The French snub Iran, the Italians capitulate, and we hold Iftars!

     After giving up so much, paying out so much of tax payers' monies for the Iran Nuclear Deal, we can't even get a penny of it back through commercial deals!  I have been critical of our negotiating abilities and lack of understanding the Middle Eastern and Asian mind-set.  I am sure that readers of my blogs are tired of hearing it, but the latest developments go to prove my point even further!
     Upon getting the windfall from the Nuclear Deal, the first thing that Iran did was to go to Moscow and sign a multi billion dollar deal to purchase the Russian Anti-Missile system.  This was done with the initial influx of cash released by us.  When more funds became available, more weapons were purchased from Russia.  Russia, at this point, was one of the winners (besides Iran who was the biggest winner!) in the Nuclear Deal.  The latest beneficiary is France and the European Union, the other signatories of this so-called Nuclear Deal.  It seems all of the signatories had reason to see the Nuclear Deal go through, their countries benefitted from the deal, all of them except us!
     Iran's President Hassan Rouhani traveled to Europe eager to make some purchases.  Apparently the lifting of sanctions and the latest large influx of funds that we gave up to Iran was burning a hole in his pocket!  What did Rouhani do?  After dangling a teaser before us, saying that Iran was interested in purchasing a fleet of commercial planes for their antiquated airline, he gave the impression that Boeing was one of his choices.  But upon arrival in Rome, he promptly signed a 18 billion dollar contract to purchase 118 Airbuses!  The Airbus is, if you didn't know, a joint venture European Union product, an aircraft that is built specifically to compete with U.S. aircraft industry, namely Boeing! It is primarily a French-German-Italian product.  Then Rouhani traveled to France and signed a contract with Peugeot-Citroen for a deal that will deliver 200,000 cars a year for $436 million over the next five year period!  No Boeing, no GM or Ford, all our money is going to other countries, namely those European countries that were party to the Iran Nuclear Deal!  What a great deal we made!  We gave out and are giving out all this money and getting nothing in return!  Oh yes, we have secured world peace, at least that is what we are being told by our leaders!
     In yesterday's blog I talked about the Shariah Law, the Islamic Law which essentially calls for total domination of the world.  Remember the saying "When in Rome...." i.e., do as the natives, it is good manners for guests to honor the host's customs.  Well, that doesn't apply to Islam.  Whereas non-Muslims would be in big trouble if they did not abide by Muslim customs, the reverse does not apply. At a state dinner in Rome, the Italians did not serve wine and covered up nude statues with large boxes, so that Rouhani would not be subjected to blasphemy!  What a crock!  Wine and those statues are as much a part of Italian culture as their language!  To give in to the demands of the Muslim leader who is a visitor, is unconscionable!  There was much criticism from Italian public for its government's cowardly act.  It is an embarrassment and was called a surrender by some!  Why does the host have to change its tradition and ways for the guest?  It is the guest who should accept the host's ways, but obviously that is not the case with Muslims.  It is an example of Shariah at work, our way or no way!
     In contrast, and to their credit, the French did not give in to Shariah!  The French President Hollande canceled a dinner with Rouhani who demanded a halal menu and no wine at the table.  The French Ambassador to the U.S. explained, "It is not the halal which was a problem, but the wine.  Nobody should constrain anybody to drink or not to drink!"  Good for the French!  Unlike the Italians who so easily gave in to Rouhani and his unreasonable demands, so typical of Muslims, the French stood their ground.  For the French it was an important point.  If they had given in to Rouhani's demands, it would have shown "weakness" in the eyes of the Muslim community.  The French have enough problems with their Muslim community as it is, they don't need to embolden the Muslims any more! Despite Hollande's slight, Iran did not cancel any of its business deals!  At least the French seem to know how to deal with Muslims!
     Our record in dealing with Iran or other Middle Eastern countries has been nothing but miserable.  We don't seem to understand their mind-set at all and are continually giving in to their demands.  Giving in, in their eyes, is a weakness!  So, they see us as a giant patsy!  A giant with a military might that could squash them like a bug, but would never do that because of "weakness."  So, they tweak our nose at every opportunity and squeeze all the money that they can out of us.  They have no respect for us.  Respect in that culture is measured in strength, both physical, namely military power, and none physical, which is commercial, political, and religious.  We have shown weakness in all areas.  Commercially they don't see us at the top any more.  Politically, they have outmaneuvered us at each turn and religiously, Islam has made tremendous gains.  Militarily, although we have shown great power, we never finish what we start and seem to be aimless, directionless in our approach to warfare, so they don't fear us in that regard either.
     The French, to their credit, refused to bend to Islam and chose to cancel dinner with the Iranian President Rouhani.  The Italians, as they have done numerous times in the past, capitulated!  We, on the other hand, bumble our way and give up everything whenever we deal with Muslims.  As for halal dinners, hell, Obama's White House has held several Iftars, post Ramadan dinners!  No leader of non-Islamic country in history has ever held an iftar in the official residence, until Obama!  That would be the same as having a Christmas or Easter Dinner hosted at an Islamic country's leader's residence.  In other words, it would be the same if Rouhani of Iran hosted a Christmas dinner!  Yeah, that would happen when pigs fly!  But Obama hosted an iftar several times, he might do it again after this coming Ramadan!

The Islamic Law

     Most Americans believe that Islamic terrorism is something that is born and taking place outside of the United States borders.  When something like 9/11 takes place, it is because those terrorists from outside had entered the U.S. to perform terrorism.  An act such as the one that took place at Fort Hood when a Muslim Army Major went berserk and shot and killed a number of people is seen as an anomaly, he was a nut case, etc.  The recent San Bernardino massacre is also viewed the same way.  The husband, although a U.S. citizen, was just a nut case who was perhaps mislead by his Pakistani wife who was a recent arrival.  All of the above explanations are correct to a degree, but what most people fail to recognize is that the act of terror was something that was a part of their religious belief.  It was not a case the perpetrators in America were emulating their counterparts in the Middle East.  It was simply an act that according to the Islamic law, the Shariah Law, they had to perform!  A quarter of a century ago, a terror act committed in the name of Islam in America was unheard of, something that just didn't take place.  But with the rise of Muslim population in America, and arrival of new immigrants from the Middle East, these terror acts are becoming more common place.
     A worldwide study conducted by respected international institutions have shown certain results that most countries are reluctant to show their public.  It is for fear of "slandering" Islam, giving Islam a bad name, that much of the information from such studies are withheld from the public.  The study has shown following tendencies with Muslim populations around the world. 
--If the Muslim population is under 2 % of the total population, then usually everything is under radar and no problems exist. The Muslims keep a low profile and are not active.
--At 2 to 5 %, the Muslim population becomes more active and begins to seek converts and targets disaffected.  This is what is happening in America today with the Muslim population of between 3 and 6 % and the disaffected in particular are attracted to ISIS type organizations.
--At 10% the Muslim population becomes increasingly lawless.  Witness France and UK where populations of Muslims are reaching that number!
--At 20 to 40 %  Warfare spreads...this is true of parts of Middle East.
--At 50 % infidels are persecuted.  The country is now Muslim, despite the fact that at least half of the population is still non-Muslim.
--At 80 % or more, it is total intimidation and subjugation of non-Muslims.
     Currently, overall, 6 % of the Europe's population is composed of Muslims.  That is rapidly changing, especially in view of recent influx of Muslim refugees from Syria!  America has a Muslim population of between 3.3 to 7 million, depending on who is doing the counting.  It is anticipated that the Muslim population will increase by more than 66 % within a decade.  That is not counting the influx of refugees that our government has agreed to take in!  What can we expect in a decade?
     Of course not all Muslims are bad and vast majority practice their faith peacefully and are good citizens of their countries.  Unfortunately, there is a percentage that interprets the Islamic Laws literally and tries to convert this world into an Islamic world with Shariah Law.  Shariah Law, which I am sure everyone has heard of, is simply the Islamic Law as written in the Qur'an and other Islamic documents.
     Unlike the Christian Bible or the Jewish Torah, or any of the other texts of major religions of the world, the Qur'an espouses not just religion and philosophy, but political ideology as well.  But the Qur'an is not the only document that the Muslims follow.  There are series of books and documents that are a part of Islamic teachings and are followed by the faithful.  The Qur'an is just one of the guides, or rule books on every aspect of life, including running a government!  Whereas most religious texts were written in ancient times and have been passed down through the ages, albeit, probably with some changes now and then.  The Qur'an and accompanying Islamic documents were written in several stages, some parts as late as the 14th Century!  They are a detailed map on how to live, behave, govern, and thereby serve Allah!  They are totally intolerant of all other religions and repeatedly mentions that "infidels" should be stricken down, annihilated, subjugated!  Where compassion is shown and mentioned, it is all directed at fellow Muslims, not infidels!  As I have already mentioned in the previous blog, slavery is not just condoned, but actually encouraged when it comes to non-believers.  There are just far too many passages in Qur'an and the other documents that refer to total subjugations or extermination of infidels to mention all.  It is not as if it is mentioned only once or twice!
     At this point you might ask, how do peaceful Muslims reconcile these violent and barbaric passages from their texts with their beliefs.  It appears that all those "negative" parts of the Qur'an and other texts are simply avoided, not read or practiced by the peaceful Muslims.  That is the only explanation that can be given because all those references to violence and call for barbaric acts, such as cutting hands and feet of thieves or stoning to death women who commit adultery, or the practice of "honor killing," etc., are there, but are apparently simply ignored. 
     Those passages exist  and they have not been taken out of context!  That is why the so-called "extremists" do perform those acts.  In reality, in the context of the Shariah Law, those that we identify as "extremists" are not extremists at all, they are simply following the Shariah or the Islamic Law, they are being good Muslims! It is not an indictment of Islam, simply a statement of fact.
     I guess the best way to describe the Shariah Law is to say that everything that is in our Constitution is completely opposed in the Shariah!  The Shariah Law is derived from four sources, not just the Qur'an.  The first source is the Qur'an and its 114 chapters!  The second source is a 900 page document, the Sira (The Life of Mohammad), a biography.  The third source is the Hadith, the series of collection of sayings of Mohammad.  When someone is quoting Mohammad, they are not quoting the Qur'an, they are more than likely quoting the Hadith.  The fourth document is The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law (also known as Reliance of Traveler, a law book).  The bottom line is that the Shariah Law says, "Obey Mohammad and his laws," period.  A true believer follows the Shariah without questioning.  That is what Al Qaeda and ISIS and other fundamentalists are doing.  But they are not the only ones.  The Mullahs of Iran are an example of others that also believe in the Shariah.
     Islam is totally intolerant of all other religions, beliefs, and way of life.  There is only one way, their way, the Shariah Law.  We need to understand this.  Israel and the Jews in Israel understand this.  They have faced the wrath of Shariah for centuries, they know that there is no such thing as middle ground or peaceful co-existence when it comes to Shariah.  To put it another way, Islam, as it is practice by the so-called "extremists," seeks total domination over non-believers.  To think that we can negotiate with them, somehow strike a middle ground, is both foolish and unrealistic.  Our leaders should make themselves more familiar with the Sharia Law!
    

Islam and Slavery

     Every culture, every religion, every nation has its undesirable past, a dark side.  However, in time, most manage to either push back the negative elements and strive to promote only the positive.  Such is the case with all of the major religions in this world.  Both Christianity and Buddhism promote benevolence and kindness towards others, as does Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.  But, interestingly, it is only Islam that "accepts" slavery as a norm.  That is because only Islam, of all the religions, makes a big difference between Muslims (believers) and infidels (non-believers).  Christians do refer to others as non-Christians, but do not discriminate to the extent that the non-Christians are relegated to the level of someone inferior.  In Islam, a non-Muslim is definitely someone who is inferior, an infidel, and is regarded as such.
     The Bible, the Tora, the Buddhist and Hindu texts may mention slavery, but do not recognize or approve it.  The Qur'an not only recognizes, but justifies slavery and often mentions slaves.  Qur'an 33:50 - "Prophet, we have made lawful to you the wives to whom you have granted dowries and the slaves whom god has given you as booty."  There are numerous and repeated mention of slaves in the Qur'an.  The Qur'an accepts the distinction between slave and free as part of the natural order.  According to the Qur'an and the hadith (Muhammad's sayings), only children of slaves or non-Muslims could become slaves, never freeborn Muslims.  However, even Muslims could become slaves if they were captured as prisoners of war.  As such, Islam institutionalized slavery and Muhammad took slaves after he moved to Medina and had power.  Is it small wonder then that all the slave traders, the ones who captured and sold slaves were mostly Arabs?  Even in ancient Asia, not just in Africa, they were all Muslims!
     Slaves existed in all cultures and all religions at one time or another.  Our own shameful history in that regard illustrates this perfectly.  We were a nation that was supposedly founded on the principal of freedom, yet slavery was practiced and thrived until a bloody civil war ended it.  Of the developed countries in the world, most certainly among European or Western nations, we were the last to abolish slavery.  But, as history has shown, despite the terrible and shameful past, we have tried to correct the wrong and have been atoning for it ever since!  It doesn't appear that the same holds true of some Islamic nations.  Slavery was officially abolished in Saudi Arabia and Yemen only in 1962.  In Oman in 1970, and Mauritania in 2007, although it appears that slavery is alive and well in that country.  Slavery is openly practiced in Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, and Sudan.  But they are not the only ones.  Although Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and other Middle Eastern countries supposedly abolished slavery, it is still practiced, although it may not be called slavery!
     There are thousands upon thousands of Filipinos, Pakistanis, and to a lesser degree Malaysians and Indonesians, who travel to the rich Gulf countries for employment and end up working as slaves, albeit, with a salary!  In some extreme cases they are not even paid, but held simply as slaves!  The host governments are always on the side of their rich countrymen who employ these foreigners.  Even in a country such as Egypt, which is not as wealthy as the Gulf countries, vast majority of house servants are Filipino or other nationalities from poorer regions.  Majority are women, and they are treated brutally.  Cases of sexual enslavement is common.  It seems that you only hear about it when the victim manages to get away.  Local authorizes rarely, if ever, do anything.  It doesn't take much to pay off an Egyptian cop or a Saudi investigator!  Besides, as I said before, they will always side with their countrymen, claiming that the foreign female domestics are nothing but "whores" etc.
     If non-extremists in Islamic countries see foreign or non-Muslim domestics as "slaves," you can easily see how the extremists such as the Taliban or ISIS would view non-Muslims, especially women!  Is it small wonder that they are so brutal to their prisoners?  It is not an indictment on all Muslims, far from it.  But it seems to me that Muslims in the Middle East are of a different breed than Muslims here in America for the most part, or Muslims in Asia, like Malaysia and Indonesia.  Of course there are extremists there too, as there are Muslim extremists right here in America.  But for the most part, Islam seems different in the Middle East and Africa than it is here or in parts of Asia.
     I believe that the major difference is that Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc., are religions first and foremost.  They are religions that espouse their philosophy by which their followers attempt to live.  Islam is not just a philosophy.  Islam is more than a way of life, it is a system, an all governing system that rigidly enforces its rules. It is a political system.  But once again, it depends on how an individual chooses to follow it, interpret its rules.  One way, as it is practiced by many, it has a tolerant, benevolent approach to life.  Another way, as some seem to prefer, it is rigid, intolerant of anyone other than those of Muslim faith.
     There was a pseudo religion that popped-up in Japan shortly after the end of World War Two.  Times were tough and people were struggling, just the right moment for a religion or sect that promised all sorts of rewards to surface and attract followers.  That "religion" has become a powerful force in Japan and has even penetrated politics.  It is called Sokko Gakkai, a sort of a Buddhist sect that really isn't.  It is essentially intolerant of all other religions and is very aggressive in its attempt to convert others.  It is more than a religion or a philosophy.  It is a way of life and a political movement, it is like Islam!

Body Counts and Medals

     Way back, at the height of the Vietnam War, our government was releasing some very impressive body count numbers of the enemy killed by our bombing and in ground combat.  I remember being somewhat surprised by the very high numbers reported in the media.  Some of our heavy bombing did kill a lot of NVA, and there were some ground combat engagements that were not typical and involved large forces on both sides, so there were instances of high casualties.  But for the most part, ground combat involved fire fights that, although brutal, did not raise the body count to the level reported in the media.
     So, taking one of those early, prehistoric Texas Instrument calculators (they were a marvel, compared to the abacus and the slide rule, remember the slide rule?), I punched-in the numbers reported by the news media and discovered that, at least according to what was reported, we had killed the entire population of North Vietnam!  I double checked my findings, and the TI calculator did not lie, so who was not telling the truth, and if it was a lie, why tell such a lie?  Later it was uncovered that those inflated numbers were the product of the Friday night "Saigon Follies" press conferences and news reporting by reporters in Saigon who never left the hotel bar to report on the war.  Of course, they did not dream up those numbers.  Those numbers were given to them by the starched uniformed and spit-shined booted, MACV headquarters element, those Army, Marine, Air Force, and Navy Officers who also never saw any combat (although they all somehow managed to earn a Combat Infantry Badge or a Combat Action Ribbon!).  Whatever the case, the numbers were obviously fabricated.  You can't kill the entire population of a country and still be fighting their soldiers!  Where were these NVA troops coming from, China?
     The sad story of the Vietnam War has long been over, more like 40 plus years!  But apparently we still have people in Washington, in our government, with the same mind set.  We haven't learned anything from history!  They say that history repeats itself.  If that is the case, then our war against ISIS is not going to end well.  At least not unless we change our mind set, our tactics, and reporting!
Just this morning, I saw an article on the front page of the newspaper that we have killed around 500 ISIS fighters per week in the last three months for a total of around 7000.  Since our war against ISIS began in "earnest" a little over a year ago (that's when we started bombing them and convinced our allies to join in on the fight), our bombing has killed around 25,000 ISIS fighters, if we are to believe the reported figures.  At the same time, our intelligence reports that there are a total of about 20,000 to 25,000 ISIS/ISIL fighters in Syria and Iraq.
     I am not very good at math, but even I don't need a calculator this time to put the numbers together.  In short, we have killed the entire ISIS/ISIL fighting force if we are to believe the reported bombing casualty numbers.  But if that is so, who is still murdering and creating havoc in the region?  Who is holding all of that territory and key cities in Iraq?  Street gangs?  Something is just not right.  Once again, like some 40 years earlier, the reporting on the war is just not believable.  We have fallen into the same trap.  Those in the rear echelon, sometimes hundreds of miles away, are the ones who are shaping the news of the war to be released to the public.  It is a small wonder that Pentagon announced that a new medal, decoration for combat, will be awarded to drone operators.  This decoration will be ranked higher in precedence than the Bronze Star!  For those who are unfamiliar, the order of precedence for combat medals for valor begin somewhere around the Commendation Medal with a "V" device with the Air Medal with "V" device next higher in precedence.  These two are just below the Purple Heart which is awarded for wounds received in combat.  The Bronze Star with a "V" device is our fourth highest award for valor, just below the Silver Star.  So now, a drone operator sitting hundreds of miles away from danger, can receive a decoration that is higher than a Bronze Star!
     I have all the respect and admiration for those who operate drones and they deserve recognition for their outstanding work.  It requires exceptional high degree of technical skill to operate the drones successfully and decorations should be awarded when it is earned.  But to award a medal to someone who sits in an air-conditioned building hundreds of miles away from danger, a medal higher in precedence than a bronze star just doesn't make sense.  The poor grunt who is in the thick of it, facing all sorts of physical discomfort and actual physical danger of being killed or maimed, rarely if ever receives a medal.  More than likely it will just be a good conduct medal (if he stays out of trouble) and campaign ribbon....oh yeah, today everyone also gets the National Defense Medal as well as the Medal for War on Global Terrorism, but so does the drone operator!
     My beef is not with this business of new medal or drone operators, I just got side-tracked.  My main concern is that we seem to have slipped right into the same mold that we were during the Vietnam War.  The vocabulary is a bit different, and there are a lot more medals and ribbons being awarded (mostly to keep troops happy!), but we are doing exactly the same thing.  Reporting inflated body count numbers to the media and all sorts of other "successes" that are really questionable!  This all ties-in with everything else our government has been telling the public, not just the war on ISIS.  How about the Iran Nuclear Deal that I have been ranting about or the recent "prisoner" exchange.  Everything seems to be inflated to make the administration look good.  Never mind that it is not true, the sentiment appears to be that as long as the public swallows it, it will be happy!

Putting on a Spin and "When Pigs Fly!"

     It is amazing how our government, with the collaboration of liberal media, manages (or at least tries to!) to put on a spin on everything that may appear suspicious, or not exactly right to the American people.  What happened in the last few days, the so-called "successful" prisoner exchange with Iran is a perfect example.
     Initially the media reported that four U.S. citizens were exchanged for seven Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. for "sanction violations," i.e., trying to smuggle out forbidden technological data or equipment, possibly even those related to nuclear weapons.  Neither the media nor the government gave any specifics.  Rather, they made it sound as if it wasn't such a big deal.  Well, if it wasn't such a big deal, why were these Iranians arrested and imprisoned?  In addition, we had 14 Iranian terrorists and suspected terrorists taken off the International Terror Watch List.  This means that these 14, who were mostly in hiding around the world (except for those that were members of Iranian government!) are now able to come out of hiding, travel around, and commit terror acts!  On top of this, sanctions against Iran have more or less been lifted completely, at least in the area where it counts.  Iran is allowed to sell its petroleum on the world market and its banks are allowed to operate without restrictions.  Oh, these two things are "not" connected to the prisoner release, according to the spin doctors in the White House and news media.
     Obviously the government was a bit concerned about the reaction from the public.  Despite the fact that the release of the four U.S. citizens was welcomed universally, just about everyone was concerned about the lop-sided trade.  Of course everyone wanted these U.S. citizens released from Iranian prisons, but at what price?  Starting about yesterday, the media began to refer to released U.S. citizens as being five, not four.  The fifth American was a language student who was held for 40 days on unspecified charges and released, as it so happens, the same time as the four who were traded for the Iranian prisoners.  Yet, in a subtle way, the government and the news media wanted the public to think that the fifth American was part of the deal! Oh, there was or is no claim to that effect, but the suggestion is there.
     Yesterday another bit of information was leaked about this latest deal.  Turns out that we, the American tax payers, are going to pay Iran 1.7 Billion dollars that the U.S. government "owes" to the Iranian government.  Supposedly, the prior regime, the Imperial Iran, had paid us 400 million dollars for purchase of military equipment which we never delivered.  So, considering the time, 37 years, the compounded interest, and other monies that we "owed" Iran, we are paying the outrageous sum of 1.7 Billion dollars.  Kerry, who is a lawyer by training (some lawyer!) explained on CNN that had the case gone to Hague (International Court), the amount would have been much greater and that we were lucky that Iran was willing to settle for this amount!  Kerry stuttered his way through the interview, sounding very unconvincing, naturally claiming it was a good deal!
     A good deal?  The 400 million was owed to the Imperial Iranian government, the government that was displaced by the new and current Islamic government.  We don't owe these Mullahs anything!  There is historical precedence in cases like this.  Some of our companies, like Remington Arms, owed Imperial Russia millions of dollars for rifles that were never delivered because of the revolution and the subsequent change in government.  We (Remington Arms) never paid that money to Russia! That is just one example, yet we are paying Iran?  What about reparation payments to more than 50 Americans who were held hostage by this same government for 444 days!  Kerry says we are "working on it!"  Why not just deduct our claim from the 1.7 Billion that we are about to pay?  Makes sense to me.  Unless our government doesn't even have a figure to work with, in other words, has not done anything to get reparations from Iran!
     Concurrently, with the release of information of our ridiculous payment to Iran, there was an announcement that we have enforced "new" sanctions against Iran for their missile testing.  It was explained that we waited purposely, until the prisoners were released before we "slapped" them with these new, harsh, sanctions.  What clever negotiators we are!  According to a Middle East expert from one of our "think tanks,"  the sanctions that we lifted from Iran on this Nuclear Deal, if you were to measure by weight, were several tons!  The sanctions that we just imposed were less than a slap on the wrist, may be a couple pounds!  We sure are clever and tough in our negotiating.
     But what bothers me the most is that with all the hoopla and self congratulatory statements by our government, we still didn't get an important prisoner released!  Robert Levinson is a former DEA and FBI agent who worked for CIA as a contractor, so he was a CIA employee, albeit on contract.  He disappeared in Iran in 2007.  Initially, six years ago, he was supposedly kidnapped.  But then word got out that he was arrested and imprisoned by Iranian intelligence, then just disappeared.  The Iranian government claims they have no idea where he is!  Can you believe that?  In a country with a totalitarian system where even its own citizens can't do anything without government knowledge, a foreigner just disappears?  I'll believe that, as the old saying goes, "when pigs fly!"  Is our government so naïve that we believe these Mullahs when they claim they have no knowledge of missing American's whereabouts?  For the sake of his family, I hope he is alive, but I am afraid more than likely he was killed by the Iranians, perhaps unintentionally during a torture session!
     Kerry tells us that his "good friend," Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of Iran who has already taken Kerry to the cleaners a couple times, "promised" that the Iranians will search for the missing American.  Kerry said the Iranians are fully cooperating with us on this and he is certain everything will be done to locate Levinson.  I know I am repeating myself, but, oh yeah, "when pigs fly!"

Our Wonderful Deal Making with Iran

     We seem to have a long history of making "wonderful" deals with Iran in which they always get more in the process.  Such was the case when we made a deal with them some 36 years ago when Iran held hostage more than 60 of our embassy staff in Tehran for 444 days!  Iran had committed a terrorist act, an act that was totally against all international conventions, against the diplomatic convention that they were supposed to abide by as a nation.  But what did we do?  We first protested, but that didn't work.  Then we attempted a military rescue which went south, the famous Desert One fiasco.  Next we closed their embassy in Washington and sent their diplomats home!  Then, together with the completely "toothless" UN, we imposed sanctions and Iran simply thumbed their nose at everyone.  It is small wonder that Iran and other "uncooperative" countries have total lack of respect and regard for the outdated and ineffective UN!
     There is a rule by which countries operate their diplomatic missions abroad, informally it is called a "tit-for-tat" rule.  We even have a special office set up for that in the State Department.  In other words, if country one kicks out two of our diplomats, then we kick out two of their diplomats of equal rank.  If country two allows our diplomats to have only one vehicle, then their diplomats are allowed to have one vehicle only, so on and so forth.  Generally speaking, that rule is applied across the board, more or less.  However, it seems we are always behind the curve.  For instance, in Saudi Arabia our female members (family and employees) of our mission are not allowed to drive cars because that country does not allow women to drive.  Yet, the Saudi women are allowed to drive in our country!  Mexico allows our diplomats to register only one car for personal use (with diplomatic plates) while we place no such restrictions on Mexican diplomats in the U.S.  When you consider the fact that we have less than ten diplomatic and consular missions in Mexico (the number varies since we open or close small posts depending on funding) while Mexico has over 48 in our country, something just does not balance!  So, you get the point.
     For the past couple days the big story in the news has been that Iran had detained ten of our navy personnel, held them for several days and used them for propaganda purposes.  They did exactly what Taliban, Al Qaeda, or North Korea (or the old Soviet Union) would have done, which was to make one of the sailors "apologize" and admit "guilt" for entering Iranian waters.  It was a very unpalatable thing to watch on TV, thankfully, no American sailor appeared to have been physically abused or hurt.  Then, of course, the big news that in a magnanimous gesture, the government of Iran released the ten American sailors.  Shortly word began to leak out that our illustrious Secretary of State John Kerry had negotiated with his good friend the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to secure the release of the Americans.  Word also leaked that both President Obama and Kerry had offered their apology to the Iranians!  Now since when do you need to apologize when it was an unintentional straying into Iranian waters due to mechanical breakdown?  Of course, both the White House and the State Department vehemently denied that either Obama or Kerry had apologized to the Iranians.  But it is highly unlikely that Iran would have released the sailors so quickly had there not been an apology!
     In many ways, dealing with Iran is like dealing with North Korea.  Both countries's leadership seem to have unreasonable hatred for the United States.  The North Koreans have kept that hatred simmering for the past 63 years and have used it to motivate their people.  Iran has only been our enemy for 37 years, a little more than half the time the North Koreans have hated us.  However, don't be fooled by the fact that its only been 37 years that Iran has called us the "Great Satan."  Their hatred for us has not only a political base, but religious as well! So, when all is said and done, Iran's leadership is no more trustworthy than North Korean, when it comes to our relations!
     Now this morning the big news is that the four U.S. citizens held in Iranian jail will be released.  None of the four had committed any crime, although they were accused of being spies, a totally unfounded accusation.  In return for the release of four U.S. citizens, we are releasing seven Iranians held in U.S. for "violating sanctions."  In other words, these seven were involved in trying to smuggle electronics or other prohibited items to Iran and perhaps were also involved in actual espionage.  The government will not release the details of their violations of sanctions.  But wait, that isn't all.  We are also going to remove 14 Iranians from the International Terrorist Watch List!  If that wasn't enough, conveniently the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) announced that sanctions against Iran's oil sales will be lifted completely, immediately.  Now Iran has been selling oil through intermediaries since this summer when the "Iran Nuclear Deal" was penned and they have been selling it on the black market for a long time.  What has happened now is that they can openly sell their oil and also receive money for the sales in their banks, which was not allowed before!
     So, to gain the release of four U.S. citizens who were held on trumped up charges, we release seven known Iranian "spies" (I don't know what else to call them when they were illegally trying to sneak out forbidden technology), take 14 known and suspected Iranian terrorists off the International Terror Watch List, and open up Iran's ability to freely trade in oil on the international market and allow their banks to do business in U.S. and elsewhere.  I don't know, in my book it was a lop-sided deal.  But I believe that isn't all.  I believe this whole thing started when Kerry was "negotiating" to get the release of those sailors who got caught straying into Iranian waters.  For that, Kerry and Obama paid the price of apologizing to Iran for something that needed no apology!
     I said earlier that Iran was like North Korea in certain ways.  One of those similarities is their demand for apology for something that needed no apology!  For them it was an important point to get us to grovel!  North Koreans would define it as our "loss of face" and their gain!  Iran, no doubt would define it more or less the same way.  It is a victory for them to have the "Great Satan" apologize to them, even if it was for only an imagined offense!  Apparently our leaders in Washington don't understand this particular aspect of Iranian culture.  Either that, or our leadership simply doesn't care and doesn't mind humbling itself, literally kow-towing to Iran just to gain some political points at home!  Yes, it is great to get those U.S. citizens out of Iranian jail.  Yes, we should try to always get Americans out of foreign imprisonment if they are falsely imprisoned.  But at what cost?  Was it a smart move to trade six Taliban prisoners who were in Gitmo for that deserter Bowe Bergdahl?  Those freed terrorists, wherever they are, are probably planning to, if they haven't already, tried to kill Americans.  But I guess it is important for this administration to get political points, after all, why do such a lop-sided deal?

Three Generations of Women Warriors

     Back in April of 2015 I did a blog in which I described how two young women of United Nations Partisan Infantry in Korea (UNPIK), a highly classified CIA sponsored brigade-sized anti-communist guerrilla unit, parachuted into North Korea in 1952 and engaged in a firefight with a platoon of North Korean soldiers, the In Min Gun.  The women, a 20 year old Second Lieutenant Lee, Song Ah and an 18 year old Sergeant Kim, Min Ja, were surrounded by a 18-man North Korean platoon that was dispatched to either eliminate or capture them.  They had entered North Korea for the purpose of gathering intelligence information, which they had done, but were discovered by the North Koreans.
     When the In Min Gun attempted to capture them, the two young women opened fire with their meager armament:  They were each armed with M-1 Carbines with 45 rounds of ammunition (one 15 round magazine in the weapon and two extra 15 round magazines).  In addition, they were both carrying two hand grenades each and also armed with Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolvers with 12 rounds of ammunition each (six rounds in the revolver and six extra rounds loose in the pocket).  That was the extent of their weapons and ammunition.  They were not expected to engage the enemy in a firefight, their mission was strictly intelligence gathering, so they were very lightly armed.  Essentially, they were armed for extreme emergency purposes, to defend themselves long enough to get away.
     It just so happened that the two young women were both excellent shots, particularly the young 18 year old Kim, Min Ja.  Min Ja was considered the best shot among all women and actually, outshot the men as well!  Lee, Song Ah was just about as good as the younger girl.  The two were considered the best shots of all women in UNPIK and in fact, the 18 year old Min Ja was the best shot of anyone, man or woman, in the UNPIK at the time.  Some of the American trainers thought of even converting her into a sniper!  So, when the firefight broke out with the In Min Gun, the two young women, after establishing themselves behind cover, proceeded to systematically pick-off the enemy.  With incredible precision, the two shot the In Min Gun one by one, not wasting their shots, mostly using just one round for each enemy soldier.  Before long, they had completely wiped out the  18-man In Min Gun patrol!  The women, who carried Leica cameras for intelligence gathering, took pictures of their In Min Gun victims before leaving the scene! 
     The two managed to make their way to the coast and stay hidden until their rendezvous time with a fishing boat that took them back to the south.  North Korea at that time had no navy or air force to speak of.  Their air force was mostly composed of MIG-15 fighters based in Manchuria and they did not waste their planes to search for enemy infiltrators.  They were not about to risk the chance of their MIGs getting shot down by U.S. F-86s. They had some naval gun boats, but again, they rarely risked them.  So once the two women got away from the army patrol and could stay hidden from other ground units, they were safe.
     When the two young women returned and filed their report, their superiors were at first unbelieving, they thought the two had just made up the whole story.  They claimed to have wiped out a 18-man patrol, yet they didn't even use all their ammunition!  But then, when the photographs were developed and they saw the pictures of the dead In Min Gun, they started to believe that perhaps there was something to the girls' claim.  Interestingly, the thing that convinced the headquarters people that the girls were telling the truth was the story that came out of North Korea.  The North Koreans reported that the glorious People's Army (In Min Gun) patrol of six men had encountered a much larger force of enemy infiltrators that they had bravely repelled and killed.  The six heroic In Min Gun were to be awarded the highest medal for heroism that the country had.  The incident had supposedly taken place at exactly where the young women had been!  That was the clincher.  The North Koreans were notorious for putting a spin on events, always making their side the victor.  It was obvious that the North Koreans had suffered a set back when the two young women engaged their 18-man patrol in a firefight.  Immediately, the Psychological Warfare section made up leaflets with photos of the dead In Min Gun and described how two young women had fought off the much larger force of soldiers.  The leaflets were dropped in large quantity in North Korea.
     The two young women warriors became celebrities of sorts within the UNPIK.  They were both awarded South Korea's second highest award for heroism, equivalent to our Distinguished Service Cross.  Sadly, the older girl, the 20 years old Lee, Song Ah never returned from one of the subsequent missions to North Korea.  The younger 18 years old Sergeant Kim, Min Ja survived several more missions into North Korea before the Panmunjom Cease Fire Agreement was signed in 1953.  When the war ended, or more correctly, the fighting stopped (the state of war still exists, 63 years later!), the young Kim, Min Ja, like most male members of UNPIK, transitioned into the regular Republic of Korea Army.  She was given a commission as Second Lieutenant, despite her young age and lack of college education, because of her experience and exploits during the fighting.  Kim stayed in the ROK army which unlike US Army at the time, did not have a separate women's corps.  It was difficult for her, there weren't that many women in the ROK army.  In UNPIK women were in a separate unit and most chose not to transition into ROK army and became civilian. 
     Kim wanted to serve in the newly formed ROK Army Parachute Brigade.  However, because she was a woman, there was a lot of resistance at first.  Initially she was turned down, but, eventually the army allowed her to serve in the parachute unit, because for one thing, she had more experience than just about all of the men! She became one of the handful women in the fledging  ROK Parachute Brigade.  Kim's outstanding war record and ability served her well and she finished her 35 year army career retiring as a Colonel in 1987.  She had married in the 1960s and had a son and a daughter.  Interestingly, both son and daughter did their military service with the ROK Army Parachute Brigades!  However, neither one made a career of the military.  But, her granddaughter, Cho, Min Wha attended the ROK Military Academy and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the ROK Army Parachute Brigade.  She volunteered for their Special Operations Unit and was accepted.  Retired Colonel Kim, Min Ja died of illness (cancer) in 2000 at the age of 67. 
     In 2003, during his visit to Republic of South Korea, the U.S Joint Chief of Staff, General Richard Myers met the granddaughter of Kim, Min Ja, the legendary and pioneering woman warrior of South Korea.  The granddaughter, First Lieutenant Cho, Min Wha had just completed a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump when she was greeted by General Myers.  Myers had heard of her grandmother's legendary exploits and specifically requested to meet the granddaughter.

The Amazons of the Middle East

     How many of you remember that haunting photograph of a Kurdish girl on the cover of the National Geographic a number of years ago?  That was after the first Gulf War when we dumped the Kurds, after promising to support them against Saddam Hussein.  She was one of the tens of thousands of refugees who ended up high in the mountains in order to escape from Saddam's army.  It was only through the efforts of some NGOs as well as the US Army's Special Forces who desperately tried to help them, that not all of those Kurds perished!  The hauntingly beautiful green-eyed Kurdish girl was the poster child for that horrible part of the ongoing sad history with the Kurds.
     Yes, we promised to support the Kurds if they rose up against Saddam, which they did, but then we abandoned them and Saddam proceeded to use chemical warfare against them, trying to exterminate the Kurds!  Amazingly, when we launched the second Gulf War, the so-called Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Kurds once again agreed to support our efforts in Iraq!  But then, when you really think about it, they had no choice, we were the only ones that offered any kind of assistance or help for them to fight their enemies.  Noticed I said "enemies," not in singular!  That is because the Kurds were not only fighting Saddam who was pushing them from the south, but the Turks as well, who had been persecuting the Kurds for centuries!  So, despite our earlier betrayal in the first Gulf War, they agreed to help us and pushed southward, thereby securing huge chunks of real estate for us without our having to use large forces.  We only dispatched our Special Forces and air coverage, the Kurds did all the rest.  In the south, of course, we had to use our armor and infantry, army and marines to secure ground, and the continuous pounding from the air!
     We wanted to transport our ground troops through Turkey, using their air space, but Turkey would not allow us to do that!  Yes, good ol' Turkey, our ally would not allow us to fly our troops from Europe, rather than making that long transatlantic journey from U.S.   However, when the Kurds and our Special Forces were able to secure most of Northern Iraq, we were able to fly the 173rd Airborne Brigade out of Italy without using Turkish air space and drop them in Northern Iraq, thanks to the Kurds! 
     After we had defeated Saddam for the second time, the insurgency ensued and we were involved in fighting a counterinsurgency war somewhat similar in nature to our fight against Viet Cong in long ago Vietnam.  We quickly discovered that we could not rely on the newly trained Iraqi forces, that the only ones we could rely on were the Kurds, their fighters, the Peshmergas, which literally means "those who face death!"  We promised them a spot in the new Iraqi government, that with Saddam gone, they no longer had to face the age old discrimination and hostility.  But guess what, when Obama pulled us out from Iraq and handed the country over to Maliki, things went right down the tubes.  Maliki, after promising to include the Kurds in the new government, shut them out completely!  What did we do?  Nothing!
     Today, the Kurds are the only ones that are really fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  Oh sure, Iraqi forces are fighting ISIS when they are attacked, and recently had some success regaining some territory.  But don't be fooled by the new successes and all the brave talk coming out of Baghdad.  If things get dicey again, the Iraqi forces will collapse!  But not so with the Kurds!  Despite the fact that they are a minority, they continue to fight ISIS and the Turks in Turkey and along the border!
     I've mentioned in an earlier blog that all medicine, food, and arms supply must go through Iraqi central distribution.  We cannot deliver the goods directly to the Kurds.  You know as well as I do that the Kurds will not receive the needed supplies, the Iraqis will keep the stuff themselves and probably sell it to ISIS!  In the meanwhile, the Kurds are finding themselves short of supplies!  Those supplies are ours, and we should not have to clear it through the Iraqis.  I don't know why were are being such wimps and are allowing the Iraqis, who are 100% dependent on us, to bully us like that!
     The Kurds have been at war for a long, long time.  Naturally, they are starting to feel the pinch in manpower.  So, a few years ago the Kurds decided to create an all female unit of Peshmergas.  Naturally it is a volunteer unit, and the Kurds did not quite expect such a positive response from their women.  There was no shortage of volunteers and now this all female Peshmerga unit is a Brigade, made up of about 3,000 to 4,000 women!  They have proven themselves to be a force to contend with, as fearless and ferocious fighters as their male counterparts.  The European media has quickly nick-named them the "Amazons of the Middle East" and they are covered regularly in the European press.  I am kind of surprised that the American press has more or less ignored them.  Why, I don't really know.  You would think they would make good news copy, but for whatever reason, our news media has stayed away from covering the female Peshmergas.  In fact, there has been very little coverage of Peshmergas or Kurds overall.  Is it because the media is trying to help out Obama's administration and save it some embarrassment for lack of support of the Kurds?  I don't know, but it is puzzling.
     Considering the horrible way ISIS treats and murders its captives, you can imagine what they would do to a female Peshmerga if and when they capture one.  But still, there is no shortage of Kurdish women volunteers!  These extraordinarily brave women, indeed the entire Kurdish nation, deserves our undying and unconditional support.  They are the only ones in the region who have been steadfastly loyal to us, despite our periodic betrayals! Instead, our government supports the corrupt and disloyal (yes, they are not loyal to us, they are now allied with Iran and Russia!) Iraqi government, pouring-in billions and billions of tax payers' money into a bottomless pit!  Yes, we have some real smart folks in our government as leaders!

"Vengeance is Mine" Romans 12:12

     The subject of vengeance or revenge has played an important role in the make up of all of the cultures and societies in the world.  In Western societies, it is considered to be more "civilized" to be forgiving, to let bygones be bygones, etc.  Still, when an act or actions is taken by another nation or individual that is harmful to us, we seek restitution, a way to "even the score," so to speak.  We do this all of the time, as nations, as individuals.  The Christian doctrine is to "turn the other cheek," that the act of vengeance is for the higher power.  As it is stated in the Bible, "Vengeance is Mine" Romans 12:12, it is God's responsibility, not the individual's.  Yet, we seek vengeance, as nations we are constantly looking to punish those that do harm to us, like the Muslim terrorists.  Individuals, on the other hand, are supposed to let the legal system do the punishing.  Of course it doesn't always work that way, there are hundreds, indeed thousands of cases where individuals seek themselves to punish those who did harm to them.
     America is a very forgiving nation, and we as Americans are very forgiving as well, perhaps too much so, in the eyes of some!  We can afford to be, for we are by far the wealthiest and most advanced country in the world.  It is no secret that it is always easier for someone who is well off to be generous than for someone who is scrambling to survive.  So, although we do still retain the human instinct for vengeance when someone does harm to us, we are also bound to forgive others more quickly.
     One reason that we have so much trouble dealing with North Korea is that for more than a half a century, since the end of the Korean War, we have been the main focus of their hatred, their target for revenge!  Beginning with Kim Il Sung, the North Korean leaders have concentrated on creating a culture of hatred directed at us for having caused so much death and destruction during the war.  It was a good way for the North Korean leaders to distract their people from their misery, from their own mistakes.  This was how they were able to re-build from the ruins of war.  They blamed everything on the United States.  So what we have now is a nation that has produced three generations of people who think we are the cause of everything bad that has happened to them.  Just think of it, a North Korean who was born when the Panmunjom Cease Fire agreement was made in 1953 is 63 years old today!  They are told that their only chance to make it in this world is to develop a strong military defense, and nuclear power is at the head of it.  Of course we are opposed to their nuclear development, so naturally, they are all the more eager, as a nation, to develop their nuclear power!
     Revenge is the key driving force of North Korea's mind-set and attitude when it comes to the United States and, of course, South Korea, who they consider to be America's lackey.  In Korean society, revenge plays a very influential role in their lives.  It may seem strange to us that revenge plays such a prominent role, but then, that is what makes us different from Koreans.  If you watch their very popular soaps on TV, you'll see that just about all plots deal with the revenge factor!  To an outsider it may seem almost ridiculous and obsessive to be so concerned with revenge, but to Koreans, that is part of their cultural mind-set.  Whether it is real, perceived, or imagined, a slight, an affront, or an outright act against one has to be "avenged."  If one's family lost its fortunes or business because someone had cheated or undermined them, then it is up to the sons and daughters, or even grandchildren, to "avenge" the family!
     A while back I did a blog on "national character" in which I described folk tales and legends to illustrate the so-called "national character."  For Korea I used the example of Admiral Yi Soong Shin, who defeated the Japanese during the Imjin Wars.  But I also included a folk tale that illustrated Korean character which I will repeat again.  The tale of Paek Horang or White Tiger is very old and cannot really be dated.  It started as an oral tradition that was eventually recorded in various forms in writings and appears with different titles and slightly different versions from one to another.  But, basically, the tale goes as follows: 
     "There once lived a most famous hunter in all of Korea.  He lived in the woods, high in the mountains near Paek Tu San, that great mountain range that divides Korea from Manchuria up in the northeast corner.  The old widowed hunter had a beautiful young daughter who like her father, was an accomplished huntress.  One day the old hunter went out but was ambushed and killed and eaten by the great White Tiger who was a terror of the region.  It was a sad event and everyone mourned the death of the old hunter, no one more so than his beautiful young daughter.  Soon, everyone forgot about the sad death of the old hunter and went about their lives.  However, the daughter did not forget.  Although she had many suitors, some very rich, she did not marry, but instead kept refining her hunting skills.  Then one day while the great White Tiger was loafing about, he spotted someone approaching him.  It surprised him that this human was not afraid of him and kept coming nearer.  When the person came closer, the tiger was shocked to see that it was the old hunter that he had killed and eaten many years earlier.  The tiger was so shocked and surprised that he froze.  Before he could react in time to do anything, the old man plunged a spear into him and revealed himself to the surprised tiger before it died.  It was the daughter of the old hunter who had dressed like the old man and even walked like the old man, completely fooling the tiger!"
     Now this tale may seem somewhat silly, and it was indeed meant for children so the authenticity of events are not the key issue.  What is important, and what is relayed in the tale to the children is that a good child, be it a son or a daughter, must avenge the wrong that was done to its parent!  In this case it was most important for the daughter to avenge the death of her father, rather than marrying a rich man and living a life of luxury.  It may be a silly child's story but it illustrates in no uncertain terms what is important in the mind-set of Korean people.  Ironically, even today, you can see this in the numerous popular TV soaps that are shown around the world!
     If we are to deal with North Koreans successfully, we must understand that first and foremost, whether true or not, they feel that they have been terribly wronged by the United States.  This is truly a dilemma because at this stage, short of making an apology that is totally uncalled for, nothing will satisfy the North Koreans.  But, it does give us an insight into their mind, on how they see us!  We are their hated enemy, we are the cause of all and any misery that they have suffered or are suffering.  They want revenge!  They know that they are considered a pariah in the world community, and they blame us for it. We can diffuse it, lessen their desire for revenge by dealing with them directly and "elevating" their status in this world, which we don't want to do.  But the worst thing we can do is what we are continually doing, which is using our "yardstick" and our standards to try and negotiate with them.  Folks, it ain't going to work! They have been isolated and living in a bubble, their own "planet" so-to-speak, for the last sixty plus years!  We need to get into their head and try negotiating with some intelligence, not just blunder on as we have been doing!

China and Korea

     China has had a long standing relationship with Korea in one form or another, going back as far as the Three Kingdom Period of Korea (57 BC - 668 AD).  During that time, Korea was split into three countries with a dividing line roughly where the DMZ between North and South Korea exists today.  To the south, the land was again split in half, east and west with two competing kingdoms, Silla and Paekche.  To the north, extending all the way to what is Manchuria today, was the powerful Kokuryo.  China feared Kokuryo and its warlike culture and constantly allied itself with either Silla or Paekche in the south to try and defeat Kokuryo.  Ultimately, in the 7th Century AD, Silla conquered first its neighbor Paekche, then with the help of Tang Dynasty China, defeated Kokuryo.  But in doing so, Manchuria was lost and the newly formed Koryo Dynasty confined its borders to the small peninsula that is known today as Korea.
     From the time that Kokuryo fell, Korea, whether it was as the Koryo Dynasty or the later Chosun Dynasty, was always under the influence of China.  It became a vassal state, although Korea did not pay tribute to China and its numerous dynasties.  When Korea was subject to foreign invasions, it always sought help from China.  China helped most of the time by sending troops but it was never consistent, the help was rather sporadic due to problems China had at home.
     During the more modern era, in the 20th Century, when Korea was colonized by Japan, it was primarily China that helped arm and support the Korean Freedom Fighters.  There was, of course, also help from the newly formed Soviet Union.  So Korean Freedom Fighters who operated along the Manchurian border were either Russian trained and sponsored or Chinese sponsored.  But regardless of whether it was Russian or Chinese, the sponsors were communist!  Later when the Japanese were able to more or less defeat the Korean Freedom Fighters, the survivors either joined the Chinese Communist Guerrillas or joined the Soviet Red Army!  That is how Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of today's Kim Jung Un ended up in the Soviet Red Army and his son, Kim Jung Il (Kim Jung Un's father) was born in Russia!
     In 1950 China crossed the border into North Korea to fight the UN forces led by the United States.  China entered the fray not because of any desire to gain territory or help Kim Il Sung, but rather for its own survival.  Of course Stalin urged Mao to help North Korea, but China's motivation was more based on its own survival.  There was fear that McArthur would bomb and send troops across the Yalu, which he had verbally threatened to do!  So, China's entry into the Korean War can be seen more as a self preservation move rather than helping out a neighbor in trouble!  Kim Il Sung did not have strong ties with China, his ties were with the Soviet Union!  However, Stalin dumped him when he was pushed to the Manchurian border, after having initially urged him to attack the south.  Kim's relations with Russia soured and he became allied closer with China.  The Soviet Union still provided North Korea with economic assistance, but China was beginning to have a bigger role as time went on.  Sometime before his death, Kim Il Sung's ties with the Soviet Union were almost completely severed and he became reliant on China more and more.  China, on the other hand, saw North Korea as one country with which it could trade and unload some of its products.  Remember, this was during a period when China was not open to the West and was limited as to with whom it could trade.
     So now we come to current era.  Situation has changed dramatically for China in the last quarter of a century.  China has become an economic giant and its main trading partner is the United States!  Its main rivals for the market share in the United States and the rest of the world is Japan and South Korea!  Japanese automotive industry still dominates the world market, although South Korea with Hyundai and KIA is fast catching up.  Electronic market also is dominated by Japanese and Koreans.  China is getting there, but still far behind.
     Those politicians and leaders in America who want China to handle North Korea and its belligerent behavior, i.e., nuclear bomb development, really need to learn their history and current events!  If anything, North Korea's belligerent behavior and nuclear development is an advantage to China!  You may think this is crazy, but China needs North Korea to keep Japan and South Korea preoccupied!  Look how much money and energy Japan is now spending, all because of North Korea.  Look how much time and GNP South Korea dedicates on defense, all because of North Korea!  By keeping its biggest economic rivals occupied with defense worries, China can hope to overtake both of these countries economically in time.  Of course China's own military build up is making these same countries nervous, but North Korea is a big help to China in this regard!  At the same time, both South Korea and Japan have struck lucrative business deals with China which benefits all sides.
     But, isn't China worried about North Korea going rogue, so to speak.  Attacking China with its nuclear weapons?  Perhaps there is some worry, but not really.  China knows full well that North Korea, which at this point is almost totally dependent on China for economic assistance, would be very unlikely to turn against its benefactor.  At the same time, it knows that North Korea cannot survive without China's help, having created a situation which has made it into a pariah of the world!
So, as weird and unlikely as it may sound, it is to China's advantage to have North Korea carry on as it has been doing.  A unified Korea would be a nightmare to China.  Just think how much more Korea could produce if it did not have to spend so much money on defense and at the same time gained all that additional manpower and space to build factories!  They would become a huge competitor to China on the world economy.
     Currently, the average family annual income in the United States is listed at around $53,000.  I am not too sure how they came up with that figure, it seems a bit high when you consider what the average salary is across the country.  But still, that is what they say it is.  The average income in Japan is listed at around $44,000, higher than UK or Germany.  The average income in South Korea is listed at about $37,000 and China, $17,000.  North Korea would be more like $2000!  So, as you can see, South Korea's and Japan's average income is more than double of China's.  China still has a way to go, yet they are one of the top economic powers in the world already!  It is simply not to their advantage to make things easier for Japan and Korea to increase the gap.  It is "good business" sense to provide a deterrent of some sort, to keep Japan and Korea at least partially in check lest they get so far ahead that China will not be able to catch up!
     So, the idea that China should be handed the responsibility of trying to disarm North Korea is ridiculous, it is simply not to their advantage!  China does not fear North Korea, it knows that North Korea would never attack China, but it would attack South Korea or Japan!  It is not that China wants North Korea to attack South Korea or Japan, that would not be good for business!  But it is to their advantage to have North Korea hanging around, rattling sabers once in a while and behaving like the nut case that it is!  At the same time, to do any negotiating with North Korea over the nuclear issue, China must be included. China is probably the only country that North Korea will still listen to, owing to its economic dependence!  There is this basic lack of understanding of history and the Chinese and Korean mind set by our politicians and leaders.  Small wonder historically China has repeatedly duped or taken us to the cleaners when we tried to deal with them, while North Korea has been a complete puzzle!
    

Here We Go Again....The Ongoing Saga of Kim Jung Un

     My last blog was on the subject of Korea around 1890s.  Now we jump some 125 years to 2016 and once again cover Kim Jung Un, my favorite North Korean subject!  Kim Jung Un is my favorite North Korean subject not because I am fond of him or, god forbid, admire him!  He is my favorite subject of that poor wretched country because he is such a nut-case, so unpredictable, so unconventional!  Yet, if you really look at him closely, he is very predictable and his actions or reactions can be easily second-guessed with the right kind of mind set.  Unfortunately, our government has been looking at him and dealing with him as if he was a "normal" person.  He is not, so he should not be treated as such!
     North Korea's latest nuclear test which registered 5+ on the seismic meter (the size of decent earthquake!) was claimed by them as a hydrogen bomb test.  Everyone immediately jumped in panic and started testing the air, etc.  The latest conclusion is that it was not a hydrogen bomb, just a big atomic bomb!  A hydrogen bomb supposedly has ten times the power of an atomic bomb such as the one dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  This one was supposed to have been "only" five times bigger.  So, our government and the news media seems to be saying that there is not much to worry about, since it is only a bomb that is just bigger than the ones they already have, not a hydrogen bomb.
     I don't know about you, but the fact that it is not a hydrogen bomb does not make me feel any safer!  An atomic bomb that is "only" five times greater in power than the one dropped on Hiroshima is more than powerful enough to do catastrophic damage wherever it is dropped!  It is a known fact that North Korea now has the capability to deliver nuclear warheads on one of their ICBMs that can reach our West Coast!  A hydrogen bomb would be too large to deliver by an ICBM, so a large atomic bomb is a much more likely candidate!  To me, the fact that North Korea developed a more powerful atomic bomb rather than a hydrogen bomb is much more alarming.  They do not have the capability to deliver bombs by aircraft, which is how a large device such as a hydrogen bomb would have to be delivered.  A North Korean bomber would be shot down before it even reached Japan!  But, they do have ICBMs capable of carrying nuclear devices, so the development of a more powerful atomic device is much more dangerous and significant!
     Why is Kim Jung Un so brashly ignoring everyone's warnings and threats and going ahead with illegal nuclear bomb testing?  Well, it isn't hard to figure that out.  Remember what happened earlier in 2015?  Remember that wonderful "world peace making" Iran Nuclear Deal in which we gave Iran billions of dollars and partially lifted sanctions?  Remember what Iran did with the fresh funds they received from us?  They not only immediately bought the latest anti missile system from Russia but started testing their missile systems ignoring the UN sanctions about weapons testing, claiming that it was not a part of the Nuclear Deal.  In less than a year's time since making that Nuclear Deal, they bought a new missile defense system, ignored UN sanctions and tested missiles twice, once almost hitting U.S. ships in Persian Gulf!  They've entered Iraq (initially at our invitation!) and are major participants in Syria, partnering with Russia!
     Now, just think what went on in that fat head of Kim Jung Un's when all of this was taking place?  What kind of a signal did it send him?  It showed him that with enough pressure we will give up the store, give billions of dollars and lift sanctions if we think we got a "deal,"  and Iran doesn't even have nuclear weapons yet!  In short, Iran was able to do all of the things that it wasn't supposed to do, and get money from us to boot!  Kim's thinking is that, of course, if we are willing to give all that money and still allow Iran to do as it pleases, think what we would do if he exploded a few more nuclear devices!  Its not difficult to figure what Kim is thinking, there is nothing inscrutable or mysterious or unfathomable about his actions.  He wants us to sit and talk with him and agree to give him billions and lift sanctions if he will only stop testing nuclear bombs!
     Remember what I said in earlier blogs when I talked about North Korea.  I am puzzled why we continue to pay so little attention to that country, which in my estimation is more dangerous than Iran!  Iran may sponsor terrorists, they are doing so openly with Hamas and Hezbollah, but they are not capable of actually striking us in any way except through proxy terrorist attacks.  North Korea, on the other hand, does have missiles capable of reaching our West Coast and they do have nuclear warheads!  Aside from the fact that North Korea has better military technology, a huge army,  I would be much more reluctant to risk our troops against them than against Iranians.  Iran and Iraq fought a long war in which neither one gained a true victory, despite claims by either side.  Don't be mislead by the fact that Al Qaeda and ISIS are causing so much problems.  For one thing, most Al Qaeda and ISIS members are not Iranians or Iraqis.  If we applied our full might and fought the war as it should be fought, to win - we would defeat both easily.  Yes. there will be greater loss of American lives, but we will defeat them.  We would also defeat the North Koreans, but with a much greater number in loss of American lives!
     I am baffled by the total lack of understanding of the situation, of Kim Jung Un's motives, on the part of our government and all of the supposed "brains" and future government leaders.  The leading Republican candidate stated that we should let China deal with North Korea while the leading candidate for Democrats said we should immediately apply more sanctions!  These are the two possible leaders of our country?  That scares the hell out of me, they haven't a clue!  The day after the North Korean bomb testing, Bill Richardson, the former Governor of New Mexico and former Ambassador to UN was on television and gave his "expert" views.  Richardson, said essentially that we should all get together, hold hands and sing Kumbaya!  I am exaggerating, of course, and being sarcastic, but what he said was that we should get together with China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia on one side and North Korea on the other, and come up with a deal.  Sounds familiar doesn't it?  Well, this was what we did back in 1994, and of course the deal fell through within a year when North Korea started cheating.  Last year we struck a deal with Iran with "other" five countries, and guess what, Iran started cheating immediately, what a surprise.
     The failure of the 1994 deal with North Korea is blamed on Bush's administration by the news media and Clinton's administration.  They claim that when Bush came into office, his "hawkish" administration "alienated" the North Koreans with their right wing stance, thereby destroying the agreement.  The fact is that the deal was already no good!  By the time Bush came into office North Korea had more than 5 years to cheat!  Bush's administration noted that North Korea was cheating and essentially "annulled" the worthless agreement!
     We have plenty of very smart and very capable people, experts in areas (countries) and people.  Yet, time and time again when we go to negotiating tables we send people who have very little if any knowledge of those with whom they are going to negotiate! Historically, the only time we did well was when we sat at the table with those we had completely defeated, those who had unconditionally surrendered like Germany and Japan in World War Two.  Even then, it seems the "losers" got a pretty good deal in some cases.  When we sat down to negotiate with North Korea at Panmunjom for the Cease Fire talks, the negotiations dragged on seemingly forever and we were taken to the cleaners!  The North Koreans actually gained territory!  It doesn't matter who held what territory at the time of talks, we should have demanded that the demarcation go back to pre-war at 38th Parallel.  Instead, it ended up in a crooked line and North Korea ended up with territory previously held in South Korean hands! 
     The recent Iran Nuclear Deal talks is another perfect example.  Iran got more than what it wanted.  What did we get?  Supposedly a suspension of nuclear arms development for the next decade.  Of course there is no guarantee that the Iranians will not cheat!  If they cheat and we decide to suspend the agreement and impose sanctions again, we still would have paid out billions and allowed Iran to sell oil and make billions!  Oh, and by the way.  Our illustrious Secretary of State is not known to be an expert on Middle East or Nuclear Affairs.  His chief advisor and architect of the agreement during the talks was Wendy Sherman, the very same person who was involved in our deal with North Korea back in 1994.  Wendy Sherman is neither a Korean or Iranian expert.  She is, however, obviously a Democrat.  Yeah, we sure learn from history!
     Our main problem seems to be two fold.  One, our government seems to lack institutional memory.  Two, because our government changes every four or eight years, there is no continuity and yes, because of that, lack of aforementioned institutional memory.  Our institutional memory only goes as far back as whichever political party is in administration.  Add to this problem the fact that Democrats do not want to do anything that Republicans did or visa versa, and the whole situation is compounded and essentially, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing or was doing!
     Kim Jung Un is not that difficult to figure out.  Yes, he is a nut case.  Yes, he just turned 33 and appears to be somewhat inexperienced.  So, although we have to be mindful of what Kim Jung Un might be thinking, we primarily have to deal with his representatives who for the most part, are not as nutty as he is!  Ours is a diverse and talented society, and there are plenty of people who know and understand very well the Korean and Iranian mentality, culture, and language.  They don't have to be ethnic Korean or Iranians, just those who know the culture, history, and language.  Of all the countries in the world, we have the largest population of people knowledgeable about Korea or Iran.  As the old saying goes, "It takes a thief to catch a thief!" or to use a more appropriate Korean proverb, "To catch a fox, you need a wolf!"  But alas, we seem to be trying to "use a chicken to catch a fox!"

The Last Korean Empress

     A while back I did blog on the last Korean Empress, Empress Myongsong (1851-1895), popularly known as "Queen Min."  At the time I mentioned the fact that she was a very progressive person and wanted to bring Korea into the modern world.  She was very strongly opposed to Japanese influence and preferred Westernization, in particular she was attracted to America and American system.  Her husband, King Kojong, was weak and not a capable ruler.  It was Queen Min that actually ruled the country and she was especially loved by the common people.  She did everything within her power to make life better for the common people.  She established new educational system, based on American education, welcomed American scholars and missionaries.  She dispatched a mission to America, headed by her nephew, to study and observe America's industrialization, education, medicine, just about everything. As a result, the first English language school was established with American teachers in 1883.  The first Women's College, Ewha University was established in 1886 and run by Mary Scranton, an American Protestant missionary.  Ewha, to this day, is considered the best women's college in Korea!  It is a very prestigious institution.  A Royal English school was established and run by another American, Homer Hulbert, and Chosun Christian College was established by an American missionary H. G. Underwood, who is revered in Korea.  Chosun Chrisian College later merged with another missionary school, Yonhei,  and became Yonsei University, the top university in Korea, the Harvard of Korea!  So the list goes on and on!
     Queen Min knew that education alone wasn't going to help modernize Korea.  She knew that Korea needed a modern military to defend itself, especially against Japan.  She invited a U.S. Army General, General William McEntyre Dye, who in 1888 established Korea's first Military Academy!  The U.S. Minister to Korea, Lucius Foote was also very knowledgeable about military affairs and gave advice to Queen Min on the subject.  But perhaps the most surprising and unusual thing that Queen Min did was to convince her husband King Kojong to hire an American to run Korea's Foreign Affairs!  So in 1886, Korea made an unprecedented move and hired an American, Judge Owen Denny, to be the Vice President of Home Ministry and Director of Foreign Affairs!
     Owen Nickerson Denny was a judge from Oregon.  He was originally from Ohio, but moved to Oregon as a child and grew up and educated in that state.  He became a judge and served in various capacities before he was appointed U.S. Consul to Tsientsin, China, where he served from 1877 to 1880.  In 1880 he was promoted to Consul General and transferred to Shanghai where he served until 1883, after which he retired and went back to Oregon.  Ironically, in America he is best known for the fact that he brought over Chinese ring-necked pheasants from Shanghai and transplanted them on his ranch in Oregon and thereby started the seed population of pheasants in America!  Prior to Denny, there were several attempts to introduce pheasants to America from Europe, but none of these earlier introductions worked.  Denny's transplantation of Chinese pheasants was a huge success.  Within a decade the pheasant population in Oregon exploded and began to spread.  Concurrently, Oregon pheasants were introduced in other states and the rest is history, the ring-necked pheasant is as much a part of America's landscape as the native mourning dove!
     But despite the fact that Denny is best known in America for his introduction of pheasants, his accomplishments in Korea far exceed any contribution to ornithology!  Denny, in essence, established the very first Korean Foreign Service, patterned after America's!  He had great opposition from conservative members of Korean government who were in opposition to Queen Min's modernization.  The fact that he was a foreigner, holding such a high post, did not help things!  Denny worked in Korea for a four year period, from 1886 to 1890, and managed to leave his mark, transforming the Korean Foreign Affairs office into a more modern operation than the medieval system that it used to operate under before his arrival.
     Queen Min was trying very hard to drag the "Hermit Kingdom" into the modern age.  She envisioned for Korea a constitutional monarchy like England.  However, the opposition from conservative members of the government was such that she could make little headway.  Her husband, the King was of no help.  He was weak and easily convinced by the opposition.  Queen Min wanted to have a constitution drafted and the government changed, that is probably why the conservative opposition resisted.  They held their high offices by birthright, they were all aristocrats, members of nobility. Queen Min's proposal would mean that high offices would be elected offices, and they feared that their lack of popularity with people would destroy any chance for them to retain their positions.  Still, by 1894 Korea managed to have a Premier.  The first Premier was elected in 1894 and served a two year term until 1896.  Queen Min had already selected a name for the new constitutional monarchy that she envisioned.  It would be called Tehan Jeguk (The Great Han Empire), but she never realized her dream.
     In 1895 a great catastrophe befell the fledging "new" Korea.  The Japanese Minister to Korea, Miura, with collaboration of his superiors in Tokyo, brought to Korea a group of assassins who stormed the palace with swords and brutally assassinated Queen Min and other members of the palace.  The King was not in the palace so he, along with the children, were spared.  There were 56 Japanese assassins who participated in this horrendous murder.  They, of course, had Korean collaborators, members of the palace guard who were pro Japanese.  Sadly and ironically, there was very little international protestation over this obvious, overt, assassination by the Japanese government.  The Japanese held a mock trial in Hiroshima, and all 56 assassins and Miura were quickly acquitted.  Japanese scholars and many Japanese are aware of this terrible tragedy.  Scores of books and articles have been written about this and even a movie and a popular TV series was made in Korea. But the Japanese government, to this day, refuses to acknowledge its guilt on the affair.  It is just like their reaction to the business of "comfort women."  Just recently the Japanese government officially acknowledged its guilt and use of "comfort women."  Hopefully it will acknowledge its guilt in the assassination of Queen Min, the Last Korean Empress, its already been more than a century!
     The Japanese assassinated Queen Min because they saw her as the only true obstacle to their plans of take over of Korea.  Two years after her death, Korea declared itself a constitutional monarchy and was renamed Tehan Jeguk.  However, it only lasted for a short period, until 1910 when Japan annexed Korea and declared it to be their colony.  But for a short period, Queen Min's dream was realized and Tehan Jeguk was ruled as a constitutional monarchy headed at first by her son Gwangjong and later by her grandson, Emperor Sunjong and his young wife as king and queen!
     In the Western world, Korea is simply known as Korea or South Korea.  Those crazies in the north are referred to as North Koreans.  But Koreans themselves, and the rest of Asia, refer to South Korea, the Republic of Korea (ROK), as Te-han Min Guk (The Great Han Republic) after the very last Korean government before Japan's take over in 1910.  When Korea gained its independence in 1945, it was unanimously decided to retain the name that it had before Japan had colonized it for 35 years.  North Korea, on the other hand, because it was a communist country, took on a completely different name but retained "Chosun" in its title, calling itself Chosun In Min Kong Wha Guk (People's Democratic Republic of Chosun).  Chosun was the name of the Yi or the last dynasty of Korea.  Prior to that it was Koryo dynasty, from which the Western world took the name of Korea!
     So now, if anyone wondered why Korea (South) shows such strong ties to America, aside from the fact that America saved the south from communist domination, it is because of its historical ties!  The South Korean army appears to be very much like the U.S. Army today, but the similarity is based not only because of the ties established during the Korean War, but because the modern Korean army was essentially founded by U.S. Army advisors going back to 1888!  Owen Denny established the first modern Korean Foreign Ministry, and the educational system, particularly the higher education, found its modern beginning with American systems established by Mary Scranton at Ewha University in 1886 and H.G. Underwood at Chosen Christian College before it merged with Yonhei college and became Yonsei University.  Yonsei and Ewha are the two best universities in Korea!  There is a new Chosen Christian College, but it has no ties to Underwood family.  America has had much bigger and lasting impact on Korea than most people realize.  It is also the reason why Korea has a high Christian population.

U.S. Foreign Service - More Dangerous Jobs Than You May Think!

     There is a common perception among those who are unfamiliar with our Foreign Service that all those who work for the State Department live in the lap of luxury during their overseas assignments.  It may indeed be, that in some countries, that our Foreign Service personnel live in what appear to be luxurious surroundings.  But appearances can be deceiving.  In many third world (oops! sorry, I am being politically incorrect, I meant "developing") countries, the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" is such that there is no such thing as a "middle class," just the rich and the poor.  Consequently, the housing is either what appear to be luxurious, to the uninitiated, or literally, hovels.  There is no in between, no middle ground.  Therefore, it would be unrealistic to house Foreign Service personnel and their families in the shacks!
     But even in housing that may appear luxurious with swimming pools, etc., things aren't what they seem.  The basic services (water and electricity) are unreliable with constant interruption and outages.  There are always health hazards, food that is unsanitary with vegetables that have to be washed in clorox before eating, etc.  Medical services are far from acceptable and any half way serious medical condition has be treated in the U.S or nearest "developed" country, therefore, medical evacuations are common place.  The list goes on and on.  No, an assignment to one of the "developing" countries is far from a two year "vacation" with hot and cold running servants!  But aside from all of the physical inconveniences and health hazards, there is another factor that most people outside of the Foreign Service generally are unaware of.....that is danger, physical danger to the lives of Foreign Service personnel.  I don't mean traffic accidents or bad food!  I mean actual attacks directed at U.S. Foreign Service personnel by various terrorist groups.  This has been going on for ages, since the U.S. Consul in Tripoli was kidnapped by the Barbary pirates, an event immortalized in the lyrics of the Marine Corps Hym!  Let me give you some examples, going back to just 1973.
     In 1973 U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel was killed by the Black September Movement.  That same year the U.S. Consul General in Guadalajara Mexico, Terence Leonhardy was killed by a terrorist group with leftist ties.  The following year in 1974 U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, Rodger Davis was killed by a separatist group.  In 1976 U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Francis Meloy and the Economic Counselor Robert Waring were killed in Beirut.  In 1979 U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolphus Dubs was kidnapped and killed.  That same year, of course, 53 U.S. Embassy employees were taken hostage in Tehran for 333 days!  The 1970s were bad years for the U.S. Foreign Service, more senior officers fell victims to terrorist attacks, four Ambassadors, one Consul General, and one Economic Counselor!  Essentially, an Ambassador is equal to a four star General while a Consul General and Economic Counselor could be anywhere between a Brigadier General (one star), to a Major General (two star) in rank!  So, that was a lot high brass that was lost in the 1970s, not to mention the 53 Foreign Service employees who were held hostage for 333 days!
     The 1980s weren't much better.  In 1983 The U.S. Embassy in Beirut was bombed killing 63 people, including a visiting CIA Director for Middle East!  That same year our Naval Attache in El Salvador was assassinated.  In Athens, a naval Captain from JUSMAG was assassinated that same year.  In 1984 in Lebannon, Political Officer William Buckley was kidnapped and killed.  In 1985 four Marine Guards at the Embassy were killed in El Salvador.  In 1988 the Defense Attache in Athens was killed in a car bomb explosion.  In 1989 at the U.S. Embassy in Manila Col. James Rowe, a hero of Vietnam, the first American to escape from Viet Cong captivity when he was a young Special Forces lieutenant, was assassinated by a leftist terrorists.  Numerically, the 1980s had more casualties than the previous decade!
     During the 1990s, the trend continued with assassinations and bombings all around the globe.  Just during the eight year period of George W. Bush's two terms, 60 U.S. Foreign Service lives were lost!  Of course the trend continued under Obama with incidents like the infamous Benghazi case!  The Benghazi case, because it was politicized, is well known to the public.  But how about all of those others, hundreds, indeed thousands if you go back further, who died while serving abroad in the Foreign Service!  Of course not everyone is specifically targeted, it depends on your job.  But still, just being a member of the official United States community makes you a target, and many Foreign Service personnel who did not hold sensitive positions were killed!
     Foreign Service is a small community and it is not difficult to get to know a lot of people because your job changes every few years.  Many of the people that were killed I knew, some quite well.  The navy Captain from JUSMAG in Athens was assassinated a few months after I left Athens.  I used to play poker with him every Friday night!  Colonel James Rowe I knew from my time in the Special Forces.  In the 1990s, a very good and dear friend was killed in the Nairobi bombing.  She was a young woman who was like a kid sister to Jo and got married in our house!  Then in the Benghazi case, I knew Chris Stevens from Cairo.  In fact, a group photo from Cairo which includes Chris, is hanging on the wall just behind the desk from which I am typing this blog!
     During my two years in Paraguay, I received numerous death threats and was forced to live with 24 hour guard!  In Ecuador, the Consulate General building was attacked on the night of our invasion of Panama. Ecuadorian leftists attacked our building in protest of our invasion.  Two grenades were thrown at the building and several shots fired from the protest crowd.  It was not a pleasant experience.  In Cairo we had armed guards on our house 24/7.  So, despite what it may seem like on the outside, life in the Foreign Service is not all wine and roses!  Embassies have Marine Guards.  But despite Hollywood's portrayal of the MSGs (Marine Security Guards) as having complete control of protecting the embassy, that is not the case.  The MSGs are only responsible for security inside the chancery grounds, nothing outside.  Outside of the embassy grounds the responsibility befalls local police and guards.  You can see how that works or does not work in some countries!  Consulate Generals and Consulates do not have MSGs, they are completely dependent on local police and guards.  Because of this situation, many Consulates and Consulate Generals have weapons which are assigned to key personnel.  Consulate General Guayaquil was such a post and we had handguns, shotguns, and M-16s assigned to us!  We were also required to take these weapons out to the range and shoot periodically.  So yes, it is not all picnic.
     To be sure there are Foreign Service posts around the world, mostly in Europe, where one will rarely face any danger.  Also, those Foreign Service officers assigned to Secretary's office or one of the other Washington based offices never have to face such situations.  When they go abroad, they stay in hotels and after conducting their business, fly back.  Their trips overseas may last as little as few days to as much as a few months.  I had that experience when I worked for the Inspector General's Office and we went around inspecting our posts overseas.  It is a completely different "overseas" experience from being actually assigned to a post, to some extent you almost feel like a tourist.  But regular Foreign Service assignments, especially to "developing" countries, are no picnic.  There are not only serious health hazards, and just plain hardship trying to live in places with inadequate basic services, but danger from actual attacks by terror groups.