I never would have known any of this except for the incredible reporting by Shorrock and Drop Site. It's another demonstration of the government American citizens know nothing about signing off on conflicts in Americans' names without their knowledge and consent that benefit the global military-industrial complex, but not Americans. With America now headed in the same direction under a fascist dictatorship (already underway over Israel's genocide), my concern is that Americans won't turn out by the thousands to challenge the tyrant; that they will turn into 'Good Americans' and look the other way as their freedoms are crushed because they don't care about freedom; they care about money, period. And that goes for the vast majority of students getting a degree for the sole purpose of earning, not learning. The Hong Kong uprising involved the entire populus, not just students. It lost. For now, South Korean people appear to be winning. But the military-industrial complex that crushes dissent and demands obedience is a child of capitalism. Until and unless people exert control over this monster, it will continue to exploit humans as just another resource and crush their spirit.
There is much to agree with in your statement, but not the remark regarding Hong Kong, which, in 2019, was not at all something that involved the "entire populus," other than the original protests against the extradition bill. That was soon followed by a take-over of armed rioters, thugs, and an occasional "pro-democracy" advocate, USA-style.
I didn't know anything about this, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. And that includes what Jimmy Carter did. Governments change, empires carry on.
Do the American soldiers posted in South Korea know what they are supporting? I doubt it.
As for a Nobel peace prize ..... Tom Lehrer, asked why he stopped writing satirical songs, once said that real life had overtaken and surpassed satire. At one point he thought of writing a song about Henry Kissinger getting the Nobel peace prize. And then he did!
Many thanks to Drop Site and Tim Shorrock for this outstanding report on current and past events in South Korea, particularly the part played by the US in South Korea's internal and military affairs. The US role in forcing an unwilling South Korea and a hesitant Japan into last year's US/Japan/South Korea military alliance was unknown to me. Tim's report has opened my eyes to many things in the history of the Asia-Pacific region which the American public does not, but absolutely should, know about. I am in awe of the fierce courage and determination shown by the South Koreans in repelling the current attempted coup by their military and an autocratic US-backed SK president. The 1980 Gwangju coup and the appalling US involvement in that coup, was not known to me. Many thanks also for the North Korea/Russia part of this report. Time and time again, everywhere around the world, intricately and tightly woven with bad actors and shocking, murderous actions is the US and its administrations, both Republican and Democratic. The time is coming when we will reap all the horrors and lies that for so many years we have sown. Our darkest days are coming.
N. Korea sends 10k troops to Russia and we've sent 24k troops in S. Korea.
Not sure how many troops we have in Syria. Don't know how many Russia has there. Or how many Kurd fighters, Turkey fighters, Iranian? Isis? Hezbulah? Just to name most but not all those with boots on the ground in Syria. And for what? A few drops of the total world oil supply. An East West thing? A white non white thing. A Christian Sunni Shiite Jew thing. A super power thing. A civil war thing.
Such a mess what is possible to be gained by sticking our nose there. Please tell me anyone one out there in the ether why all this is happening. It makes no sense to me what ever angle I look at it.
Thank you for this information packed article. We in US gave a lot to learn about North and South Korea and this is a good start. I have great respect for all the citizens of South Korea who came out last night to stop marshal law and protect their democracy. May their efforts be successful in the long run.
I was totally unaware of this situation. How surprising that the USA is in the middle of another boiling pot in S Korea/ Japan. Our country, the USA is implicated in war, coups, and many other unsavory acts around the world. Only difference is the screen is pulled back to really reveal these heinous acts. Unfortunately the only intelligence we find there is information provided by spooks in the various agencies. Obviously no other intelligence to be found in our own "democratic" government.
Excellent article Tim. All of Asia is littered with national elections with parties garnering the interests of China and the US, which never gets reported on in mainstream news, even as Pakistan continues to protest the occurrences that led up to the overthrowing of Imran Khan. But as the world continues to inevitably globalize and poorer countries slowly play catch-up, we'll also inevitably see richer countries like South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, perhaps even some western countries start to push back against sacrificing sound leadership in the name of US geopolitical interests.
I shared this one on the Tom Hartmann site. I received a notice from Facebook that my account was suspended, a surprising event though I never had a prior violation. Facebook would not reveal what triggered this. I suspect it was because I shared a number of the fine investigative pieces like this one from Drop Site News on FB, especially the Best Democracy FB sites and the ones I moderated that included the Best Democracy site on Israel and Gaza.
I never would have known any of this except for the incredible reporting by Shorrock and Drop Site. It's another demonstration of the government American citizens know nothing about signing off on conflicts in Americans' names without their knowledge and consent that benefit the global military-industrial complex, but not Americans. With America now headed in the same direction under a fascist dictatorship (already underway over Israel's genocide), my concern is that Americans won't turn out by the thousands to challenge the tyrant; that they will turn into 'Good Americans' and look the other way as their freedoms are crushed because they don't care about freedom; they care about money, period. And that goes for the vast majority of students getting a degree for the sole purpose of earning, not learning. The Hong Kong uprising involved the entire populus, not just students. It lost. For now, South Korean people appear to be winning. But the military-industrial complex that crushes dissent and demands obedience is a child of capitalism. Until and unless people exert control over this monster, it will continue to exploit humans as just another resource and crush their spirit.
There is much to agree with in your statement, but not the remark regarding Hong Kong, which, in 2019, was not at all something that involved the "entire populus," other than the original protests against the extradition bill. That was soon followed by a take-over of armed rioters, thugs, and an occasional "pro-democracy" advocate, USA-style.
Thank you for this analysis; could not find it anywhere else.
I didn't know anything about this, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. And that includes what Jimmy Carter did. Governments change, empires carry on.
Do the American soldiers posted in South Korea know what they are supporting? I doubt it.
As for a Nobel peace prize ..... Tom Lehrer, asked why he stopped writing satirical songs, once said that real life had overtaken and surpassed satire. At one point he thought of writing a song about Henry Kissinger getting the Nobel peace prize. And then he did!
Thank you for this analysis. Per usual, the MSM have dropped the ball.
Many thanks to Drop Site and Tim Shorrock for this outstanding report on current and past events in South Korea, particularly the part played by the US in South Korea's internal and military affairs. The US role in forcing an unwilling South Korea and a hesitant Japan into last year's US/Japan/South Korea military alliance was unknown to me. Tim's report has opened my eyes to many things in the history of the Asia-Pacific region which the American public does not, but absolutely should, know about. I am in awe of the fierce courage and determination shown by the South Koreans in repelling the current attempted coup by their military and an autocratic US-backed SK president. The 1980 Gwangju coup and the appalling US involvement in that coup, was not known to me. Many thanks also for the North Korea/Russia part of this report. Time and time again, everywhere around the world, intricately and tightly woven with bad actors and shocking, murderous actions is the US and its administrations, both Republican and Democratic. The time is coming when we will reap all the horrors and lies that for so many years we have sown. Our darkest days are coming.
N. Korea sends 10k troops to Russia and we've sent 24k troops in S. Korea.
Not sure how many troops we have in Syria. Don't know how many Russia has there. Or how many Kurd fighters, Turkey fighters, Iranian? Isis? Hezbulah? Just to name most but not all those with boots on the ground in Syria. And for what? A few drops of the total world oil supply. An East West thing? A white non white thing. A Christian Sunni Shiite Jew thing. A super power thing. A civil war thing.
Such a mess what is possible to be gained by sticking our nose there. Please tell me anyone one out there in the ether why all this is happening. It makes no sense to me what ever angle I look at it.
Don't foreget South America. The US has and is still messing around
done there.
Thank you for this information packed article. We in US gave a lot to learn about North and South Korea and this is a good start. I have great respect for all the citizens of South Korea who came out last night to stop marshal law and protect their democracy. May their efforts be successful in the long run.
The people of the US have been led through the moral gutter
by the Zionist Biden administration and its not over yet.
Korea seems to be another area where the US can have its reputation
for chasing money at the expense of freedom exposed.
I was totally unaware of this situation. How surprising that the USA is in the middle of another boiling pot in S Korea/ Japan. Our country, the USA is implicated in war, coups, and many other unsavory acts around the world. Only difference is the screen is pulled back to really reveal these heinous acts. Unfortunately the only intelligence we find there is information provided by spooks in the various agencies. Obviously no other intelligence to be found in our own "democratic" government.
It will be interesting to follow how things develop from here in SK.
Very interesting piece. Thanks
Excellent article Tim. All of Asia is littered with national elections with parties garnering the interests of China and the US, which never gets reported on in mainstream news, even as Pakistan continues to protest the occurrences that led up to the overthrowing of Imran Khan. But as the world continues to inevitably globalize and poorer countries slowly play catch-up, we'll also inevitably see richer countries like South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, perhaps even some western countries start to push back against sacrificing sound leadership in the name of US geopolitical interests.
Let's see how long it takes MSM to tell us what's really happening. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets buried.
I shared this one on the Tom Hartmann site. I received a notice from Facebook that my account was suspended, a surprising event though I never had a prior violation. Facebook would not reveal what triggered this. I suspect it was because I shared a number of the fine investigative pieces like this one from Drop Site News on FB, especially the Best Democracy FB sites and the ones I moderated that included the Best Democracy site on Israel and Gaza.