The possible recommencement of the Korean War is pretty scary. While we've wasted our time, money, and ass-kicking potential fighting unnecessary wars against armed civilians and IEDs in the Middle East, we've pretty much ignored a simmering war, one that's been delayed only by an armistice.

Generally speaking, I bet most Americans today know less about Korea than they did about Iraq in 1990. Twenty years ago Iraq (our arch-frienemy) was pretty notable in the national consciousness. They had fought our supposed arch-enemy Iran in a big ass war during Reagan's term. Also, every fourth clue in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? directs you towards Baghdad. By contrast, when I think of Korea, the first thing that comes to mind is the South Korean guy who died while playing Starcraft for 50 hours.

Well, to get serious (and to get back to 'Merica), over 36,000 Americans died during the Korean War. I don't know how many Koreans died, but definitely way too many. The impression most of us have of the war, I think, has to do with the stalemate portion that eventually set down the DMZ during the last few years. But earlier in the war, the carnage swept pretty much across the whole peninsula, from Pusan in the south, up to the northern border with China. The North Korean army occupied Seoul, which was reconquered by the U.N. forces after the gigantic amphibious landing at Inchon.

You all probably know this already, and I don't mean to beat the military history drum here, but I do think its appropriate to consider the fact that this war in the early 50s was a pretty big deal--and for the most part the American public has forgotten about it. I don't think we're prepared for the shit to hit the fan again in Korea. All this talk about war--a real war, with trenches, human wave attacks, and thousands of dead people--is probably the scariest thing I've thought about in awhile.

During the first war we pretty much tried to kill every last North Korean from the air, but it didn't work. Those were the days when it was impolitic to use atomic weapons, but it was still acceptable to do whatever you wanted with conventional bombs. We bombed every population center in North Korea; bombed its dams, ruining its agricultural land with horrendous floods. We dropped napalm everywhere, and we even attacked North Korean fishing boats from the air in our attempts to kill and starve North Koreans. No wonder they fucking hate us! No wonder we hate us!?!?!?

There are always a lot of jingos here in the USA--"yeah, no shit" you say. But the thing that really bums me out is that when it comes to North Korea, it seems like there are lots of American folks who would accept going to war there, despite their normal anti-war tendencies. C'mon people, it's a terrible idea!

Okay, if you're on the fence, think about it. There are something like 30,000 American troops, and another 30,000 Korean troops manning the south side of the DMZ, facing down a force of like 1.5 million North Korean troops on the north side. For a long time now, our strategy in the case of war goes like this: basically, our army's job is to get its ass kicked until we land more troops, or until we kill all the enemy with bombs and missiles, I guess whichever happens first.

Sounds pretty horrific, if you ask me. So cross your fingers and hope it doesn't happen.

Next time I'll try and post something more positive. Kudos to Gyp for the wonderful L.A. travelogue!

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