of not making concessions to terrorists. The floor leaders of Korea’s five main political parties are seeking to visit Washington D.C. to call for U.S. participation in the hostage negotiation process. But there is a strong possibility that this trip may end up being a political show to get more votes during the presidential election in December.
As the situation grows more serious, efforts by certain groups to use it to fan anti-American hatred will only intensify. Already, those groups may be planning a second version of the mass rallies that happened after the deaths of Shim Mi-sun and Shin Hyo-soon, two schoolgirls who were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle here. The public must be able to distinguish between those who truly want to save the lives of the young Koreans and who are simply trying to capitalize on the suffering.
Kevin
Easy thought experiment: replace "the Taliban" with "North Korea," then note that South Korea's strategy is consistent in both cases.
Day 19
The summit between President Bush and Afghan President Karzai has made it quite clear, he is not giving into terrorist demands:
U.S President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karazi agreed on Monday morning not to give in to Taliban kidnappers of 23 Koreans in Afghanistan. In a meeting at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, the two made it clear there will be no release of Taliban prisoners in return for the freedom of the surviving 21 Korean hostages, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. “The Taleban are brutal and should not be emboldened by this,” he added.
This is probably joy to the ears of the anti-US groups in Korea. Now all they have to hope for is that the terrorists kill the Korean hostages and then they can really start jumping for joy because they will probably get more traction with their anti-US campaign. Truly disgusting people, but when you are used to making excuses for North Korea making excuses for the Taliban comes easy.
Meanwhile the Taliban continues to want the UN to intervene to set up direct negotiations with the South Korean government, but the UN is unlikely to get involved because they say they don’t deal with terrorist groups. The Africa Union has condemned the Taliban kidnappers as well today if anyone cares because I’m sure the Taliban doesn’t.
The Korean media is beginning to come around with the Joong Ang Ilbo and the Chosun Ilbo releasing editorials bashing the anti-US groups, politicians, and media who are trying to foment anti-US sentiment over the hostage crisis. It is good to see some sanity returning to the Korean media, but we’ll see how long it lasts once the Taliban starts killing more hostages.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Karzai’s dilemma
Suppose you are Hamid Karzai. You are the president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, elected in October 2004 by the first-ever popular vote in the history of Afghanistan.
You were originally a member of the mujahideen, or the national alliance that fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the 1980s. You currently receive strong support from Western countries, including the United States.
More fundamentally, the fervent hope of the Afghan people to end the civil war got you elected president. You cannot let your people down. You must end the war that’s been going on in your homeland for some 30 years.
Recently, however, Taliban insurgents have taken over several parts of the country, and the entire nation has fallen into war. The Taliban took power in 1996 with the support of Pakistan with a vision for creating what they saw as an ideal Islamic country.
They still dream of establishing this kind of society. Their goal is to recapture power and to that end they will not hesitate to kidnap or murder innocent people.
This is the group you are at war with. Despite being derided as the “mayor of Kabul,” a way of implying that your authority outside the capital city of Kabul is limited, you throw yourself into efforts to establish peace.
In the midst of this, 23 Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban fighters who know no rules and no pity. Two of the hostages, Bae Hyeong-gyu and Shim Sung-min, were killed. It has become a heartbreaking tragedy.
The Taliban is giving you no room to negotiate. They have demanded the release of rebel prisoners and are threatening to kill the rest of the hostages if your government doesn’t comply. The Korean government, desperate for the return of the 21 remaining hostages, is pressuring you to make a deal with the rebels.
The Korean government reminds you that after all, you swapped a rebel prisoner for the release of an Italian journalist who was kidnapped in March. At the time, you made it clear that this was going to be a “one-time deal,” but the Koreans seem to have forgotten that part.
You now sorely regret having succumbed to the Taliban threat in March. It seems to have encouraged them to kidnap more locals and foreigners. As president, you cannot ignore public sentiment. At the time of the March incident, the cruelly beheaded body of an Afghan journalist who had been with the kidnapped Italian had been found. The public was livid.
“Why do you, who turned a blind eye when an Afghan national was kidnapped, listen to the Taliban’s demands when a foreigner is kidnapped?” Afghans said. You had to bear the brunt of your people’s anger.
The reason you had to comply, however, was because Italy had threatened to withdraw some 2,000 of its soldiers from the country if you didn’t. If Italy withdrew its troops, the faint hope of ending the civil war would have grown even dimmer.
Korea, too, is threatening to withdraw its troops and is asking you to release the rebel prisoners in return for the hostages. Roh Moo-hyun, your Korean counterpart, even held an official news conference three days after the kidnapping in which he seemed to reconfirm the withdrawal of the Korean troops within the year.
The Koreans are very sly with their offers. They have promised economic aid if you only comply with the Taliban demand of releasing rebel prisoners in return for the hostages. However, they do not mention a word about helping to end the civil war. What good would economic aid do when the country has fallen into the hands of the Taliban?
Moreover, the Korean media portrays you, the chief of a sovereign country, as the head of a puppet government that the United States has set up. The Korean media has gone beyond calling for the United States to act and now blames the U.S. government for what has happened. They seem to have forgotten that Afghanistan has a government of its own.
You don’t feel as if the Dong-eui and the Dasan, the Korean troops in your country, are playing a particularly crucial part in the resolution of the civil war. After all, they have not set foot outside the U.S. base in Bagram, and the situation in Afghanistan is too serious to attach much importance to these stationary and inactive troops.
If the Koreans so desperately want the deal, they should offer to help oust the Taliban in return. Only then would you feel any incentive to consider the release of major rebel prisoners.
What you truly want is peace in Afghanistan. It’s not about money. May President Roh understand your desperate wish.
Lee Chul-hee
The writer is a deputy political news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.
Suppose you are Hamid Karzai. You are the president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, elected in October 2004 by the first-ever popular vote in the history of Afghanistan.
You were originally a member of the mujahideen, or the national alliance that fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the 1980s. You currently receive strong support from Western countries, including the United States.
More fundamentally, the fervent hope of the Afghan people to end the civil war got you elected president. You cannot let your people down. You must end the war that’s been going on in your homeland for some 30 years.
Recently, however, Taliban insurgents have taken over several parts of the country, and the entire nation has fallen into war. The Taliban took power in 1996 with the support of Pakistan with a vision for creating what they saw as an ideal Islamic country.
They still dream of establishing this kind of society. Their goal is to recapture power and to that end they will not hesitate to kidnap or murder innocent people.
This is the group you are at war with. Despite being derided as the “mayor of Kabul,” a way of implying that your authority outside the capital city of Kabul is limited, you throw yourself into efforts to establish peace.
In the midst of this, 23 Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban fighters who know no rules and no pity. Two of the hostages, Bae Hyeong-gyu and Shim Sung-min, were killed. It has become a heartbreaking tragedy.
The Taliban is giving you no room to negotiate. They have demanded the release of rebel prisoners and are threatening to kill the rest of the hostages if your government doesn’t comply. The Korean government, desperate for the return of the 21 remaining hostages, is pressuring you to make a deal with the rebels.
The Korean government reminds you that after all, you swapped a rebel prisoner for the release of an Italian journalist who was kidnapped in March. At the time, you made it clear that this was going to be a “one-time deal,” but the Koreans seem to have forgotten that part.
You now sorely regret having succumbed to the Taliban threat in March. It seems to have encouraged them to kidnap more locals and foreigners. As president, you cannot ignore public sentiment. At the time of the March incident, the cruelly beheaded body of an Afghan journalist who had been with the kidnapped Italian had been found. The public was livid.
“Why do you, who turned a blind eye when an Afghan national was kidnapped, listen to the Taliban’s demands when a foreigner is kidnapped?” Afghans said. You had to bear the brunt of your people’s anger.
The reason you had to comply, however, was because Italy had threatened to withdraw some 2,000 of its soldiers from the country if you didn’t. If Italy withdrew its troops, the faint hope of ending the civil war would have grown even dimmer.
Korea, too, is threatening to withdraw its troops and is asking you to release the rebel prisoners in return for the hostages. Roh Moo-hyun, your Korean counterpart, even held an official news conference three days after the kidnapping in which he seemed to reconfirm the withdrawal of the Korean troops within the year.
The Koreans are very sly with their offers. They have promised economic aid if you only comply with the Taliban demand of releasing rebel prisoners in return for the hostages. However, they do not mention a word about helping to end the civil war. What good would economic aid do when the country has fallen into the hands of the Taliban?
Moreover, the Korean media portrays you, the chief of a sovereign country, as the head of a puppet government that the United States has set up. The Korean media has gone beyond calling for the United States to act and now blames the U.S. government for what has happened. They seem to have forgotten that Afghanistan has a government of its own.
You don’t feel as if the Dong-eui and the Dasan, the Korean troops in your country, are playing a particularly crucial part in the resolution of the civil war. After all, they have not set foot outside the U.S. base in Bagram, and the situation in Afghanistan is too serious to attach much importance to these stationary and inactive troops.
If the Koreans so desperately want the deal, they should offer to help oust the Taliban in return. Only then would you feel any incentive to consider the release of major rebel prisoners.
What you truly want is peace in Afghanistan. It’s not about money. May President Roh understand your desperate wish.
Lee Chul-hee
The writer is a deputy political news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.
Monday, August 06, 2007
IMDB Link
Opens in Korea. 2007.08.23
How I saw it. DVD Screener.
Opening weekend in USA. $74,036,787 (USA) (29 July 2007) (3,922 Screens)
Plot. HEAVY SPOILER ALERT
When the first preview came out for this film last year on April fools day, I did not believe it. I finally believed it when I saw a real coming attraction for the movie. This film has had so many rumors that when it finally had an opening day in the USA, it still seemed like a shock.
Now, to be honest, I am a part time watcher of the TV show. I have not really watched it steady for years. This is why I will keep the review spoiler free.
I have no idea why I actually liked this film. It wasn't that funny at times. It seemed too rushed and way too short. But for some reason I was laughing at the right times and when it was funny it was one of the funniest films I have seen this year.
The drawings were first rate and much better animation that I have usually seen on the tv show. The guest voices were a great surprise and definately added to the joy of the film. After the movie is over, please watch all of the credits. The extras during the credits were a bonus for the casual and serious fan of the tv show.
Please see it when it arrives in Korea.
Grade B
Ned Flanders: Look at that, you can see the four states that border Springfield: Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky!
Bart Simpson: Oh yeah.
Opens in Korea. 2007.08.23
How I saw it. DVD Screener.
Opening weekend in USA. $74,036,787 (USA) (29 July 2007) (3,922 Screens)
Plot. HEAVY SPOILER ALERT
When the first preview came out for this film last year on April fools day, I did not believe it. I finally believed it when I saw a real coming attraction for the movie. This film has had so many rumors that when it finally had an opening day in the USA, it still seemed like a shock.
Now, to be honest, I am a part time watcher of the TV show. I have not really watched it steady for years. This is why I will keep the review spoiler free.
I have no idea why I actually liked this film. It wasn't that funny at times. It seemed too rushed and way too short. But for some reason I was laughing at the right times and when it was funny it was one of the funniest films I have seen this year.
The drawings were first rate and much better animation that I have usually seen on the tv show. The guest voices were a great surprise and definately added to the joy of the film. After the movie is over, please watch all of the credits. The extras during the credits were a bonus for the casual and serious fan of the tv show.
Please see it when it arrives in Korea.
Grade B
Ned Flanders: Look at that, you can see the four states that border Springfield: Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky!
Bart Simpson: Oh yeah.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Michael Irvin: 2007 Hall of Fame enshrinement speech
MAN WHAT A SPEECH IT WAS, SO A TIP OF THE HAT TO THE DALLAS COWBOYS TODAY!!!
Following is the transcript of former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin's enshrinement speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio Saturday night:
PRESENTER JERRY JONES
Hey, man, that will fire you up there. What an honor to be here with you, to be right here on this historic ground with these champions, these champions sitting here behind us.
You know, it is unique what can be the makeup of a championship team. A championship team can have a catalyst. They can have a spark, someone that can put a fire in another person's heart.
The Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s were champions. They were in three Super Bowls and won them in four years' time. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you tonight that the heartbeat, the heart and the soul of those championship teams, was Michael Irvin. Michael came to Dallas with a self proclaimed nickname, the Playmaker.
Now, at first many people didn't understand why this young guy would brand himself with such a bold nickname. But we begin to figure it out real, real soon.
When it was third and long, opposition coaches knew exactly where Troy Aikman was throwing the ball. The defensive backs knew exactly where Aikman was going with the ball. Everybody in the stadium knew where the ball was going, but they couldn't stop it.
Michael Irvin stands with his bust after delivering an emotional acceptance speech.
Troy Aikman often said the greatest thing about Michael Irvin is you could throw him the ball when he was covered or you could throw him the ball when it was open, and the results were usually the same almost all the time. It was either a completion and most of the time it was for a first down.
Now, when you've got a quarterback that has that kind of confidence in your receiver, you can have some offense. That's how you earn the name Playmaker, and that's how you keep it.
His performance always improved as the level of competition increased. He routinely had his best games against Deion Sanders, Darrell Green, Rod Woodson, Aeneas Williams. And his numbers increased as that long season went along and we got closer to the playoffs. From the regular season to the playoffs, from the playoffs to the Super Bowl, that was Michael Irvin's best days.
At the pinnacle of his career in 1995, he had 11 100 yard receiving games, a mark that is still an NFL record today. But the Dallas Cowboys' offenses really weren't designed for the receiver to get big stats. They really weren't designed for Troy, the quarterback, to really rack 'em up in statistics.
The teams were designed to win championships, and what that meant was take what the defense gave you. Now, with the backdrop of all of that, the fact that one team could produce the NFL's greatest all time rushing leader in Emmitt Smith, the fact that last year the first opportunity that he had a chance to be honored with these men, Troy Aikman came into the NFL Hall of Fame.
And the fact tonight that Michael Irvin is going to go in the Hall of Fame, it just shows you the team concept and shows you the balance that was there. The player that epitomized it more than anyone on the team, the player that taught it, the player embellished it, that was Michael Irvin and his leadership.
You can't get to Canton, Ohio without exceptional talent. But athletic ability alone was only a part of Michael's gifts. His hard work is legendary. In two a days, the grind of all of it. When you'd be on the field in the morning and in the afternoon, someone would look around and find, Where is Michael? He'd be down on the field with pads on in the hot sun getting some more in.
His passion, his competitiveness were really possibly his greatest gifts he shared them with his teammates on a daily bases. He practiced every day with the determination of a rookie that was hanging by a thread to make the team, and that's the way this great player approached it.
Aikman told me yesterday that Michael would never let the team have a bad practice. If there was a lull, he would create something between the defense and the offense. He'd get some stuff going just so that team could practice and get better for what they had to face Sunday.
Maybe that's the quality that separates the good players from the great players, the Hall of Fame players. Or maybe it's just the natural instinct of a man who had 16 brothers and sisters and knew that nothing in life was going to be given to him.
In the locker room, he was a teammate first, a competitor second, and a superstar third. His leadership style not only transcended the cliques in the locker room, but his leadership style on our team and our organization went from the locker room and the equipment room all the way to the boardroom. It permeated it.
I don't know that we'll see again a professional football player with a combination of his strength and his skills as an athlete on the field and his unbelievable people skills. Smart, resourceful, communication, charm, the kind of charisma and tremendous will with the strength to get the respect of the team. He had his faults. But in a unique way, that only Michael Irvin could pull off.
His fallibility by the people who followed him, by the people who were looking at him, his fallibility gave them strength because they knew, too, how fallible they were, and they wanted to see somebody that could go down and come up stronger and try to get better when they got on their feet. That's what Michael Irvin brought to the Dallas Cowboys and his locker room.
He learned his game from his older brothers in Fort Lauderdale. He had a great high school he played for, St. Thomas High School. He became a star at the University of Miami, drafted by Gil Brandt and Tex Schramm. He was nurtured by coach Tom Landry. He was coached in college and embellished when he got to pro football by one of the greatest coaches, Jimmy Johnson.
He spent his entire career in the loving embrace of the Dallas Cowboys. His journey reaches a destination tonight here in Canton, and it was a longer journey than most, with a lot of bumps in the road. He got knocked down for the last time at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. But tonight he'll get up again and he'll take his place among the immortals of this great game.
Michael Irvin, he's a friend. If you're in my shoes, you feel like he's a son. He's an inspirational and natural born leader. He's a loving father and husband. He's a wonderful brother and son. He's a Dallas Cowboy.
And tonight, forever more, he's a member of the professional football Hall of Fame. It's with pride that I present to you Michael Irvin. C'mon up here.
MICHAEL IRVIN
Thank you. Father, I'd like to thank you for allowing us all to travel here safely, thank you in advance for the same in allowing us to travel home.
Father, thank you for the man that you sent me to help me in Bishop T.D. Jakes, my spiritual father. I ask you now to put your arms around my Hall of Fame classmate Gene Hickerson and his family. Father, hold them tight and love them right. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.
Thank you.
I want to send a special love to all the people in Dallas, Texas, special love to all the Dallas Cowboy fans all over the world. Special love goes to my hometown of South Florida and all the Miami Hurricane fans, St. Thomas Aquinas fans.
I want to send love to every fan everywhere because you hear so often that people say, Oh, these are the guys that built the game. No. It's your hunger and your love for the game, your love for what we do that make this game what it is. I thank you for loving the game like we love it.
Jerry, those were kind words. Thank you. You know, when I first met Jerry he had just purchased the Dallas Cowboys. He had a bit of a concerned look on his face. I said to him, I said, We will have fun and we will win Super Bowls. You see, I knew Jerry had put all he had into purchasing the Cowboys. That's the way I see Jerry. He's a man that's willing to give all he has and all he wants to bring the Cowboy family Super Bowls.
Jerry, I appreciate your commitment to family, the Dallas Cowboy family and your own family. He has a beautiful wife, Jean. I tell her this. I just love her to death. Her spirit exudes beauty. Her mannerisms exude class. She's one of a kind. Jean, I do love you.
They have beautiful kids, daughter Charlotte, son Steven and Jerry, Jr. Each have played a role in my life and I thank all of them.
A heartfelt thank you to the selection committee, especially Rick Gosselin and Charean Williams. Charean is the first woman to have a seat on the selection committee. Charean, congratulations to you.
These gentlemen behind me, these men, they inspired me to become the player that I became. As I spent this week with these gentlemen that I've admired growing up, I kept thinking about how gifted they are. Man, they're gifted to run and cut, gifted to throw and catch, gifted to run through blocks and make great tackles.
And then I met their wives and their families and I realized that it's not only about the gift God gave us, but equally important is the help that God gave us. It's the people that God put in place to support us on our journey. So I will try to put the credit in the right place tonight and share with you my help and my journey.
I thank God for the help of my father Walter Irvin, whom I lost at the age of 17. He was my hero and he loved, I'm telling you, he loved the Dallas Cowboys. I woke up this morning smiling knowing that my father had not be here in the flesh but that he is in heaven watching and celebrating with his all time favorite coach, Coach Tom Landry.
Also Tex Schamm, Derrick Shepard and Mark Tuinei. Those guys, we think about them here, we feel them here. They will always be with us.
Before my father made his journey to heaven I sat with him. His final words to me were, Promise me you will take care of your mother. She's a good woman. As you've heard, my mother raised 17 children, most of whom are here tonight. There were challenges. But she would never complain. She always walked around the house and said, God has promised me that my latter days will be better than my former days. My mom and my Aunt Fanny, her oldest sister, they are part of my travel squad now.
As we travel, all they want is a nice room and an open tab on room service. When my workday is done I get to come by their room and we tell stories and we laugh and we have fun. We always end the night with them telling me, Baby, this is what God meant when he said, Our latter days will be better than our former days.
I can't tell you how it makes me feel to know that God uses me to deliver His promise. I love you, mom. I love you, Aunt Fanny.
For better or for worse, those are the vows we take before God in marriage. It's easy to live with the for better, but rarely can you find someone who sticks around and endures the for worse. Sandy, my beautiful wife, I have worked tirelessly, baby, to give you the for better. But I also gave you the for worse, and you didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve it.
But through it all I experienced the depth of your love and I thank God for you. I love the mother that you are, the wife that you are, I love the way that you take care of our family, our daughters Myesha and Chelsea, and our sons Michael and Elijah. I thank you from a place that I can't mention, I can't even express, baby, for keeping our family together. I love you so much.
My football family, as Jerry told you, began at St. Thomas Aquinas High School under the wise tutelage of a great coach named George Smith. George Smith dedicated 37 years to that great program. He's a great man. I thank all the people at St. Thomas for believing in a young man like me.
And then I went on to the University of Miami. I think most of y'all know how I feel about the U. Yeah, the U. You better believe it. After that I was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys where I played and worked with some of the best to ever be around this game. For example, Emmitt Smith. Emmitt Smith is the all time leading rusher.
The great thing about that, his rookie year he said to me he was going to become the all time leading rusher. I doubted him like I think everybody would have. But what an inspiration to be in a room and see a man set a goal so high and then be persistent, be dedicated, and accomplish that which he set out to accomplish. Emmitt, you're an inspiration to so many.
The third part and the third member The Triplets is Troy Aikman. My quarterback, our leader. Troy Aikman led us to three Super Bowls. When I said "led," I mean led, to three Super Bowls. He's the winningest quarterback in the decade of the '90s. If you talk to him and you ask him what's his most memorable game, he will tell you that '94 NFC Championship game that everybody's talking about.
It's a game we were down by 21 and we lost, but we never gave up. That's the mark of a true leader. All he wants is for each player to give all he has all the time. That's Troy Aikman.
That game is one of my most memorable games for all those reasons, but it had a little something extra for me. We were down 21. Troy came to that huddle with those big blue eyes and he looked up and he said, Hey, I'm coming to you no matter what. Whew, let me tell you. As a wide receiver, that's all I ever wanted to hear. Just come to me no matter what. And he did, he did. He came to me no matter what.
But, Troy, you've always come to me no matter what, and I'm not just talking about on the football field. For that, you have a special place in my heart. You always will no matter what. I love you, Troy. I love you deeply.
As The Triplets, we received most of the press, the credit. But we were surrounded with some great guys, great players, talented guys. Guys like Darren Woodson, Dallas Cowboys all time leading tackle. My Cowboy counterpart Jay Novacek, what a great tight end he is. Daryl Johnston, the unsung hero, Moose. Larry Allen and Eric Williams are two of the better linemen, if not the best linemen, to ever play this game. The big fella, Nate Newton. Jim Jeffcoat. And one of the best cornerbacks and the finest athlete I've ever been around, that's Deion Sanders, Prime Time.
So, so many more.
You can't accomplish what we've accomplished with just great players. You also need great coaches. And we had that. We had guys like Norv Turner, Dave Wannstedt, Dave Campo. My position coach, coach Hubbard Alexander, who is my heart. Coach, you took me as a young man out of high school, and I know I gave you a lot of mess through the years. Thank you for being there, Coach. And our head coach, he had always be my head coach, that's Jimmy Johnson.
We worked hard. We had the best, and I'm telling you the very best, and I'm willing to take an argument with anybody on this, strength and conditioning coach in the world. His name is Mike Warsick. He has six Super Bowl rings. Six, people. Twice he has won three Super Bowls in four years, once with us and now with the New England Patriots. So if anybody wants to take an argument, I am a debater. I am here and ready.
Mike Warsick, you are, man, the very best. You put me back together from that knee injury. As we always tell each other when we say good bye, MissPaw (phonetic), which means may God hold you till we see each other again.
I also walked on campus at the University of Miami the same day with our PR director, Rich Dalrymple. I know some of you are saying it's fitting that you are tight with the PR director, Michael. But Rich has been a great friend. When I walk in his office now Rich has a picture of us. He has pictures of us at the University of Miami with this nice beautiful black hair, and then he has pictures of us now when he's all gray.
He says to me all the time, You see these gray hairs? I say, Yeah. He says, You gave them to me. I tell him, I say, Well, you see those four championship rings you have? I gave them to you, too.
I have experienced all this game has to offer on the football field, the losing, going 3 13, even 1 15. In my second season the career threatening knee injury, thinking I would never play this game that I love again. And even in 1999, the career ending neck injury. That which football players fear the most.
But I've also had some beautiful victories. We won three Super Bowls in four years. I can't tell you what that feels like. And we did it with guys that we loved to play with and guys that we loved. Folks, I'm telling you, that's the true essence of a football family, and that's exactly what we are not was what we are. I love all of those guys that I played with.
Since retiring I have developed a deeper awareness and understanding for this game. First as a fan and then as an analyst. That is why I've learned it's so much more than merely a game. Thanks to ESPN. Thank you, ESPN, for giving me the opportunity to travel to NFL stadiums throughout this country, visiting with fans, and seeing this game from a completely different perspective.
The movie, Remember the Titans, is my favorite movie, staring Denzel Washington. I love the way in this movie the game of football brings those boys together, it unites those boys on that football field. It unites a whole town, black, white, old, young, rich and poor. It happens every year around this time in NFL locker rooms and NFL stadiums. So don't tell me it's just a game.
My favorite day was Monday, September the 25th, 2006. New Orleans, Louisiana, site of the Superdome. I watched our people who had suffered so grievously through Hurricane Katrina fill a stadium hours before a game and stay hours after the game. I witnessed those fans as they looked for each other, hugged one another and just be thankful to be in that stadium.
You see the game flexed its greatest muscle that day: the ability to heal. I experienced a football game that contributed to the healing of a city. So don't tell me it's just a game.
You know the Bible speaks of a healing place. It's called a threshing floor. The threshing floor is where you take your greatest fear and you pray for help from your great God. I want to share something with you today. I have two sons. Michael, he's 10, and Elijah, he's 8. Michael and Elijah, could you guys stand up for me. That's my heart right there. That's my heart. When I am on that threshing floor, I pray. I say, God, I have my struggles and I made some bad decisions, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don't let me mess this up.
I say, Please, help me raise them for some young lady so that they can be a better husband than I. Help me raise them for their kids so that they could be a better father than I. And I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than dad. I sat right here where you are last year and I watched the Class of 2006: Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright, John Madden, and the late great Reggie White represented by his wife Sara White. And I said, Wow, that's what a Hall of Famer is.
Certainly I am not that. I doubted I would ever have the chance to stand before you today. So when I returned home, I spoke with Michael and Elijah . I said, That's how you do it, son. You do it like they did it. Michael asked, he said, Dad, do you ever think we will be there? And I didn't know how to answer that. And it returned me to that threshing floor. This time I was voiceless, but my heart cried out. God, why must I go through so many peaks and valleys?
I wanted to stand in front of my boys and say, Do it like your dad, like any proud dad would want to. Why must I go through so much?
At that moment a voice came over me and said, Look up, get up, and don't ever give up. You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit, you tell them to look up, get up and don't ever give up.
Thank you and may God bless you.
Transcript provided by the Pro Football Hall of Fame
MAN WHAT A SPEECH IT WAS, SO A TIP OF THE HAT TO THE DALLAS COWBOYS TODAY!!!
Following is the transcript of former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin's enshrinement speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio Saturday night:
PRESENTER JERRY JONES
Hey, man, that will fire you up there. What an honor to be here with you, to be right here on this historic ground with these champions, these champions sitting here behind us.
You know, it is unique what can be the makeup of a championship team. A championship team can have a catalyst. They can have a spark, someone that can put a fire in another person's heart.
The Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s were champions. They were in three Super Bowls and won them in four years' time. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you tonight that the heartbeat, the heart and the soul of those championship teams, was Michael Irvin. Michael came to Dallas with a self proclaimed nickname, the Playmaker.
Now, at first many people didn't understand why this young guy would brand himself with such a bold nickname. But we begin to figure it out real, real soon.
When it was third and long, opposition coaches knew exactly where Troy Aikman was throwing the ball. The defensive backs knew exactly where Aikman was going with the ball. Everybody in the stadium knew where the ball was going, but they couldn't stop it.
Michael Irvin stands with his bust after delivering an emotional acceptance speech.
Troy Aikman often said the greatest thing about Michael Irvin is you could throw him the ball when he was covered or you could throw him the ball when it was open, and the results were usually the same almost all the time. It was either a completion and most of the time it was for a first down.
Now, when you've got a quarterback that has that kind of confidence in your receiver, you can have some offense. That's how you earn the name Playmaker, and that's how you keep it.
His performance always improved as the level of competition increased. He routinely had his best games against Deion Sanders, Darrell Green, Rod Woodson, Aeneas Williams. And his numbers increased as that long season went along and we got closer to the playoffs. From the regular season to the playoffs, from the playoffs to the Super Bowl, that was Michael Irvin's best days.
At the pinnacle of his career in 1995, he had 11 100 yard receiving games, a mark that is still an NFL record today. But the Dallas Cowboys' offenses really weren't designed for the receiver to get big stats. They really weren't designed for Troy, the quarterback, to really rack 'em up in statistics.
The teams were designed to win championships, and what that meant was take what the defense gave you. Now, with the backdrop of all of that, the fact that one team could produce the NFL's greatest all time rushing leader in Emmitt Smith, the fact that last year the first opportunity that he had a chance to be honored with these men, Troy Aikman came into the NFL Hall of Fame.
And the fact tonight that Michael Irvin is going to go in the Hall of Fame, it just shows you the team concept and shows you the balance that was there. The player that epitomized it more than anyone on the team, the player that taught it, the player embellished it, that was Michael Irvin and his leadership.
You can't get to Canton, Ohio without exceptional talent. But athletic ability alone was only a part of Michael's gifts. His hard work is legendary. In two a days, the grind of all of it. When you'd be on the field in the morning and in the afternoon, someone would look around and find, Where is Michael? He'd be down on the field with pads on in the hot sun getting some more in.
His passion, his competitiveness were really possibly his greatest gifts he shared them with his teammates on a daily bases. He practiced every day with the determination of a rookie that was hanging by a thread to make the team, and that's the way this great player approached it.
Aikman told me yesterday that Michael would never let the team have a bad practice. If there was a lull, he would create something between the defense and the offense. He'd get some stuff going just so that team could practice and get better for what they had to face Sunday.
Maybe that's the quality that separates the good players from the great players, the Hall of Fame players. Or maybe it's just the natural instinct of a man who had 16 brothers and sisters and knew that nothing in life was going to be given to him.
In the locker room, he was a teammate first, a competitor second, and a superstar third. His leadership style not only transcended the cliques in the locker room, but his leadership style on our team and our organization went from the locker room and the equipment room all the way to the boardroom. It permeated it.
I don't know that we'll see again a professional football player with a combination of his strength and his skills as an athlete on the field and his unbelievable people skills. Smart, resourceful, communication, charm, the kind of charisma and tremendous will with the strength to get the respect of the team. He had his faults. But in a unique way, that only Michael Irvin could pull off.
His fallibility by the people who followed him, by the people who were looking at him, his fallibility gave them strength because they knew, too, how fallible they were, and they wanted to see somebody that could go down and come up stronger and try to get better when they got on their feet. That's what Michael Irvin brought to the Dallas Cowboys and his locker room.
He learned his game from his older brothers in Fort Lauderdale. He had a great high school he played for, St. Thomas High School. He became a star at the University of Miami, drafted by Gil Brandt and Tex Schramm. He was nurtured by coach Tom Landry. He was coached in college and embellished when he got to pro football by one of the greatest coaches, Jimmy Johnson.
He spent his entire career in the loving embrace of the Dallas Cowboys. His journey reaches a destination tonight here in Canton, and it was a longer journey than most, with a lot of bumps in the road. He got knocked down for the last time at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. But tonight he'll get up again and he'll take his place among the immortals of this great game.
Michael Irvin, he's a friend. If you're in my shoes, you feel like he's a son. He's an inspirational and natural born leader. He's a loving father and husband. He's a wonderful brother and son. He's a Dallas Cowboy.
And tonight, forever more, he's a member of the professional football Hall of Fame. It's with pride that I present to you Michael Irvin. C'mon up here.
MICHAEL IRVIN
Thank you. Father, I'd like to thank you for allowing us all to travel here safely, thank you in advance for the same in allowing us to travel home.
Father, thank you for the man that you sent me to help me in Bishop T.D. Jakes, my spiritual father. I ask you now to put your arms around my Hall of Fame classmate Gene Hickerson and his family. Father, hold them tight and love them right. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.
Thank you.
I want to send a special love to all the people in Dallas, Texas, special love to all the Dallas Cowboy fans all over the world. Special love goes to my hometown of South Florida and all the Miami Hurricane fans, St. Thomas Aquinas fans.
I want to send love to every fan everywhere because you hear so often that people say, Oh, these are the guys that built the game. No. It's your hunger and your love for the game, your love for what we do that make this game what it is. I thank you for loving the game like we love it.
Jerry, those were kind words. Thank you. You know, when I first met Jerry he had just purchased the Dallas Cowboys. He had a bit of a concerned look on his face. I said to him, I said, We will have fun and we will win Super Bowls. You see, I knew Jerry had put all he had into purchasing the Cowboys. That's the way I see Jerry. He's a man that's willing to give all he has and all he wants to bring the Cowboy family Super Bowls.
Jerry, I appreciate your commitment to family, the Dallas Cowboy family and your own family. He has a beautiful wife, Jean. I tell her this. I just love her to death. Her spirit exudes beauty. Her mannerisms exude class. She's one of a kind. Jean, I do love you.
They have beautiful kids, daughter Charlotte, son Steven and Jerry, Jr. Each have played a role in my life and I thank all of them.
A heartfelt thank you to the selection committee, especially Rick Gosselin and Charean Williams. Charean is the first woman to have a seat on the selection committee. Charean, congratulations to you.
These gentlemen behind me, these men, they inspired me to become the player that I became. As I spent this week with these gentlemen that I've admired growing up, I kept thinking about how gifted they are. Man, they're gifted to run and cut, gifted to throw and catch, gifted to run through blocks and make great tackles.
And then I met their wives and their families and I realized that it's not only about the gift God gave us, but equally important is the help that God gave us. It's the people that God put in place to support us on our journey. So I will try to put the credit in the right place tonight and share with you my help and my journey.
I thank God for the help of my father Walter Irvin, whom I lost at the age of 17. He was my hero and he loved, I'm telling you, he loved the Dallas Cowboys. I woke up this morning smiling knowing that my father had not be here in the flesh but that he is in heaven watching and celebrating with his all time favorite coach, Coach Tom Landry.
Also Tex Schamm, Derrick Shepard and Mark Tuinei. Those guys, we think about them here, we feel them here. They will always be with us.
Before my father made his journey to heaven I sat with him. His final words to me were, Promise me you will take care of your mother. She's a good woman. As you've heard, my mother raised 17 children, most of whom are here tonight. There were challenges. But she would never complain. She always walked around the house and said, God has promised me that my latter days will be better than my former days. My mom and my Aunt Fanny, her oldest sister, they are part of my travel squad now.
As we travel, all they want is a nice room and an open tab on room service. When my workday is done I get to come by their room and we tell stories and we laugh and we have fun. We always end the night with them telling me, Baby, this is what God meant when he said, Our latter days will be better than our former days.
I can't tell you how it makes me feel to know that God uses me to deliver His promise. I love you, mom. I love you, Aunt Fanny.
For better or for worse, those are the vows we take before God in marriage. It's easy to live with the for better, but rarely can you find someone who sticks around and endures the for worse. Sandy, my beautiful wife, I have worked tirelessly, baby, to give you the for better. But I also gave you the for worse, and you didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve it.
But through it all I experienced the depth of your love and I thank God for you. I love the mother that you are, the wife that you are, I love the way that you take care of our family, our daughters Myesha and Chelsea, and our sons Michael and Elijah. I thank you from a place that I can't mention, I can't even express, baby, for keeping our family together. I love you so much.
My football family, as Jerry told you, began at St. Thomas Aquinas High School under the wise tutelage of a great coach named George Smith. George Smith dedicated 37 years to that great program. He's a great man. I thank all the people at St. Thomas for believing in a young man like me.
And then I went on to the University of Miami. I think most of y'all know how I feel about the U. Yeah, the U. You better believe it. After that I was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys where I played and worked with some of the best to ever be around this game. For example, Emmitt Smith. Emmitt Smith is the all time leading rusher.
The great thing about that, his rookie year he said to me he was going to become the all time leading rusher. I doubted him like I think everybody would have. But what an inspiration to be in a room and see a man set a goal so high and then be persistent, be dedicated, and accomplish that which he set out to accomplish. Emmitt, you're an inspiration to so many.
The third part and the third member The Triplets is Troy Aikman. My quarterback, our leader. Troy Aikman led us to three Super Bowls. When I said "led," I mean led, to three Super Bowls. He's the winningest quarterback in the decade of the '90s. If you talk to him and you ask him what's his most memorable game, he will tell you that '94 NFC Championship game that everybody's talking about.
It's a game we were down by 21 and we lost, but we never gave up. That's the mark of a true leader. All he wants is for each player to give all he has all the time. That's Troy Aikman.
That game is one of my most memorable games for all those reasons, but it had a little something extra for me. We were down 21. Troy came to that huddle with those big blue eyes and he looked up and he said, Hey, I'm coming to you no matter what. Whew, let me tell you. As a wide receiver, that's all I ever wanted to hear. Just come to me no matter what. And he did, he did. He came to me no matter what.
But, Troy, you've always come to me no matter what, and I'm not just talking about on the football field. For that, you have a special place in my heart. You always will no matter what. I love you, Troy. I love you deeply.
As The Triplets, we received most of the press, the credit. But we were surrounded with some great guys, great players, talented guys. Guys like Darren Woodson, Dallas Cowboys all time leading tackle. My Cowboy counterpart Jay Novacek, what a great tight end he is. Daryl Johnston, the unsung hero, Moose. Larry Allen and Eric Williams are two of the better linemen, if not the best linemen, to ever play this game. The big fella, Nate Newton. Jim Jeffcoat. And one of the best cornerbacks and the finest athlete I've ever been around, that's Deion Sanders, Prime Time.
So, so many more.
You can't accomplish what we've accomplished with just great players. You also need great coaches. And we had that. We had guys like Norv Turner, Dave Wannstedt, Dave Campo. My position coach, coach Hubbard Alexander, who is my heart. Coach, you took me as a young man out of high school, and I know I gave you a lot of mess through the years. Thank you for being there, Coach. And our head coach, he had always be my head coach, that's Jimmy Johnson.
We worked hard. We had the best, and I'm telling you the very best, and I'm willing to take an argument with anybody on this, strength and conditioning coach in the world. His name is Mike Warsick. He has six Super Bowl rings. Six, people. Twice he has won three Super Bowls in four years, once with us and now with the New England Patriots. So if anybody wants to take an argument, I am a debater. I am here and ready.
Mike Warsick, you are, man, the very best. You put me back together from that knee injury. As we always tell each other when we say good bye, MissPaw (phonetic), which means may God hold you till we see each other again.
I also walked on campus at the University of Miami the same day with our PR director, Rich Dalrymple. I know some of you are saying it's fitting that you are tight with the PR director, Michael. But Rich has been a great friend. When I walk in his office now Rich has a picture of us. He has pictures of us at the University of Miami with this nice beautiful black hair, and then he has pictures of us now when he's all gray.
He says to me all the time, You see these gray hairs? I say, Yeah. He says, You gave them to me. I tell him, I say, Well, you see those four championship rings you have? I gave them to you, too.
I have experienced all this game has to offer on the football field, the losing, going 3 13, even 1 15. In my second season the career threatening knee injury, thinking I would never play this game that I love again. And even in 1999, the career ending neck injury. That which football players fear the most.
But I've also had some beautiful victories. We won three Super Bowls in four years. I can't tell you what that feels like. And we did it with guys that we loved to play with and guys that we loved. Folks, I'm telling you, that's the true essence of a football family, and that's exactly what we are not was what we are. I love all of those guys that I played with.
Since retiring I have developed a deeper awareness and understanding for this game. First as a fan and then as an analyst. That is why I've learned it's so much more than merely a game. Thanks to ESPN. Thank you, ESPN, for giving me the opportunity to travel to NFL stadiums throughout this country, visiting with fans, and seeing this game from a completely different perspective.
The movie, Remember the Titans, is my favorite movie, staring Denzel Washington. I love the way in this movie the game of football brings those boys together, it unites those boys on that football field. It unites a whole town, black, white, old, young, rich and poor. It happens every year around this time in NFL locker rooms and NFL stadiums. So don't tell me it's just a game.
My favorite day was Monday, September the 25th, 2006. New Orleans, Louisiana, site of the Superdome. I watched our people who had suffered so grievously through Hurricane Katrina fill a stadium hours before a game and stay hours after the game. I witnessed those fans as they looked for each other, hugged one another and just be thankful to be in that stadium.
You see the game flexed its greatest muscle that day: the ability to heal. I experienced a football game that contributed to the healing of a city. So don't tell me it's just a game.
You know the Bible speaks of a healing place. It's called a threshing floor. The threshing floor is where you take your greatest fear and you pray for help from your great God. I want to share something with you today. I have two sons. Michael, he's 10, and Elijah, he's 8. Michael and Elijah, could you guys stand up for me. That's my heart right there. That's my heart. When I am on that threshing floor, I pray. I say, God, I have my struggles and I made some bad decisions, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don't let me mess this up.
I say, Please, help me raise them for some young lady so that they can be a better husband than I. Help me raise them for their kids so that they could be a better father than I. And I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than dad. I sat right here where you are last year and I watched the Class of 2006: Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright, John Madden, and the late great Reggie White represented by his wife Sara White. And I said, Wow, that's what a Hall of Famer is.
Certainly I am not that. I doubted I would ever have the chance to stand before you today. So when I returned home, I spoke with Michael and Elijah . I said, That's how you do it, son. You do it like they did it. Michael asked, he said, Dad, do you ever think we will be there? And I didn't know how to answer that. And it returned me to that threshing floor. This time I was voiceless, but my heart cried out. God, why must I go through so many peaks and valleys?
I wanted to stand in front of my boys and say, Do it like your dad, like any proud dad would want to. Why must I go through so much?
At that moment a voice came over me and said, Look up, get up, and don't ever give up. You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit, you tell them to look up, get up and don't ever give up.
Thank you and may God bless you.
Transcript provided by the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Saturday, August 04, 2007
D-War
Opened. 1 August 2007 (South Korea)
How I saw it. CGV Theater.
Plot. heavy spoilers.
Will be released in USA on 14 September 2007.
As a fan of the movies, there has always been one type of film that I have always loved. Sad to say, it is the "Monster" film. One of my first childhood movie memories was the 1956 Godzilla. I knew that it was a man in a rubber suit and, to be honest, I did not care. I have amassed a nice collection of the so called "Monster" films. On quiet, rainy days, I still warm up some popcorn and enjoy films from my childhood.
I had heard of "D-War" for many years now, and each time the film had a release date and then the date kept getting pushed back. I kept wondering will this film ever be released. As of today, this is the most expensive Korean Film ever made. With cost rumored to be between 30-100 million dollars, this could even be the biggest risk or failure in Korean film history.
To be honest, the film had every reason I should like it, a big monster, great special effects, a somewhat corny story and a huge battle in L.A. I should have loved it but sad to say, I really hated the film. Based on Korea Pop Wars It looks like I will be in the minority here in Korea. The Korean Producer of the film, Showbox, is prediction an opening weekend of 2-2.5 million tickets sold.
The main reason that I hated the film was very easy. The acting was just that bad. I do not even mean as bad as "Plan 9 from Outer Space", I actually liked that film.
For all of the special effect, the wooden acting just left a bad taste in my mouth. One other reason was the film seemed very rushed at 90 minutes, it had very little plot development and the story, as a whole, just seemed very flat.
If you like monsters, then this will be the summer film for you. The film is in English and Korean so please be ready for that.
Grade. C-
Opened. 1 August 2007 (South Korea)
How I saw it. CGV Theater.
Plot. heavy spoilers.
Will be released in USA on 14 September 2007.
As a fan of the movies, there has always been one type of film that I have always loved. Sad to say, it is the "Monster" film. One of my first childhood movie memories was the 1956 Godzilla. I knew that it was a man in a rubber suit and, to be honest, I did not care. I have amassed a nice collection of the so called "Monster" films. On quiet, rainy days, I still warm up some popcorn and enjoy films from my childhood.
I had heard of "D-War" for many years now, and each time the film had a release date and then the date kept getting pushed back. I kept wondering will this film ever be released. As of today, this is the most expensive Korean Film ever made. With cost rumored to be between 30-100 million dollars, this could even be the biggest risk or failure in Korean film history.
To be honest, the film had every reason I should like it, a big monster, great special effects, a somewhat corny story and a huge battle in L.A. I should have loved it but sad to say, I really hated the film. Based on Korea Pop Wars It looks like I will be in the minority here in Korea. The Korean Producer of the film, Showbox, is prediction an opening weekend of 2-2.5 million tickets sold.
The main reason that I hated the film was very easy. The acting was just that bad. I do not even mean as bad as "Plan 9 from Outer Space", I actually liked that film.
For all of the special effect, the wooden acting just left a bad taste in my mouth. One other reason was the film seemed very rushed at 90 minutes, it had very little plot development and the story, as a whole, just seemed very flat.
If you like monsters, then this will be the summer film for you. The film is in English and Korean so please be ready for that.
Grade. C-
IS HE TAKING A PAGE OUT OF JIMMY Carters' book?
I expected the Roh Administration to be consistently incompetent in handling the hostage crisis and so far I have not been disappointed. The latest incompetency is that the Korean government paid ransom to the wrong people:
For now, though, the chances of a breakthrough seem slim. Indeed, the negotiations seem to be marked by confusion. The senior Taliban commander tells NEWSWEEK that a newly arrived South Korean envoy, a Ghazni member of parliament and some government negotiators, may have been talking to a bogus Taliban group that was posing as the kidnappers and has demanded and received some money. There is no way to verify the claim of the commander, who has provided reliable information to NEWSWEEK in the past. But he insists that he has never asked for any money, and is only interested in an exchange of the hostages for Taliban prisoners. (HT: Nomad)
This news broke in a Newsweek interview with the Taliban. Of course the Korean government has denied this, but I see no reason why the Taliban would lie about this plus this is the incompetency I expect from the Korean government. Make sure you read the whole article because as I suspected the big white bus they were driving in on the highway with no security is what drew their attention to kidnap the missionaries.
I still cannot get over how naive and stupid these people are. They might as well have hung a banner on the side of the bus saying "Kidnap Me!"
If anyone is wondering why the Afghan government does not want to release Taliban prisoners here is your reason why:
The impasse has placed Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an almost impossible predicament. Last March, facing a similar dilemma and under heavy pressure from Italy, Karzai ordered the release of five senior Taliban officials in exchange for an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who had been abducted along with his Afghan driver and interpreter. The Taliban executed the two Afghans, and Karzai’s European and U.S. allies widely criticized his humanitarian gesture. One of the freed Taliban commanders, Mansor Dadullah, is now directing suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan and American forces from his redoubt on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Who knows how many people have died because of the freeing of one Italian journalist, not that Seoul cares because they just discovered the Taliban are not "conscientious Muslims" and have been attempting to shift responsibility for the whole crisis on to the US.
To further show Korean governmental incompetence the government is sending members from the national assembly to Washington to lobby President Bush who is meeting with Afghan President Karzai at Camp David the next two days, to release the Taliban prisoners. All these governmental officials are just going to make Karzai dig in his feet even more because he is not going to give in to public governmental pressure from Korea. The Korean government continues to do more harm than good for these hostages.
At least the hostages’ families are seeing through the charade being organized by the Korean government, anti-US groups, and their media allies:
The families of the Korean hostages spoke out against a movement to hold the U.S. responsible for the unresolved crisis, saying anti-American demonstrations could put the hostages’ lives at greater risk. The families turned down an offer by some anti-American organizations to stage a candlelight rally.
Lee Jeong-hoon, a representative of the families, said on Thursday, “Since an anti-American demonstration could have a negative influence on the negotiations for the release of the hostages, we have made efforts to avoid being involved in any such demonstrations.” “An anti-American movement could be what the Taliban want,” Lee said. “We rejected suggestions by some anti-American groups to hold a candlelight vigil and march to the U.S. Embassy in Korea.” (HT: OFK)
What a mess this hostage crisis is and the people of Korea have their most incompetent administration in decades to try and solve it. Just ask yourself, if you were Korean would you want President Roh trying to save you?
You can read more over at Hot Air
I expected the Roh Administration to be consistently incompetent in handling the hostage crisis and so far I have not been disappointed. The latest incompetency is that the Korean government paid ransom to the wrong people:
For now, though, the chances of a breakthrough seem slim. Indeed, the negotiations seem to be marked by confusion. The senior Taliban commander tells NEWSWEEK that a newly arrived South Korean envoy, a Ghazni member of parliament and some government negotiators, may have been talking to a bogus Taliban group that was posing as the kidnappers and has demanded and received some money. There is no way to verify the claim of the commander, who has provided reliable information to NEWSWEEK in the past. But he insists that he has never asked for any money, and is only interested in an exchange of the hostages for Taliban prisoners. (HT: Nomad)
This news broke in a Newsweek interview with the Taliban. Of course the Korean government has denied this, but I see no reason why the Taliban would lie about this plus this is the incompetency I expect from the Korean government. Make sure you read the whole article because as I suspected the big white bus they were driving in on the highway with no security is what drew their attention to kidnap the missionaries.
I still cannot get over how naive and stupid these people are. They might as well have hung a banner on the side of the bus saying "Kidnap Me!"
If anyone is wondering why the Afghan government does not want to release Taliban prisoners here is your reason why:
The impasse has placed Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an almost impossible predicament. Last March, facing a similar dilemma and under heavy pressure from Italy, Karzai ordered the release of five senior Taliban officials in exchange for an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who had been abducted along with his Afghan driver and interpreter. The Taliban executed the two Afghans, and Karzai’s European and U.S. allies widely criticized his humanitarian gesture. One of the freed Taliban commanders, Mansor Dadullah, is now directing suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan and American forces from his redoubt on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Who knows how many people have died because of the freeing of one Italian journalist, not that Seoul cares because they just discovered the Taliban are not "conscientious Muslims" and have been attempting to shift responsibility for the whole crisis on to the US.
To further show Korean governmental incompetence the government is sending members from the national assembly to Washington to lobby President Bush who is meeting with Afghan President Karzai at Camp David the next two days, to release the Taliban prisoners. All these governmental officials are just going to make Karzai dig in his feet even more because he is not going to give in to public governmental pressure from Korea. The Korean government continues to do more harm than good for these hostages.
At least the hostages’ families are seeing through the charade being organized by the Korean government, anti-US groups, and their media allies:
The families of the Korean hostages spoke out against a movement to hold the U.S. responsible for the unresolved crisis, saying anti-American demonstrations could put the hostages’ lives at greater risk. The families turned down an offer by some anti-American organizations to stage a candlelight rally.
Lee Jeong-hoon, a representative of the families, said on Thursday, “Since an anti-American demonstration could have a negative influence on the negotiations for the release of the hostages, we have made efforts to avoid being involved in any such demonstrations.” “An anti-American movement could be what the Taliban want,” Lee said. “We rejected suggestions by some anti-American groups to hold a candlelight vigil and march to the U.S. Embassy in Korea.” (HT: OFK)
What a mess this hostage crisis is and the people of Korea have their most incompetent administration in decades to try and solve it. Just ask yourself, if you were Korean would you want President Roh trying to save you?
You can read more over at Hot Air
With Friends Like This...
This is just one reason why the US should not sign a free trade agreement with Korea:
In a move that could hinder the passage of a bilateral free trade pact, South Korea effectively blocked all U.S. beef imports from reaching store shelves Thursday after banned parts were found in a recent shipment.
The discovery of unauthorized animal parts in a July shipment, including spinal material, comes as the United States pushes for a full reopening of what once had been the third-largest overseas market for its beef.
Seoul ended a ban of three and a half years last month on U.S. beef that was prompted by a 2003 outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States, allowing in boneless U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months old.
But South Korea announced Thursday that it was stopping inspections of U.S. beef under quarantine, meaning that beef already in warehouses would be prevented from reaching store shelves. It will now decide whether to ban U.S. beef altogether.
Any agreement signed with the Koreans will not be upheld by their side and the continuous banning of US beef is just a perfect example of this. The Korean government has now banned all US beef to Korea because of one box of T-bone steaks that was labeled for consumption in the US.
You may remember back in June US beef shipments were banned when four boxes of beef that were meant for the US market some how ended up in the Korean beef shipment. It was later found that the four boxes were samples of US beef provided to a South Korean company in California. This company was some how able to get the four boxes of beef into the US shipment to Korea, which ended up banning US beef all together until the US Congress got involved and threatened trade sanctions.
I find it hard to believe that the US beef exporter, Cargil would have been sloppy enough to send another box of meat that was meant for US consumption. I agree with Brendon that there may be a "Patriotic Korean" somewhere along the export chain making sure that a box of beef meant for the US market ends up in the shipment of beef meant for export to Korea. There is already evidence of this from the investigation after the June ban and I would not be surprised if another South Korean connection is found again this time.
Everyone ask yourself, would Korea pull this crap with China? We already know the answer to that question when the Korean government backed down on their Chinese kimchi ban during the Great Kimchi Crisis of 2005 when China threatened a trade war with Korea. There has never been a problem with Chinese kimchi since. If the US government is serious about exporting beef to Korea than it needs to start learning to play by rules the Koreans understand. Just ask China.
You can read more at Lost Nomad.
This is just one reason why the US should not sign a free trade agreement with Korea:
In a move that could hinder the passage of a bilateral free trade pact, South Korea effectively blocked all U.S. beef imports from reaching store shelves Thursday after banned parts were found in a recent shipment.
The discovery of unauthorized animal parts in a July shipment, including spinal material, comes as the United States pushes for a full reopening of what once had been the third-largest overseas market for its beef.
Seoul ended a ban of three and a half years last month on U.S. beef that was prompted by a 2003 outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States, allowing in boneless U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months old.
But South Korea announced Thursday that it was stopping inspections of U.S. beef under quarantine, meaning that beef already in warehouses would be prevented from reaching store shelves. It will now decide whether to ban U.S. beef altogether.
Any agreement signed with the Koreans will not be upheld by their side and the continuous banning of US beef is just a perfect example of this. The Korean government has now banned all US beef to Korea because of one box of T-bone steaks that was labeled for consumption in the US.
You may remember back in June US beef shipments were banned when four boxes of beef that were meant for the US market some how ended up in the Korean beef shipment. It was later found that the four boxes were samples of US beef provided to a South Korean company in California. This company was some how able to get the four boxes of beef into the US shipment to Korea, which ended up banning US beef all together until the US Congress got involved and threatened trade sanctions.
I find it hard to believe that the US beef exporter, Cargil would have been sloppy enough to send another box of meat that was meant for US consumption. I agree with Brendon that there may be a "Patriotic Korean" somewhere along the export chain making sure that a box of beef meant for the US market ends up in the shipment of beef meant for export to Korea. There is already evidence of this from the investigation after the June ban and I would not be surprised if another South Korean connection is found again this time.
Everyone ask yourself, would Korea pull this crap with China? We already know the answer to that question when the Korean government backed down on their Chinese kimchi ban during the Great Kimchi Crisis of 2005 when China threatened a trade war with Korea. There has never been a problem with Chinese kimchi since. If the US government is serious about exporting beef to Korea than it needs to start learning to play by rules the Koreans understand. Just ask China.
You can read more at Lost Nomad.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Anti-usa y27 version?
UPDATE #2: The anti-US blame game being played in Korea is now making headlines in the US: (HT: Nomad)
South Korea’s frustration over the plight of Christian volunteers seized by the Taliban is starting to focus on the United States, a frequent target of resentment here. Politicians and citizens of all persuasions are increasingly calling on Washington to help resolve the 15-day-old standoff, believing the United States to be the only country capable of pushing Afghanistan to meet the captors’ demands that Taliban prisoners be freed. […]
An anti-American backlash could boost liberals who have increasingly pushed for Seoul to assert its independence from Washington at the expense of the conservative pro-U.S. opposition that now holds a commanding lead.
What is ironic about this whole thing is that the leftist anti-US politicians are the very reason that Korea has little influence with the US and with what is going on in Afghanistan. If anyone thinks electing another leftist liberal politician is going to change this fact, they will be sadly mistaken and instead will become even more irrelevant.
_______________________________
UPDATE #1: The Taliban has agreed to meet Korean diplomats:
“A South Korean diplomatic delegation is to meet the Taliban for face-to-face talks to look for ways and solutions to free the South Korean nationals,” Ghazni governor Mirajuddin Pattan said.
____________________________
Early today rumors of a hostage rescue mission were swirling around, but were quickly put down by the Afghan government. These rumors caused the Taliban to threaten to kill four more prisoners as the hostage crisis continues on for yet another day.
Also today the blame America campaign being waged by the Korean media and government went into overdrive. I almost don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with Choe Sang-hun’s article in the New York Times:
On Tuesday, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement accusing Washington of watching the hostage crisis “as if it were a fire across the river.”
“As everyone knows, the Taliban’s demand is something the U.S. government can help resolve, not the Afghan or South Korean government,” the statement said. “The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism. Now why can’t it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?”
So who is the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) to be waving the “spirit of the alliance” card you may ask? Well they are just another anti-US group that was a member of the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA that even had one of their own set himself on fire outside one of the FTA meetings in Seoul.
You want some more “spirit of the alliance” from the PSPD? How about this quote from them after the defeat in local elections of the ruling Uri Party:
Mr. Kim of the PSPD said, “The Roh Moo-hyun government should look back to its identity. In the past, the government said it would resolve economic polarization, but it pushed talks for a free trade agreement with the U.S. In addition, the government said it would say what it has to say in diplomacy, but it allowed the U.S. forces to move their base to Daechu-ri.”
The PSPD has been one of the leading groups trying to stop the USFK transformation and relocation to Camp Humphreys and now all of the sudden they are one of the biggest defenders of the “spirit of the alliance”.
The “spirit of the alliance” doesn’t end there. The PSPD has in the past joined forces with North Korean apologists the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) which last year was linked to a North Korean spy ring, to attack the very alliance the PSPD are now advocating:
In the declaration, they demanded that the U.S. government apologize for crimes involving GIs, thoroughly investigate the massacres of Koreans during the Korean War and offer compensation. They also called for an immediate closure of the Koon-ni bombing range in Maehyang-ri, Kyonggi Province and revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and south Korea.
The 200 figures who signed the declaration included former Deputy Prime Minister Han Wan Sang; Kang Man Gil, professor emeritus at Korea University; Kim Jong Bae, co-leader of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Dang Byong Ho, chief of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).
There is more, but I think everyone gets the picture of who the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy group really is. There is plenty more absurdity to come and one of my noted useful idiots Chung Dong-young never fails to deliver. Courtesy of the Marmot’s Hole is this letter to President Bush from the former Korean Unification Minister:
If the 23 (now 21) hostages were American and not Korean, we ask what would the US have done in this situation. Koreans believe that since this crisis is a part of the War on Terror, the US is the main party and not a third party. We appeal to the US to think of the hostages as Americans and take specific measures to solve this crisis.
We respect that there is a “seen principle” among nations that they should not negotiate with terrorists, but there is also an “unseen principle”. We remember the case where an American female journalist was released in exchange for five Iraqi female prisoners, which means there is a recognition that there is an exemption to the non negotiating principle.
Saving a life is more important than one’s obligations and profit. If Pres. Bush was to step forward and save the hostages, then people around the world will continue praising you for your determination, leadership, management, and love.
So who is Chung? Well he is just another one of these “spirit of the alliance” guys that has also just happened to blame the US for the Japanese colonization of the peninsula prior to World War II, blamed the US for the Korean War, and blamed the US for the Gwangju Incident. So it isn’t really surprising he is blaming the US now if the hostages die and of course he is not alone. Via Sonagi comes this quote from Roe Hoe-chan who I just featured in my latest Korea Finder:
Assemblyman Roe Hoe-chan said, “If the US doesn’t show sincerity with regard to the hostage crisis, it’ll practically be a declaration that the US doesn’t care about the safety of Koreans because of its own interests. It’ll be difficult for our citizens to tolerate that. He continued, “If hostages continue to be killed because of America’s rigid stance, anti-American sentiments will be even stronger than in the aftermath of the deaths of Hyo-sun and Mi-seon.”
It was only a matter of time before some demagogue tried to link this current crisis to the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident for their own political advantage. The fact the Roe is the first to do it is not surprising in the least.
You can always count on Oh My News to keep the absurdity coming:
The South Korean government indirectly asked for the United States, which exercises undue influence over the Afghan government, to be more flexible with its principled policy not to negotiate with terrorists.
“Undue influence”? I think the fact that the US military liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban and has continued to pour blood and treasure into making Afghanistan a sustainable state for the past six years is DUE INFLUENCE, which Korea does not have because they have never been committed to fighting terrorism in the first place. The Roh administration could care less if the government of Afghanistan collapsed tomorrow if it wasn’t for the hostages. There is plenty more laughers in the Oh My News article, but I’ll leave everyone with this quote:
On top of this, the Taliban are also plunging the leadership of South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun into an even worse crisis, trouncing the whole South Korean diplomacy that, before the tragic incident occurred, has smoothly — and successfully to date — handled the North Korean nuclear issues. Namely, inter-Korean affairs have all of sudden dropped to sideshows in terms of foreign policy priorities.
You mean to tell me that North Korea firing missiles all over the Pacific Ocean, testing a nuclear bomb, reneging and then renegotiating a signed agreement that to this day they have failed to fully implement is a sign of Korea’s smooth and successful foreign diplomacy? If this is the case these hostages are most certainly doomed.
There is a whole lot more examples I can provide of the blame game being perpetuated against the United States, but I think it is pretty clear the blame America campaign is currently in overdrive. The fact is that the Korean left and their media allies could care less about these hostages because according to Representative Roe’s own admission, they are trying to turn the hostage crisis into an anti-US issue equivalent to what happened in 2002. Remember it took months for the media and the activist groups to distort what happened during the accident that year in order to set the conditions necessary for the anti-US orgy of hate that took place, that ultimately led to the leftist Roh Moo-hyun being elected president.
The Korean left has no chance of winning the presidential election this year in Korea unless they can find another anti-US issue to rally behind. Chung Dong-young is one of the leftist candidates running for president thus expect him to lead the charge to blame the US for any future deaths of the hostages and use his North Korean linked activist groups to push it on the public. This is the real “spirit of the alliance” in Korea.
FROM NOMAD....................................
or the record: I firmly believe that the majority of Koreans are pragmatic, sensible, intelligent and reasonable people who know exactly where to lay the blame. Unfortunately, it’s the vocal minority who make the noise and get the attention of the media. The blame game is nothing more than a weak ploy by the Korean left to get sympathy and votes - it worked for them in 2002 but this time around, I don’t think it’ll be as effective.
__________________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE #2: The anti-US blame game being played in Korea is now making headlines in the US: (HT: Nomad)
South Korea’s frustration over the plight of Christian volunteers seized by the Taliban is starting to focus on the United States, a frequent target of resentment here. Politicians and citizens of all persuasions are increasingly calling on Washington to help resolve the 15-day-old standoff, believing the United States to be the only country capable of pushing Afghanistan to meet the captors’ demands that Taliban prisoners be freed. […]
An anti-American backlash could boost liberals who have increasingly pushed for Seoul to assert its independence from Washington at the expense of the conservative pro-U.S. opposition that now holds a commanding lead.
What is ironic about this whole thing is that the leftist anti-US politicians are the very reason that Korea has little influence with the US and with what is going on in Afghanistan. If anyone thinks electing another leftist liberal politician is going to change this fact, they will be sadly mistaken and instead will become even more irrelevant.
_______________________________
UPDATE #1: The Taliban has agreed to meet Korean diplomats:
“A South Korean diplomatic delegation is to meet the Taliban for face-to-face talks to look for ways and solutions to free the South Korean nationals,” Ghazni governor Mirajuddin Pattan said.
____________________________
Early today rumors of a hostage rescue mission were swirling around, but were quickly put down by the Afghan government. These rumors caused the Taliban to threaten to kill four more prisoners as the hostage crisis continues on for yet another day.
Also today the blame America campaign being waged by the Korean media and government went into overdrive. I almost don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with Choe Sang-hun’s article in the New York Times:
On Tuesday, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement accusing Washington of watching the hostage crisis “as if it were a fire across the river.”
“As everyone knows, the Taliban’s demand is something the U.S. government can help resolve, not the Afghan or South Korean government,” the statement said. “The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism. Now why can’t it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?”
So who is the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) to be waving the “spirit of the alliance” card you may ask? Well they are just another anti-US group that was a member of the Korean Alliance Against the Korea-U.S. FTA that even had one of their own set himself on fire outside one of the FTA meetings in Seoul.
You want some more “spirit of the alliance” from the PSPD? How about this quote from them after the defeat in local elections of the ruling Uri Party:
Mr. Kim of the PSPD said, “The Roh Moo-hyun government should look back to its identity. In the past, the government said it would resolve economic polarization, but it pushed talks for a free trade agreement with the U.S. In addition, the government said it would say what it has to say in diplomacy, but it allowed the U.S. forces to move their base to Daechu-ri.”
The PSPD has been one of the leading groups trying to stop the USFK transformation and relocation to Camp Humphreys and now all of the sudden they are one of the biggest defenders of the “spirit of the alliance”.
The “spirit of the alliance” doesn’t end there. The PSPD has in the past joined forces with North Korean apologists the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) which last year was linked to a North Korean spy ring, to attack the very alliance the PSPD are now advocating:
In the declaration, they demanded that the U.S. government apologize for crimes involving GIs, thoroughly investigate the massacres of Koreans during the Korean War and offer compensation. They also called for an immediate closure of the Koon-ni bombing range in Maehyang-ri, Kyonggi Province and revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and south Korea.
The 200 figures who signed the declaration included former Deputy Prime Minister Han Wan Sang; Kang Man Gil, professor emeritus at Korea University; Kim Jong Bae, co-leader of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Dang Byong Ho, chief of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).
There is more, but I think everyone gets the picture of who the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy group really is. There is plenty more absurdity to come and one of my noted useful idiots Chung Dong-young never fails to deliver. Courtesy of the Marmot’s Hole is this letter to President Bush from the former Korean Unification Minister:
If the 23 (now 21) hostages were American and not Korean, we ask what would the US have done in this situation. Koreans believe that since this crisis is a part of the War on Terror, the US is the main party and not a third party. We appeal to the US to think of the hostages as Americans and take specific measures to solve this crisis.
We respect that there is a “seen principle” among nations that they should not negotiate with terrorists, but there is also an “unseen principle”. We remember the case where an American female journalist was released in exchange for five Iraqi female prisoners, which means there is a recognition that there is an exemption to the non negotiating principle.
Saving a life is more important than one’s obligations and profit. If Pres. Bush was to step forward and save the hostages, then people around the world will continue praising you for your determination, leadership, management, and love.
So who is Chung? Well he is just another one of these “spirit of the alliance” guys that has also just happened to blame the US for the Japanese colonization of the peninsula prior to World War II, blamed the US for the Korean War, and blamed the US for the Gwangju Incident. So it isn’t really surprising he is blaming the US now if the hostages die and of course he is not alone. Via Sonagi comes this quote from Roe Hoe-chan who I just featured in my latest Korea Finder:
Assemblyman Roe Hoe-chan said, “If the US doesn’t show sincerity with regard to the hostage crisis, it’ll practically be a declaration that the US doesn’t care about the safety of Koreans because of its own interests. It’ll be difficult for our citizens to tolerate that. He continued, “If hostages continue to be killed because of America’s rigid stance, anti-American sentiments will be even stronger than in the aftermath of the deaths of Hyo-sun and Mi-seon.”
It was only a matter of time before some demagogue tried to link this current crisis to the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident for their own political advantage. The fact the Roe is the first to do it is not surprising in the least.
You can always count on Oh My News to keep the absurdity coming:
The South Korean government indirectly asked for the United States, which exercises undue influence over the Afghan government, to be more flexible with its principled policy not to negotiate with terrorists.
“Undue influence”? I think the fact that the US military liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban and has continued to pour blood and treasure into making Afghanistan a sustainable state for the past six years is DUE INFLUENCE, which Korea does not have because they have never been committed to fighting terrorism in the first place. The Roh administration could care less if the government of Afghanistan collapsed tomorrow if it wasn’t for the hostages. There is plenty more laughers in the Oh My News article, but I’ll leave everyone with this quote:
On top of this, the Taliban are also plunging the leadership of South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun into an even worse crisis, trouncing the whole South Korean diplomacy that, before the tragic incident occurred, has smoothly — and successfully to date — handled the North Korean nuclear issues. Namely, inter-Korean affairs have all of sudden dropped to sideshows in terms of foreign policy priorities.
You mean to tell me that North Korea firing missiles all over the Pacific Ocean, testing a nuclear bomb, reneging and then renegotiating a signed agreement that to this day they have failed to fully implement is a sign of Korea’s smooth and successful foreign diplomacy? If this is the case these hostages are most certainly doomed.
There is a whole lot more examples I can provide of the blame game being perpetuated against the United States, but I think it is pretty clear the blame America campaign is currently in overdrive. The fact is that the Korean left and their media allies could care less about these hostages because according to Representative Roe’s own admission, they are trying to turn the hostage crisis into an anti-US issue equivalent to what happened in 2002. Remember it took months for the media and the activist groups to distort what happened during the accident that year in order to set the conditions necessary for the anti-US orgy of hate that took place, that ultimately led to the leftist Roh Moo-hyun being elected president.
The Korean left has no chance of winning the presidential election this year in Korea unless they can find another anti-US issue to rally behind. Chung Dong-young is one of the leftist candidates running for president thus expect him to lead the charge to blame the US for any future deaths of the hostages and use his North Korean linked activist groups to push it on the public. This is the real “spirit of the alliance” in Korea.
FROM NOMAD....................................
or the record: I firmly believe that the majority of Koreans are pragmatic, sensible, intelligent and reasonable people who know exactly where to lay the blame. Unfortunately, it’s the vocal minority who make the noise and get the attention of the media. The blame game is nothing more than a weak ploy by the Korean left to get sympathy and votes - it worked for them in 2002 but this time around, I don’t think it’ll be as effective.
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Thursday, August 02, 2007
Update on the Korean Hostages.
The South Korean Stockholm Syndrome
The South Korean Stockholm Syndrome
Korean folks keep asking me again and again what I think about this, so I'll make it clear in simple terms: if you negotiate with terrorists, you give them what they want and you legitimize their actions.
You encourage more terrorist acts.
I understand the emotions that go with seeing 21 hostages threatened, but you can't give in to their demands. That is exactly the one thing you can't do.
..............I think the US had the right to enter Afghanistan to protect its national interests and security, since Al Queda had been holed up there, and as a bonus, got to depose the hated and itself illegitimate Taliban. The Taliban were and are assholes, and I didn't mind seeing them taken out of power. I don't promote mass civilian bombing, and I think the US showed considerable restraint in the Afghanistan.....................
That being said, I also don't think there's a "war on terror" – I think we have a war on criminals who are just better organized and have political goals. That's it. Terrorists don't have national borders, a religion, nor a single face. They can be anyone with a gun, a bomb, and a purpose.
And whether it's a bank robbery, embassy invasion, or taking foreign nationals hostages, you don't give them a helicopter and $10 million dollars, or a free ride out of the country, or release their prisoners from jails.
If they were unjustly imprisoned, that's another issue; but you don't release them because criminals tell you to at gunpoint.
It was a mistake to release those 5 Italians, in my opinion, although I'm happy to see them alive. Yet, perhaps that "success" on the part of other terrorists has led to 2 South Koreans dead and perhaps to the deaths of 21 more.
And the next time? Do we keep bending over to the wills of the next group of terrorists who kidnap a bus load of Swedes? A Lufthansa passenger jet? Or threaten to nerve gas a shopping mall?
Whatever – you cannot play the terrorists' game, because there is only one way to win: by taking them out, or biting the bullet. And as horrible as the latter choice seems, giving the terrorists what they want is as good as pulling the trigger for the next group with guns, who, emboldened by the previous "success" (because, from the terrorists' point of view, that's what this would be), kill more people in the future.
Seriously – the South Korean government should stop acting like a group of frightened schoolchildren and act like a responsible government, and not bend over when a group of wackos engages in terrorist threats.
And the behavior of the Korean government is and will make South Koreans even MORE of targets of opportunity for terrorists, who will now learn that taking a few South Korean hostages prisoner can exert political force over that nation. If you were a terrorist, whom would you choose – an American, Italian, or a South Korean? I'd go with the country that would be more likely to give me what I wanted.
Which is exactly the point and modus operandi of terrorism.
And which is exactly what the South Korean government is doing by even entertaining the idea of negotiating, and embarrassing itself by saying it has no power to do anything about this.
I am extremely disappointed with the reactions of the Blue House, the Korean media, as well as the majority of the Korean population, from what I've seen and heard. Of all the countries in the world that should understand the importance of taking a hard line against terrorism, it should be South Korea.
But perhaps Korea is suffering from a sort of "Stockholm syndrome" in having been held nuclear hostage by North Korea for the last couple decades, and having been coerced to give food, aid, and money without conditional attachments such as allowing aid groups such as the Red Cross to confirm that it was eveb going to the populace instead of the North Korean military and civilian elite.
South Korea has seemingly lost its will to make the tough choices anymore, and it did so a long time before these hostages were taken.
If the US won't send in Navy Seals or some other rescue operation to save these hostages (which, frankly, I don't think it's the American responsibility to do), then South Korea should.
South Korea has a military, does it not? South Korea has troops on the ground in Afghanistan, technically already placing them in this war, does it not? South Korea is a sovereign nation, able to conduct it's own foreign policy and make decisions, is it not?
Then why does the US hold ultimate responsibility for the fate of South Korean hostages?
The US's policy is clear on this issue, and always has been – and it should not stray from it's stated policy of not negotiating with terrorists. If that does not satisfy South Koreans, then South Korea should get off its ass and do something about it.
The only legitimate "influence" over the Taliban is that of lethal force, which is the only point of leverage it presently understands. If some hostages can be rescued in a military operation, I am all for that.
But the US had better not participate in the process of releasing even a single hostage under Taliban demands, because in the end, only more people will die in the future.
This should be easy to understand – and for once, South Korea, this is not a mess the US is obligated at all to clean up for you.
Instead of begging for cooperation with terrorist demands, South Korea would be better off preparing other options.
And negotiation is not an option.
The real problem here, methinks, is that South Korea has been already cooperating with terrorists for far too long, since North Korea has been holding its own people hostage for far too long, while lobbing missiles over Japan and rattling its nuclear saber, waiting for food shipments and money to arrive.
The South Korean government has become far too used to taking it, and needs to rediscover its gonads with a swiftness, because this isn't the first time hostages have been taken in this manner, and what with the pliant behavior of the South Korean government, certainly won't be the last.
Because the message South Korea is sending is: "We will bend over to terrorists, so take our foreign nationals prisoner or even engage in acts of terror in South Korea itself; because we will negotiate with you."
No matter how you cut it, that's the message being sent here.
For all my social criticism of South Korean society, this is the first time I've been utterly disappointed to the point of despair. Because this isn't how responsible governments behave. Every country has social problems, and I like studying and analyzing ones in South Korea; yet, for me, this is different.
I'm embarrassed for South Korea, in the way that I imagine a loyal South Korean citizen might. Because this doesn't bode well for the nation, for faith in the government's ability to responsibly govern, or the nation's "face" in the presence of other nations.
In the end, this is utterly embarrassing for any nation – and if the US negotiates, then I will be angry and embarrassed at the US as well.
comments....
Comments
Well said.
It's time for South Korea to take responsibility for its own people, and for its place in the world. The South Korean government has some decisions to make, and it needs to make them now.
The first decision is no decision at all. South Korea cannot negotiate with these thugs. For the sake of all of its citizens everywhere, South Korea cannot give in to these demands.
All that is left are three options:
1) Try to talk these thugs into releasing the remaining hostages without giving in to any of their demands. But it's not going to happen. They have already killed two hostages; they are too heavily invested in this thing and there is no turning back for them. Under this scenario all of the hostages will die.
2) Sit by and do nothing. Watch as your people are killed one by one, wreaking untold horrific anguish on the families of the hostages, and on the psyche of an entire nation. Under this scenario all of the hostages will die.
3) Use well-calculated, pinpoint, violent, viscious force to rescue as many hostages as possible. South Korea must have trained for something like this - it must have the special forces ready, willing and able to undertake such a mission. Under this scenario, maybe some of the hostages will live. All of the thugs will die.
It's not like South Korea would be attacking another nation-state - these are a bunch of thugs, for Christ's sake. And I am sure the US would be willing to assist - after all, these are the same motherfuckers who harbored the assholes who killed 3000 of our citizens.
For the sake of its 50 million plus citizens, South Korea cannot put up with this bullshit. The message needs to be loud and clear - if you fuck with our citizens, you will die.
JJG
you guys are the kind of liberals i could grow to like
:) Mark.
NEXT ARTICLE.......................................................................
Wait – so, it's the US out of Korea, US out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Korea should be left on its own as an independent, sovereign state, right?
OK, I can buy that for a dollar, and I even agree with most of it.
Then it's America is evil this, America is evil that – general anti-American sentiment all-around. Hey – if that's your cup of tea, then go for it.
But at least be consistent to your own principles!
Saying that the US is responsible for the terrorist situation and then actually demanding that the US break from its policy of not dealing with terrorists (one of the few pieces of American foreign policy I agree with) to take care of Korean nationals, and what is essentially the responsibility of the Korean government – that just convinced me that much of the Korean left is indeed off its rocker. (HT to Lost Nomad)
Protesting in front of the American Embassy? For what? The logic is, apparently, that since the US has more "influence" over the Afghan government, which I guess, the logic goes, is supposed to have influence over...the Taliban?
Not.
If you're going to see America as the evil that begot all evil (as a good Korean extreme leftist usually does) stick to your anti-American guns, at least. Don't call America the boogeyman and not the world police (which I agree it isn't) and then expect, nay, demand to clean up YOUR mess.
What a colonized mentality it must take to even think stuff like this up.
If Korea wants to be taken seriously as a sovereign nation, in possession of a strong military and the option to use it, then act like it. Don't come making demands on another sovereign nation to change its policy on not negotiating with the bad guys just because you got some of your people in a bind this time.
If those 23 were American, I'd say the same thing. Terrorists are not to be rewarded, not to be reasoned with, lest more terrorism be encouraged. And if the Korean government wants to do something about it, then send in your own commando team and mount some sort of operation, get all Jerry Bruckheimer on 'em, whatever needs to be done.
Koreans ask me this these days: "What if it were Americans there?"
My answer would be no different: terrorists are not to be negotiated with, but taken out. Period.
Because the next time it'll be another busload of whomever, and it will just encourage anyone with a gun and an agenda to do the same to more people.
So, Korea has its F-16's and aircraft carriers and crack commando units and likes to rattle the saber and cup its nuts when Japanese fishing ships come sniffing around Tokdo, but now the country's got two dead hostages and nearly a couple more left to go, and Korea comes crying – nay, chiding the US about not changing its foreign policy to accommodate Korea's unwillingness to do anything other than talk and complain?
Incredibly disappointing, on a lot of levels.
To indulge a bit of gendered nationalistic discourse, I'd suggest that South Korea stop embarrassing itself and either takes its licks or frickin' grow a pair and do what it can as a government to save its citizens.
I want to see those people come out alive, too, but this isn't America's responsibility, nor should the US alter its policy of not negotiating with evil people who want us to do exactly this. This gives power and validity to the terrorists' actions. Negotiate now, and how many more will die?
Sheesh.
Seriously – it's time to act like a responsible, sovereign nation and not a simpering, dependent colony. This is just plain, frickin' embarrassing. 사대주의 is a bitch, innit?
Chung Dong Yong sends letter to Pres. Bush
It seems like every political figure is jumping on the “Let’s pressure the US” bandwagon. The latest figure to weigh in is former Unification Minister Chung Dong Young.
According to Financial News, Mr. Chung has sent an open letter to Pres. George W. Bush via the US Embassy in Seoul.
Here is the English translation;
If the 23 (now 21) hostages were American and not Korean, we ask what would the US have done in this situation. Koreans believe that since this crisis is a part of the War on Terror, the US is the main party and not a third party. We appeal to the US to think of the hostages as Americans and take specific measures to solve this crisis.
We respect that there is a “seen principle” among nations that they should not negotiate with terrorists, but there is also an “unseen principle”. We remember the case where an American female journalist was released in exchange for five Iraqi female prisoners, which means there is a recognition that there is an exemption to the non negotiating principle.
Saving a life is more important than one’s obligations and profit. If Pres. Bush was to step forward and save the hostages, then people around the world will continue praising you for your determination, leadership, management, and love.
Well let’s just say the contents of the above letter is not that surprising, if you take into account the author. I wonder how Pres. Bush will react when he reads the above letter.
Gov’t Begs International Community to Use ‘Flexibility’ to Save Hostages
Cheong Wa Dae has issued a statement essentially begging the international community (read: the United States) to give in to the Taliban’s demands in order to save the remaining 21 Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan.
Given the nature of the statement, Cheong Wa Dae was quick to translate it, freeing me from the burden of doing it.
Another Korean held hostage in Afghanistan was killed last night. The Korean Government is saddened by this tragic news and offers its deepest condolences to the bereaved family.
The kidnappers are demanding the release of prisoners in Afghan jails in exchange for Korean nationals. But this demand is not within the power of the Korean Government because it doesn’t have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan Government.
The Korean Government strongly condemns and urges an immediate end to these heinous acts of killing innocent people in order to press for demands that it can’t meet.
The Korean hostages are not prisoners or criminals. They are civilians who went to Afghanistan for humanitarian work. Kidnapping and killing innocent people can’t be justified for any cause.
The Government is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases. But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity and is appealing the international community to do so.
Two Koreans have been slain. Despite that, the Government will continue to do all it can to secure the safe and speedy release of the remaining Korean hostages. But the Government makes it clear that it will not tolerate any further acts of harming innocent Koreans and intends to hold the perpetrators responsible.
OK, let me be clear on a couple of things. I appreciate that the Korean government’s first responsibility is to protect its own citizens. And while in principle I’m against negotiating with terrorists, I do recognize that deals sometimes get done. I understand this.
But the key point in the Cheong Wa Dae statement is “this demand is not within the power of the Korean Government because it doesn’t have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan Government.” And why doesn’t it have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan Government? Because it hasn’t paid for it, either in blood or treasure. And as far as I know, it hasn’t offered any blood (i.e., combat troops) or treasure (i.e., serious amounts of green). If it has, clearly, it isn’t enough.
If you want to make deals with the Taliban, fine. I can even see Seoul privately urging the Americans to put pressure on Kabul, preferably with assurances that Seoul would make it worth Washington’s while.
But issuing a public statement begging the international community to make a deal? Whose idea was that?
Later, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon explained the statment. He noted that as far as the issue of the Taliban prisoner release was concerned, the role of the Afghan government was most important (duh). He said Korea understands the difficulties of the Afghan government, but it was asking for Kabul to handle the situation more flexibly and more actively. He also said Seoul doesn’t believe that the United States has the independent authority to resolve the problem. He said cooperation with the United States was necessary since it was an interested party, but Washington hasn’t been “intentionally” refusing to cooperate or underestimating the situation.
Internet media eDaily (linked above) said Seoul’s refusal to ask Washington for help appears to be because either a) high-level discussions with Washington wouldn’t help resolve the crisis; or b) if such cooperation were to become known to the Taliban, it might hurt Seoul’s efforts.
Yonhap also noted the statement was an indirect yet strongly worded call for a change in Afghan and US government attitudes.
According to Yonhap, President Roh yesterday directed the government to strengthen “multi-sided efforts” to free the hostages. A government officials explained that “multi-sided efforts” meant strengthening cooperation with the United States.
Yonhap’s take on the statement:
The government statement could be seen as comprehensively containing a message that condemns the Taliban’s murder of civilians, but at the same time says that in order to prevent further fatalities, the Afghan government should turn course and accept the Taliban’s demand that their prisoners be swapped for the Korean hostages, and for this, the role of the United States, which exercises influence on the Afghan government, is most important.
Does anybody want to argue that Seoul isn’t setting Washington up to be the bad guy now?
The families said they intend to meet with the US ambassador to convey their hopes. An elderly relative even brought up the Korea-US alliance during the Korean War in asking for help. He apparently didn’t get the memos on “independent defense” and “the Northeast Asian balancer.” It also appears he didn’t get the memo explaining how the most our “ally” could scrounge up when we needed them most — namely, after the Taliban’s friends al-Qaeda slaughtered 3,000 Americans in the United States — was 200 non-combat troops, and this was even after Kim Dae-jung pledged support for the United States “in the spirit” of the Korea-US Mutual Defense Pact.
How do you like this?
Paik Jin Hyun, an associate dean at the Graduate School of International Studies of Seoul National University, said that if the hostage crisis did not conclude satisfactorily, anti-U.S. groups in South Korea might use it to promote anti-American sentiments in South Korea.
Oh no! Not anti-American sentiments!
On Tuesday, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement accusing Washington of watching the hostage crisis “as if it were a fire across the river.”
“A fire across the river”… a Korean expression you should have learned when you read it in the Hankyoreh last week.
“As everyone knows, the Taliban’s demand is something the U.S. government can help resolve, not the Afghan or South Korean government,” it said. “The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism.”
“Now why can’t it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?” it added.
Ooo, there’s that “spirit of the alliance” talk again. Well, how ’bouts this — Washington try to bribe Karzai into releasing the prisoners with… a goat.
Heck, two goats!
That way we can show the same kind of respect for the “spirit of the alliance” as DJ did in 2001.
During a regular press briefing, the US State Department made its position clear.
MR. CASEY: Take me all the way back to the gaggle, which you missed.
QUESTION: Which I missed, yes. I — just on the South Koreans in Afghanistan, is it — it remains U.S. policy not to negotiate with –
MR. CASEY: It remains U.S. policy not to make concessions to terrorists, yeah.
QUESTION: Not to make concessions.
MR. CASEY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Well, what about to negotiate?
MR. CASEY: Again, the policy as written over the past 20 years or so is to not make concessions to terrorists and that remains our view.
QUESTION: Are you aware of this — of growing — apparently growing sentiment in South Korea for the United States to actually — to change that on this — in that instance or to make an exception?
MR. CASEY: I’m not aware that there’s been any discussion of that, Matt. But again, you know, our views on this are well-known. We certainly have great sympathy for South Korea and for the people that are involved in this incident. This is a terrible incident. They should be let go. We want to see them let go as soon as possible. We’re certainly keeping in close touch with the Government of South Korea, as well as with the Afghan Government and, you know, coordinating to the extent that we can. But in this instance, the burden, just like in other hostage taking instances, is on those who’ve done this and the Taliban to release them and to let them go. But again, I think U.S. policy, again is longstanding. It’s been there for many, many years and I don’t see any indication that we’re going to be changing that any time soon.
In its report on this, Korean online media Newsis mistranslated the statement to read that the US thinks acting would be a burden. Or as the headline (at least at Naver.com) reads, “US State Department: We Sympathize with the Hostage Tragedy, But It’s Very Burdensome.” The headline was changed to “US: We Sympathize with the Hostage Tragedy, But We Can’t Concede” at the official Newsis site, but the mistranslation still stands. If you’re reading this at the US Embassy, I’d make a phone call to Newsis at 02-721-7400.
One commenter at Naver.com did say a funny, though. “The difference between the reporter (who asked the questions during the briefing) and the State Department spokesman is that the reporter reads Korean newspapers only, while the State Department has looked at the responses on the Korean Internet.”
Comments............................................
Brendon Carr
The Roh Moo Hyun government is (as usual) shamefully useless, but I hope — perhaps unreasonably — that the successor clique might re-evaluate how Korea’s own policy choices may enhance or diminish the influence Seoul has with foreign governments including not only Crapistan but also the United States, China, and Japan. It’s not good to have no influence.
Protection of Korean citizens is not the responsibility of the United States nor of the “international community”. It’s Roh Moo Hyun’s. It’s Korea’s responsibility.
Failure to have made investments in things which would enhance Korea’s influence — whether foreign aid programs, friendship festivals, diplomats who can actually speak foreign languages, friendly relations with the United States (I bet Uncle Sucker would send Marines to hose down the Taliban kidnappers and rescue British hostages if asked — why is that?) or battalions of deployable troops to rescue Korean hostages — these things are Korea’s fault alone.
And in my opinion, Roh’s response to this Taliban kidnapping makes things much worse for Koreans abroad. There is now a huge target on the forehead of these people: Grab a Korean, and they will do anything to reward you for it — and you don’t have to fear retribution because their government is powerless and they have no friends either. Fantastic job, Roh!
#
masanf your flag
Every time I turn around I read about Koreans blasting the United States, whether it be throwing shit on American beef or surveys claiming that North Korea is less dangerous than the United States and idiots trying to take down McArthur’s statue or the nation working itself into an absolute frenzy over the regrettable accidental death of girls from Army vehicles; for Christ sake, the Koreans were calling for American blood over a f*cking ice-skating medal. One jackass even went so far as to write a hit song about it.
But, now that they need help, they naturally turn to the United States. The US government should tell them to do you-know-what to themselves. They are reaping what they have sown.
We May Prolong the Crisis
Aug. 1, 2007 - Taliban Subcommander Abdullah was on the lookout for hostages. Ever since his superior, Commander Daro Khan, was arrested by U.S. forces in Ghazni province's Qarabagh district in June, Abdullah has had his men patrolling the main Kabul-to-Kandahar highway that runs through the province, watching for foreigners to kidnap. The goal: to exchange the prisoners for Khan and other Taliban operatives in Afghan and U.S. custody.
On July 19, Abdullah’s men got lucky. A pair on motorcycle patrol spotted a large, white passenger bus, traveling with no armed security escort. The fighters immediately pulled their motorcycles alongside the bus and pointed an AK-47 and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher directly at the bus driver's head. Rather than speeding up and trying to outrun the gunmen, the driver stopped and the 23 South Korean Christian aid workers riding on the bus were trapped.
The gunmen, who were communicating with Abdullah by walkie-talkie and cell phones, quickly ordered the bus driver to drive off the highway and into a nearby village that is located in the region's flat, desert-like and rocky plain. The gunmen ordered their hostages out of the bus and quickly began dividing them into small groups. Knowing that the Taliban and the prisoners would be vulnerable if they stayed together, Abdullah's and other Taliban units that quickly rushed to the scene divided the 23 South Koreans into five groups and transported them on the back of motorcycles and in pickup trucks to widely dispersed locations. Some were kept in Qarabagh; others were taken to neighboring Andar district, which is the Taliban's stronghold in Ghazni, while others were transported to Dahyak district that is only a few kilometers outside Ghazni city. Then the hostage takers started issuing their demands.
NEWSWEEK was able to piece together this exclusive look at how the South Koreans were captured and where they have been taken through satellite telephone conversations with several Taliban commanders involved in the hostage-taking operation. According to a senior provincial commander who does not want to be named, the Taliban almost immediately issued their demands to the Afghan government that the 23 South Korean hostages would be released in a swap for 115 Taliban prisoners in a five-to-one exchange. As the negotiations with the Afghan government dragged on, the commander says he reduced his demands to an even exchange of 23 Taliban prisoners for the South Koreans. Now he says he will exchange the hostages for eight prisoners whose names he has delivered to Kabul government officials. According to the commander, Afghan officials have been delaying the negotiations by telling him that the Afghan government is not holding all the men, that some are being held at the U.S. base at Bagram, near Kabul, and that Washington won't agree to release its prisoners.
Apparently frustrated by the delay, the missed deadlines and the extended negotiations—or perhaps just out of sheer cruelty—the Taliban has already shot two South Korean men execution-style and dumped their bloodied bodies by the roadside. However, a Wednesday deadline for the lives of the remaining 21 hostages seems to have passed without any further deaths. The senior commander who spoke to NEWSWEEK accuses Kabul of stalling the negotiations in the hope that the deaths of all the prisoners will end the stalemate. "The Afghan government is intentionally pushing us to kill all hostages one at a time so they can wind up the crisis," says the commander.
The Afghan government rejects such claims, saying that it is negotiating in good faith. It also seems to be trying to step up the pressure even as it denied media reports that it was about to launch a rescue attempt. The Taliban official told NEWSWEEK Wednesday that the Afghan Army and police, supported by U.S. forces, had moved into the Andar district—and that the kidnappers had moved three of the hostages to the province of Paktika, on Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
The impasse has placed Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an almost impossible predicament. Last March, facing a similar dilemma and under heavy pressure from Italy, Karzai ordered the release of five senior Taliban officials in exchange for an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who had been abducted along with his Afghan driver and interpreter. The Taliban executed the two Afghans, and Karzai's European and U.S. allies widely criticized his humanitarian gesture. One of the freed Taliban commanders, Mansor Dadullah, is now directing suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan and American forces from his redoubt on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Not surprisingly, Karzai is under intense pressure not to give in again. But the South Korean government is pleading with him and the U.S. to "use flexibility" in dealing with the Taliban's demands. Seoul and the Korean public clearly favor a deal. But this time Karzai seems to be siding with his allies in the belief that striking such an agreement would only encourage more Taliban abductions, turning kidnapping into a Taliban growth industry. "I think as a principle we shouldn't encourage kidnapping by accepting their demand," says the president's spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada.
The Taliban, however, clearly sees advantages in the tactic. In an interview with Britain’s Channel 4 news last month, Dadullah called kidnapping "a very successful policy." The insurgents have certainly been actively engaged in it. Besides the Koreans, the Taliban have kidnapped at least 41 Afghan civilians and killed at least 23 of them, while 18 remain missing, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which called the Taliban's kidnapping policy a "war crime." Another Taliban group is still holding a German hostage in Wardak province, just north of Kabul, after having executed his German co-worker last week. When Abdullah's group first heard of the kidnapping of the two Germans, it contacted the hostage takers in Wardak hoping that that insurgent group would try to get commander Daro Khan freed in exchange for the Germans. But the Taliban unit holding the Germans refused to cooperate.
The surviving South Koreans, 16 women and five men, are said to be in failing health, largely suffering from dehydration and intestinal disorders. A short video clip broadcast on the Arab TV network Al Jazeera this week showed seven forlorn female hostages, their hair covered by Islamic veils, looking both ill and frightened. One Taliban source told NEWSWEEK that at least one woman is extremely ill.
For now, though, the chances of a breakthrough seem slim. Indeed, the negotiations seem to be marked by confusion. The senior Taliban commander tells NEWSWEEK that a newly arrived South Korean envoy, a Ghazni member of parliament and some government negotiators, may have been talking to a bogus Taliban group that was posing as the kidnappers and has demanded and received some money. There is no way to verify the claim of the commander, who has provided reliable information to NEWSWEEK in the past. But he insists that he has never asked for any money, and is only interested in an exchange of the hostages for Taliban prisoners.
The commander adds that despite the hostages' health problems he is in no hurry to strike a deal unless his demands for the release of at least eight Taliban prisoners are met. "We may sustain, even prolong, the crisis for a while as it's embarrassing for Karzai's regime and keeps it under pressure," he told NEWSWEEK. He admitted that he is under some pressure from local elders who may have objected to him taking hostages, especially women. Karzai has denounced the kidnapping of women as "un-Islamic." "We are also under pressure because of local customs and traditions," the commander admits. But local sentiment is unlikely to lead to a resolution of the crisis.
The commander says that at least the women could be out of harm's way for the time being. "I think we will not decide [the] fate of the women in a hurry," he says. He even hints the negotiations could be out of his hands. "My opinion is not the final word," he adds. He says the Taliban Supreme Council, headed by the Taliban's one-eyed leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, is now involved in the negotiations. One of Mullah Omar's representatives, Hajji Hassan, is advising the Taliban's provincial leaders in Ghazni in their talks with the government.
The commander also warns against any Afghan and U.S. military operation to free the hostages. He says that his forces are in control of most of the province's countryside and that any military assault "will end in failure." One sub-commander named Haji Nur says that an Afghan Army force backed by helicopters attacked a village on the border between Qarabagh and Shelghari districts at 1 a.m. earlier this week. The troops, he says, didn't find any hostages and then proceeded to hand out leaflets urging the villagers not to cooperate with the Taliban.
These kidnappings that are occurring not far from Kabul are just another sign of how insecure Afghanistan has become over the past two years, despite a dramatically increased NATO and U.S. military presence of some 50,000 troops. Not only are abductions a constant danger, so are the roadside bombs known as IEDs and suicide bombers, who have even struck inside Kabul. This insecurity, especially the kidnappings, is further hindering the delivery of aid and reconstruction assistance to the eastern and southern provinces. Among the recent kidnapping victims is a four-man Afghan medical team that was abducted on Monday.
Most foreign-aid workers and U.N. officials have already adopted precautionary travel measures. They travel less frequently into the countryside and, if they do, are usually accompanied by an armed escort. The Afghan Ministry of Interior has advised all foreigners traveling outside Kabul to inform it of their travel plans so it can either advise of the dangers or arrange a security escort. Certainly, Afghan roads have seldom been more hazardous.
No Use Staring at the U.S. in Hostage Crisis
With the hostage crisis in Afghanistan dragging on while the number of casualties rises, certain groups in Korea have begun to shift the blame on the United States. One group opposed to the dispatch of Korean troops overseas has held a candle-lit vigil saying the U.S. caused this tragedy, while the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy issued a statement saying the negligence of the U.S. government was the reason behind the lack of progress in negotiations. Certain news media are starting to take that perspective, and the Uri Party hopped on the bandwagon.
It is difficult to believe Washington will be completely open to the idea of freeing Taliban prisoners. The U.S. government has refused to deal with terrorists even when its own citizens were taken hostage. There may be exceptions, but in Iraq alone, six American hostages were killed after the U.S. government refused to negotiate with terrorists. At present, the fate of 10 American hostages remains unclear. U.S. government officials say if this principle is compromised, then terrorism may spread like wildfire around the world.
Even though that may be Washington’s position, this crisis cannot end simply with a decision by Washington. The government of Afghanistan may rely on the U.S., but the people of Afghanistan are fighting against the Taliban since their own livelihoods depend on winning that fight. The government of Afghanistan freed Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist and the Taliban have reportedly learned the value of such tactics. If such incidents are repeated, the government of Afghanistan is afraid its stability may collapse and their very lives come under threat.
The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, who is briefed on relevant information, said Seoul does not think Washington has independent authority. He said it was wrong to think the U.S. held all of the cards. He added the U.S. was cooperating very closely with Korea in the areas of diplomacy, military and other information.
The goal of the Taliban is to dump all of the responsibility on the U.S. government. The fueling of anti-American sentiment by certain groups in Korea will only play into the taliban’s hands and justify their atrocities. As Mehra Juddin Patan, the governor of Ghazni Province said, the U.S. is in a dilemma too, because the Koreans had come to a country where they shouldn’t be.
The more anti-American groups demand the participation of the U.S. in the hostage negotiations, the more they are trapping Korea within Washington's policy of not making concessions to terrorists. The floor leaders of Korea’s five main political parties are seeking to visit Washington D.C. to call for U.S. participation in the hostage negotiation process. But there is a strong possibility that this trip may end up being a political show to get more votes during the presidential election in December.
As the situation grows more serious, efforts by certain groups to use it to fan anti-American hatred will only intensify. Already, those groups may be planning a second version of the mass rallies that happened after the deaths of Shim Mi-sun and Shin Hyo-soon, two schoolgirls who were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle here. The public must be able to distinguish between those who truly want to save the lives of the young Koreans and who are simply trying to capitalize on the suffering.
WTF
Can anyone tell me WTF this is all about? These people need to be in front of the Blue House protesting because it’s their own prez who’s doing an imitation of a spineless jellyfish. Whatever happened to that self reliance and having more independence from U.S. influence? And as for this statement from Cheong Wa Dae:
“Two Koreans have been slain. Despite that, the government will continue to do all it can to secure the safe and speedy release of the remaining Korean hostages. But the government makes it clear that it will not tolerate any further acts of harming innocent Koreans and hold the perpetrators responsible.” However, Cheon stressed that the Seoul government remains unchanged in its opposition to any military operation meant to rescue the hostages, saying that dialogue should not be given up until the last moment.
I hate to break it to you but “the last moment” has already come and passed for two of your people. Please tell us what your definition of “the last moment” is because I sure would love to know and I bet so would the families of the hostages. Sometimes, money isn’t the answer to the problem. It may be time to kick some ass and talk about it afterwards.
The South Korean Stockholm Syndrome
The South Korean Stockholm Syndrome
Korean folks keep asking me again and again what I think about this, so I'll make it clear in simple terms: if you negotiate with terrorists, you give them what they want and you legitimize their actions.
You encourage more terrorist acts.
I understand the emotions that go with seeing 21 hostages threatened, but you can't give in to their demands. That is exactly the one thing you can't do.
..............I think the US had the right to enter Afghanistan to protect its national interests and security, since Al Queda had been holed up there, and as a bonus, got to depose the hated and itself illegitimate Taliban. The Taliban were and are assholes, and I didn't mind seeing them taken out of power. I don't promote mass civilian bombing, and I think the US showed considerable restraint in the Afghanistan.....................
That being said, I also don't think there's a "war on terror" – I think we have a war on criminals who are just better organized and have political goals. That's it. Terrorists don't have national borders, a religion, nor a single face. They can be anyone with a gun, a bomb, and a purpose.
And whether it's a bank robbery, embassy invasion, or taking foreign nationals hostages, you don't give them a helicopter and $10 million dollars, or a free ride out of the country, or release their prisoners from jails.
If they were unjustly imprisoned, that's another issue; but you don't release them because criminals tell you to at gunpoint.
It was a mistake to release those 5 Italians, in my opinion, although I'm happy to see them alive. Yet, perhaps that "success" on the part of other terrorists has led to 2 South Koreans dead and perhaps to the deaths of 21 more.
And the next time? Do we keep bending over to the wills of the next group of terrorists who kidnap a bus load of Swedes? A Lufthansa passenger jet? Or threaten to nerve gas a shopping mall?
Whatever – you cannot play the terrorists' game, because there is only one way to win: by taking them out, or biting the bullet. And as horrible as the latter choice seems, giving the terrorists what they want is as good as pulling the trigger for the next group with guns, who, emboldened by the previous "success" (because, from the terrorists' point of view, that's what this would be), kill more people in the future.
Seriously – the South Korean government should stop acting like a group of frightened schoolchildren and act like a responsible government, and not bend over when a group of wackos engages in terrorist threats.
And the behavior of the Korean government is and will make South Koreans even MORE of targets of opportunity for terrorists, who will now learn that taking a few South Korean hostages prisoner can exert political force over that nation. If you were a terrorist, whom would you choose – an American, Italian, or a South Korean? I'd go with the country that would be more likely to give me what I wanted.
Which is exactly the point and modus operandi of terrorism.
And which is exactly what the South Korean government is doing by even entertaining the idea of negotiating, and embarrassing itself by saying it has no power to do anything about this.
I am extremely disappointed with the reactions of the Blue House, the Korean media, as well as the majority of the Korean population, from what I've seen and heard. Of all the countries in the world that should understand the importance of taking a hard line against terrorism, it should be South Korea.
But perhaps Korea is suffering from a sort of "Stockholm syndrome" in having been held nuclear hostage by North Korea for the last couple decades, and having been coerced to give food, aid, and money without conditional attachments such as allowing aid groups such as the Red Cross to confirm that it was eveb going to the populace instead of the North Korean military and civilian elite.
South Korea has seemingly lost its will to make the tough choices anymore, and it did so a long time before these hostages were taken.
If the US won't send in Navy Seals or some other rescue operation to save these hostages (which, frankly, I don't think it's the American responsibility to do), then South Korea should.
South Korea has a military, does it not? South Korea has troops on the ground in Afghanistan, technically already placing them in this war, does it not? South Korea is a sovereign nation, able to conduct it's own foreign policy and make decisions, is it not?
Then why does the US hold ultimate responsibility for the fate of South Korean hostages?
The US's policy is clear on this issue, and always has been – and it should not stray from it's stated policy of not negotiating with terrorists. If that does not satisfy South Koreans, then South Korea should get off its ass and do something about it.
The only legitimate "influence" over the Taliban is that of lethal force, which is the only point of leverage it presently understands. If some hostages can be rescued in a military operation, I am all for that.
But the US had better not participate in the process of releasing even a single hostage under Taliban demands, because in the end, only more people will die in the future.
This should be easy to understand – and for once, South Korea, this is not a mess the US is obligated at all to clean up for you.
Instead of begging for cooperation with terrorist demands, South Korea would be better off preparing other options.
And negotiation is not an option.
The real problem here, methinks, is that South Korea has been already cooperating with terrorists for far too long, since North Korea has been holding its own people hostage for far too long, while lobbing missiles over Japan and rattling its nuclear saber, waiting for food shipments and money to arrive.
The South Korean government has become far too used to taking it, and needs to rediscover its gonads with a swiftness, because this isn't the first time hostages have been taken in this manner, and what with the pliant behavior of the South Korean government, certainly won't be the last.
Because the message South Korea is sending is: "We will bend over to terrorists, so take our foreign nationals prisoner or even engage in acts of terror in South Korea itself; because we will negotiate with you."
No matter how you cut it, that's the message being sent here.
For all my social criticism of South Korean society, this is the first time I've been utterly disappointed to the point of despair. Because this isn't how responsible governments behave. Every country has social problems, and I like studying and analyzing ones in South Korea; yet, for me, this is different.
I'm embarrassed for South Korea, in the way that I imagine a loyal South Korean citizen might. Because this doesn't bode well for the nation, for faith in the government's ability to responsibly govern, or the nation's "face" in the presence of other nations.
In the end, this is utterly embarrassing for any nation – and if the US negotiates, then I will be angry and embarrassed at the US as well.
comments....
Comments
Well said.
It's time for South Korea to take responsibility for its own people, and for its place in the world. The South Korean government has some decisions to make, and it needs to make them now.
The first decision is no decision at all. South Korea cannot negotiate with these thugs. For the sake of all of its citizens everywhere, South Korea cannot give in to these demands.
All that is left are three options:
1) Try to talk these thugs into releasing the remaining hostages without giving in to any of their demands. But it's not going to happen. They have already killed two hostages; they are too heavily invested in this thing and there is no turning back for them. Under this scenario all of the hostages will die.
2) Sit by and do nothing. Watch as your people are killed one by one, wreaking untold horrific anguish on the families of the hostages, and on the psyche of an entire nation. Under this scenario all of the hostages will die.
3) Use well-calculated, pinpoint, violent, viscious force to rescue as many hostages as possible. South Korea must have trained for something like this - it must have the special forces ready, willing and able to undertake such a mission. Under this scenario, maybe some of the hostages will live. All of the thugs will die.
It's not like South Korea would be attacking another nation-state - these are a bunch of thugs, for Christ's sake. And I am sure the US would be willing to assist - after all, these are the same motherfuckers who harbored the assholes who killed 3000 of our citizens.
For the sake of its 50 million plus citizens, South Korea cannot put up with this bullshit. The message needs to be loud and clear - if you fuck with our citizens, you will die.
JJG
you guys are the kind of liberals i could grow to like
:) Mark.
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Wait – so, it's the US out of Korea, US out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Korea should be left on its own as an independent, sovereign state, right?
OK, I can buy that for a dollar, and I even agree with most of it.
Then it's America is evil this, America is evil that – general anti-American sentiment all-around. Hey – if that's your cup of tea, then go for it.
But at least be consistent to your own principles!
Saying that the US is responsible for the terrorist situation and then actually demanding that the US break from its policy of not dealing with terrorists (one of the few pieces of American foreign policy I agree with) to take care of Korean nationals, and what is essentially the responsibility of the Korean government – that just convinced me that much of the Korean left is indeed off its rocker. (HT to Lost Nomad)
Protesting in front of the American Embassy? For what? The logic is, apparently, that since the US has more "influence" over the Afghan government, which I guess, the logic goes, is supposed to have influence over...the Taliban?
Not.
If you're going to see America as the evil that begot all evil (as a good Korean extreme leftist usually does) stick to your anti-American guns, at least. Don't call America the boogeyman and not the world police (which I agree it isn't) and then expect, nay, demand to clean up YOUR mess.
What a colonized mentality it must take to even think stuff like this up.
If Korea wants to be taken seriously as a sovereign nation, in possession of a strong military and the option to use it, then act like it. Don't come making demands on another sovereign nation to change its policy on not negotiating with the bad guys just because you got some of your people in a bind this time.
If those 23 were American, I'd say the same thing. Terrorists are not to be rewarded, not to be reasoned with, lest more terrorism be encouraged. And if the Korean government wants to do something about it, then send in your own commando team and mount some sort of operation, get all Jerry Bruckheimer on 'em, whatever needs to be done.
Koreans ask me this these days: "What if it were Americans there?"
My answer would be no different: terrorists are not to be negotiated with, but taken out. Period.
Because the next time it'll be another busload of whomever, and it will just encourage anyone with a gun and an agenda to do the same to more people.
So, Korea has its F-16's and aircraft carriers and crack commando units and likes to rattle the saber and cup its nuts when Japanese fishing ships come sniffing around Tokdo, but now the country's got two dead hostages and nearly a couple more left to go, and Korea comes crying – nay, chiding the US about not changing its foreign policy to accommodate Korea's unwillingness to do anything other than talk and complain?
Incredibly disappointing, on a lot of levels.
To indulge a bit of gendered nationalistic discourse, I'd suggest that South Korea stop embarrassing itself and either takes its licks or frickin' grow a pair and do what it can as a government to save its citizens.
I want to see those people come out alive, too, but this isn't America's responsibility, nor should the US alter its policy of not negotiating with evil people who want us to do exactly this. This gives power and validity to the terrorists' actions. Negotiate now, and how many more will die?
Sheesh.
Seriously – it's time to act like a responsible, sovereign nation and not a simpering, dependent colony. This is just plain, frickin' embarrassing. 사대주의 is a bitch, innit?
Chung Dong Yong sends letter to Pres. Bush
It seems like every political figure is jumping on the “Let’s pressure the US” bandwagon. The latest figure to weigh in is former Unification Minister Chung Dong Young.
According to Financial News, Mr. Chung has sent an open letter to Pres. George W. Bush via the US Embassy in Seoul.
Here is the English translation;
If the 23 (now 21) hostages were American and not Korean, we ask what would the US have done in this situation. Koreans believe that since this crisis is a part of the War on Terror, the US is the main party and not a third party. We appeal to the US to think of the hostages as Americans and take specific measures to solve this crisis.
We respect that there is a “seen principle” among nations that they should not negotiate with terrorists, but there is also an “unseen principle”. We remember the case where an American female journalist was released in exchange for five Iraqi female prisoners, which means there is a recognition that there is an exemption to the non negotiating principle.
Saving a life is more important than one’s obligations and profit. If Pres. Bush was to step forward and save the hostages, then people around the world will continue praising you for your determination, leadership, management, and love.
Well let’s just say the contents of the above letter is not that surprising, if you take into account the author. I wonder how Pres. Bush will react when he reads the above letter.
Gov’t Begs International Community to Use ‘Flexibility’ to Save Hostages
Cheong Wa Dae has issued a statement essentially begging the international community (read: the United States) to give in to the Taliban’s demands in order to save the remaining 21 Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan.
Given the nature of the statement, Cheong Wa Dae was quick to translate it, freeing me from the burden of doing it.
Another Korean held hostage in Afghanistan was killed last night. The Korean Government is saddened by this tragic news and offers its deepest condolences to the bereaved family.
The kidnappers are demanding the release of prisoners in Afghan jails in exchange for Korean nationals. But this demand is not within the power of the Korean Government because it doesn’t have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan Government.
The Korean Government strongly condemns and urges an immediate end to these heinous acts of killing innocent people in order to press for demands that it can’t meet.
The Korean hostages are not prisoners or criminals. They are civilians who went to Afghanistan for humanitarian work. Kidnapping and killing innocent people can’t be justified for any cause.
The Government is well aware of how the international community deals with these kinds of abduction cases. But it also believes that it would be worthwhile to use flexibility in the cause of saving the precious lives of those still in captivity and is appealing the international community to do so.
Two Koreans have been slain. Despite that, the Government will continue to do all it can to secure the safe and speedy release of the remaining Korean hostages. But the Government makes it clear that it will not tolerate any further acts of harming innocent Koreans and intends to hold the perpetrators responsible.
OK, let me be clear on a couple of things. I appreciate that the Korean government’s first responsibility is to protect its own citizens. And while in principle I’m against negotiating with terrorists, I do recognize that deals sometimes get done. I understand this.
But the key point in the Cheong Wa Dae statement is “this demand is not within the power of the Korean Government because it doesn’t have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan Government.” And why doesn’t it have any effective means to influence decisions of the Afghan Government? Because it hasn’t paid for it, either in blood or treasure. And as far as I know, it hasn’t offered any blood (i.e., combat troops) or treasure (i.e., serious amounts of green). If it has, clearly, it isn’t enough.
If you want to make deals with the Taliban, fine. I can even see Seoul privately urging the Americans to put pressure on Kabul, preferably with assurances that Seoul would make it worth Washington’s while.
But issuing a public statement begging the international community to make a deal? Whose idea was that?
Later, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon explained the statment. He noted that as far as the issue of the Taliban prisoner release was concerned, the role of the Afghan government was most important (duh). He said Korea understands the difficulties of the Afghan government, but it was asking for Kabul to handle the situation more flexibly and more actively. He also said Seoul doesn’t believe that the United States has the independent authority to resolve the problem. He said cooperation with the United States was necessary since it was an interested party, but Washington hasn’t been “intentionally” refusing to cooperate or underestimating the situation.
Internet media eDaily (linked above) said Seoul’s refusal to ask Washington for help appears to be because either a) high-level discussions with Washington wouldn’t help resolve the crisis; or b) if such cooperation were to become known to the Taliban, it might hurt Seoul’s efforts.
Yonhap also noted the statement was an indirect yet strongly worded call for a change in Afghan and US government attitudes.
According to Yonhap, President Roh yesterday directed the government to strengthen “multi-sided efforts” to free the hostages. A government officials explained that “multi-sided efforts” meant strengthening cooperation with the United States.
Yonhap’s take on the statement:
The government statement could be seen as comprehensively containing a message that condemns the Taliban’s murder of civilians, but at the same time says that in order to prevent further fatalities, the Afghan government should turn course and accept the Taliban’s demand that their prisoners be swapped for the Korean hostages, and for this, the role of the United States, which exercises influence on the Afghan government, is most important.
Does anybody want to argue that Seoul isn’t setting Washington up to be the bad guy now?
The families said they intend to meet with the US ambassador to convey their hopes. An elderly relative even brought up the Korea-US alliance during the Korean War in asking for help. He apparently didn’t get the memos on “independent defense” and “the Northeast Asian balancer.” It also appears he didn’t get the memo explaining how the most our “ally” could scrounge up when we needed them most — namely, after the Taliban’s friends al-Qaeda slaughtered 3,000 Americans in the United States — was 200 non-combat troops, and this was even after Kim Dae-jung pledged support for the United States “in the spirit” of the Korea-US Mutual Defense Pact.
How do you like this?
Paik Jin Hyun, an associate dean at the Graduate School of International Studies of Seoul National University, said that if the hostage crisis did not conclude satisfactorily, anti-U.S. groups in South Korea might use it to promote anti-American sentiments in South Korea.
Oh no! Not anti-American sentiments!
On Tuesday, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic group based in Seoul, issued a statement accusing Washington of watching the hostage crisis “as if it were a fire across the river.”
“A fire across the river”… a Korean expression you should have learned when you read it in the Hankyoreh last week.
“As everyone knows, the Taliban’s demand is something the U.S. government can help resolve, not the Afghan or South Korean government,” it said. “The South Korean government, citing its alliance with the United States, dispatched troops for the U.S. war against terrorism.”
“Now why can’t it use the spirit of the alliance to help persuade the U.S. administration and save its own people?” it added.
Ooo, there’s that “spirit of the alliance” talk again. Well, how ’bouts this — Washington try to bribe Karzai into releasing the prisoners with… a goat.
Heck, two goats!
That way we can show the same kind of respect for the “spirit of the alliance” as DJ did in 2001.
During a regular press briefing, the US State Department made its position clear.
MR. CASEY: Take me all the way back to the gaggle, which you missed.
QUESTION: Which I missed, yes. I — just on the South Koreans in Afghanistan, is it — it remains U.S. policy not to negotiate with –
MR. CASEY: It remains U.S. policy not to make concessions to terrorists, yeah.
QUESTION: Not to make concessions.
MR. CASEY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Well, what about to negotiate?
MR. CASEY: Again, the policy as written over the past 20 years or so is to not make concessions to terrorists and that remains our view.
QUESTION: Are you aware of this — of growing — apparently growing sentiment in South Korea for the United States to actually — to change that on this — in that instance or to make an exception?
MR. CASEY: I’m not aware that there’s been any discussion of that, Matt. But again, you know, our views on this are well-known. We certainly have great sympathy for South Korea and for the people that are involved in this incident. This is a terrible incident. They should be let go. We want to see them let go as soon as possible. We’re certainly keeping in close touch with the Government of South Korea, as well as with the Afghan Government and, you know, coordinating to the extent that we can. But in this instance, the burden, just like in other hostage taking instances, is on those who’ve done this and the Taliban to release them and to let them go. But again, I think U.S. policy, again is longstanding. It’s been there for many, many years and I don’t see any indication that we’re going to be changing that any time soon.
In its report on this, Korean online media Newsis mistranslated the statement to read that the US thinks acting would be a burden. Or as the headline (at least at Naver.com) reads, “US State Department: We Sympathize with the Hostage Tragedy, But It’s Very Burdensome.” The headline was changed to “US: We Sympathize with the Hostage Tragedy, But We Can’t Concede” at the official Newsis site, but the mistranslation still stands. If you’re reading this at the US Embassy, I’d make a phone call to Newsis at 02-721-7400.
One commenter at Naver.com did say a funny, though. “The difference between the reporter (who asked the questions during the briefing) and the State Department spokesman is that the reporter reads Korean newspapers only, while the State Department has looked at the responses on the Korean Internet.”
Comments............................................
Brendon Carr
The Roh Moo Hyun government is (as usual) shamefully useless, but I hope — perhaps unreasonably — that the successor clique might re-evaluate how Korea’s own policy choices may enhance or diminish the influence Seoul has with foreign governments including not only Crapistan but also the United States, China, and Japan. It’s not good to have no influence.
Protection of Korean citizens is not the responsibility of the United States nor of the “international community”. It’s Roh Moo Hyun’s. It’s Korea’s responsibility.
Failure to have made investments in things which would enhance Korea’s influence — whether foreign aid programs, friendship festivals, diplomats who can actually speak foreign languages, friendly relations with the United States (I bet Uncle Sucker would send Marines to hose down the Taliban kidnappers and rescue British hostages if asked — why is that?) or battalions of deployable troops to rescue Korean hostages — these things are Korea’s fault alone.
And in my opinion, Roh’s response to this Taliban kidnapping makes things much worse for Koreans abroad. There is now a huge target on the forehead of these people: Grab a Korean, and they will do anything to reward you for it — and you don’t have to fear retribution because their government is powerless and they have no friends either. Fantastic job, Roh!
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masanf your flag
Every time I turn around I read about Koreans blasting the United States, whether it be throwing shit on American beef or surveys claiming that North Korea is less dangerous than the United States and idiots trying to take down McArthur’s statue or the nation working itself into an absolute frenzy over the regrettable accidental death of girls from Army vehicles; for Christ sake, the Koreans were calling for American blood over a f*cking ice-skating medal. One jackass even went so far as to write a hit song about it.
But, now that they need help, they naturally turn to the United States. The US government should tell them to do you-know-what to themselves. They are reaping what they have sown.
We May Prolong the Crisis
Aug. 1, 2007 - Taliban Subcommander Abdullah was on the lookout for hostages. Ever since his superior, Commander Daro Khan, was arrested by U.S. forces in Ghazni province's Qarabagh district in June, Abdullah has had his men patrolling the main Kabul-to-Kandahar highway that runs through the province, watching for foreigners to kidnap. The goal: to exchange the prisoners for Khan and other Taliban operatives in Afghan and U.S. custody.
On July 19, Abdullah’s men got lucky. A pair on motorcycle patrol spotted a large, white passenger bus, traveling with no armed security escort. The fighters immediately pulled their motorcycles alongside the bus and pointed an AK-47 and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher directly at the bus driver's head. Rather than speeding up and trying to outrun the gunmen, the driver stopped and the 23 South Korean Christian aid workers riding on the bus were trapped.
The gunmen, who were communicating with Abdullah by walkie-talkie and cell phones, quickly ordered the bus driver to drive off the highway and into a nearby village that is located in the region's flat, desert-like and rocky plain. The gunmen ordered their hostages out of the bus and quickly began dividing them into small groups. Knowing that the Taliban and the prisoners would be vulnerable if they stayed together, Abdullah's and other Taliban units that quickly rushed to the scene divided the 23 South Koreans into five groups and transported them on the back of motorcycles and in pickup trucks to widely dispersed locations. Some were kept in Qarabagh; others were taken to neighboring Andar district, which is the Taliban's stronghold in Ghazni, while others were transported to Dahyak district that is only a few kilometers outside Ghazni city. Then the hostage takers started issuing their demands.
NEWSWEEK was able to piece together this exclusive look at how the South Koreans were captured and where they have been taken through satellite telephone conversations with several Taliban commanders involved in the hostage-taking operation. According to a senior provincial commander who does not want to be named, the Taliban almost immediately issued their demands to the Afghan government that the 23 South Korean hostages would be released in a swap for 115 Taliban prisoners in a five-to-one exchange. As the negotiations with the Afghan government dragged on, the commander says he reduced his demands to an even exchange of 23 Taliban prisoners for the South Koreans. Now he says he will exchange the hostages for eight prisoners whose names he has delivered to Kabul government officials. According to the commander, Afghan officials have been delaying the negotiations by telling him that the Afghan government is not holding all the men, that some are being held at the U.S. base at Bagram, near Kabul, and that Washington won't agree to release its prisoners.
Apparently frustrated by the delay, the missed deadlines and the extended negotiations—or perhaps just out of sheer cruelty—the Taliban has already shot two South Korean men execution-style and dumped their bloodied bodies by the roadside. However, a Wednesday deadline for the lives of the remaining 21 hostages seems to have passed without any further deaths. The senior commander who spoke to NEWSWEEK accuses Kabul of stalling the negotiations in the hope that the deaths of all the prisoners will end the stalemate. "The Afghan government is intentionally pushing us to kill all hostages one at a time so they can wind up the crisis," says the commander.
The Afghan government rejects such claims, saying that it is negotiating in good faith. It also seems to be trying to step up the pressure even as it denied media reports that it was about to launch a rescue attempt. The Taliban official told NEWSWEEK Wednesday that the Afghan Army and police, supported by U.S. forces, had moved into the Andar district—and that the kidnappers had moved three of the hostages to the province of Paktika, on Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
The impasse has placed Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an almost impossible predicament. Last March, facing a similar dilemma and under heavy pressure from Italy, Karzai ordered the release of five senior Taliban officials in exchange for an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who had been abducted along with his Afghan driver and interpreter. The Taliban executed the two Afghans, and Karzai's European and U.S. allies widely criticized his humanitarian gesture. One of the freed Taliban commanders, Mansor Dadullah, is now directing suicide bombings and other attacks against Afghan and American forces from his redoubt on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Not surprisingly, Karzai is under intense pressure not to give in again. But the South Korean government is pleading with him and the U.S. to "use flexibility" in dealing with the Taliban's demands. Seoul and the Korean public clearly favor a deal. But this time Karzai seems to be siding with his allies in the belief that striking such an agreement would only encourage more Taliban abductions, turning kidnapping into a Taliban growth industry. "I think as a principle we shouldn't encourage kidnapping by accepting their demand," says the president's spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada.
The Taliban, however, clearly sees advantages in the tactic. In an interview with Britain’s Channel 4 news last month, Dadullah called kidnapping "a very successful policy." The insurgents have certainly been actively engaged in it. Besides the Koreans, the Taliban have kidnapped at least 41 Afghan civilians and killed at least 23 of them, while 18 remain missing, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which called the Taliban's kidnapping policy a "war crime." Another Taliban group is still holding a German hostage in Wardak province, just north of Kabul, after having executed his German co-worker last week. When Abdullah's group first heard of the kidnapping of the two Germans, it contacted the hostage takers in Wardak hoping that that insurgent group would try to get commander Daro Khan freed in exchange for the Germans. But the Taliban unit holding the Germans refused to cooperate.
The surviving South Koreans, 16 women and five men, are said to be in failing health, largely suffering from dehydration and intestinal disorders. A short video clip broadcast on the Arab TV network Al Jazeera this week showed seven forlorn female hostages, their hair covered by Islamic veils, looking both ill and frightened. One Taliban source told NEWSWEEK that at least one woman is extremely ill.
For now, though, the chances of a breakthrough seem slim. Indeed, the negotiations seem to be marked by confusion. The senior Taliban commander tells NEWSWEEK that a newly arrived South Korean envoy, a Ghazni member of parliament and some government negotiators, may have been talking to a bogus Taliban group that was posing as the kidnappers and has demanded and received some money. There is no way to verify the claim of the commander, who has provided reliable information to NEWSWEEK in the past. But he insists that he has never asked for any money, and is only interested in an exchange of the hostages for Taliban prisoners.
The commander adds that despite the hostages' health problems he is in no hurry to strike a deal unless his demands for the release of at least eight Taliban prisoners are met. "We may sustain, even prolong, the crisis for a while as it's embarrassing for Karzai's regime and keeps it under pressure," he told NEWSWEEK. He admitted that he is under some pressure from local elders who may have objected to him taking hostages, especially women. Karzai has denounced the kidnapping of women as "un-Islamic." "We are also under pressure because of local customs and traditions," the commander admits. But local sentiment is unlikely to lead to a resolution of the crisis.
The commander says that at least the women could be out of harm's way for the time being. "I think we will not decide [the] fate of the women in a hurry," he says. He even hints the negotiations could be out of his hands. "My opinion is not the final word," he adds. He says the Taliban Supreme Council, headed by the Taliban's one-eyed leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, is now involved in the negotiations. One of Mullah Omar's representatives, Hajji Hassan, is advising the Taliban's provincial leaders in Ghazni in their talks with the government.
The commander also warns against any Afghan and U.S. military operation to free the hostages. He says that his forces are in control of most of the province's countryside and that any military assault "will end in failure." One sub-commander named Haji Nur says that an Afghan Army force backed by helicopters attacked a village on the border between Qarabagh and Shelghari districts at 1 a.m. earlier this week. The troops, he says, didn't find any hostages and then proceeded to hand out leaflets urging the villagers not to cooperate with the Taliban.
These kidnappings that are occurring not far from Kabul are just another sign of how insecure Afghanistan has become over the past two years, despite a dramatically increased NATO and U.S. military presence of some 50,000 troops. Not only are abductions a constant danger, so are the roadside bombs known as IEDs and suicide bombers, who have even struck inside Kabul. This insecurity, especially the kidnappings, is further hindering the delivery of aid and reconstruction assistance to the eastern and southern provinces. Among the recent kidnapping victims is a four-man Afghan medical team that was abducted on Monday.
Most foreign-aid workers and U.N. officials have already adopted precautionary travel measures. They travel less frequently into the countryside and, if they do, are usually accompanied by an armed escort. The Afghan Ministry of Interior has advised all foreigners traveling outside Kabul to inform it of their travel plans so it can either advise of the dangers or arrange a security escort. Certainly, Afghan roads have seldom been more hazardous.
No Use Staring at the U.S. in Hostage Crisis
With the hostage crisis in Afghanistan dragging on while the number of casualties rises, certain groups in Korea have begun to shift the blame on the United States. One group opposed to the dispatch of Korean troops overseas has held a candle-lit vigil saying the U.S. caused this tragedy, while the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy issued a statement saying the negligence of the U.S. government was the reason behind the lack of progress in negotiations. Certain news media are starting to take that perspective, and the Uri Party hopped on the bandwagon.
It is difficult to believe Washington will be completely open to the idea of freeing Taliban prisoners. The U.S. government has refused to deal with terrorists even when its own citizens were taken hostage. There may be exceptions, but in Iraq alone, six American hostages were killed after the U.S. government refused to negotiate with terrorists. At present, the fate of 10 American hostages remains unclear. U.S. government officials say if this principle is compromised, then terrorism may spread like wildfire around the world.
Even though that may be Washington’s position, this crisis cannot end simply with a decision by Washington. The government of Afghanistan may rely on the U.S., but the people of Afghanistan are fighting against the Taliban since their own livelihoods depend on winning that fight. The government of Afghanistan freed Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist and the Taliban have reportedly learned the value of such tactics. If such incidents are repeated, the government of Afghanistan is afraid its stability may collapse and their very lives come under threat.
The Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, who is briefed on relevant information, said Seoul does not think Washington has independent authority. He said it was wrong to think the U.S. held all of the cards. He added the U.S. was cooperating very closely with Korea in the areas of diplomacy, military and other information.
The goal of the Taliban is to dump all of the responsibility on the U.S. government. The fueling of anti-American sentiment by certain groups in Korea will only play into the taliban’s hands and justify their atrocities. As Mehra Juddin Patan, the governor of Ghazni Province said, the U.S. is in a dilemma too, because the Koreans had come to a country where they shouldn’t be.
The more anti-American groups demand the participation of the U.S. in the hostage negotiations, the more they are trapping Korea within Washington's policy of not making concessions to terrorists. The floor leaders of Korea’s five main political parties are seeking to visit Washington D.C. to call for U.S. participation in the hostage negotiation process. But there is a strong possibility that this trip may end up being a political show to get more votes during the presidential election in December.
As the situation grows more serious, efforts by certain groups to use it to fan anti-American hatred will only intensify. Already, those groups may be planning a second version of the mass rallies that happened after the deaths of Shim Mi-sun and Shin Hyo-soon, two schoolgirls who were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle here. The public must be able to distinguish between those who truly want to save the lives of the young Koreans and who are simply trying to capitalize on the suffering.
WTF
Can anyone tell me WTF this is all about? These people need to be in front of the Blue House protesting because it’s their own prez who’s doing an imitation of a spineless jellyfish. Whatever happened to that self reliance and having more independence from U.S. influence? And as for this statement from Cheong Wa Dae:
“Two Koreans have been slain. Despite that, the government will continue to do all it can to secure the safe and speedy release of the remaining Korean hostages. But the government makes it clear that it will not tolerate any further acts of harming innocent Koreans and hold the perpetrators responsible.” However, Cheon stressed that the Seoul government remains unchanged in its opposition to any military operation meant to rescue the hostages, saying that dialogue should not be given up until the last moment.
I hate to break it to you but “the last moment” has already come and passed for two of your people. Please tell us what your definition of “the last moment” is because I sure would love to know and I bet so would the families of the hostages. Sometimes, money isn’t the answer to the problem. It may be time to kick some ass and talk about it afterwards.
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