Navy preparing for ops against Nork shipping
You’ve probably all read by now that the Pentagon on Tuesday warned that North Korea is about three years out of having missiles that can strike the mainland US;
North Korea’s missiles could hit the United States in as few as three years if the reclusive rogue nation continues to ramp up its weapons system, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
At a Tuesday morning Senate hearing on missile defense, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn pointed to Pyongyang’s recent steps to accelerate its long-range weapons program and agreed with Sen. John McCain, a Republican that the U.S. should be prepared for a “worst-case scenario” with North Korea.
And that a Japanese newspaper is warning that North Korea will try to fire a missile towards Hawaii in the next few weeks;
North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.
The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), would be launched from North Korea’s Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan’s top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.
The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said.
The Star and Stripes is reporting that US Navy elements are preparing to conduct operations against North Korean shipping;
The U.S. Navy, acting on authority granted by the United Nations, is prepared to intercept North Korean ships and request permission to search them for arms or nuclear technology, a Pentagon official said Tuesday.
Sailors cannot board a ship by force, but if an inspection is refused, the Navy can follow it to the next port and again press for an inspection. The approach is authorized by a U.N. Security Council resolution approved Friday.
President Barack Obama and visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said at the White House on Tuesday that the resolution must be fully enforced, but noted that it did not authorize military force. Lee said he and Obama agreed that “under no circumstance are we going to allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons.”
“Under no circumstances”…well, unless the North Koreans insist on possessing nuclear weapons, of course. And lets tell them all in advance that we can’t use force. That won’t cost any unnecessary casualties, will it? What’s the point?
Obama missed his opportunity to get tough with the North Koreans when he didn’t shoot down that first missile a few weeks back. Tough talk won’t stop Il, just like it hasn’t stopped anyone else. Maybe if the Navy parked off the North Korean shores (outside the 12 mile limit, of course) and shook their fists in unison – that might stop them.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Terror War, Usual Suspects
Between Iran and North Korea developing nuclear weapons and the leaders of both of these countries publicly issuing threats against western nations almost weekly I feel we will see some kind of nuclear detonation somewhere in the world from them or from some nutty extremist group in the not too distant future. Salute to all you service personel who are out there every day protecting us and almost every other nation around the world today.
Jonn; you’re forgeting the addition of the strongly worded letter to go with the fist shaking. I mean, they will definitely fold under that kind of pressure, because we all know the no one can withstand the double shot of strongly worded letter AND fist shaking! Whoa, the mere thought of such action makes me fearful!
Maybe we can ask the French Navy to assist us in this manner. They have of late been taking a more aggressive stance than we have.
I don’t think shooting down the last missile test was a viable option. especially considering the missile did exactly what we expected it do, which was splash down in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific. To even consider an intercept, the missile would have had to at least come close to South Korea, Japan, Alaska or Kwajalein. That or we park Aegis platforms all over the Pacific.
NOKO should bear in mind what happened the last time an Asian power harmed the Hawaiian islands in any way. Of course, we had an actual LEADER in the White House in those days.
The inability to check North Korean ships is just another example of the futility of the UN Security Council. The US Navy in order to inspect a North Korean ship must get permission to inspect the ship from the country it is flagged under. If that country refuses they cannot inspect. When the ship lands at port anywhere once again the Navy has to request that the port country inspect the ship, which is meaningless if the North Koreans just port in allied countries like Myanmar, Iran, Syria, etc.
Kim Jong-il likely sent out this ship just to show the world how useless the UN resolutions are and has only given a further green light to other rogue regimes to violate these resolutions at will as well.
Sadly, were it not for NK’s not insignificant conventional forces, a single 688 with a ripple launch of Tomahawks would resolve the issue quite nicely. But given that, and the fact Zerobama couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if Hillary wrote the instructions on the heel, and we’re screwed. How long until he DOES get a missile which can reach the West Coast, boys and girls? Do we react AFTER SF or LA goes up in a pretty orange fireball?