re: Trump Issues Statement on Joint Military Exercises with South Korea

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This is illustrative of the error Trump made at the beginning of the Iran war. He chose not to build a coalition but instead go at it on his own with his Robin (Israel) in tow. When he got both arms and a leg stuck in the tar baby that is Iran he started asking for help. Of course, all our allies jumped at the chance to get in on some of that sweet tar baby action as well... not. Build coalitions before you are in the shite; geopolitical war-fighting 101.

SK and Japan are two of our most important allies in Asia, ones we will need if hostilities ever break out with China. Sucking up to the NORKs and spitting in the face of the SKs is just plain stupid. We need joint military exercises with our allies, it is crucial. Getting rid of them is beyond stupid.

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Completely agree. Build the coalition before you start the war, dummy. Don't let Israel talk you into one, get bogged down, start calling allies demanding they climb into the hole with you to help dig and then retaliate when they decline.

More importantly, our forces in South Korea and Japan are not some charitable shield we provide out of the goodness of our hearts. Those alliances give us permission to keep 90,000 American troops, along with airfields, ports and logistics, forward deployed in China’s backyard. We.ve spent goddamn generations of diplomacy, money, political and actual American blood securing it because it enormously benefits us.

And contrary to MAGA cope, these are not helpless client states begging us to occupy their territory and therefore obligated to follow us into every optional war our president gets talked into. Their governments expend their own political capital just allowing us to remain there.

Publicly humiliating Seoul, punishing it for refusing to join Trump’s retarded own-goal Iran war, and rewarding Kim Jong Un by degrading the exercises is strategic vandalism bordering on treasonous betrayal of American power in Asia. China spent billions trying to weaken our position there, and here comes Trump doing it for free.

South Korea occupies irreplaceable strategic ground beside China, Russia and North Korea, fields roughly half a million active-duty troops backed by millions of reservists, and possesses a sophisticated and robust military and defense industry. We have spent more than 70 years building the command structure, logistics, intelligence sharing and operational familiarity that allow our forces to fight together.

Now we're going to toss that accumulated power, access and trust into the trashcan so one senile old narcissist can nurse his grudges, grift without shame and turn the presidency into a family business.