"U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (Full Version)

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Vendaval -> "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 2:39:30 PM)

Is this more posturing and saber-rattling?  Or is the threat real now?

"U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North"

Communist nation has ramped up tensions with a series of provocations

"SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean and U.S. troops raised their alert Thursday to the highest level since 2006 after North Korea renounced its truce with the allied forces and threatened to strike any ships trying to intercept its vessels.

The move was a sign of heightened tensions on the peninsula following the North's underground nuclear test and its firing of a series of short-range missiles earlier this week.

In response, Seoul decided to join more than 90 nations that have agreed to stop and inspect vessels suspected of transporting banned weapons."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30977008/




slavefortpeasap -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 4:10:02 PM)

Japan needs to get off the sidelines and prepare their army of Asimos.




TheHeretic -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 7:16:06 PM)

        I don't know that we can be sure which it is, Ven.  Kim is a complete nutcase. 




Vendaval -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 10:20:51 PM)

That seems to be the general consensus.  [&:]




ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 10:28:29 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: slavefortpeasap

Japan needs to get off the sidelines and prepare their army of Asimos.


Hear, hear. Japan really needs to take a more active role in regional security issues. OK, we get that y'all feel a little self-conscious over that whole World War II thing, but that was so-o-o-o-o last century. This is your neighborhood - you live there, you do business there. You need to step up and help stabilize it.




TheHeretic -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 10:44:49 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ThatDamnedPanda

Hear, hear. Japan really needs to take a more active role in regional security issues.



           Panda, that plan wouldn't go over very well in either half of Korea.  We're not talking about the equivalent of sending German troops on a peacekeeping mission in Israel, but it wouldn't be pretty.




ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 10:49:08 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

       I don't know that we can be sure which it is, Ven.  Kim is a complete nutcase. 


Crazy like a fox, he is. He's a man who's very deliberately crafted a reputation as an unpredictable  and mentally unstable rogue, to keep his adversaries off balance. It's a card he plays very well.

I think it's basically sabre rattling, but he's crazy enough that you never really discount the actual threat. It looks a lot like the same predictable pattern he's shown for the last 15 years - every time he wants something, he throws a tantrum and threatens to break something valuable, like South Korea. The grownups have to take him seriously, because nobody really knows how crazy he actually is, and then he shuts up and behaves himself until they get hungry again or run out of gas again. Then it's another tantrum, and we let him stay up past his bedtime again because we're worried that this time he may really break South Korea, and on and on and on.

The fact that he's going this far is troubling, though. He's definitely upping the ante, no question about that. The question is, why? Why now? What's he really want this time? I don't know the answer to that yet, and until we do know it, we can't know how serious he is with his threats. Figuring out what his end game is will tell us a lot about how worried we really need to be.




MstrPBK -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 10:51:25 PM)

The reason why Japan is not more active in this goes back to signed agreements with Japan at the end of WWII.

MstrPBK
St. Paul, MN USA




ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: "U.S., South Korea raise military alert on North" (5/28/2009 10:57:14 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

quote:

ORIGINAL: ThatDamnedPanda

Hear, hear. Japan really needs to take a more active role in regional security issues.



          Panda, that plan wouldn't go over very well in either half of Korea.  We're not talking about the equivalent of sending German troops on a peacekeeping mission in Israel, but it wouldn't be pretty.


You're right, it wouldn't. But how realistic is it for us to keep playing Sheriff in that town? We can't keep mediating regional disputes between Asian powers. I'm not saying we shouldn't play a role, even a leadership role, but until the countries who live on that street start taking a greater share of the responsibility for running the block patrol, our effectiveness and credibility are going to be limited. I know this is a rash statement, and I'm just throwing it out there for discussion, but maybe the prospect of Japan taking on a more active role in stabilizing the region would provide a little motivation for the neighborhood delinquents to start behaving like grownups.




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