Uhmm, What's up with Korea?

[cube_rat]

Launched 3 missiles today after the space shuttle took off.

 

[laurence]

Thank God they missed!

Their leader is a megalomaniac, dunno if anyone can tell you what's up...

 

[cube_rat]

I keep hearing the missles were pointed at Japan. Also there was an inter-continental (?) one that could've landed here.

 

[73ss454]

After some carefull thought I figure the nutty leader of N. Korea must be wishing us a happy 4th of July.

All kidding aside some day these rogue nations will get the technology they want and things will get real messy.

 

[d]

dunno if anyone can tell you what's up...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Crappy little country thats about as low on the economic scale as you can go. Most of the people there are starving to death.

Their very best bet is to look as scary as possible and then exchange a disarmament treaty with the US for some money and some food.

Keen negotiators. At one point when the US was negotiating with them some decades ago, every time the two groups would leave the room the Koreans had a couple of guys go in and saw off a little bit more of the US negotiators chair legs...

Oh yeah, and their leader is a nut job.

 

[riskadverse]

I think the US position has been to hope that the launch(s) would fail and that would defuse the situation.  While the long range missile did have problems, it will be interesting to see the US response and market reaction.   Hopefully this administration won't be eager to start another war, but I will admit they do have some evidence this time(WMD).   

 

[bpp]

They just want attention. Don't feed the trolls give it to them.

 

[brewer12345]

Crappy little country thats about as low on the economic scale as you can go.  Most of the people there are starving to death.

Their very best bet is to look as scary as possible and then exchange a disarmament treaty with the US for some money and some food.

Keen negotiators.  At one point when the US was negotiating with them some decades ago, every time the two groups would leave the room the Koreans had a couple of guys go in and saw off a little bit more of the US negotiators chair legs...

Oh yeah, and their leader is a nut job.

Sounds about right. The Koreans (north, south, expats) have a reputation for driving extremely hard bargains, and that is exactly what the north has been doing.

The key is China. If the Chinese tell them to simmer down, I suspect we will see the north koreans pipe down pretty quickly...

 

[Eagle43]

Let's try something innovative. Move all troops out of South Korea. Let them deal with it, all by themselves. We've only been there since 1952 or so. Lots of the South Koreans demonstrate against the U.S. ; they call us the ugly American. Let's agree, leave, and take our dollars with us. As to the North and their missiles, Let the (im)potent United Nations deal with it, without U.S. money or assistance. Korea doesn't have any oil, so who cares. Let's sit this one out.

 

[2soon2tell]

CFB

I think you have the Korean's intent nailed.

2soon

 

[Nords]

Let's try something innovative.  Move all troops out of South Korea.  Let them deal with it, all by themselves.  We've only been there since 1952 or so.  Lots of the South Koreans demonstrate against the U.S. ; they call us the ugly American.  Let's agree, leave, and take our dollars with us.  As to the North and their missiles, Let the (im)potent United Nations deal with it, without  U.S. money or assistance. Korea doesn't have any oil, so who cares. Let's sit this one out.

I like it. We could make the same points by substituting the word "Japan" for the words "South Korea".

And a lot of overseas military families would be a lot happier, right, FlowGirl?

 

[brewer12345]

I like it.  We could make the same points by substituting the word "Japan" for the words "South Korea". 

And a lot of overseas military families would be a lot happier, right, FlowGirl?

And then there is "Iraq", "Germany", "The Phillipines", "Kuwait"...

 

[mikew]

China has some sway with N. Korea but it has its limits. The last time there were problems, N. Korea moblized troops towards the Americans in the south and also towards China in the north. They are 100% paranoid.

About US troops in Asia
The US military is gradually reducing the number of troops in South Korea by about one-third - and pulling those that remain well-back from the DMZ. Colonel Madden says, this is not a reduction of US commitment or capabilities, and he doesn't think South Koreans see it that way:

http://www.theworld.org/worldfeature/china/04.shtml

(Japan and the US) hammered out the biggest restructuring in decades of the U.S. military in Japan. The plan will relocate airfields and aircraft and transfer thousands of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/p20060629p2a00m0na038000c.html

But there are other US forces coming into Japan mainly Tokyo.

I have heard it actually costs less to keep troops in Japan than in the US because of the money we get from the Japanese govt.

 

[brewer12345]

I have heard it actually costs less to keep troops in Japan than in the US because of the money we get from the Japanese govt.

It costs even less if you return the troops to the civilian economy...

 

[Cool Dood]

Doesn't the constitution have something or other in it about the federal government not having a standing army?

And for all the concern over how long we're sticking around in Iraq, isn't that a bit misplaced when there have been troops stationed in Germany, Korea, etc., for decades not years?

Anyway... NoKo f'ed up its missile launch There's always something in the world to smile about!

 

[d]

The key is China.

... but China might indeed find it beneficial for North Korea to be a continued pain in the neck for us (and others).

 

[justin]

Doesn't the constitution have something or other in it about the federal government not having a standing army?

Quite the contrary. Article 1, Section 8 of the US constitution specifically enumerates certain powers granted to Congress, such as:

"To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress"

The "but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years" refers to apropriations/spending bills being limited in term to 2 years (not the army).

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yep, the founding fathers wished to, as a nation, largely keep our noses out of other countries businesses to avoid the lure of changing from being a republic to an imperial republic. Militia to provide for the common defense, but no standing army. Then even if you wanted to stick your nose into someone elses business...ya got no army to do it with.

So much for that plan.

 

[retire@40]

Yep, the founding fathers wished to, as a nation, largely keep our noses out of other countries businesses to avoid the lure of changing from being a republic to an imperial republic.  Militia to provide for the common defense, but no standing army.  Then even if you wanted to stick your nose into someone elses business...ya got no army to do it with.

So much for that plan.

Right now, this country would be part of Japan, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union or some other nation if we didn't have a standing army, so if you are correct about what our founding fathers wished, I'm glad that wish didn't come true.

 

[bpp]

I have heard it actually costs less to keep troops in Japan than in the US because of the money we get from the Japanese govt.

I'm of two opinions: As a Japanese taxpayer, I don't appreciate having to pay to base US troops here. As a US citizen, I don't appreciate having my fellow citizens' lives being placed on the line to defend another country. Bring/send the boys and girls back home. Japan has the second most well-equipped military in the world. It should learn how to use it to defend itself.

Koizumi (or his successor) should remove his nose from GWB's gluteal cleft and develop the backbone to deal with problems independently. This would also force him to develop the skills and humility to deal with Japan's Asian neighbors diplomatically.

And another thing -- why is Japan paying a big chunk for the relocation to Guam?

Oops, time for coffee...

 

[samclem]

. . . Japan has the second-largest military in the world. . .

?? by what measure ?? They have beefy military expenditures (by some accounts, second highest in the world), but this does not translate into commensurate combat capability. There's a lot of stuff in ther defense budget that is not related their own combat capablity (we have a similar situation in the US, but it's much more pronounced in Japan)

 

[bpp]

?? by what measure ?? They have beefy military expenditures (by some accounts, second highest in the world), but this does not translate into commensurate combat capability.

Which is why I had changed my comment to read "well-equipped," but you caught me before I fixed it apparently.

Yes, they don't have the most effective force from what I've heard from US military folks who have trained with them. But with all the expensive hardware they have (like Aegis ships), they should learn how to use it effectively and stop hiding behind Uncle Sam's coattails.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Right now, this country would be part of Japan, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union or some other nation if we didn't have a standing army, so if you are correct about what our founding fathers wished, I'm glad that wish didn't come true.

Aside from their being absolutely no certain evidence of any of this, I wasnt debating the benefits or downsides of this particular ignorance of our constitution. At the time it was written, it made sense. In the 20th/21st century, perhaps not.

Perhaps Germany would have ended up being satisfied with their conquest of europe and found they had their hands full with the Russians and the two of them would have burned each other out. Perhaps without the US to compete with, the USSR would have spent time and money trying to feed their people instead of building nukes.

Ya never know.

 

[Lancelot]

Prior to WWII, the US "standing Army" was pretty small. But we still did ok up against Japan and Germany.

With nukes and the mobility of our armed forces, just how important are foreign bases anyway?

Lance