Current New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson is making the rounds in North Korea this week with the blessing of President Bush. Richardson hopes to collect the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War, but his hosts are making the most of the visit's propaganda value, taking the governor, and a group of reporters, to the USS Pueblo, which was captured in 1968 along with 82 of her crew. The crew was released 11 months later, but the Pueblo remains in North Korea, for the purpose of "anti-American education" in the words of a Nork colonel accompanying Richardson's delegation. The Pueblo is the only active duty warship held by a foreign government, and was the first U.S. warship to be captured since 1807.
As embarrassing as the ship's capture was at the time, Allahpundit rightly points out the performance of that crew relative to the 15 British sailors and marines released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards just last week. I'm hesitant to accuse the British troops of cowardice, though I pretty much agree with those that have, but in comparison to the Americans who served on the Pueblo, they fail to measure up. The crew of the Pueblo may not have fought to the last man, but neither were they a "contrite and cooperative lot."
Notice the hand signals these sailors from the Pueblo display
in this propaganda photo taken by the North Koreans.
