Alert level raised on North Korea

[Adsos Letter]

Source: BBC

South Korean and US troops have gone on higher alert after North Korea announced it is scrapping the armistice in force on the peninsula.

"Surveillance over the North will be stepped up, with more aircraft and personnel mobilised," Seoul's defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae told AFP news agency. Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton has reaffirmed US commitments to allies Japan and South Korea.

The United Nations Security Council is working on a strong resolution condemning North Korea's actions, including possible punitive measures.

"We're certainly concerned and take any threat seriously, but my sense is they're trying to get renewed attention through sabre-rattling and bluster and threats," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8071175.stm

[drm604]

1. I despair of any solution to the idiocy of North Korea.

I don't think anyone of either party has a clue as to what to do about them.

[Adsos Letter]

2. I should have included this in the "coments" section...

I certainly hope Gates is correct in his estimation, and I expect he will be proven correct; however, I am more concerned about an accidental war at this point: Lots of sabre-rattling, heightened alert levels (common in these situations), combined with whack-a-doodle little dictator (possibly made less rational from his recent stroke), distinct possibility of oncoming rapid destabilization in regards to regime change/transfer of power...

I know, it's an overly-long sentence, and quite possibly poorly reasoned. Still, I worry more about accidental war on the Korean peninsula at this point.

[bushmeister0]

8. The labored downplaying of this whole situation makes me real worried.

I've got the feeling that, despite the cool, calm and collected spin on the whole deal from the administration and the South Koreans, there are all kinds of assets in motion as we speculate. We've got 37,000 some odd troops in harms way (albeit, somewhat less nowadays), it would be criminal not to be preparing for "contingencies." The military is always prepared for contingencies. They're really good at it.

Accidental war is totally a possibility, especially now. No one claims to know what's going on with the leadership over there. Ignorance, in this case, is not so much bliss. It's fear. And fear breeds anger. We're monkeys with bombs, never a good scenario.

And this coming at the same time that the Pakistanis are pushing their fight with their homegrown Talibs beyond the Swat into the Waziristans makes the situation that much worse. Talk about an accidental war erupting somewhere! Especially, since one of the wacko factions over there just went after the ISI in Lahore. It's on, all over the place.

The Chinese have to step up to the plate and bail us out of this clusterfuck. I know they like to hunker down, down there in the middle kingdom, and act like nothing effects them, but they got a special relationship with the North Koreans, one we can't even touch, and they have a lot of money sunk into Pakistan, so they have to get over this idea that they're some sort of isolated island somewhere and start to expend some of their easily gained influence. Either, in the Koreas, or in South Asia.

Common' China! We're broke! Give us a break!

[Hawkowl]

12. Not accidental

I'm more worried by deliberate war instigated by the increasingly unstable "whack-a-doodle" dictator. I think he may have just completely lost it with the latest stroke and may just be seeking to go out in a blaze of glory by taking several million people with him.

At this point, I'm hoping it is just going to be a short war contained to the Korean peninsula.

[pinniped]

3. DEFCON 1

Unplug the WOPR.

[tj2001]

4. Best solution is for South Korea and Japan to go nuclear

for their own self-defense. This will push China to pull the plug on their puppets in North Korea.

[MilesColtrane]

6. I think that's a solution fraught with danger.

South Korea and Japan are already under the nuclear umbrella of the United States.

The more nations with nukes, the more chance of them being used.

It's simply not in China's interests to stop sending aid to South Korea. That won't change if Japan and South Korea break the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

[spin]

5. What would we do if North Korea heads south? (n/t)

[Adsos Letter]

7. My guess would be that since initial casualties among American forces

there could be expected to be high, the US would have no real choice other than to fight it out: immediate draft, and possible use of tactical nukes, would be my guess.

[mikehiggins]

9. I suspect the N. Korean leadership may soon be taking a flight on a small plane.

Seriously, do you think Obama is capable of ordering a foriegn head of state assassinated?

Ummm, yup.

That's the problem with pragmatism. Its pragmatic.

[saigon68]

10. WW III

(Tactical Nukes?)

Don't think the world would look kindly on that scenario

[Hawkowl]

13. Agreed

An immediate draft is unavoidable. We don't have enough personnel now. I think we would lose several thousand casualties in the first couple of days. Tactical nukes might be the only thing that prevents the North Koreans from completely sacking the city of Seoul.

Watching old Zbignew Bresinski last night, I think war may be unavoidable unless, Kim Jong's inner circle takes him out.

[Posteritatis]

11. Avenge the inevitable razing of Seoul, I'd imagine, and rightly so (nt)