don't go to Afghanistan

A debate is going on right now in Korea about whether the hostages held in Afghanistan should be held responsible for the costs of securing their release. Apparently Monday the president, Roh Moo-hyun, said they should be held accountable. There are a lot of twists and turns in this plot, but the basic summary of the story strikes me as amusing. More details in the Korea Times.

How sad is it that my immediate thought on reading this was: Good thing our Administration does read Koren newspapers...? It's only a slight leap away to charge our troops airfare to get home from Iraq.

"It's only a slight leap away to charge our troops airfare to get home from Iraq." Actually, we did. When they came home on leave, the government paid for them to get to Baltimore. If they wanted to go anywhere else, it was on their dime. They caved due to public pressure, but there is still a campaign where you can donate your unused frequent flier miles to help pay for families of wounded soldiers be with the soldier during their recovery.

Wow... really, wow. I think I will go be sick now.