President George W. Bush would like to see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role, the White House said on Wednesday. The United States has had thousands of U.S. troops in South Korea to guard against a North Korean invasion for 50 years.
"The Korean model is one in which the United States provides a security presence, but you've had the development of a successful democracy in South Korea over a period of years, and, therefore, the United States is there as a force of stability," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.
One key difference is that the intra-Korean border is so heavily mined and heavily guarded that the area has perforce turned into a wildlife refuge... although occasionally one of the larger animals discovers a mine with a bang! and a spray of pink mist. The Iraqi security situation will settle down considerably when that border thingy is properly set up. I b'lieve another difference is that the South Koreans were not given the option of rescinding the invitation, at least for the first four or five decades. |