While the world is shaking their heads over the 'barbaric' manner in which Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees are being treated in Gitmo, get ready for a second front in the current PR campaign against the United States:

[size=3]U.S. commanders ordered killings of Korean refugees: BBC documentary[/size=3]    
   
U.S. military commanders repeatedly ordered the indiscriminate killing of Korean refugees in Nogeun-ri and other parts of the nation during the early days of the 1950-53 Korean War, a team of BBC documentary producers said yesterday.
Senior U.S. army commanders sanctioned killings of Korean refugees, including women and children, by using phrases such as "shoot all refugees," "all refugees are fair game," and "refugees will be dispersed by all available fire, including artillery," according to a press release by the British broadcaster.

[b]BBC will broadcast a documentary film, titled "Kill 'em All," on Feb. 1.[/b]

"Such deliberate targeting of noncombatants violates the laws of war," Tom Roberts, director of the film, said in the press release.

The vast majority of these incriminating orders and communications, underpinned by newly unearthed military documents, are omitted from the Pentagon's investigative report, he said.

In January last year, the U.S. government admitted U.S. soldiers killed or injured an unconfirmed number of refugees near Nogeun-ri, a hamlet about 200 kilometers south of Seoul, in July in 1950. But it denied U.S. commanders ordered troops to shoot civilians.

Korean survivors claim 121 civilians were killed and 21 were injured in the strafing from aircraft and the shootings in the railroad tunnels near the village.

The BBC documentary details previously unreported incidents of deliberate large-scale killings of Korean refugees by U.S. troops and features new American witnesses and participants in the refugee massacre.

- continued -

In the documentary, American ex-soldiers who were at Nogeun-ri said the shootings were ordered, and a new witness recalls officers shouting to the infantrymen, "Kill 'em all," according to the filmmakers.

The film also traces alleged killings by U.S. soldiers beyond Nogeun-ri.

South Korean survivors, interviewed by the filmmakers, described the 25th U.S. Infantry Division's massacre of 82 villagers cowering in a small shrine. Among the victims, 25 were children under the age of 10. The division's commander had ordered that civilians near the warfront be treated as enemies.

In the film, survivors also tell of another slaughter of as many as 400 civilians when U.S. warships, without provocation, furiously shelled a concentration of refugees on an exposed southern beach.

"By picking up where American news reporting left off, we have been able to shed a broader light on a dark underside, a hidden chapter, of a major 20th century war," director Roberts said.

The Nogeun-ri incident was first unveiled by a Pulitzer Prize-winning report by the Associated Press.

After wrapping up a 14-month investigation in 2001, the U.S. government issued a statement of regret but ruled out any compensation for the victims because commanders did not order the shootings.

Last week, South Korea's ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) and survivors urged the U.S. government to reinvestigate the incident, following new evidence that U.S. troops might have been ordered to kill.

George Early, a U.S. veteran of the Korean War, said in a letter his commanding officer threatened to execute him for refusing to shoot at the refugees near Nogeun-ri. The BBC documentary includes Early's testimony.

The U.S. government said it would erect a monument and establish a $750,000 scholarship fund dedicated to all Korean civilians killed during the war. The survivors' group has rejected the offers, saying that they want a monument specifically for the Nogeun-ri victims.

[url]http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/01/26/200201260050.asp[/url]

By Hwang Jang-jin Staff reporter

Do any of you recall the context of these charges, hmmm?

Eric The(Anyone?)Hun[>]:)]

BTW, you may be prompted to install Korean character program to read article - THERE IS NO NEED TO DO THAT!

Eric The(Just say No!)Hun[>]:)]

Ancient news.  Many of the "participants" have denied that this took place.

Old news, indeed! But why is the BBC going to the trouble of rehashing this old story on Feb 1?

Is it 'sweeps' month in Britain?

Do they feel they need something to 'offset' the good feelings that were generated for the US following Sept 11?

Or do they have an agenda?

You know, the US is only Taliban with a better grasp of personal hygene? And better uniforms?

Eric The(ShowMeTheWay)Hun[>]:)]

This coming from the country that employed "Bomber" Harris of the Bomber Command?  Talk about selective memories.

That is a guy who should have been brought up on war crimes charges.

I recall that when he died in the 1980's, there were riots in Germany.  The Thatcher government, not one to shrink from a fight, forbade any official recognition of his death and war service.

 

Does anyone remember what the Left said at the time of the Korean War? What was the excuse given for the mass invasion of South Korea by the North Korean Army?

Surely such outrageous behavior by the North [u]had[/u] to be cast in the most sympathetic light by fellow travelers and Communist sympathizers throughout the world.

What was the excuse given and accepted by most leftists in the world back then?

Eric The(GiveUp?)Hun[>]:)]

Answer: That the South Koreans had begun a revolution against their capitalist overseers and the United States Army was there simply to put down the people's rebellion. The North Koreans were simply there to aid the people in their revolution!

Harris was used when needed and discarded when politically expedient.

The left in Britain is on the move.

I'll pick numbers (2) and number (3)

I do not understand number (4) ??
------------------------------------------------

As to number (5) first you purchase a ticket on El Al and then......

[:D]

Post from 5subslr5 -

Sir, I don't believe that. There are no numbers in what I posted, you numbered them. The one you labeled '4' was simply my way of saying that the British Left consider the US military as no morally superior or better than the Taliban, albeit with better personal hygiene (trimmed hair, no beards) and better uniforms.

That can't be difficult to fathom!

And insofar as your '5th' item is concerned, I'll go to Israel when the Lord Himself summons me!

Eric The(AndIWon'tNeedAnElAlTicket,ThankYou)Hun[>]:)]

Sir, I did number your points.

With explanation I am able to comprehend if not fathom your point that I numbered (4).