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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! May 14, 2006 Thousands Rally Against U.S. TroopsBy GreyhawkWhen I first saw the headline above in the Early Bird I actually thought the story might be from New York City. My second guess was Baghdad. SEOUL -- Thousands rallied on a downtown Seoul boulevard yesterday to protest a plan to relocate American military bases, the largest anti-U.S. demonstration in the South Korean capital this year.In perspective, the population of Seoul is about ten million, meaning .06 (point zero six) percent were outraged enough to hit the streets. (Assuming all the protestors were from Seoul.) But GI Korea (who has been following this closely for obvious reasons) says: This is just a warm up for the hatefest that is sure to come later this weekend in Pyeongtaek.Similar things were ongoing when I was stationed there in the late 80s/early 90s. But back then the protesters were demanding that the troops move out of Seoul, which is part of the reason we are doing so today. Less than fond memories: My son was in pre-school at the time. Besides fire drills they had tear gas drills, in which they learned how to respond in the event the prevailing winds blew any such riot control agents into the building. (Hit the floor, cover mouth and nose with handerkerchief, low crawl out.) Moms, of course, had to make sure the kids always brought their hankies to school. Posted by Greyhawk / May 14, 2006 10:33 AM | Permalink 11 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
The hatefest did come this weekend but it wasn't as bad as last week's protest. The anti-US groups in Korea are now greatly losing the public relations battle in Korea which is effecting their ability to turn out large numbers of protesters compared back to 2002 after the tank accident that killed two Korean girls.
After that accident the anti-US groups were able to mobilize a hundred thousand people. This weekend at Camp Humphreys they only mobilized 2,500 by comparison. Anti-Americanism in Korea is starting to die down as the public has seen that the US is serious about withdrawing troops from Korea. However this won't stop the hardcore anti-US, North Korean sponsored leftists that will continue to use violence and other means to continue their goal of removing USFK from Korea.
Anti-American demonstrations have been a staple of Korean life for decades. Let's face it, there are just as many whack-o leftists in Korea as there are in these United States. Their fathers and their grandfathers demonstrated against the Americans when they were in college, so now the youngest generation of idiots takes up the cause. But it surely doesn't touch the vast, vast majority of the Korean population, who go about their business apparently oblivious to the anti-American agitation. When we lived in Korea in 1995-1996 there were periodic dust-ups in the vicinity of the American Embassy . . . I remember the Ambassador telling me about a concerned telephone call from his family back in the States, worried about his safety . . . he honestly told them that he wasn't even aware there was a demonstration going on outside. The news photogs and the TV cameramen are careful to show these small gaggles of anti-American idiots in close shots, so the relative handsful of demonstrators can be made to look like a surge of humanity. Also, remember that the younger generation doesn't remember the Korean War and does not always realize that without American, Australian, Turkish, etc, as well as Korean sacrifices in the 1950s and the 1960s they would be starving under the same communist regime that has ravaged the once-more-prosperous North.
It isn't just Seoul that the US is not very popular, i saw US flags being burnt in the UK while attending the Anti Iraq War demonstrations. The US is not very popular anywhere at this moment in time and have not been since the illegal Iraq invasion but thats down more to your leader then Americans themselves, i can't think of a country in the world that Bush could go to and not have to be shielded from demonstrations. Thats a good thing i say, he deserves it.
Lucyp, I don't even know how to begin. Greyhawk talks about the 80's and 90's and a couple of commentors talk about their own *pre-2003* experiences. I was going to say, "Oh, yeah, when I was in the Philippines..." and we haven't had our bases there since 1991.
And somehow you think this is Bush's fault.
One of these days I'm going to buy the T-shirt from the fair-trade gift shop from Liberal Larry at Blame Bush blog... I want the yellow shirt that says "Bush squandered the golden showers of international support."
It's funny... every time.
She's probably right Julie, I have no doubt that the percentage (.06%) of people who hate America is the same worldwide.
So before Bush we could add a zero? ;-) .006?
I lived in Europe in the '80's and there were about 1% that hated the US at that time and got a lot of ink whenever they protested. Most of the people I met liked the US just fine, many of the older generation went out of their way to make sure that I knew they were grateful to the US.
As I travel around the world today - Europe, Middle East, Far East - I don't encounter much more negative feelings from the everyday people. This has been such an overblown story, but people who don't travel sure eat it up.
One place I have not been to, and wanted to ask Greyhawk or GI Korea - when I read the stories from there, I am a bit confused. Are they protesting against the US, or that we would move bases that would make it easier for us to respond to other threats? Or are they protesting that we might leave? The story makes it sound like the last.
Bill,
Basically what you got going on is that the US drastically reducing its footprint in Korea by giving back to the Koreans all the land that Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and all the land 2ID is located on North of Seoul. In return for moving off of all this land the US wants to expand Camp Humphreys which is located 50km south of Seoul, to fit all the soldiers that are being moved. In order to expand Camp Humphreys the small rice farming village of Daechu-ri had to be leveled.
The farmers were given compensation for their land. About 70% of the farmers took the compensation package and voluntarily moved. The other 30% of the farmers have not moved yet. The typical anti-American activists have come out to defend the farmers that have not moved. These activists are formed from pro-North Korean labor unions and student groups.
They feel that if they can stop the expansion they can force USFK to withdraw troops from Korea all together. These protests have been very violent and with many ROK police and soldiers injured. The current government in Korea was elected back in 2002 on anti-American sentiment after an accident where a US tank ran over two Korean girls. The people committing violence are actually part of the ruling South Korean government's base. So when these rioters get arrested for violence the Korean judges release them a couple days later so the next weekend they can commit violence again and the cycle continues.
The real losers in all of this is the 20 year old mandatory service draftees in the Korean army and police force who are just doing their time serving their country and get seriously injured and beaten for it by these thugs who the court systems keep releasing without punishment or fines.
This is just a quick summary but you can of course read my blog for more details.
Gandalin,
The leftists in America do not compare to South Korea's leftists. The anti-US hate groups here are extremely violent, regularly attack the Korean police and military, have kidnapped and beaten US soldiers and forced them to make coerced statements on national Korean TV, and have attacked on multiple occassions US soldiers on duty and recently during the last RSOI they attacked US Marines conducting a landing operation with the ROK Marines disrupting the exercise.
The leftists are allowed to do all of this because the current anti-American Korean government will not arrest them. Not to long ago these people would have been imprisoned but not anymore they have a free hand to do whatever they want. It may take someone getting killed by these leftists before the government cracks down on them. Here is a link for video footage of how violent and large scale these riots are becoming. Keep in mind that no rioters from this video were imprisoned or fined:
http://jetiranger.tripod.com/BLOG/index.blog?entry_id=1478880
"i saw US flags being burnt in the UK while attending the Anti Iraq War demonstrations."
While many of us in Britain grumble a bit about the Americans (mainly about the spelling), very few IMO are strongly anti-American.
As a UK citizen, I support the war in Iraq, and I don't think I am alone in this. The anti-war people just make more fuss.