Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2009 23:56:25 GMT -5
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea boasted of being a "proud nuclear power" and threatened Monday to harm the U.S. if attacked as tensions mounted over a possible crackdown on exports of suspected missile parts from the North.
President Barack Obama said the U.S. is ready to cope with "any contingencies" involving North Korea and vowed not to "reward belligerence and provocation."
South Korea's YTN news network reported Sunday that a U.S. Navy destroyer tailing a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missiles and related parts was headed toward Myanmar in what could be the first test of new U.N. sanctions against the North over its recent nuclear test.
The sanctions — punishment for an underground nuclear test North Korea conducted May 25 — firm up an earlier arms embargo against North Korea and authorize ship searches in an attempt to thwart the regime's nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions.
On Monday, North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper called it "nonsense" to say the country is a threat to the U.S., and instead claimed Washington was the one threatening the North. The paper also warned in a commentary that the country is prepared to strike back if attacked.
"As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the U.S. should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with," the editorial said. "It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean peninsula."
The Rodong Sinmun also denounced Obama's recent pledge to defend and protect South Korea — even promising to keep Seoul "under the U.S. nuclear umbrella" — as an attempt to attack the North with atomic bombs. Obama made the commitment in a joint statement after a summit last week with South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak.
North Korea calls its nuclear program a deterrent against the U.S., which Pyongyang routinely accuses of plotting to topple the communist regime. The U.S., which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has said it has no such intentions, and has no nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.
Obama said the U.S. is prepared for any North Korean provocation, including the regime's reported threat to test-launch a long-range missile toward Hawaii.
Japanese media have reported that the North Koreans appear to be preparing for a long-range test planned sometime around July 4, the Independence Day holiday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered additional protections for Hawaii as a precaution.
"This administration — and our military — is fully prepared for any contingencies," Obama said Friday during an interview with CBS News' "The Early Show" to be broadcast Monday.
"I don't want to speculate on hypotheticals," Obama said. "But I want ... to give assurances to the American people that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted in terms of what might happen."
A North Korean cargo ship, the Kang Nam, is expected to travel to Myanmar via Singapore, YTN said, citing an unidentified intelligence source in South Korea.
Myanmar's military government, which faces an arms embargo from the United States and the European Union, reportedly has bought weapons from the North in the past.
Two U.S. officials said Thursday that the U.S. military had begun tracking the ship, which left a North Korean port on Wednesday.
One official said it was uncertain what the Kang Nam was carrying but that it had been involved in weapons proliferation before. Both spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence.
A senior U.S. military official told The Associated Press on Friday that a Navy ship, the USS John S. McCain, is relatively close to the North Korean vessel but had no orders to intercept it under the Security Council resolution and had not requested that authority. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The U.S. ship, a guided missile destroyer, is named after the grandfather and father of former U.S. presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. Both were admirals.
McCain said Sunday that the U.S. should board the Kang Nam even without North Korean permission if hard evidence shows it is carrying missiles or other cargo in violation of U.N. resolutions.
"I think we should board it. It's going to contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue nations that pose a direct threat to the United States," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Associated Press
|
|
|
Post by Life's too short. on Jun 22, 2009 0:12:34 GMT -5
That's all the North Koreans know HOW to do is threaten to consider every time someone in SK or the US scratches their keester an act of war. They said the same thing about sanctions. They're all bluff and it's about time to call it with the stuff leaving their territory.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 0:24:26 GMT -5
I'm so sick of all these threats!
The North Koreans are a bunch of wusses.
If Korea actually has the balls to fire a missile near Hawaii I hope they pay the price for conducting such an act. Hopefully the United States Government would do the right thing and take drastic military action.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 0:38:34 GMT -5
North Korea is nothing.
They are in poverty, and quite frankly they are a worthless country that needs put out of there misery. The only way North Korea can stay noticeable to the world is by making threats.
|
|
|
Post by gatordynasty on Jun 22, 2009 1:51:19 GMT -5
North Korea is nothing. They are in poverty, and quite frankly they are a worthless country that needs put out of there misery. The only way North Korea can stay noticeable to the world is by making threats. I think you need to separate the assholes in power from the people being dominated under their rule. How do you know they support this douche bags world view? I don't think killing millions of people for the actions of a power hungry nutcase is very noble.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 3:13:42 GMT -5
I don't know any other way the US could approach the North Korean's diplomatically. They have tried a lot of approaches and apparently none of them really work. The US has to be more assertive. The North Koreans may be bluffing but, they have the potential to be a threat. I don't know about any of you but I really don't want a missile being fired at one of the 50 States. Its time the US stops kissing North Korea's ass and, actually takes action. Action without harming any North Korean bystanders. Gator did bring up a good point.
|
|
|
Post by bigdawgs on Jun 22, 2009 7:16:34 GMT -5
North Korea is a dangerous case. Their leadership is irrational and they are completely unpredictable. Do not use logic when discussing what they view as their options.
And again, we better be damn sure we know what we are doing if forced to act militarily. Anything short of a nuclear war would be a huge problem. We are very, very stretched.
And killing thousands of innocent people is not going to be first option, nor should it be. I agree diplomacy is next to futile with these guys, but every method available needs to be used, including military pressure, blockades etc.
|
|
|
Post by tonythegator on Jun 22, 2009 7:19:07 GMT -5
Sooooooo, a nuclear war would not be a problem???
|
|
|
Post by bigdawgs on Jun 22, 2009 7:24:37 GMT -5
Did you read my whole comment, or did you opt to pick out one sentence and have it stand alone?
|
|
|
Post by tonythegator on Jun 22, 2009 7:35:52 GMT -5
Did you read my whole comment, or did you opt to pick out one sentence and have it stand alone? Oh, I read the whole thing. I just think that nuclear war should not be an "option", at all. We discussed this the other day, and, you and I see, pretty much, eye to eye, on this subject. However, there are no easy answers.
|
|
|
Post by bigdawgs on Jun 22, 2009 7:43:52 GMT -5
Nuclear War has to be an option. It must be the very last option, but it has to be on the table because there is no greater deterent. That being said, it should only be used in response to a nuclear strike launched by the PRK.
If you take Nuclear off the table, it gives them a cushion because short of nukes, they PRK is well aware that we have significant limitations. Much like Clinton when he encouraged the Serbs in Kosovo by taking ground forces out of the mix, you absolutely never let your adversary that something is not going to be used. He needs to be kept thinking much as he keeps others guessing.
|
|
|
Post by tonythegator on Jun 22, 2009 7:52:49 GMT -5
I'm not saying that we should come out and tell them we will not use nukes. That card is, always, in our deck. I just don't think we should deal it, unless it is a last resort. It should not be necessary, in dealing with the PRK. Other than firing their new missiles at us, they are not a "real threat" to the US. I think we could take care of that with a good aerial assault on their facilities.
|
|
|
Post by bigdawgs on Jun 22, 2009 8:04:17 GMT -5
There are 30K troops just south of the 38th Parallel. There are thousands of dependents in Seoul and Pusan. Do not underestimate the threat of North Korean. And like Hitler in the Ardennes in 1944, this regime is paranoid and will do the unpredictable.
Out of here for the day...to the Airport and the USO. Have a good one.
|
|
|
Post by tonythegator on Jun 22, 2009 8:10:36 GMT -5
I hear ya! Have a good one, BD.
|
|
|
Post by Life's too short. on Jun 22, 2009 9:26:32 GMT -5
Other than firing their new missiles at us, they are not a "real threat" to the US. I'm not sure you mean what you're saying here. The biggest threat by far isn't that North Korea is going to attack the U.S. - to do so would be suicide even for those irrational wackos. The biggest threat posed by North Korea is their possibly giving other wackos with martyrdom in mind the tools and means to conduct catastrophic strikes on the U.S. and her allies. And I'm not just talking about terrorists. Remember those Scuds Saddam was throwing at Israel and Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War? Imagine a situation where a crackpot regime that is in crisis and on the verge of losing power happens to have handy some North Korean missile technology and a couple of North Korean nuclear warheads (either purchased directly or built with North Korean designs). Does anyone really think the radicals in charge of Iran wouldn't be capable of reducing Tel Aviv to ashes on their way out? And I'm talking about if they were going to lose power in a domestic conflict like their current situation could lead to. They're killing their own unarmed people in the streets now, do you think they'd even blink before launching something at Israel if they thought their own days were done? FTR, the Shahab IRBMs already possessed by Iran are based on technology provided by North Korea. With every new missile test the NK conducts, new improvements are available to anyone in the world (like Iran) willing to spend the money to buy them.
|
|
|
Post by bigdawgs on Jun 22, 2009 14:44:20 GMT -5
Amen Sad. I agree, that the real threat is their passing on technology and hardware to an unstable part of the world.
|
|
|
Post by tonythegator on Jun 22, 2009 14:48:17 GMT -5
Amen Sad. I agree, that the real threat is their passing on technology and hardware to an unstable part of the world. I agree.
|
|
|
Post by Bradimous1 on Jun 22, 2009 15:23:12 GMT -5
I would like to thank you all for another sleepless night tonight!!! I just think the state of the world is sad, that's all.
|
|