very nice site!
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GI, Nice job on the research. I wouldn't have taken the time. I learned much. Glad you did do the research. Thank you!

“Your not wrong about why GIs are in Korea. I don’t want them there. That is why I “whine” so much about it.”

My goodness, I though I was the only "anti-american" here. Be careful, by admitting that you don’t want GI’s in korea you are conspiring against American interest in Asia. The NSA may be tracking this blog !!!! (BTW, why such a free country like USA needs something like the NSA? I though people in USA were free. Maybe freedom in USA has a different meaning from the rest of the world.)

“As for PAX America, I had heard of it before. I read your link, and then I read some other info about it. America as a world police force? Been doing that for a while in Korea and other countries such as Hondurs and Germany and others. America taking care of the world because it is good for America AND good for the world? I didn’t know we were THAT great, but OK by me. Check out (PNAC), Project for the New American Century. I think you will agree, SOMEONE must be in charge”

We are talking about something inevitable: somebody has to play the “sheriff” of the world, whether the USA or someone else. If it has to be the USA fine, as long as it is based on fairness.

“As for America wanting to be compensated for what it does for other countries WHILE serving it’s self interest. Come on YU. Has any Korean ever done anything for FREE. No? Then why would anyone do something for free. Freedom is not free. Freedom is VERY expensive.”

As I said before I think it is fair for USA demand for compensation for “freeing” people around the world, however it should be in a frank and fair manner. You guys are not that good people as you boast about. You are humans like any others so are moved by interest and ambition.

“We just follow the Korean example.”

I don’t want to argue on that since it is a stupid argument. However if you were right, it only shows that we are all nothing but human beings.

“If you wonder what America thinks of World Opinion, I (speaking for myself) say this: if America did not care about world opinion,”

If you had some reason in your mind you would see that that’s unfeasible. The winner exists because there are losers. The USA without the rest of the world would be like a king without a kingdom. The USA is a superpower because it can dominate and manipulate the world, however strength is no longer the only way to achieve this goals. Imagine your goods without consumers, imagine the USA without oil from the middle east and so on, the USA would no longer be a super power. See a little example: USA almost declared war to Korea because of some piece of meat. Boeing was in danger because almost lost the bidding for the F-15K.

“Remember, the Pants case was thrown out. Now THAT is important today!”

Maybe I was wrong; maybe there is still hope for the American society. Hahaha !!!! (Just kidding)

First of all let me destroy your Native American argument because I hear this all the time from foreigners how the US treats Indians poorly. I grew up in the western US and spent six years living in Arizona which has the highest Native American population. I had a roommate in college that was Navajo. So I know a little something about Native-Americans.

You say "Americans Invaded North America" which shows your lack of knowledge of American history. The first people to "invade America" were the Spanish. The Spanish destroyed entire civilizations such as the Incas and Aztecs before moving into the now western US and fighting tribes there. Look on an American map and see how many names in western America are Spanish. This is because a large part of the western US is Spanish. Florida was also part of Spain but the Spanish could never finish off the Seminoles who were native to Florida and continue to live on reservations there. Seminoles warrior mentality is highly respected to this day in America with the state university in Florida using the seminole name as their mascot.

Secondly on the US East Coast the British "Invaded North America" and initially had good relations with the Indians until land squabbles turned into open warfare and pushed the eastern Indians off much of their lands. That is why there are few natives left in the eastern US. Something else that is little known is that disease killed vastly more numbers of natives than open warfare ever did. Also the claim that the US military used small pox laced blankets to kill Indians has been proven false:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_o…

The claims came from Ward Churchhill who is well known in the US as an America hater and 9/11 conspiracy theorist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Churchill

The French controlled a vast portion of the interior of the US before the US purchased the land from the French during the Louisiana Purchase in the early 1800s. As colonists began to move in large numbers into the praire lands this what created open conflicts with the plain indian tribes. The plains indians were nomadic and war like and constantly fought each other. Most of the Indian tribes were not these peace loving people at one with nature as the mythology goes. Most were war like tribes that fought each other, infant mortality rates were high, and if you lived to age 35 you were considered elderly. Not what I consider an ideal lifestyle.

The fights with the plains indians moved into all out war eventually with the US Army. The US Army did not fight all the Indians. Many tribes actually helped the US Army because they hated the dominant tribes they had long been at war with. The US Army probably never would have conquered the plains Indians as quickly as they did without the help of friendly tribes. The conquered tribes originally did get a raw deal in land disputes with the US government at the time. The raw deals and some of the infamous killings of Indians such as sandcreek and wounded knee are well known and taught in US classrooms.

The giving of land back to the natives and government compensation payments every year to every native is a way to make amends. Today there are 2.5 million pure blood natives in America along with 1.6 million mixed blooded native-Americans.

Since Dr. Yu is from Brazil lets compare this to Brazil. When the Conquistadores landed in Brazil there was 7 million aboriginals. Today there are 400,000 left.

http://mostlywater.org/node/9885

The ones that are left faces massive discrimination and loss of their lands due to loggers and farm clearing. The government in these states is in fact helping to remove the indigenous people and throwing indigenous people who resist in jail and in just 2005 murdered 39 of them.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13217

The indigenous people continue to face violence and are being forced off their lands by hired gunmen from companies and land owners as well. To make matters even worse many indigenous people face sexual abuse, rape, and are forced into prostitution:

http://www.libertadlatina.org/Crisis_Indigenous_L…

Lets look at Australia's aboriginals. The violence and sexual abuse of women and children by aboriginal males has gotten so bad that now the Prime Minister has declared a National Emergency and deployed the Australian military into the remote aboriginal communities:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070621/twl-uk-aus…

Need I go on? Compared to othere countries including Dr. Yu's own Brazil it much better to be a native living in America than it is in other countries around the world.

My roommate in college definitely preferred going to college which was paid for through scholarships to native Americans and living in a home with a car and access to advanced medical care instead of living in a teepee and subject to the elements and constant warfare and be lucky to live to age 35. This mentality that native people would rather live their traditional ways I hear all the time and is so false. I have travelled to many countries and people want to live comfortable lives with modern conveniences but do not want to lose their culture at the same time.

Native Americans are the same way. They don't want to spend their lives living in a teepee which Dr. Yu thinks they prefer.

Now let me move on to Dr. Yu's other assertion that the US is in Korea to make money. I'm trying to think how the world would be different now if President Truman let Kim Il-sung have SK. The country would be dirt poor right now and probably would have collapsed after the Soviet Union fell. NK did not collapse like the other communist nations simply because of foreign aid when the famine hit and their economy collapsed. A united Korea would have meant that no one would have sent them aid and would simply let them collapse with the strong possibility that China would have moved in and absorbed them.

Truman got involved in Korea due to the principle of standing up to communism. He felt that if the US did not stand up to communism in Korea than the Soviets would try to forcibly advance communism in other nations as well. There was not intent to make money in Korea than and there is not intent now. In fact the US loses money by being in Korea because the ROK government will not pay even 50% of the cost of the US-ROK alliance. The US has been trying to withdraw troops out of Korea for years in fact decades if you include President Carter's attempts to remove USFK. Each time the Korean government does everything possible to stop it.

Even the anti-US president Roh Moo-hyun did everything possible to stop the USFK withdrawals and consolidations. The US wants out of Korea and the Korean government wants to keep us there because many jobs are depended on USFK and the US military serves as an insurance policy on international investment. If you were an investor wouldn't you feel a whole lot better about your investment in Korea with the US military protecting it? Additionally the US military insures that any war started by NK would be over quickly due to superior US firepower, communications, equipment, etc.

The ROK Army could on its own win a war against NK but it would take longer and ultimately large portions of the country would be destroyed. If the USFK leaves do not expect any US ground forces to ever assist in combat operations on the Korean peninsula. It is not even a given that US air or naval forces would help. The Korean government understands all this and does everything possible to maintain the USFK status quo. When 2BCT was pulled out of 2ID the Korean government went ape shit over it and the follow on reductions.

http://rokdrop.com/2004/08/17/us-downsizing-force…

Than the Korean government proceeded to do everything possible to stop the consolidation by dragging their feet over the Camp Humphreys expansion and Yongsan relocation and then the hand over of vacated USFK bases in 2ID and the most absurd was the operational control issue. Roh says we can take over operational control now and USFK says okay we will give it to you in 2008 and then suddenly he changes his tune and fights to have it changed to 2012 after Roh is long out of office and any after effects wouldn't involve him. Links below:

http://rokdrop.com/2006/12/13/camp-humphreys-relo…

http://rokdrop.com/2007/02/24/wartime-control-del…

I would like Dr. Yu to provide examples of what money the US is getting out of Korea? If anything Korea has been sucking money out of the US. Look at the trade imbalance between the two countries. Since the Park Chung-hee regime the US has given favorable trade deals to the Korean chaebols in order to build the SK economy. This was all done while the US military was providing security protection for the country. The most important thing the US ever got out of Korea is that it is an example that capitalism followed by democracy works. The US did not create the Korean miracle the hard work of Korean workers did, but US security guarantees and favorable trade deals certainly nurtured it and made it possible.

As for PAX America, I had heard of it before. I read your link, and then I read some other info about it.

America as a world police force? Been doing that for a while in Korea and other countries such as Hondurs and Germany and others.

America taking care of the world because it is good for America AND good for the world? I didn't know we were THAT great, but OK by me.

Check out (PNAC), Project for the New American Century.

As for America wanting to be compensated for what it does for other countries WHILE serving it's self interest. Come on YU. Has any Korean ever done anything for FREE. No? Then why would anyone do something for free. Freedom is not free. Freedom is VERY expensive. We just follow the Korean example.

I think you will agree, SOMEONE must be in charge. Here it is city then State, then Country. One day, probably not in our life time, there will be a World Government. It will be currupt to a greater or lesser extent, just as all organizations are. It doesn't matter if I want it or if you want it. That is just progress. I tend to both fear and like the concept. Doesn't matter because I will be long dead.

For now, I just wish America would leave Korea to Koreans. I know it will not happen. But I wish it would.

If you wonder what America thinks of World Oppinion, I (speaking for myself) say this: if America did not care about world oppinion, Iran would be a smoking hole in the ground. The power is there to be used. But it isn't. I wonder if Iran will be so kind. I don't think Korea would be. Maby America has what it takes to be in Charge. I don't know and will not live long enough to find out.

Give America a little credit for not destroying those that would destroy her, at the end of the Cold War.

I know that none of my rambling will dent your insightfulness in any way. It came out just the same. Hate and fear America if you wish. It will mean the same as me wishing for America to leave Korea—NOTHING.

Remember, the Pants case was thrown out. Now THAT is important today!

Although you free us from japan´s domination such action has become a burden for koreans since it looks like the only change in the situation was USA replacing Japan´s place.

Ok, you will say that we are in better sitiation that with the japanese, but you must admit that USA has not come here because you guys love koreans, you are here to protect your interest in Asia. The fact that we are free is just a side efect, something that has to be done in order to you achieve your goal, in this regard, the freedom of Korea serves to USA supremacy purpose. Come on, I know that no korean life deserves the life of an american soldier and no korean interest deserves a cent of american money, yet you keep here thousands of soldiers and spend billions dollars here. Can you explain this?

On my reply to Joseph Lee I said that freedom when pronounced by americans has become a curse, and that´s true, please read the article of the link, I did not say that for nothing, an exemple? Joseph said that native americans are free now in USA so they are happy now, right? do you really believe that? Well … as far as I remember they were free before the americans invaded north america (yes, from their point of view you guys invaded their land) and now they are confined in reserves. Ok they have casinos, but I´m sure they prefer their past life to casinos.

Freedom when granted by americans is not for free since it comes with a bill. I don´t think this is wrong but you should be frank and honest when presenting the bill, just say I´m here because I need and since I had to spend some resorces you must compensate me, it´s that simple. What annoy koreans and the rest of the world is that you simply call yourself the savior of the world but your true intention is making more money, in this sense the romans were at least sincere.

I´m sure you heard about the crusades. You know that the freedom of Jerusalem from the muslims was just an excuse to europe invade and seize the wealth of muslim nations. Well there is an other country now that uses the same excuse (freedom) to invade others, do I need to go further?

Read the article about "Pax Americana" and stop whinnying about pulling out the soldiers from korea. America has more to profit with them in korea and your leaders know that. Americans soldires are not in korea for the sake of koreans, they are there because of the sake of america. Can you prove me that I´m wrong?

But I must state the obvious, you are free. How you can hate your own freedom, and the country that made it possible is well beyond my understanding. You speak blind hate, and it is obvious for all to see. In doing so, you close the minds of others to what you want to say. This is not the way to bring others to your side. I started to say that you must be very young, but then I remembered Cindy Sheehan.

By the way, the lawsuit over the pants and the Korean Cleaners was thrown out. Wow, look at that American Justice in action.

Regarding "Pax Americana" I will give you a little hint bellow:

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1018-03.htm

Read it. But this is just a tiny bit of this doctrine. If you don´t know it than I regret to tell you that you are not well aware of your own country. If you know it, could you give me thoughts on it?