South Korea and Saudi Arabia

"On the campaign trail, candidate Trump told us he was going to get more financial cooperation from our allies. And now as President, he is doing it."

Today is the tale of two allies. Two different countries from opposite ends of the Earth. Two very wealthy countries. And two countries who do not have nukes, and are sitting in the cross-hairs of two hostile countries who either have nukes or will have soon.

Yesterday, while the Democrats and their pet lap dogs (that be the press) continue to try and find the "there, there" in the Trump/Russian connection, our President was in Saudi Arabia being the billion dollar man. Not talking about his personal wealth - I am talking about bringing home the bacon. And oh what bacon he is bringing home!

It is an arms deal worth about $100B with growth potential up to $350B! No matter which way you cut it, that is a whole lot of cheddar! Now as Paul Harvey would say, I am going to tell you the rest of the story.

It is not just "jobs, jobs, jobs" as the President said. It is having one of our allies who has wealth, stepping up to the plate for self defense. The Saudis are buying the THAAD system. That is a great idea to keep the Iranian missile threat in check. They are buying Littoral Ships. This is the new ship class the United States Navy has developed to fight close to shore. And they are buying precision guided munitions, so when they battle the Houthis in Yemen, the possibilities of collateral civilian damage will be minimized.

Now lets compare that attitude with our long time allie, South Korea. For the new President of South Korea, having the THAAD system recently installed on his soil was like giving him castor oil. In fact, there is a growing chorus in South Korea who think if we just left and took our troops and weapons with us, the entire peninsula could return to nirvana. Sunshine and butterflies would rule the day. 

Here is a news flash. We are only in South Korea for one reason. This "war" which technically only hit the pause button, would be "game on" again the moment we left. It would be a deja vu of Saigon and South Viet Nam falling to the Viet Cong again in the 1970's. Many in this country are starting to wonder why we are spending so much money over there and risking our precious blood and treasure. If they don't want us, we should leave.

I think President Trump and SOS Tillerson should invite the new President of South Korea to the White House to have "the talk". Tell him that South Korea still owes us for the sacrifices we made in the 1950's to keep South Korea from now looking like North Korea. They will not only accept the THAAD on their soil, but they will (as the Saudis have) pay for it. 

On the campaign trail, candidate Trump told us he was going to get more financial cooperation from our allies. And now as President, he is doing it. I have a feeling what we have seen in Saudi Arabia might only have been the tip of the iceberg. Nicely played sir, nicely played.