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In reply to the discussion: Biggest Threat to World Peace: The United States [View all]ronnie624
(5,764 posts)131. Biggest Threat to World Peace: The United States
That is the topic of this thread. The Korean War is only one example of the brutality of US intervention. There are many, many more.
Clearly, it is you, who needs to read some history; a fact that is amply demonstrated in your posts with statements like this:
"The only people I know that call the South Korea government a "puppet government" is North Koreans."
The standard neocon-cold war liberal line is that the North Koreans, in league with Moscow and Beijing, launched a war of aggression on June 25, 1950, when North Korean troops poured across the disputed border. What this truncated history leaves out is that, in doing so, they preempted Rhees own plans to launch an invasion northward. As historian Mark E. Caprio, professor of history at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, points out:
"On February 8, 1949, the South Korean president met with Ambassador John Muccio and Secretary of the Army Kenneth C. Royall in Seoul. Here the Korean president listed the following as justifications for initiating a war with the North: the South Korean military could easily be increased by 100,000 if it drew from the 150,000 to 200,000 Koreans who had recently fought with the Japanese or the Nationalist Chinese. Moreover, the morale of the South Korean military was greater than that of the North Koreans. If war broke out he expected mass defections from the enemy. Finally, the United Nations recognition of South Korea legitimized its rule over the entire peninsula (as stipulated in its constitution). Thus, he concluded, there was "nothing [to be] gained by waiting."
[center]*******[/center]
As to who did in reality fire that shot, Bruce Cumings, head of the history department at the University of Chicago, gave us the definitive answer in his two-volume The Origins of the Korean War, and The Korean War: A History: the Korean war started during the American occupation of the South, and it was Rhee, with help from his American sponsors, who initiated a series of attacks that well preceded the North Korean offensive of 1950. From 1945-1948, American forces aided Rhee in a killing spree that claimed tens of thousands of victims: the counterinsurgency campaign took a high toll in Kwangju, and on the island of Cheju-do where as many as 60,000 people were murdered by Rhees US-backed forces.
Rhees army and national police were drawn from the ranks of those who had collaborated with the Japanese occupation during World War II, and this was the biggest factor that made civil war inevitable. That the US backed these quislings guaranteed widespread support for the Communist forces led by Kim IL Sung, and provoked the rebellion in the South that was the prelude to open North-South hostilities. Rhee, for his part, was eager to draw in the United States, and the North Koreans, for their part, were just as eager to invoke the principle of "proletarian internationalism" to draw in the Chinese and the Russians.
"On February 8, 1949, the South Korean president met with Ambassador John Muccio and Secretary of the Army Kenneth C. Royall in Seoul. Here the Korean president listed the following as justifications for initiating a war with the North: the South Korean military could easily be increased by 100,000 if it drew from the 150,000 to 200,000 Koreans who had recently fought with the Japanese or the Nationalist Chinese. Moreover, the morale of the South Korean military was greater than that of the North Koreans. If war broke out he expected mass defections from the enemy. Finally, the United Nations recognition of South Korea legitimized its rule over the entire peninsula (as stipulated in its constitution). Thus, he concluded, there was "nothing [to be] gained by waiting."
[center]*******[/center]
As to who did in reality fire that shot, Bruce Cumings, head of the history department at the University of Chicago, gave us the definitive answer in his two-volume The Origins of the Korean War, and The Korean War: A History: the Korean war started during the American occupation of the South, and it was Rhee, with help from his American sponsors, who initiated a series of attacks that well preceded the North Korean offensive of 1950. From 1945-1948, American forces aided Rhee in a killing spree that claimed tens of thousands of victims: the counterinsurgency campaign took a high toll in Kwangju, and on the island of Cheju-do where as many as 60,000 people were murdered by Rhees US-backed forces.
Rhees army and national police were drawn from the ranks of those who had collaborated with the Japanese occupation during World War II, and this was the biggest factor that made civil war inevitable. That the US backed these quislings guaranteed widespread support for the Communist forces led by Kim IL Sung, and provoked the rebellion in the South that was the prelude to open North-South hostilities. Rhee, for his part, was eager to draw in the United States, and the North Koreans, for their part, were just as eager to invoke the principle of "proletarian internationalism" to draw in the Chinese and the Russians.
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2013/07/28/who-really-started-the-korean-war/
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The basic problem is that taking a moral position can land you sleeping on the street.
bemildred
Jan 2014
#8
Yes, many things contribute to the stability of the old order. It's well dug in.
bemildred
Jan 2014
#19
Jesus plays a big role in keeping the old order. Can't get soldiers without Jesus. nt
valerief
Jan 2014
#21
Yep, that dying with honor thing always seems to help the very wealthy get richer, too.
valerief
Jan 2014
#64
A nation founded on invasion, genocide, slavery, and warfare. What would you expect?
Coyotl
Jan 2014
#11
All the supposed smart, serious foreign policy writers pound Obama for not intervening more
TwilightGardener
Jan 2014
#37
Curious. Would it be like what happened between WW1 and WW2? I think the *permanent* military stance
freshwest
Jan 2014
#118
you keep on thinking that. pretty sure none of the groups you mentioned has the biggest military
niyad
Jan 2014
#42
1) Chechen separatists are hardly one of the greatest threats to world peace.
NuclearDem
Jan 2014
#51
let's see--who the hell TRAINED osama bin laden and began the al-qaeda group?? oh, yes, that
niyad
Jan 2014
#106
More Americans need to understand why we rank on top, so we can work together to get
Jefferson23
Jan 2014
#28
But, but, but we had to keep the dominoes from falling and the world safe for democracy
indepat
Jan 2014
#82
America cant win.. if we do too much we get bashed..if we do too little we also get bashed.
DCBob
Jan 2014
#41
We are the terrorist of the world. (Sung to the tune "We are the Champions" - Queen)
L0oniX
Jan 2014
#63
And yet with some changes in the way we do things, maybe they wouldn't need the assistance
Scootaloo
Jan 2014
#80
Comes with being a world superpower dedicated to militarism and hypercapitalism, Treestar
Scootaloo
Jan 2014
#100
In terms of the absolute value of aid given, the United States is the world's top donor by far.
seveneyes
Jan 2014
#87
I'm not sure forcing nations into insurmountable debt so the money can go to American corporations
Egalitarian Thug
Jan 2014
#103
Our old enemy Vietnam thinks it's China as do most of the WestPac rim nations.
4bucksagallon
Jan 2014
#116
Now ask which country they'd want to come help them after a natural disaster.
JoePhilly
Jan 2014
#139