DEVELOPING: S.Korean ship sinking, torpedo by North suspected

Jambalaya, you've been back and didn't separate our posts? You're making me feel how Jones felt..

You tried calling me out on a month-old article, mentioned Hillary Clinton and threw in Iraq to boot. Well, here's what she said:

While in China on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States supports the finding on the Cheonan's sinking.

She urged North Korea on Monday to reveal what it knows about the "act of aggression." She also said the United States' "support for South Korea's defense is unequivocal" and that North Korea should "stop its belligerence and threatening behavior."

"We endorse President Lee's call on North Korea to come forward with the facts regarding this act of aggression and, above all, stop its belligerence and threatening behavior," Clinton said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/05/25/n.korea.threats/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Am I missing something here?

 

It will be 911 times 2356.

 

My feeling is, let the ROKs take care of their own business. The ROKs are pretty bad-ass and technologically far superior to Combover Boy's weaponry.

The problem is, we have about 30,000 U.S. troops stationed on the DMZ and in harm's way, and another 40K in Japan. So we'll be involved if the North decides to go south, no matter what, and I don't see how China doesn't pitch in on the North's side eventually.

I don't want to go into a detailed military assessment of the peninsula, but if the balloon does in fact go up, I expect a faster-paced and equally-bloody repeat of 1950, with China again the X factor. Keeping them on the sideline is the key.

 

Is there a possibility that Kim Jong Il knows he's not going to be walking this earth much longer and wants to force an end to the stalemate between the Koreas?

 

Mh, wasn't calling anyone out, merely pointing out that it hasn't been proven north Korea did it. One piece by the Daily Times said:

SEOUL: Seoul’s foreign minister said Wednesday it was “obvious” North Korea was to blame for the sinking of a South Korean warship and there was enough evidence to take the case to the UN Security Council.

The comments by Yu Myung-Hwan came a day before a multinational investigation team announces its report on the March 26 tragedy, which cost 46 lives after a mystery blast.

Top South Korean officials had previously hinted strongly that the North was involved in the night-time sinking of the 1,200-tonne corvette near the disputed sea border.

But Yu was the first publicly to implicate the communist state, which denies involvement.

Asked by reporters whether the North had sunk the Cheonan, Yu replied: “I think it’s obvious.”

Just something to consider.

 

Thank you for cleaning up that post.

The international team investigating the cause found physical evidence implicating the North, including parts of the torpedo.

Here is something from a BBC piece which includes excerpts from the report issued:

Based on all such relevant facts and classified analysis, we have reached the clear conclusion that ROKS "Cheonan" was sunk as the result of an external underwater explosion caused by a torpedo made in North Korea. The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10130309.stm

A war between North and South would be madness. I don't think anyone in the West wants that. Maybe only the nutjob in the North does.

 

The only logical and damage-minimizing way out of the North Korea dilemma is for China to do the deed and take over. It's very understandable why China is not eager for this solution. But events may force their hand.

 

The problem is that the South can't afford a war. While their military is extremely strong and is highly advanced, the Norks have enough artillery tubes pointed at Seoul to turn it to ashes in no time fast. The North would lose the war itself in a rout, but the cost to the South's burgeoning economy would be awful.