We Need a Bush

By Oh Young-jin

Assistant Managing Editor

When I was five or six years old, I had a fire-engine red, one-seat coupe with 007 written in white on its sides. I often peddled around in it, checking out my neighborhood.

Once I encountered a group of thugs in their early 20s. They kicked my Aston Martin and I, being left helplessly to my own devices, cried out for my superman. My father, then in his late 40s, appeared and stood up to them. They turned one by one and ran away.

Many years later before he died, I brought up that incident and asked how he could be so brave.

He said, ``Losing can be a habit. I wanted to teach you how to stand up for yourself.''

Right after the multiple terror attacks on the United States, which are now known as ``9/11,'' the then-President Bush appeared before the American people and made a teary but determined pledge to chase the perpetrators to the last man and bring them to justice.

The nation rallied behind him, although his later conduct in war leaves much to be desired.

Now, the ROK Navy frigate Cheonan was attacked in an apparent surprise torpedo attack in the West Sea, March 26. Forty sailors were killed and six are missing and presumed to be dead.

The nation is in a funereal mood, with a five-day mourning period declared and public altars set up across the nation. Many people are paying their last respects for those who were killed in the line of sacred duty.

However, I am still surprised at the lack of public indignation for the fatal transgression.

I have not seen big rallies as in candlelit demonstrations for the government's decision to resume the importation of U.S. beef or public display of excitement witnessed during the 2002 World Cup football championship Korea co-hosted.

In short, we would have acted more emotionally than now, if some nutcase Japanese politician claimed that Dokdo islets, Korea's easternmost territory, were theirs.

Everybody is behaving so rationally as if they were attending the funeral of somebody they barely knew and had to show up out of obligation.

Seeing these somber but calm reactions, I have more than once felt like crying out, ``People! We were attacked.''

I blame the elected leaders for this absence of rightful indignation because all they do in public is offer consolations, leaving the public aimlessly adrift and the military looking clueless for a future course of action.

In a way, I understand their plight because they are responsible for the safety and security of the people, forcing them to act gingerly until they find the smoking gun evidence firmly identifying the perpetrator.

Some politicians may say that the Cheonan frigate sinking is a price to pay for an about-face the country is undergoing under the present conservative leadership after 10 years of liberal governance, which was rooted on the ideal notion of peaceful coexistence with the communist North.

I also understand how the pendulum of public opinion can swing from one extreme to another and is ready to get out of hand. The ruling conservatives now in charge should take the latest incident as a test on whether they can govern.

They should consider how the rest of the world will look at the situation, asking themselves the following questions.

Will the rest of the world respect Korea for being unemotional in the face of an outside attack? The chance is that they are tempted to dismiss us for not being able to stand united in the face of a national crisis and act decisively. The world we live in is not an egalitarian, utopian society but more like a back alley where only power can speak. History would substantiate this observation.

Then, what message is the current indecisive leadership giving to the nation? Many are reading it as a sign of helplessness. Reading an experts' column or two would be enough to see this pattern. They say that Seoul has no other options but to swallow this major challenge to its national pride and persevere.

I believe that some of those columns are based on the current situation that compatriots are acting as if they were viewing the death of our young men from a third-person's perspective. What if a bigger crisis befell Korea? I worry.

For the military, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines appear to be directionless. So too are the top brass. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young as well as senior military leaders are obviously looking in the direction of Cheong Wa Dae for firm instructions.

The Armed Forces exist for one big contingency. If they are pardoned for one mistake without being held adequately responsible, they tend to become complacent and will be rendered useless when they are most needed. They are running the risk of being trapped in the ``habit of losing.''

In dealing with international thugs, Bush, just like other U.S. presidents, often said, ``All options are on the table,'' a remark that conveyed a veiled threat of the use of force to violators and kept the nation united.

I am not saying that our national leaders should go down the same path as Bush in this time of crisis because his war on terror proved to be a failure, nor am I calling for bloody retribution. But Bush's vow to get back at those who hurt the American people he was sworn to protect is conspicuously missing among our leaders. Leaders who don't lead are more dangerous than useless.