Korea

Now that it is plain that North Korea is responsible for sinking a South Korean warship, what's next?

The Korean War is technically live, a fact that many have forgotten or simply do not realize. And we have over 28,000 troops stationed on the peninsula. Any aggressive action there by either side necessarily involves us.

North Korea denies any fault for the sinking of the naval vessel Cheonan. That much should have been expected. But what kind of retaliation can there be without reigniting the ages old conflict? Clearly the North is attempting to provoke a reaction. But why, and to what end?

We should be prepared for war. Hopefully some kind of international accord can come from this short of fighting, but South Korea cannot be expected to wait forever for concessions from Pyongyang. Wars have started for much less than this in world history. An armed response from Seoul cannot be called wrong after this.

Time will tell, and we should pray that it is merciful.

The Next Hot Spot?

A friend of mine, a career soldier in military intelligence, told me years ago as the Soviet Empire fell that the next major theater which concerned the Army the most was the Korean peninsula. I was surprised at the assertion. To be sure, it made sense on several levels, not the least which is that the Korean War was (and is) still technically a live war. We merely signed an armistice in June 1953, an agreement to stop fighting. The North and South have been in eternal negotiations since, with varying degrees of clamor.

Nevertheless, surely the Middle East or the threat of China (we must not, even now, discount their leadership's resolve to stay in power by keeping their people under Beijing's thumb), or even potential instability in former SSRs who may have inherented old nukes, loomed more ominous. Yet as recent times have brought us the saber rattling of Kim Jong-il, it is time that the public took a greater interest in the affairs of East Asia. Particularly as Japanese intelligence has reported that North Korea intends to fire a missile towards Hawaii within the next few weeks.

It is widely accepted that their missiles do not have the capacity to reach the Hawaiian Islands. Yet the Department of Defense has wisely set up an increased defensive capability around the Fiftieth State, and the fact that we are on alert about an act which is in defiance of overwhelming world opinion (even Russia and China have recently warned the government of Pyongyang to back down) hopefully means that we are interpreting things with the right amount of gravity.

In the meantime we need to be preparing the right, measured response to the missile should it actually be fired towards us. I would say shoot it down, of course, if it even appears to be heading towards any US territory. Beyond that, it may soon be time to tell the world that if she doesn't act to stem the increasingly insane and ill considered actions of an increasingly rogue nation, then we will.

Yes, I mean that it may be time to consider going it alone against Mr. Kim Jong-il, bringing along as many allies as we can but nevertheless doing what we must in the interest of our security and regional stability. Some folks may say that it is foolish to think that North Korea would actually do anything so brazen, especially with a US military presence already immediately south of them. Some may even assert that time is on our side and thus advise caution, as most analysts believe that Pyongyang is at least 3 - 5 years from threatening our west coast. We must remind them that firing a missile towards us must be interpreted as provocation enough to see to our own defense.

President Obama must look to address this issue immediately. Perhaps he might try the Cairo speech on them.