If He Has to Deny It, It Must Be True

While we still aren’t sure whether our Blood Allies © paid the Taliban $2 million or $20 million in ransom, or how many American soldiers or Afghan civilians the Taliban used that money to kill, the South Korean government wants you to know that despite its refusal thus far to do more good than harm there, it did not promise the Taliban that it would keep its troops out of Afghanistan:

South Korea did not offer to refrain from redeploying troops to Afghanistan when it engaged in negotiations to secure the release of civilians held hostage by the Taliban in 2007, a senior official told reporters Tuesday.

“We did not make such a promise in 2007,” said a South Korean defense ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said he personally checked with other officials who led the South Korean side in the negotiations with the Taliban.

His comment rebuts a statement on Monday by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, who said he understood that such an offer was made when the negotiations were conducted.

South Korean media have also speculated that a similar pledge was made with the Taliban during the negotiations in 2007. [Yonhap]

If only I could think of some way the South Koreans could put this poisonous rumor to rest, once and for all.

Of course, one commitment the South Koreans could not make is to move the remaining combat brigade of the Second Infantry Division from Korea to Kandahar. Naturally, that brigade has a number of support elements that would have to move as well. I am not seeing the down side of this. We get troops we need for Afghanistan; South Korea doesn’t have to back up its Bloody Ally rhetoric with actual deployments; American taxpayers could save billions on construction, graft, and embezzlement; and as an added bonus, the streets of Hongdae and Itaewon will be placid into the wee hours.