…although if it was somehow reversed and called The Sea of Yu, Hae Yu sounds good, too… especially if it’s spelled Hey You.

J!

That is the funniest thing I have heard all week. I like it, the Sea of Dr. Yu sounds much better than the Sea of Chickenhead.

Right on. It is now being claimed the hostages will be released. Islamic kidnappers are not known for their kindness so I’m guessing that secret money was paid. I’m curious how this will affect Koreans overseas. There are an increasing number of Korean students studying English in Islamic Malaysia (as parents catch on to the fact that drinking and whoring are just a little too easy in the Philippines). I’m wondering how long until the next Korean hostage drama. And, I’m wondering what the politics will be like when it happens in an area with no American involvement.

One enjoyable aspect of living in Korea is everyone is concentrating on making money and having fun instead of worrying about “terrorists”. I hope Korea can avoid these entanglements and the changes they bring to society. Even though I make fun of Korea’s constant worry over the naming of the Sea of Japan, if that is the worst international problem Korea faces, it is a good thing.

J!

I think Leon is voicing frustration at the situation on a couple of different issues.

As Christians actively spreading the word of God, they should have faith that the god they are promoting will deliver them to safety or bring them into His kingdom. The end result will be His will… and trying to interfere with His will through negotiations or concessions is unnecessary, fruitless or even heretical. Christians who fear death, especially missionaries, have little credibility.

Which leads to the next point.

When this group went to proselytize to a hostile and unwilling audience, they spoke of their God and his infinite power. With little planning or precautions, they relied on God to take care of them. But, once forsaken, everyone stopped praying humbly to God and started making big demands of the United States. America: World Police becomes America: World Deity.

So the deal is this:

Right or wrong, America has difficult and complex things to do in Afghanistan. Americans want to see some measure of success. Unnecessary complications or demands are very, very unwelcome both on a national and personal level. Expectations that America will happily drop everything to assist a group of people who have caused their own problems, or expecting Americans to feel positive about this, are unrealistic.

And, the options are limited. Prisoners are released to kill again, money is paid to equip future killers and encourage future kidnapping or the hostages are killed and America gets blamed for inaction. What is there not to hate? How can anyone speak positively of the people responsible for creating this situation?

Further, on a military-based blog, there is an awareness that any American operation to rescue the hostages will be done on the kidnappers’ terms with many limitations on the planners of the mission. Nobody has quite come out and said it but there is probably a general feeling that a single soldier’s life is worth much more than several bus loads of God’s lambs wondering around in wolf country.

Maybe these people are hated because they are Koreans who have forced Korea to make unnecessary and counter-productive demands on America. Maybe they are hated because they are Christians who seem to have higher expectation from America than God.

But probably they are just hated because they are causing problems that nobody needs or wants.

J!

Laporte,
I`m still trying to find out the reason why you hate so much the hostages. Is it because they are koreans? is it because they are christians? or both? I think you hate koreans because you lost your girlfriend to a korean guy, right? hahaha !!!

I feel the frustration in your articles. I wanted to let you know, just as every Korean is on a terrorist, neither does every American have that opinion of Koreans.

I am a fellow Christian American that prays for our Christian Korean brothers and sisters held captive by the Taliban.

Our body continually pray for them and their suffering for Christ.

Sincerely,

Tom