S. Korean President Returns U.S. MIA Troop Remains in Person. Biden Sends No Rep

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Many of us remember the big stink that Joe Biden made last year when he bothered to campaign about how the Democrat would treat America’s allies so much better than that loudmouth Donald Trump who was always talking about America First.
The allies seemed excited at the prospect of an American president treating them with the deference, respect, and obedience they’ve come to expect from American leaders until, well, you-know-who.

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Biden can’t seem to remember a lot of things these days, including the name of his Secretary of Defense and that five-sided building in Virginia where the military hangs out.

Last week, during a live teleconference call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the elected leader of Australia, you know that fellow from Down Under who’s a really good guy, Biden clearly forgot the great ally’s name. It’s Scott Morrison.

The trio was announcing a minor defense agreement, which they called major, that may someday result in Australia getting a new nuclear-powered submarine. Biden forgot to inform a NATO ally of the deal, which torpedoed Paris’ huge sub construction contract with Canberra. The French are great at snubs as long as they’re not incoming. So, their national nez got majorly out of joint.

Now comes another example of a Biden blunder. And one that shows Democrats’ long-running disdain, even distrust for the military.

Harold Greene died in Kabul seven years ago during an insider attack, the first U.S. general to perish in combat in 40 years. President Barack Obama was too busy to attend the interment at Arlington National Cemetery. He was on vacation.
When the 13 service members killed in a homicide bomb attack at Kabul airport returned to Dover Air Force Base last month, Biden was also on vacation. But he and wife, Jill, paid their respects there, although judging by the number of times Biden checked his wristwatch, the impatient president was in a hurry to leave.

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The president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, flew to Hawaii this week to personally return the recovered remains of six U.S. soldiers from the Korean War in a solemn ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The story was first reported by our sister site, HotAir.com.

Almost 40,000 Americans died in that three-year conflict with North Korea and China. Another 100,000 were wounded and a stunning 7,500 still remain unaccounted for.

Bringing home the remains of the fallen is always an emotional issue for Americans, many of whom still fly black POW-MIA flags from the Vietnam War. Accessing remains even delayed peace talks after the Vietnam fighting. And the Leave No One Behind mantra raised its emotional head after Biden’s Afghan retreat did leave Americans behind.

So, when the president of a long-time democratic ally and an economic powerhouse, especially one from Asia where signs of respect are so revered and expected, personally gets involved in the return of soldiers’ remains, it’s a pretty big deal. Or should be. The U.S. still has about 30,000 troops stationed in South Korea as a tripwire to deter another North Korean invasion.

The Biden administration, however, sent no one to the ceremony, which also involved repatriating remains of now-identified Korean soldiers to their homeland.

That five-sided military building did assign an admiral, who was very professional and respectful as a military man but not a government rep.

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The Korean president, of course, delivered his remarks with dignity, showing no signs of umbrage as he and a Korean Honor Guard handed the remains of six Americans to the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency. He then accepted the remains of 68 now-identified South Korean troops, which flew back to Korea on the president’s plane. “American and Korean heroes are finally returning home to their families after a 70-year-long wait,” Moon said. The solemn ceremony received little news coverage beyond Honolulu because without White House representation it was unimportant and any news coverage noting that, like this report, might be seen as critical of the administration that is not headed by Donald Trump.

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