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Selfish, irresponsible Korean government
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thepeel

Joined: 08 Aug 2004

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject: Selfish, irresponsible Korean government

�gives 2 million dollars to the Taliban. Which I�m sure will result in the deal of Canadian and other NATO forces and fund further kidnappings.

A roundup:

Quote:

TOKYO: South Korea paid two million dollars to Taliban extremists in Afghanistan to secure the release of 19 hostages, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Quote:

ISLAMABAD � Scenes of joy from South Korea filled television screens Tuesday as the Taliban announced a deal to release 19 kidnapped church volunteers. Far away from the celebrations, however, observers worried that the end of the hostage crisis marks the beginning of a new stage in Afghanistan's insurgency.

Not only did the Taliban succeed in taking the largest group of hostages captured since the start of the conflict, they conducted the raid on a highway paved with American funding � a vital link between Kabul and Kandahar and a zone considered only medium-risk by security experts.
The negotiations leading to the hostage release also included scenes that outraged among some Afghans, as Taliban fighters entered a major city under a white flag to meet Korean representatives face to face, and afterward held their first press conference since their regime collapsed in 2001.

Perhaps most worryingly, observers say, the apparent conclusion of the drama means the Taliban can now claim greater legitimacy as reliable negotiating partners. It could also inspire more kidnappings, an increasingly common tactic as the insurgents try to drive away the foreigners propping up a weak government.

�This takes the Taliban to a different level of recognition,� said Barnett Rubin, a leading academic on Afghanistan. �They successfully negotiated a deal with a foreign government. They committed war crimes and executed hostages, so they didn't look that good, but it's still a victory for them.�

http://www.theglobeandmail.com

Quote:

Germany Joins Vocal Criticism of South Korea in Hostage Release
A German politician has joined in the chorus of criticism of the circumstances surrounding the release of the last 19 South Koreans hostages who were held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly six weeks.
Opposition Green Party defense spokesman Winfried Nachtwei said he was pleased the hostages had been freed but at a political level it was nothing less than "a political triumph for the Taliban."

When the German Green Party is criticising your capitulation, you have reached new and breathtaking levels of selfish cowardice. But I�m not surprised.

Quote:

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's foreign minister, in a rare public blast at a close ally, has criticized South Korea for negotiating with Taliban militants to free a group of hostages.

"The Canadian position on dealings with terrorists is well-known to all those with even a passing familiarity with the subject. We do not negotiate with terrorists, for any reason," Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement.

"Such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism."

The Taliban began releasing a group of 19 church volunteers after striking a deal with South Korea under which Seoul reaffirmed its commitment to withdraw a small contingent of noncombat troops from Afghanistan within the year.

Canada has a 2,500-strong military mission in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

http://ca.today.reuters.com

Have the Koreans thought about the long term implications of this? They aren�t going to be invited to any multilateral parties for a long time.

And lets not forget the biggest loser. The elected and legitimate Afgan government. The selfish Koreans went and treated a terrorist group on foreign soil as a legitimate representative and player. The Afgans are upset, and rightfully so:

Quote:

�It is a very dangerous message when we give the impression that the international community and the Afghan government are able to be blackmailed,� said Aghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta.
The day before, Afghan commerce minister Amin Farhang had also criticized the South Korean government for bypassing the Afghan government and dealing directly with the Taliban. �This release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger,� Farhand said German radio station, Bayerischer Rundfunk. �We fear that this decision could become a precedent. The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan.�

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2759271,00.html

So, to save the lives of 20 idiotic Christian missionaries, who were warned that muslims have a tendency to do crazy stuff in that part of the world, the Koreans have undermined an elected government, given legitimacy to a terrorist group, guaranteed future kidnappings, bankrolled attacks on NATO soldiers and withdrawn their already pathetic contribution to Afghanistan.

The government of Korea I hope does not appropriately reflect the �Korean people�.

On the other hand

Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:28 pm Post subject:

Quote:

Have the Koreans thought about the long term implications of this? They aren�t going to be invited to any multilateral parties for a long time.

Give me a break. You think Korea is the only country that does this?

Quote:

Germany paid 5 million euros ($6.7 million) in 2005 for the release of archaeologist Susanne Osthoff and coughed up 10 million euros for two abducted engineers last year. Italy went a step further earlier this year when it pressured the Afghan government to release several Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian newspaper reporter. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi was sharply criticized in other European countries, not for doing everything to help a citizen, but for openly admitting his cave-in.

Still the biggest ransom ever paid by a European government was the French deal with Libya�s strongman Muammar Qaddafi to secure the release of six Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor who were falsely accused of deliberately infecting some 400 Libyan children with HIV. Shortly after a high-profile release engineered by First Lady Cecilia Sarkozy, her husband, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, announced a million dollar deal involving arms and civilian nuclear technology.

http://www.forward.com/articles/11458/

Alias

Joined: 24 Jan 2003

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:48 pm Post subject:

The Korean government has nothing to apologize for. The acheived their objective which was to secure the release of the 12 hostages. There will be no more Koreans in Afghanistan after this.

On the other hand

Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:55 pm Post subject:

Quote:

The Korean government has nothing to apologize for. The acheived their objective which was to secure the release of the 12 hostages.

And I would say that they acquitted themselves fairly well in the negotiations, comparatively speaking. According to BJWD's article, they paid $2 million for 19 hostages. On the other hand...

Quote:

Germany paid 5 million euros ($6.7 million) in 2005 for the release of archaeologist Susanne Osthoff

thepeel

Joined: 08 Aug 2004

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:02 pm Post subject:

The Korean government has much to apologize for. So do the French, Italian and German should they have done the same thing. They are extending legitimacy to the taliban. Each successful abduction creates more.

And really, is Italy is serious nation? France proved herself disgraceful in bribing Libya.

From your own link otoh:

Quote:

For all the headlines they grab, the kidnapping of European and Asian hostages in Iraq and Afghanistan is far from the worst of the many woes afflicting the two countries. But the damage caused by these incidents goes far beyond individual human tragedy, mostly thanks to the hapless reactions of the victims� governments. Their willingness to pay huge ransoms for their citizens has turned hostage-taking into a highly profitable industry in both war zones. That has helped to finance the insurgencies, slowed down reconstruction and put even more Westerners at risk.

The consequences of these payments are disastrous, however. Due to the weakness of their governments, Germans, French and Italian citizens are coveted targets for both terrorist and criminal groups. Every payment has put fellow citizens at risk, making it virtually impossible for Westerners to work in Iraq � and increasingly also Afghanistan. �If you are a terrorist the perception is that Germany pays for hostages and that is problematic,� said Nick Pratt, a former CIA operative now working as a terrorism expert in Germany. The growing risk of abduction has also dashed the hope that European experts will come and help with reconstruction and development and added to the economic woes of both countries.

Lastly, the lives of archaeologists, journalists, nurses and engineers are inherently more valuable than those of missionaries. The Koreans didn't deserve protection because they were warned not to go there and were doing extremely dangerous work for no good reason at all. If they had been journalists then maybe I'd be more sensitive.

But the initial point stands. Canadian and other NATO soldiers now have 2,000,000$ in addition weapons pointed at them. Thanks Korea!

The_Conservative

Joined: 15 Mar 2007

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:32 pm Post subject:

Alias wrote:

The Korean government has nothing to apologize for. The acheived their objective which was to secure the release of the 12 hostages. There will be no more Koreans in Afghanistan after this.

Maybe you should tell that to the Korean troops who are staying. It's only the non-military personal that are leaving.

Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee

Joined: 25 May 2003

Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:34 pm Post subject:

Alias wrote:

The Korean government has nothing to apologize for. The acheived their objective which was to secure the release of the 12 hostages. There will be no more Koreans in Afghanistan after this.

and that money will go to support terror against the nation that has done more for Korea than any other nation has.

hubba bubba

Joined: 24 Oct 2006

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:05 am Post subject:

Shameful. Every Korean should be embarrassed.

CentralCali