by Jack Lee
Have you been listening to all the posturing over the sinking of South Korea’s warship by North Korea? President Obama is telling South Korea, we’ve got your back and has authorized military manuevers near North Korea. But, what is he really saying? He’s really saying, if this leads to an all out war, then we’re in it too. White House spokesman Gibbs said, “U.S. support for South Korea’s defense is unequivocal, and the president has directed his military commanders to coordinate closely with their Republic of Korea counterparts to ensure readiness and to deter future aggression,”
I’m hoping the liberals among us are paying close attention now because this is such unfamiliar territory. This is your guy saying, if its war they want then it’s a war they’ll get. How’s that shoe fitting on the other foot, a little tight perhaps?
“WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has directed the U.S. military to coordinate with South Korea to “ensure readiness” and deter future aggression from North Korea, the White House said on Monday.
The United States gave strong backing to plans by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to punish North Korea for sinking one of its naval ships, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. “We endorse President Lee’s demand that North Korea immediately apologize and punish those responsible for the attack, and, most importantly, stop its belligerent and threatening behavior”
(North Korea’s President Kim Jong-il’s billboard shown left) We’ve been warning you about a higher-than-normal potential for war between North and South Korea to resume and the tension has never been worse.
The situation can be summed up like this: It’s a clear cut case between a poverty ridden, jealous and isolated dictatorship, bent on revenge verses a prosperous democratic nation doing very well at capturing its share of a global market economy and trying to avoid war at all costs.
Whether it will truly come to an all out war is anyone’s guess, but time is not on the side of North Korea. They’ve invested heavily in a massive offensive military force, often at the cost of not feeding their peasant population. Since the hot war ended in 1953 North Korea has seen its old allies (arms suppliers) like the USSR collapse and even their partner-in-war, China has distanced themselves from the increasing hard line policies and provactions by North Korea’s long time ruler Kim Il-sung, He died from a heart attack in 1994.
Since his death leadership was transferred to his son, Kim Jong-il, who by all accounts, seems to vasilate between being [somewhat] lucid and rational to a meglomaniac that is completely off his nut, a real Jekyle and Hyde character.
Kim Jong-il has vigorously pursued nuclear weapons and has claimed to have actually developed nuclear weaponry and tested it on 9 October 2006. The West was fairly sure the test was successful, If it came to a hot war this could be North Korea’s hole card. There’s little doubt they would use a nuke and worse yet, possibly try for a first strike on South Korea’s capitol of Seoul. A nuclear strike on Seoul would be devastating almost beyond imagination.
Since 2004 North Korea has been developing and testing the Taepondong-1 Space Launch Vehicle, which successfully launched, but failed to reach orbit. On July 5, 2006, they tested a Taepodong-2 ICBM that reportedly could reach the west coast of the U.S. in the 2-stage version, or the entire U.S. with a third stage. There have been several setbacks in their missile development program, including an unexplained explosion of missile components in a rail yard near Pyongyang.(Shown at right is a “soldier” aka Soaps on PS, as he appeared back on the DMZ – these troops were hand picked for their higher education and their size)
Fast facts: “During Kim Jong-il’s rule, North Korea’s economy has continued to deteriorate and the standard of living of its 23 million people has continued to fall. From 1996 to 1999 the country experienced a large-scale famine which left some 600,000 – 900,000 people dead. The fundamental cause of this decline is that the state, which runs the entire economy, is bankrupt, and cannot pay for the necessary imports of capital goods to undertake the desperately needed modernization of its industrial plants. The inefficiency of North Korea’s Stalinist-style collective agricultural system also contributed to the disaster. North Korea spends about a quarter of its GDP on armaments, including the development of nuclear weapons, and keeps nearly all able-bodied males aged 18-30 in uniform, while the basic infrastructure of the state is allowed to crumble. ” Wikipedia
If North Korea is ever to fulfill its ambitions of finishing the war it started and reuniting the two Korea’s, then time is running out. Their vast military materials, once supplied by China and the USSR are aging to the point of near obsolescence. Part’s and new technology replacements have been limited in coming over the past decade.
Further sanctions or restrictions on North Korea’s trading ability by the UN could force their hand in either, war or knuckling under to Un demands. If the sinking of a South Korean warship was any indication, knuckling under at this point is not what they have in mind.
This just in, “In a two-hour live nationally televised press conference, the civilian-military investigative team offered computer simulations, providing what it said was scientific proof of the origins of the attack. The report said a North Korean submarine had fired a torpedo, causing a massive underwater blast.” A photo of the actual warship is at left.
One of the best news stories I found on the net can be read by clicking this link.