While the major news media hastily assessed the repercussions of last week’s sudden conclusion of the second Trump-Kim Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, what has been transpiring for the past several months at the highest court in South Korea may also deserve much attention and commentary.

By Marshall Wordsworth

The high-profile arrests of Huawei’s CFO and Nissan’s Chairman in the past several months, while they have made spectacular news headlines, the information presented to the general public by the media including the reasons for their apprehension barely scratches the surface of a much larger, more complex geopolitical ramifications that cannot be ignored.

Finally, A Serious Scholarly Work on Comfort Women Translated into English

By Marshall Wordsworth

Professor Ikuhiko Hata, a premier authority on modern Japanese history, has finally managed to make available his highly-informative exhaustive research on comfort women to the English-speaking audience. His Comfort Women and Sex in the Battle Zone, an admirable English translation of his 1999 work Ianfu to Senjō no Sei (which had been referred to Comfort Women and Sexuality on the Battlefield in previous years) includes a few additional chapters to reflect on much of what has transpired in the past two decades concerning the issue of Imperial Japan’s military brothel system.

古森義久 （ジャーナリスト・麗澤大学特別教授）

「古森義久の内外透視 」

【まとめ】

・米有力上院議員補佐官が中国のスパイと指摘された。

・補佐官解雇後も財団事務局長として米韓で反日活動を展開。

・慰安婦問題利用した米国内での反日活動の主役は中国共産党。

By David Petraeus | PRISM Volume 7, No 1 | September 14, 2017

This interview was conducted by Dr. Joseph Collins and Mr. Nathan White for Lessons Encountered: Learning from the Long War, which was published by NDU Press in November 2015.

Can you tell us how your view of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan evolved during your various leadership assignments?

GEN Petraeus: When we were getting ready for what became the invasion of Iraq, the prevailing wisdom was that we were going to have a long, hard fight to Baghdad, and it was really going to be hard to take Baghdad. The road to deployment, which was a very compressed road for the 101^st Airborne Division, started with a seminar on military operations in urban terrain, because that was viewed as the decisive event in the takedown of the regime in Iraq—that and finding and destroying the weapons of mass destruction.

There was the expectation of those who were presumably thinking about the Phase IV plan, after-hostilities, that the invasion would lop off the top level of the Saddamists, and then we would relatively expeditiously be able to hand off the responsibilities of governance to some new governing entity, which would exercise governance through the existing institutions of the state, albeit without the Saddamists. By Saddamists, I mean the true loyalists—this would not go down to Ba’ath party level four. It would be Saddam, level one, level two, perhaps some of the level three. But the professionals, if you will, the governing class, would largely remain in place, and there would be functioning governmental institutions that would resume their respective tasks.

By Marshall Wordsworth

Martin Scorsese’s Silence, his latest film adaptation of a novel by Japan’s celebrated author, Shusaku Endo, is an ambitious attempt to portray the fierce struggles of Jesuit priests in a mission to spread Christianity in 17th-century Japan.  Andrew Garfield stars as the young Padre Sebastiao Rodrigues who faces physical and spiritual tribulations by the hostile Japanese authorities in Nagasaki as he searches for his fellow senior Portuguese missionary, Padre Cristovao Ferreira played by veteran Liam Neeson.

This year I will say and write some things that may sound outlandish.  Before dismissing my words, please remember that I am very careful with information that is delivered to your table.  Your time is valuable and is respected.  Those who pay attention to what I write will be ahead of the game in some areas.  Please remember my history:

Authored by: David W. Brown (First published on June 1, 2010 in The Atlantic)

It began with a bridge. On the morning of March 1, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated on Tarnak River Bridge near Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing multiple civilians and one American soldier. While the destruction of a single bridge might ordinarily pose a mere inconvenience to the U.S. war machine, in the oppressive terrain of Afghanistan it became a logistical chokepoint, halting ground-based operations for days.

War correspondent Michael Yon sought the answer to an uncomfortable question: who was responsible for the security of that bridge?

Yon is no ordinary reporter. A former Green Beret with U.S. Army Special Forces, he has spent more time embedded in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other journalist. His dispatches have produced some of the most memorable combat narratives of the war, and a large share of its most iconic images. Make no mistake; Michael Yon is not a dispassionate observer of the Columbia J-School variety. When writing about U.S. forces, he says “we.” When writing about insurgents, he calls them terrorists or Taliban. And when reporting failures in the war effort, he names names. This has earned him both the respect and ire of senior military staff. In the case of the Tarnak River Bridge, the name most repeatedly mentioned as responsible for its security was Daniel Menard, the Canadian brigadier general in charge of Task Force Kandahar. Yon went public with this information.

2 February 2016
Nineveh, Kurdistan

Written by: Free Burma Rangers

Kurdish forces at Nineveh front.

Several days ago we came from the front line across from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-held Nineveh to attend the memorial of a General killed as he led his troops in repelling an ISIS suicide attack. Our team, consisting of Karen, Kachin and Karenni Free Burma Rangers (FBR) team members from Burma, our family, and foreign staff, drove under snow-covered peaks and through a beautiful gorge arriving in mid-afternoon in the snowy mountain vastness of Soran.

The memorial service lasted two and a half hours with speeches, poems, as well as Kurdish music from Kurdistan’s greatest singer, Shivon Prewar. Kurdish Generals, Members of Parliament and people from all walks of life crowded in to pay their respects to General Shawkat and the others who died with him.

August 6, 2015

On May 5th, 2015, one hundred and eighty-seven American-based researchers of Japan issued a statement on the comfort women issue titled, “Open letter in support of historians in Japan” (hereafter, “American scholars’ statement”). It is our understanding that, subsequently, the number of signers increased to some four hundred and sixty people. In response to the challenge proposed by the American scholars’ statement, we Japanese scholars respond with the following views.

<1> Complete agreement that events should be viewed in their historical context, and weighed carefully in the balance

We were struck by this passage from the American scholars’ statement:

We are sympathetic to this suggestion, which we believe to be an important, fundamental principle of historical research. It is cause for celebration that researchers in both Japan and the United States are in agreement on this point.

That we are attempting a response here is due to our having detected, in the American scholars’ statement, a willingness to deal constructively with historical facts that has previously been lacking in American debate on the comfort women issue.

July 6, 2015

Mr. Michael Yon

In this Chapter, the author vividly illustrates memories of what he experienced at the age of ten during the Korean War.

The arrival of the UN Army  In summer of 1951, fighter planes came to attack the Chinese army which occupied the village the author lived and then UN army entered the village. Villagers welcomed its tall, smartly dressed soldiers. They waved at them as they passed by. Soldiers liberally distributed chocolates, candy drops, and cookies to the villagers. Villagers liked them more and more with each passing day.

June 12, 2015

A Counter Response and Proposal to the “Open Letter” written by 187 Historians
By Fujioka Nobukatsu, Visiting Professor, Takushoku University

To the 187 historians who jointly signed the Open Letter,

On May 5, the “Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan” was released and rapidly circulated around the world. This Letter was signed by 187 historians and researchers mainly in the field of Japan studies from the United States and western countries. The Open Letter accused the Japan’s military comfort women system before and during World War II. The Letter was a thinly veiled demand for an apology from the Prime Minister of Japan.

Note: As of the end of May, the number of signatures had grown to around 460, but out of respect for the original signatories I will only address the first 187.

THE TAIWANESE ARE NOT HAN CHINESE

Lin Jianliang, Ph.D. in Medicine
Editor, Voice of Taiwan

June 3, 2015

Mr. Michael Yon

Many people think that the Taiwanese belong to the same ethnic group as the mainland Chinese. Not only ordinary people, but also scholars and researchers studying Taiwan labor under this false impression. They believe what they’ve heard, i.e., that 2% of the Taiwanese population are aborigines, 13% are natives of the mainland who fled to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-Shek in 1949 (and their descendants), and the remaining 85% are natives of the mainland who arrived in Taiwan prior to World War II. Therefore, they reach the conclusion that 98% of Taiwanese are Han Chinese.

テーマ：真面目な話

The ROK Army Used Vietnamese Comfort Women Part2（No restrictions on retransmission)

韓国軍にベトナム人慰安婦がいた！二カ国語 Part1(拡散自由)

今回、米国の公文書によって初めてその存在が明らかになった、サイゴンの「韓国軍慰安所」とは、一体どのように運営されていたのか。
How was the ROK army comfort station in Saigon that has come to light through a U.S. archive document operated?

すぐにでもホーチミンに飛んで現地取材したかったが、ワシントン支局長という立場上長期間アメリカを離れる事は難しい。そこで私は、アメリカにトルコ風呂の実態やこの施設について知っている人物がいないか、改めてリサーチを開始した。
I would have wanted to fly to Vietnam immediately to investigate, but as the Washington Bureau chief, it was difficult to take leave from my job for an extended period. Therefore, I began research to find out if there was anybody in the U.S. who was knowledgeable about the sex industry in Saigon at that time or who knew about the establishment in question.

まず、当時の米軍関係者とベトナム系アメリカ人に照準を絞って、アメリカにおけるベトナム関連のネットワークを探した。関連のフォーラムに出席したり、米政府の退役軍人省のデータベースを調べたりして、連絡先の判明した関係者に虱つぶしに手紙やＥメールを送った。また、サイゴンに駐在経験のある人物の証言を得る為、ワシントン郊外バージニア州のベトナム人集住地区の新聞に情報提供を求める広告を出した。すると、ほどなくして広告を見たアメリカ人からＥメールが来た。
I focused first on former U.S. military personnel and Vietnamese-Americans and looked for Vietnam-related networks in the U.S. I attended the relevant forums, looked into the databases of the U.S. government’s Department of Veteran Affairs, and sent letters and e-mails to people with known contact information who might know. I also placed an advertisement in a newspaper in the Vietnamese community in Virginia outside Washington, asking for information. Shortly after, an American who saw the ad sent me an e-mail.

11 February 2015

By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2015 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has established a research and essay competition in honor of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz hosted by the National Defense University.

Good Life Club Sudan Report

16 July, 2014

Our GLC programs in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan felt like a tiny drop in a very dry bucket, but God’s presence in this desert turned out to be the living water that we all needed.

Nuba girl in hiding place during Good Life Club program

We had come as FBR was invited by the people of the Nuba Mountains to see if an FBR-style training and mission would help them as they are under attack from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The desert environment, even without fighting, is a harsh place. Adding attacks from the SAF only increases the challenge of finding basic necessities. Inside the thatched walls of most family compounds live anywhere from 10-20 children, with several mothers and one father. Although there have been schools, fear of bombing has caused these and other educational opportunities to be closed down.

04 July 2014

From: The Chapter III Officers

To all the members of Chapter III we wish you a great, safe happy Fourth of July.

We forward a message from SFA National President Jack Tobin:

Gentlemen, since I was reconvicted, I will continue to ruin your holidays with one of my endless ramblings, if you think it is worth the time, please forward to your member.

Attached are ten inspirational biographies of West Point graduates who lead or have led major corporations- and they are all proud fathers. These bios are all included in “West Point Leadership: Profiles of Courage” which recently was awarded three Silver Benjamin Franklin Awards for Best Biography, Best First Book, and Best Gift Book. There is still time to send a gift wrapped book from Amazon to any father in time for Father’s Day (10% off using “FATHERS” code). Click here to purchase West Point Leadership: Profiles of Courage.

Suthep Thaugsuban: Translations of Important Recent Speeches

15 May 2014

24 April 2014
Kachin State, Burma

Map of Kachin State, Burma.

Civilian killed by landmine in Bhamo District

At 09:00 on 14 April 2014, a 45-year-old civilian named Mr. Mwihpu La Maw, from Mungding Pa, was killed as a landmine exploded near Tan Tada, Mansi Township, Bhamo District.

17-year-old girl raped by two Burma Army soldiers in Daw Hpum Yang Township, Kachin State

**This is a detailed account following up on the Free Burma Rangers report sent out on 22 April 2014.

On 10 April 2014, 17-year-old Mangie Bawk San, daughter of Mr. Mangje La Nu and Mrs. Marip Ma Wawm of Dawhpum Kagam village, was raped by two Burma Army soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 320.

15 April 2014
Kachin State, Burma

Initially Chinese soldiers prohibited Kachin IDPs from seeking refuge from the fighting, but as fighting grew closer to Hka Hkye Camp, IDPs were permitted to temporarily seek refuge across the Chinese border (Photo credit: Kachin Light (WPN)).

On 10 April 2014, the Burma Army launched infantry attacks, supported with mortar fire, against Kachin Independence Army (KIA) positions in the La Gat Yang and Man Win areas along the Kachin-Shan border southwest of Nam Kham town. The attacks lasted from 10:00 until 20:00 hours.

Published: 11 February 2014

Published: 10 February 2014

This letter rendered in three languages: English, Thai, Dutch.

Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie

Laan Copes van Cattenburch 54

Utrecht, 30 January 2014

Dear Partyleader, Members of VVD and Friends of Thailand,

We write this letter to explain why millions of people take to streets to demand reforms before the next election, as reported daily on the news. However, many western media sources have been misguided and show a lack of understanding of the Thai political crisis.

The peaceful and non-violent protests began in October 2013, whose main goals are the eradication of the Thaksin authoritarian government and the legal and political reform, such as of the election and political party laws, before the free and fair election takes place.

On 9th December, 2013 the government was dissolved and an election was scheduled on 2nd February, 2014. The reason for the people to demand reform before election is because if the election were to take place the corrupt Pheu Thai Party, led by Yingluck Shinawatra who is backed by her brother, former PM Thanksin Shinawatra, would win the election again, largely as a result of vote buying and their populist policies.

10 February 2014

In the Virunga region of eastern DR Congo, lies lands so rich entire mountains are made of gold, where rainfalls wash gold down the mountainside till the sand shines with it and villagers get on their hands and knees to pick gold off the roads, and women are said to pan several pounds of it a day by the river. I never would have believed such stories until I saw it first hand– the first muzungu (foreigner) on this mountain in 50 years. A trip that took our small team of 3 weeks to organize turned out to be a last minute, almost frantic dash for the border, and freedom.  As they say, “Plans mean nothing, but planning is everything”

9 February 2014
Kachin State, Burma

The Burma Army continues attacks in Nam Lim Pa area in their attempt to drive out the Kachin people and control this part of Kachin State.

Burma Army RPG Team in Kong Run, Kachin State, on 2 February 2014.

The Burma Army continues its attacks with Burma Army Battalions 276 and 601, and other troops from Northern Command attacking between Nam Han, Nam Gau, Nam Lim Pa and Kong Run Villages, south of Bhamo, Kachin State, Burma. The attacks began on the morning of 30 January 2014, when Burma Army troops attacked Nam Gau Village, capturing over 20 villagers, merchants, truck drivers and trucks. They looted the village, destroyed and scattered the families’ belongings, taking captives and 24 trucks with over 100 tons of wood back to the area between Nam Han and Kong Run.