About Korea.

Late Wednesday I received an email from an Army vet and old friend asking me to write about the recent developments in Korea. His email and background contains a perspective far beyond anything I could say. He gave me permission to post his email . I've added one link but the military "lingo" is left as is. DPRK is North Korea and ROK is South Korea to us civilians. Whether the recent saber rattling by the DRPK is the result of a new belligerence, an internal power struggle or an attempt to test or bribe a new American President is far beyond my ability to even guess.

The writer served for 2 decades in the United States Army (Thank you, sir!). I do not know his final rank before retiring so I've left it off - no disrespect is meant . His persepctive is compelling and important.



John,

I realize the recent focus of your blog is BHO & the gay marriage debate, but it would be wonderful if you could write something insightful about the recent developments in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Basically, BHO could take some important preventive measures to safeguard the families of service members & DoD employees stationed in the ROK. Look up NEO (non-combatant evacuation operations).

Unfortunately, IF hostilities break out on the Korean peninsula, massive resources will be spent attempting to move more than 20,000 families members out of the Republic of Korea. It's time to rethink the military wisdom of maintaining the status quo which allows family members to remain in South Korea.

The colonial country club atmosphere of our military in the South Korea needs a swift kick-in-the-ass...

Trust me, IF shit hits the fan, our troops will ONLY be focused on protecting U.S. family members caught up in a fresh combat zone. What would you do IF you were a soldier with family members in a Combat Zone? Once the DPRK announced it no longer would honor the 1953 Armistice ending the Korean War (Pyongyang Also Says Truce Ending War in 1953 Is Invalid) the rules of the political and military game changed. The Korean peninsula is now a De Facto war zone. Allowing family members to remain in the Republic of Korea is nothing short of gross incompetence.

By enacting an immediate NEO, it would send a strong message to the DPRK, but more importantly the PRC, that the U.S. is serious about defending the ROK and Japan. It would show the DPRK that the U.S. is listening closely to its words and actions.

As President, BHO has the direct responsibility to safeguard the lives of Americans. IF the U.S. is serious about defending the ROK and Japan, it needs to devote ALL its resources to that goal. Allowing family members to remain in the ROK is a recipe for a potential military and humanitarian disaster.

The rules of the political game have changed. When Germany declared war on Poland, my grandfather didn't wait around for the shooting to start to put his family on a boat out of France. While I understand the desire of our government and the military not to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, not immediately beginning the first stages of a complete NEO is nothing short of gross incompetence.

Would our government allow family members to remain in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan?

The DPRK has declared war. This administration needs to act accordingly and immediately!



Matt Jenkins