And in other news

North Korea has attacked South Korea. 1 South Korean Marine dead, 13 other South Koreans wounded.

The attack apparently may have been in response to a South Korean drill on the island, as North Korea thought they might be gearing up to invade them.

Are they trying to get wiped off the map?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2010 02:49AM by Dazed_Driver.

They've been pulling this crap for decades. They figure they can keep on getting away with it.

I had a friend whose brother is a retired Naval Intelligence officer (oxymoron??) I've been told there are about 7 Trident subs off the coast of N.Korea at any time. Something like 14 nukes on board each one.

If they ever cross the line in a big way, or appear to N.K will be a big hole in the ground in seconds.

Both Iraq and Libya leaders have found out that if you rattle a sabre enough times someone will shove it up your ass.

Who? North Korea has an astounding amount of missiles and nuclear weapons. They could level Seoul in a day. North Korea also has the support of China which makes the situation even more, how you say, difficult.

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NoCoast
Who? North Korea has an astounding amount of missiles and nuclear weapons. They could level Seoul in a day. North Korea also has the support of China which makes the situation even more, how you say, difficult.

Grant China's support is, from everything I can tell, grudging and more "Well they are our neighbor, oh well, what can we do with these loons?"
And that's the official line.
Any person I've talked to and I was right up North about 30 miles from the Yalu River visiting a couple of factories, says "Oi, what a pain in the ass these people are."

The fact that China sent (got rid of a bunch of guys they didn't know what to do with who HAD been useful in the 32 year Civil War, but not the best guys to build a peaceful society once that was won--some sources say) a whole lot of the Revolutionary Army guys down as the "Volunteer Army" and lost some many, is OLD ancient history.

They definitely don't want to get embroiled in some nonsense.
Everybody is too busy making a life.

There are a total of 18 Ohio class submarines in the US inventory. The early boats carried 16 C-4 Trident missiles, the newer boats carry 24 D-5 missiles. I think that the older subs have been upgraded.

I doubt that nearly half the US ballistic missile submarine fleet would be in littoral waters off the coast of the D.P.R.K. Wrong tool, insane strategy. Having said that, I have no doubt that there is at least one us sub in the Yellow Sea and two in the Sea of Japan.

The North Koreans are enigmatic to say the least but their "saber rattling" has been very effective. They have sent commandos to kidnap Japanese civilians off the beach and have recently (probably) sunk a large South Korean naval ship. This is a two part strategy that both proves and enhances their credibility as a military threat. The rest of the world and most importantly the US, has bent over backwards to give the North the three things it wants: recognition, to be left alone and aid when it needs it.

How do they get away with that you ask? Everyone, except the American public, understands that any large scale, conventional conflict on the peninsula would be a blood bath. Yes, the "good guys" would win but at a terrible cost. Then what? The R.O.K. severely damaged and 15.8 million starving refugees (assuming 1/3 of the northern population killed)?

Anyone who talks about the use of nuclear weapons north of the DMZ does not understand the myriad of problems that would create, not least of which is the effective destruction of one of the strongest economies in Asia. US nuclear weapons in the Korean theater serve no purpose. They are not a real deterrent because it does not make sense for us to use them. There is no Mutually Assured Destruction so that system doesn't work either. Hopefully the US military and it's commander and chief understands all this.

---

Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

Quote
Rallymech
There are a total of 18 Ohio class submarines in the US inventory. The early boats carried 16 C-4 Trident missiles, the newer boats carry 24 D-5 missiles. I think that the older subs have been upgraded.

I doubt that nearly half the US ballistic missile submarine fleet would be in littoral waters off the coast of the D.P.R.K. Wrong tool, insane strategy. Having said that, I have no doubt that there is at least one us sub in the Yellow Sea and two in the Sea of Japan.

The North Koreans are enigmatic to say the least but their "saber rattling" has been very effective. They have sent commandos to kidnap Japanese civilians off the beach and have recently (probably) sunk a large South Korean naval ship. This is a two part strategy that both proves and enhances their credibility as a military threat. The rest of the world and most importantly the US, has bent over backwards to give the North the three things it wants: recognition, to be left alone and aid when it needs it.

How do they get away with that you ask? Everyone, except the American public, understands that any large scale, conventional conflict on the peninsula would be a blood bath. Yes, the "good guys" would win but at a terrible cost. Then what? The R.O.K. severely damaged and 15.8 million starving refugees (assuming 1/3 of the northern population killed)?

Anyone who talks about the use of nuclear weapons north of the DMZ does not understand the myriad of problems that would create, not least of which is the effective destruction of one of the strongest economies in Asia. US nuclear weapons in the Korean theater serve no purpose. They are not a real deterrent because it does not make sense for us to use them. There is no Mutually Assured Destruction so that system doesn't work either. Hopefully the US military and it's commander and chief understands all this.

A glance on a map and checking the scale shows you why: Less than 25 miles from the border to the downtown section of Seoul, what can you do?

Can't re-do hstory that the US Right Wing Republicans put into power the most hated former members of the Japanese "Kwantung" Army, people who had sucked Japanese cock for a couple of generations, and had done the Japaneses' bidding doing a LOT of the dirty work of murdering civilians all thru Korea and adjoining NE of China...

I can see the State Department bureaucrats way back in 1945-- Oh yeah who can we find despised the most??? Hmmmm... Oh wait the guy insists "He's Anti-Communist'! Well who's concerned about him murdering opposition people for a few decades, that's not imporatant!!!'


A lot of very interesting stuff about USA support of the really seriously murderous gang in S Korea in the time between August 45 and the outbreak of the war..
You boys may not know this but there were in the South endless purges, round-ups of anybody that looked cross eyed--just call them a "communist"---and constant---encouraged, aided , supplied, trained by the US CIA ex US Army personnel---constant cross border raids up to battalion strength into the North.
That went on for years and the North, who were NOT getting any significant help from China or Soviets got tired of it and started the War without the "OK" from China of Russia..

Most of the world has long memories, and to a huge degree, we made a LOT of this mess in that period Aug 45 to Jun 50

Oh John....that would be like saying the CIA messed around in South America....