Korea

“Up in the North things are looking uglier than at any time since the armistice. If we get committed in Iran/Iraq, look for the North, probably at the instigation of the North’s masters in China, to try something, possibly causing us to have to reinforce the troops there in the South now. Pure speculation I agree, but don’t forget that on June 25,1950, the last thing our military command in the Far East was looking for was the North Koreans boiling across the border between the two Koreas, destroying everything in their path.”

That was an extract from Skip’s article from April 5, 2010 (‘South Korea… Shut Up And Smile’). Well, it appears that today’s attack was not at the behest of China (as far as we know), but they sure are flexing their muscles as anticipated. About a month after the installation of Kim Jong Un as military leader and heir-in-waiting to the failing Kim Jong Il, we witnessed a show of strength as a display to the impoverished North Korean people that the family dynasty has no intention of relinquishing its power.

As usual, the North played innocent… “We didn’t fire first!”… just as they denied knowledge of the destruction of the ‘Cheonan’ and murder of forty six naval personnel. This denial continued after an independent international investigative team proved beyond doubt that the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

I knew the comments that would come from world leaders before I even heard them. “We condemn this action” is always a politically correct response from Obama and the UN, along with various other leaders who are afraid to commit themselves to any action. A comment that I found somewhat insulting to South Korea came from Russia… “We urge restraint on both sides”. Huh?! They just had two Marines killed and many more people injured by an unwarranted attack. In March, they lost forty six personnel while on a routine patrol. I think S. Korea is showing remarkable restraint, given the circumstances.

John Bolton gave his views on the situation today and, as usual, he was pretty much on the money. I was a little surprised by his ‘ultimate solution’ of reunification. I’m not saying that it could not, or will not, happen some time in the future. It just seems like ‘pie-in-the-sky’ at the present time, with two of the most disparate political and economic neighbors imaginable.

There are more pressing problems to solve right now. How many attacks will South Korea endure before it retaliates? Will we, and other western countries, go to their aid? With around 30,000 US military personnel based in South Korea, the answer is fairly obvious.

The whole situation is further complicated by the recent revelations on how very close the North is to having full nuclear capability. Some very serious decisions need to be taken now… it’s time to stow away the cliché condemnations and do something!

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)

It seems like events are rushing to greet some sort of an event horizon. There are just too many disparate potential flash points not to be completely realistic. The Middle East region is a sizzling hot spot that could have a region wide conflict start from any of a half-dozen different sources.

North Korea is the next most obvious subject, with a very unstable government and internal power issues. They have been increasingly bellicose and tensions are sky-high between the two Koreas, since rumors still persist that the South Korean naval corvette ‘Cheonan’ may have been sunk by a north Korean torpedo.

Obama bows to China's Hu Jintao.

China is another factor, they have already taken the measure of Barack Hussein Obama and found him to be foolish and naive. They will use his indecisiveness to initiate some ‘incident’ over the island republic of China called Taiwan. China has been drooling over Taiwan for a very long time. China has also increased the number of missiles and artillery facing Taiwan from the mainland. With a timid Barack Obama at the helm, the Chinese may feel the time has come for a little adventurism.

Obama has a miserable record of insulting one ally after another and, as in the case of Israel, withdrawing arms, munitions and spare parts, in the face of increasing threats and a potential regional war. It doesn’t take these folks very long to realize that this President, this government, not only cannot be trusted but will actively work for the benefit of their enemies while feigning friendship to them.

Russia is very cozy with some other influences that will have to be dealt with. Iran and Venezuela. Iran’s increasing bellicosity cannot be ignored. They have gone from threatening Israel to direct threats towards the United States as well. There were a whole bunch of people around who should have known better when Hitler published Mein Kampf, too. Words have meaning. These are real potential adversaries that we have to be prepared to deal with.

Venezuela is not now a military threat and Chavez’ Socialist Nirvana ain’t, so the plebes aren’t cozying up to Hugo. Like any dictator, he deserves close scrutiny. I just don’t think Obama has the stones for the job. Worse, much worse, I still can’t figure out who he’s working for.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Barack Obama has such a touch with allies… especially allies who have very big, very tough sworn enemies breathing down their necks. Back in the day as such things went, we didn’t spend a lot of time on a breaking story that had scant information. All of that went south with the advent of the world-wide web.

I’ve found that with the net being what it is many times, sources can be searched before the various authorities involved can move in and sanitize the story. An example of that was the South Korean corvette that was sunk. Looking around I noticed immediately that very early mention had said the ship had been torpedoed. Within hours it had been scrubbed, reports had been changed to possible floating mines. Reports about a reaction and communication between the Obama White House and the South Korean Government also disappeared.

South Korean Naval Vessels Search For Survivors And Bodies From The 'Cheonan'

Obama had to muzzle the Koreans. If in fact it was a torpedo, it was a deliberate open act of war by the North. The North and South have had minor clashes going back to the end of the Korean War. This is different. This was a warship inside of South Korean waters. Forty six crewmen were lost. Since the initial stories, the focus has remained on the ship either having some sort of internal issue resulting in an explosion, or the mine story.

If the Koreans declared it to be a torpedo, they and we would have to face up to an overt and planned act of war against the South. So would Obama. The last thing this guy wants to have to do is to stand up against the North – they’re ideologically closer to Obama’s personal political inclinations. He has just completed giving in to another possible enemy, Russia, by agreeing to reduce the number of nuclear warheads in our arsenal for relatively nothing.

With the tension in the Middle East ratcheting up, with Iran, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, we are going to be in this one once it starts for sure. Not willingly, but we’ll get swept up into it before it’s over. It will be interesting to see how fast Obama runs interference for the bad guys.

Up in the North things are looking uglier than at any time since the armistice. If we get committed in Iran/Iraq, look for the North, probably at the instigation of the North’s masters in China, to try something, possibly causing us to have to reinforce the troops there in the South now. Pure speculation I agree, but don’t forget that on June 25,1950, the last thing our military command in the Far East was looking for was the North Koreans boiling across the border between the two Koreas, destroying everything in their path.

Obama’s policies are far, far more likely to put this country into a shooting conflict than if he showed some spine to our enemies. Obama just doesn’t get it. He reminds me of the kid on the playground who appeases and talks his way around the local bully instead of standing up for himself. That stuff may be ok for playgrounds. Out here where the big kids play, the thought of this lightweight bumpkin making critical blunder after blunder… somebody is going to have a real bad day.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Barack Hussein Obama’s latest perfidy, among many, is in threatening our South Korean allies about retaliation against North Korea, for what (now that the lies are clearing) looks like the torpedoing of a South Korean Naval vessel in South Korean waters by the North Koreans. Fifty eight out of a crew of one hundred and four were reported as having been rescued. There were no confirmed reports of missing and dead as of this writing.

The South Korean Naval Ship 'Cheonan'

Sources in Washington reported that Obama moved quickly to run interference for the North Koreans. The war with the North has never really ended for the South with the cessation of hostilities in 1953. The border between the two countries at the ‘demilitarized zone’ is heavily fortified and has seen many incidents of provocation and infiltration of agents from the north over the years. On May 27, 2009, North Korea once again declared that a state of war existed between the two countries.

Obama’s interference is developing into a disturbing pattern of using US influence to interfere in our allies internal defense policies, while pandering appeasement to ruthless dictatorships around the globe. Obama’s most recent shameful treatment of Israel’s Prime Minister should have been, and was, considered by Israel to be a mortal insult. Further, Obama ordered that a shipment of advanced J-DAM deep penetrating bunker-buster bombs be turned around at Diego Garcia.

The Obama administration, far from supporting Israel against Iran and her mortal enemies on the East Bank, Hizballah in Lebanon and Syria, is actually supporting them against our greatest ally in the middle-east. There’s no other way to look at it.

There was an incursion into Israeli territory by Hamas which took the lives of two Israeli IDF members, followed by an intense fire-fight. In addition, reports of Pakistani and Iraqi Al-Qaeda infiltrating through tunnels have introduced the Taliban tactic of attacking from motorcycles using rocket propelled grenades. Israel’s enemies are ginning up the ante, perhaps in a test of Israel’s resolve.

Though most of Congress and the country at large are strong supporters of the State of Israel, Obama, his administration and his State Department must be considered to be antithetical to the best interests of Israel, Korea, and our own country for that matter. It’s a sad and frightening circumstance when the supposed leader of the free world is behaving like anything but.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

It seems i am the only one outraged over the extraction of those two journalists from North Korea.

I want to know why we negotiated with terrorists for the release of Fat Al's minions. I mean really, this was a commercial venture by Fat Al's Current TV. Yes, his investigative journalists got caught. But why do we the people have to elevate this to back channel communications by the administration, send an ex-president and a full staff compliment, pay for his secret service detail, pay for fighter escort of the "Private" jet, and all the other elements that go along with travel to an "axis of evil" country....

So now that they are released, Fat Al's probably making deals with Time to publish their story. The Oprah appearance has been booked, and what do we get for it....Nothing.

We have a mechanism by which we get "badly behaved" americans back to the states...it's called the consulates. Why was this woefully planned commercial venture given such high priority. Those journalists should have stewed a while until we got to them in their rightful order.