South Korean soldiers aim their weapons near the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea in Yanggu.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — in Beijing to win support from China, North Korea’s top ally, for diplomatic action — said Monday the Obama administration is striving to avoid a conflict on the Korean peninsula.
“We are working hard to avoid an escalation of belligerence and provocation,” Clinton said. “This is a highly precarious situation that the North Koreans have caused in the region.” The U.S. will work with other nations to make sure that North Korea feels the consequences of its actions and changes its behavior to avoid “the kind of escalation that would be very regrettable,” she said.
Heh…and it seems like the North Koreans are working hard to achieve “an escalation of belligerence and provocation”.
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
This country won’t do squat to the North Koreans. We did nothing when they seized the USS Pueblo. What makes anyone think we’ll do something now? War games! Big woop! Noth Korea sank that ship because it could. They will make more trouble and we will do nothing……..because The United States of America has been emasculated from within.
Yeah buddy….A military exercise….That will scare the crap out of the North Koreans….I bet none of them have slept since the announcement…
Kim Jong Il:
and Next? A strongly worded letter delivered by Hans Brix?
Oh yeah… and anybody remember what we did just before the Russian Invasion of Georgia???
I’ll take joint military Spec Force excercises for 200 Alex….
And that was under Pres. Bush… you think excercises will scare the NORKS?
There are a lot of things I’d criticize Obama for, but in this case I don’t have any complaint. Trade (or cutting off of trade), which we and South Korea have done, has historically been one of the better ways of getting the North Koreans to cooperate. I’d guess that their elites, like the Soviets before them, have a taste for Western goods, and get restive when they are cut off. It makes sense to be careful about escalation (which could cause hundreds of thousands of South Korean deaths, as well as those of many of ours soldiers) when our principal strategic interest, after keeping South Korea free, is preventing those deaths. And even if you feel that there is no non-military solution to the problem of North Korea, this isn’t the best time to bring the problem to a head – we already have two other unfinished engagements.
I have to agree with bbartlog – when we cut off their supplies of rice and other basic goods, it tends to get their attention pretty fast. Mr. Jonga-a-longa-ding-donga is a raving lush, and has a nice taste for western goods.
Plus, China is not in the mood to deal with their sh*t, so i can only imagine the political and economic pressure they will be getting in the next couple months. However, the one place I will diverge is this: when you corner a hungry pitbull with a bone in its mouth, what happens when you try to take it? The most dangerous animals and humans, are ones without recourse. Think Germany after WWI. The north has nukes – I imagine they could make life very interesting for that part of the world. And yes, I know, we have a lot more and can turn them green, but not until after they nuke the south a couple times, and the commander of O’dumbo land stops waiting on his shipment of unicorns and rainbow feeding troughs so that the world can know a better place of peace and harmony.
As one who is very familiar with our United States Military capabilities, I grinned quite wide at the U.S. “announcement” that “They believe” Jingo Jong personally ordered the hit, and that “evidence shows” the SK ship was hit by a torpedo. First of all, it doesn’t matter who ordered the strike, just as it wouldn’t matter if a renegade American Captain ordered the sinking of a Russian ship. But as to “the evidence” that it was a torpedo attack, it’s laughable that we had to wait for the evidence to make the claim. Anyone in “The Silent Service” knows there are ALWAYS at least 4 U.S. subs patrolling those waters or nearby waters, and one of them is ALWAYS a Sea Wolf Submarine. (We have 3 of them, and one is on constant patrol in the Persian Gulf, the other stateside in port, and the 3rd in the Japan/Korea area). The Sea Wolf is specifically designed to identify and keep track of enemy vessels, both sub and surface, and can track another submarine from over a thousand nautical miles away. Every sub has a unique sound signature and we know them all. We know where they are. If they fire a missile or torpedo we know that, and know where and what it hit. I have absolutely no doubt that we knew that torpedo was launched and heading toward that SK ship the second it was launched. SEA WOLF: “Their missions include surveillance, intelligence collection, special warfare, cruise missile strike, mine warfare, and anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare and were modified by Electric Boat to accommodate advanced technology for naval special warfare, tactical surveillance and mine warfare operations. Incorporation of sophisticated electronics produces enhanced indications and warning, surveillance, and communications capabilities. The Seawolf’s quieter propulsion system will also enable it to have twice the tactical speed as the I-688. Tactical speed is the speed at which a submarine is still quiet enough to remain undetected while tracking enemy submarines effectively. Overall, the Seawolf’s propulsion system represents a 75-percent improvement over the I-688’s — the Seawolf can operate 75 percent faster before being detected. It is said that SEAWOLF is quieter at its tactical speed of 25 knots than a LOS ANGELES-class submarine at pierside. It detects, classifies, localizes and tracks targets, platforms, and weapons by means of onboard active and passive sensors and with augmented target information from other platforms and external detection systems. The combat control subsystem provides setting and control of weapons, over-the-horizon targeting, combat systems management, improved target motion analysis, piloting and navigation functions, and automatic contact correlation. It includes the weapon launch equipment for the Mark 48 Advanced Capability Torpedo and the Tomahawk Missile. Acoustic hardware
includes a truncated 24 ft diameter spherical receive array, a 15 ft diameter hemisphere active transmit array, a wide aperture array, a low frequency bow array, two towed arrays, and a mine detection and avoidance high frequency array. ” (BUT WE HAD TO WAIT FOR “EVIDENCE”. Yeah, Right!) Heheheh!
The Dems will do what they always do, talk big, do nothing and try to look surprised when the Sh*t hits the fan. Or they could do what made Bill Clinton the savior of Kosolvo, send in a few drones to blow up non existant sites.