Post by dustdevil28 on Aug 2, 2007 15:01:25 GMT -8
You've got to be kidding me.
........................................................
SEOUL, South Korea - 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.
The United States has so far simply said it remains in contact with the South Korean and Afghan governments on the issue. As the hostage crisis drags on, South Koreans are increasingly questioning what they have received from the U.S. in exchange for sending soldiers to support the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(BB note: just what the hell makes you think we owe you a damn thing? It our mens asses that have were put on the line to save your fucking country and we lost 50,000 of them in defense of it. We've stayed in your country for 50 years to ensure your freedom and you have the gaul to ask what you are receiving in return for your non-combat assistance in Afghan and Iraq? get fucking real.)
The course of the crisis could affect a presidential election this year in this key U.S. ally on China's doorstep.
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.
Taliban militants kidnapped the 23 South Koreans near Ghazni, Afghanistan on July 19. Demanding the release of militant prisoners, including some held by the United States, the hostage-takers have killed two male captives so far.
A delegation of top South Korean lawmakers left Thursday for Washington to press their case for an exception to the U.S. policy of refusing to make concessions to terrorists.
Richard Boucher, a senior State Department official, said the United States is not ruling out military force to free the hostages. But a South Korean official said Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte had agreed during a meeting Thursday in the Philippines to rule out a military attempt to end the standoff.
Afghan officials said the volunteers' captors have agreed to meet with South Korea's ambassador, though they had not yet agreed on a venue.
In South Korea, a nightly candlelight vigil calling for the South Korean hostages to return home safely has recently moved to a new site in central Seoul next to the U.S. Embassy. Some protesters have carried signs with a U.S. flag being smashed by a fist and appealed to the White House: "Bush: Don't kill, negotiate."
Candidates in South Korea's December presidential elections have been happy to play the populist, anti-American card, which finds resonance in a country often torn between greater powers.
"I want to ask what kind of judgment the U.S. government would have made if the 23 hostages were Americans," Chung Dong-young, a well-known liberal presidential hopeful, told reporters this week.
(BB note: we would do the same thing dumbass, or did you not follow the U.S. soldiers abducted in Iraq just 3 months ago)
Tragedy and anti-Americanism have turned the course of a South Korean election before.
In 2002, two girls were killed in a traffic accident with a U.S. military vehicle. The soldiers involved were exonerated, spawning weeks of anti-American fervor that rang out through election day and helped President Roh Moo-hyun win a come-from-behind victory with a pledge not to "kowtow" to Washington.
Since taking office, Roh's liberal government and the conservative Bush administration have frequently hit dissonant notes, even as they remain close allies.
They have argued about how to deal with North Korea and its nuclear weapons program, and about the costs for U.S. troops deployed in the South — some 28,000 American forces on a mission to deter a possible North Korean invasion.
Washington wants Seoul to share more of the costs for its deployment, but South Korea argues it has contributed forces to Afghanistan and Iraq for non-combat reconstruction missions.
"The South Korean government had this tragedy coming where it cannot do anything to protect the lives of South Koreans while dispatching troops to the U.S. war on terrorism so readily, citing the Korea-U.S. alliance," the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic group, said in this week.
The president's office has been more diplomatic, simply asking the "international community" for flexibility, although it's clear the message is aimed at the Americans
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070802/ap_on_re_as/skorea_angry_at_washington
As you all can tell, I'm more than a little pissed about this.
........................................................
SEOUL, South Korea - 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.
The United States has so far simply said it remains in contact with the South Korean and Afghan governments on the issue. As the hostage crisis drags on, South Koreans are increasingly questioning what they have received from the U.S. in exchange for sending soldiers to support the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(BB note: just what the hell makes you think we owe you a damn thing? It our mens asses that have were put on the line to save your fucking country and we lost 50,000 of them in defense of it. We've stayed in your country for 50 years to ensure your freedom and you have the gaul to ask what you are receiving in return for your non-combat assistance in Afghan and Iraq? get fucking real.)
The course of the crisis could affect a presidential election this year in this key U.S. ally on China's doorstep.
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.
Taliban militants kidnapped the 23 South Koreans near Ghazni, Afghanistan on July 19. Demanding the release of militant prisoners, including some held by the United States, the hostage-takers have killed two male captives so far.
A delegation of top South Korean lawmakers left Thursday for Washington to press their case for an exception to the U.S. policy of refusing to make concessions to terrorists.
Richard Boucher, a senior State Department official, said the United States is not ruling out military force to free the hostages. But a South Korean official said Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte had agreed during a meeting Thursday in the Philippines to rule out a military attempt to end the standoff.
Afghan officials said the volunteers' captors have agreed to meet with South Korea's ambassador, though they had not yet agreed on a venue.
In South Korea, a nightly candlelight vigil calling for the South Korean hostages to return home safely has recently moved to a new site in central Seoul next to the U.S. Embassy. Some protesters have carried signs with a U.S. flag being smashed by a fist and appealed to the White House: "Bush: Don't kill, negotiate."
Candidates in South Korea's December presidential elections have been happy to play the populist, anti-American card, which finds resonance in a country often torn between greater powers.
"I want to ask what kind of judgment the U.S. government would have made if the 23 hostages were Americans," Chung Dong-young, a well-known liberal presidential hopeful, told reporters this week.
(BB note: we would do the same thing dumbass, or did you not follow the U.S. soldiers abducted in Iraq just 3 months ago)
Tragedy and anti-Americanism have turned the course of a South Korean election before.
In 2002, two girls were killed in a traffic accident with a U.S. military vehicle. The soldiers involved were exonerated, spawning weeks of anti-American fervor that rang out through election day and helped President Roh Moo-hyun win a come-from-behind victory with a pledge not to "kowtow" to Washington.
Since taking office, Roh's liberal government and the conservative Bush administration have frequently hit dissonant notes, even as they remain close allies.
They have argued about how to deal with North Korea and its nuclear weapons program, and about the costs for U.S. troops deployed in the South — some 28,000 American forces on a mission to deter a possible North Korean invasion.
Washington wants Seoul to share more of the costs for its deployment, but South Korea argues it has contributed forces to Afghanistan and Iraq for non-combat reconstruction missions.
"The South Korean government had this tragedy coming where it cannot do anything to protect the lives of South Koreans while dispatching troops to the U.S. war on terrorism so readily, citing the Korea-U.S. alliance," the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a major civic group, said in this week.
The president's office has been more diplomatic, simply asking the "international community" for flexibility, although it's clear the message is aimed at the Americans
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070802/ap_on_re_as/skorea_angry_at_washington
As you all can tell, I'm more than a little pissed about this.
