I wish Mark Hertling was Secretary of Defense. I have tremendous respect for his experience and intellect. The Fox news weekend host is a disaster for US.
Such a helpful article for those of us who never served, and before this regime, didn’t need to know exactly who was in charge or how and why things were done. Now I do only due to their baffling lack of qualifications, sheer incompetence and genuine fear for our country. I always appreciate Hertling’s takes. I wish we had men of experience, competence and character in charge.
So much of what this regime does makes Americans less safe everyday. We can be a resilient and compassionate nation. I truly hope we're not past the point of recovery. Thank you for reporting on this.
Congress ratified the Mutual Defense Treaty with South Korea in 1953 and Congress has subsequently approved funding to support that treaty every year. The Constitution does not allow a U.S. President to abrogate or negate a U.S. treaty or to step in and kill Congressional appropriations.
South Korea supplied troops during the Vietnam war under the expired SEATO treaty. South Korea supported the Global War On Terror. South Korea, not a NATO member, was not - I believe - asked to physically support our invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq.
How South Korea could participate in the "denulearization" of Iran is unknown.
The Felonious Oath-Breaker treats, in this case, allies not as sovereign nations but as client puppets which owe unfettered fealty to the U.S., which is under no obligation to return the favor.
The statements by our President that joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises held under the MTD treaty "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, whose leader "has been unthreatening and respectful" to Himself should be prima facie evidence supporting an immediate impeachment resolution by Congress.
Trump could not care less about what happens to South Korea or Japan. “America First” means “everyone else can go hang.” Looking around. That’s the zeitgeist today, and not just with MAGA.
The general says "...military excellence isn’t an inheritance that automatically passes from one administration to another. It must be rebuilt every day through training..." and I wonder if it is not that idea of inheritance - of unearned fortune - that partly clouds Trump's judgment.
As a benefactor of his father's work and estate, he has had so much given to him that he has come to expect success as his due. He's always had this "it will all work out" attitude toward life, and I think that betrays his sense of entitlement and his lack of ordinary life experience. For most of us, things do not always work out and we have to adapt and grow,.
Ironically, these exercises should be catnip to Hegseth's caricature of warrior ethos. The ROK Armed Forces are some of the toughest and best trained in the world. Having participated in a few predecessors to UFS, they are often even more aggressive and inventive than their US allies. I always thought we learned a lot tactically, plus it was it was great attitude tune-up.
Little respect as I have for our SECDEF, I strongly suspect this move was purely POTUS freestyling yet again.
I have no respect for the SecDrunk. He's the one that should have been standing in the door over this demented bullshit! He's purged all the flag officers who would've stood in the door since he doesn't have the balls to do it.
I was in Korea with HHC 2nd Bde of the 2nd Inf Div from Nov 85 to Nov 88. My squad leader when I got there was Sgt Lee of the ROK Army. The big exercise then was Team Spirit in late winter/early spring. 6 weeks in the field. Good training.
All true & all irrelevant. Pax Americana is dead, our allies no longer trust us, & we don't have the capacity to defeat Iran in the Hormuz, forget deter China in the Formosa, straits. our allies are going to scramble to defend themselves & accommodate China, & post Trump we're going to have to figure out how to live in the new world disorder he's creating. General, any idea on how to do that?
The announcement reminded me of the Army soldiers who died in Lithuania, during a NATO training exercise back in early 2025. I was sure Trump was going to use it as an excuse to go after NATO, but at the time it didn't seem to provoke much reaction. It was more than a bit confusing, and the closest I've come to understanding it is Trump has decided (if that's even the right word) what he wants to be aggrieved over, and when something tied to it happens it perhaps reminds him that he's upset, but the so-called cause of that anger comes second. It's backward to the cause and and effect process that leads to good decision-making, because the cause matters less than the effect it seems to justify.
i do remember Lithuania treated those four soldiers with thorough respect. They at least seemed to get it.
Canceling critical exercises, no surprise there! Typical of this country's lack of brain trust! This is what happens when you have a president in love with the dictator of North Korea and drunk at the top of the DoD running the show! DUI hire Kegsbreath purged all the flag officers who understood what Col. David H. Hackworth meant when he said, "The more sweat on the training field, the less blood on the battlefield".
I wonder how many of those assholes who criticized the families of the Sailors and Marines who are deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln by stating "this is what they signed up for" are nodding their heads and clapping like seals in agreement over Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Drunk's decision on these vital exercises?
I wish Mark Hertling was Secretary of Defense. I have tremendous respect for his experience and intellect. The Fox news weekend host is a disaster for US.
I think he should be on the short list for SoD if the Dems take the White House in 2028. :-)
Such a helpful article for those of us who never served, and before this regime, didn’t need to know exactly who was in charge or how and why things were done. Now I do only due to their baffling lack of qualifications, sheer incompetence and genuine fear for our country. I always appreciate Hertling’s takes. I wish we had men of experience, competence and character in charge.
So much of what this regime does makes Americans less safe everyday. We can be a resilient and compassionate nation. I truly hope we're not past the point of recovery. Thank you for reporting on this.
Congress ratified the Mutual Defense Treaty with South Korea in 1953 and Congress has subsequently approved funding to support that treaty every year. The Constitution does not allow a U.S. President to abrogate or negate a U.S. treaty or to step in and kill Congressional appropriations.
South Korea supplied troops during the Vietnam war under the expired SEATO treaty. South Korea supported the Global War On Terror. South Korea, not a NATO member, was not - I believe - asked to physically support our invasions of Afghanistan or Iraq.
How South Korea could participate in the "denulearization" of Iran is unknown.
The Felonious Oath-Breaker treats, in this case, allies not as sovereign nations but as client puppets which owe unfettered fealty to the U.S., which is under no obligation to return the favor.
The statements by our President that joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises held under the MTD treaty "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, whose leader "has been unthreatening and respectful" to Himself should be prima facie evidence supporting an immediate impeachment resolution by Congress.
Trump could not care less about what happens to South Korea or Japan. “America First” means “everyone else can go hang.” Looking around. That’s the zeitgeist today, and not just with MAGA.
In the "everyone else can go hang" sentiment, trump includes us and our military personnel.
The general says "...military excellence isn’t an inheritance that automatically passes from one administration to another. It must be rebuilt every day through training..." and I wonder if it is not that idea of inheritance - of unearned fortune - that partly clouds Trump's judgment.
As a benefactor of his father's work and estate, he has had so much given to him that he has come to expect success as his due. He's always had this "it will all work out" attitude toward life, and I think that betrays his sense of entitlement and his lack of ordinary life experience. For most of us, things do not always work out and we have to adapt and grow,.
Ironically, these exercises should be catnip to Hegseth's caricature of warrior ethos. The ROK Armed Forces are some of the toughest and best trained in the world. Having participated in a few predecessors to UFS, they are often even more aggressive and inventive than their US allies. I always thought we learned a lot tactically, plus it was it was great attitude tune-up.
Little respect as I have for our SECDEF, I strongly suspect this move was purely POTUS freestyling yet again.
I have no respect for the SecDrunk. He's the one that should have been standing in the door over this demented bullshit! He's purged all the flag officers who would've stood in the door since he doesn't have the balls to do it.
Fresh off losing to Iran. Trump feels the need to lose in Asia.
But really remember that this "policy" announcement is just his latest effort to have folks forget about Iran.
He has no level of commitment to this nation. None.
I was in Korea with HHC 2nd Bde of the 2nd Inf Div from Nov 85 to Nov 88. My squad leader when I got there was Sgt Lee of the ROK Army. The big exercise then was Team Spirit in late winter/early spring. 6 weeks in the field. Good training.
All true & all irrelevant. Pax Americana is dead, our allies no longer trust us, & we don't have the capacity to defeat Iran in the Hormuz, forget deter China in the Formosa, straits. our allies are going to scramble to defend themselves & accommodate China, & post Trump we're going to have to figure out how to live in the new world disorder he's creating. General, any idea on how to do that?
At the same time Trump insults the deployed troops in the USS Lincoln who have only ported once in ~250 days.
The announcement reminded me of the Army soldiers who died in Lithuania, during a NATO training exercise back in early 2025. I was sure Trump was going to use it as an excuse to go after NATO, but at the time it didn't seem to provoke much reaction. It was more than a bit confusing, and the closest I've come to understanding it is Trump has decided (if that's even the right word) what he wants to be aggrieved over, and when something tied to it happens it perhaps reminds him that he's upset, but the so-called cause of that anger comes second. It's backward to the cause and and effect process that leads to good decision-making, because the cause matters less than the effect it seems to justify.
i do remember Lithuania treated those four soldiers with thorough respect. They at least seemed to get it.
Canceling critical exercises, no surprise there! Typical of this country's lack of brain trust! This is what happens when you have a president in love with the dictator of North Korea and drunk at the top of the DoD running the show! DUI hire Kegsbreath purged all the flag officers who understood what Col. David H. Hackworth meant when he said, "The more sweat on the training field, the less blood on the battlefield".
I wonder how many of those assholes who criticized the families of the Sailors and Marines who are deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln by stating "this is what they signed up for" are nodding their heads and clapping like seals in agreement over Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Drunk's decision on these vital exercises?