'저는 그들의 땅을 지키기 위하여 싸웠던 인디안들의 이야기를 기억합니다. 백인들이 그들의 신성한 숲에 도로를 만들기 위하여 나무들을 잘랐습니다. 매일밤 인디안들이 나가서 백인들이 만든 그 길을 해체하면 그 다음 날 백인들이 와서 도로를 다시 짓곤 했습니다. 한동안 그 것이 반복되었습니다. 그러던 어느날, 숲에서 가장 큰 나무가 백인들이 일할 동안 그들 머리 위로 떨어져 말과 마차들을 파괴하고 그들 중 몇몇을 죽였습니다. 그러자 백인들은 떠났고 결코 다시 오지 않았습니다….' (브루스 개그논)





For any updates on the struggle against the Jeju naval base, please go to savejejunow.org and facebook no naval base on Jeju. The facebook provides latest updates.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Text Fwd: Obama Hints at Rotating Troops in South Korea to Afghanistan

* Image source: Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes, Nov. 21, 2009

'U.S. service members at Osan take photos of President Barack Obama, who has just finished his speech to an audience drawn from installations around the peninsula.'

* Korea Times
11-20-2009 18:49
Obama Hints at Rotating Troops in South Korea to Afghanistan
By Jung Sung-ki, Staff Reporter

U.S. President Barack Obama hinted that American troops stationed in South Korea could be deployed to Afghanistan.

The remark was made Thursday when he spoke to thousands of U.S. troops here on the final day of his weeklong Asia tour. It came on the heels of the Oct. 22 comment by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the Pentagon could temporarily deploy U.S. service members in Korea to the Middle East in coming years.

Mullen referred to the soon-to-be-implemented longer, family-accompanied tours by U.S. troops in South Korea as a base for the idea.

``Many of you served in Iraq … others among you served in Afghanistan,'' Obama told 1,500 U.S. forces at Osan Airbase in Gyeonggi Province. ``Others among you will be deployed yet again.''

Pundits say the comment by Obama can be construed as emphasizing ``strategic flexibility'' for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) since the U.S. government is struggling to handle Afghan issues amid surging death tolls and withdrawals of non-U.S. troops from the terrorism-stricken Central Asian nation.

Strategic flexibility is aimed at changing the mission of American forces abroad from stationary ones focused on defending host nations to rapid deployment troops that can be swiftly dispatched to other parts of the world where the United States is in need.

Seoul and Washington already agreed on the scheme in 2006, but the plan has not been fully implemented amid concerns that it could weaken the Korea-U.S. combined forces against North Korea.

A high-ranking official at the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command confirmed the U.S. move.

``When the plan of longer, accompanied tours by U.S. troops here was initiated, the U.S. military was already considering the troop rotation scheme at the same time,'' the official told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. ``Such a rotation is normal in other countries where U.S. troops are stationed, so South Korea should not be an exception as long as the tour normalization plan is settled in the coming years.''

Following approval from the Pentagon, the USFK, which has 28,500 troops in Korea, is going ahead with lengthening the tours of its service members here to up to three years and having them live with their family members.

USFK Commander General Walter Sharp said his command would have half of its 28,500 members serve three-year accompanied tours, similar to those served by soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in Japan and Europe for decades.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr


* Related document:

* Check Doc. No 546 of the JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ, The 41st Republic of Korea – United States Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Oct. 22, 2009, here

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