We ain't leaving there either

Back in March a South Korean warship mysteriously exploded, killing 46 sailors. At the time, many suspected North Korea was to blame, and a report commissioned by the South Korean government slated to come out later this week is expected to conclude just that. But while reading about the news in a piece from The Washington Post, what caught my eye was not the obvious fact that this will further raise tensions on the peninsula, but the fact that South Korea's "pro-American" president (and former Hyundai CEO), Lee Myung-bak, is expected to cite the report to "request that the United States delay for several years a plan to pass operational control of all forces in South Korea from the United States to the South Korean military."

Ever since the start of the Korean War more than a half-century ago, the U.S. government has maintained operational control over military forces in South Korea during cases of emergency, American and South Korean alike. This control was supposed to be handed over to South Korean authorities in 2012, though the U.S. would continue to oversee the just under 30,000 American troops currently stationed in the country/colony.

But I digress. Forget U.S. troops leaving Afghanistan or Iraq in your lifetime, they're not even gonna leave South Korea, asshole. And everyone from the neo-cons to the anti-war liberals in Congress (har har har) is fine with that.