War with Korea?

[Trytostaydead]

Some people are already predictating the possibility of a war with North Korea within a year due to the North Koreans proclamations of reprocessed fuel and nuclear weapons. However, are we seeing any troop movements or deployment of shifting troops to the Pacfic?

A few ships and troops have returned to San Diego and Camp Pendleton from the Gulf and we do have a number of unactivated reservists that were about to be called up for the Gulf but then weren't. 24 bombers were recently stationed at Guam and the state department wants to remove US troops from the DMZ. Wasn't an aircraft carrier stationed up there to play war games as well?

[TrailerParkJawa]

I certainly hope not. A war with Korea would shake the economies of the Pacific Rim. I for one do not want any more economic trouble. Nor do I want moms and dads to get a letter from the gov't telling them their son or daughter is not coming home alive.

I just hope cooler heads prevail and that the NK's dont go ballistic, pardon the pun if you would.

[MKSheppard]

We were about to go to war with them in 1994 before we bought them
off at the last minute

interestingly enough, I'm playing a wargame called Korea '85 right now

[Joe]

Uh, US troops along the armistice line are being pulled out. A war with North Korea does not seem to be a likely possibility within the near future. It can be handled diplomatically (hopefully), and in any case the presence of China will keep NK from misbehaving too badly.

This belongs in N&P.

[Trytostaydead]

And what about Liberia? The ONE country that WANTS U.S. Troops we're hesitant or don't really care to send troops in to stabilize a condition probably just as worse or far worse than Iraqis had to live under.

[Joe]

The U.S. has no interests in Liberia. We'll probably end up going, anyway.

[Trytostaydead]

The U.S. has no interests in Liberia. We'll probably end up going, anyway.

Eh, well we do have a vested historical interest/relationship with it.

[Joe]

Sunk costs, my friend, sunk costs. Not relevant to the future.

[TrailerParkJawa]

We were about to go to war with them in 1994 before we bought them
off at the last minute

interestingly enough, I'm playing a wargame called Korea '85 right now

Isnt that an old DOS SSI title?

[MKSheppard]

Isnt that an old DOS SSI title?

Nope

Just was released this month:

Korea '85 Main page

[Uraniun235]

I hope we don't go into N. Korea; that would be a godawful bloodbath. Yeah, the economies would probably be shaking after Seoul took a few bombs.

[MKSheppard]

I hope we don't go into N. Korea; that would be a godawful bloodbath. Yeah, the economies would probably be shaking after Seoul took a few bombs.

You're joking. Seoul would be a smoking shattered city full of rubble
within the first hour - 30,000 Norht Korean artillery pieces are within
range of it

[Trytostaydead]

Ack! All those pretty girls obliterated!!

I think it's biological, one reason men would go marching off to battle is for no better reason then the horrors of imaging a pretty girl being ripped to shreds by bullets and bombs.

[MKSheppard]

I think it's biological, one reason men would go marching off to battle is for no better reason then the horrors of imaging a pretty girl being ripped to shreds by bullets and bombs.

It's RayCav! Quick, Hide!

[Trytostaydead]

It's RayCav! Quick, Hide!

RayCav?

[Howedar]

Don't ask. Seriously, don't fucking ask.

[jegs2]

Some people are already predictating the possibility of a war with North Korea within a year due to the North Koreans proclamations of reprocessed fuel and nuclear weapons. However, are we seeing any troop movements or deployment of shifting troops to the Pacfic?

Don't see a war developing with North Korea, unless they invade south. Second Infantry Division is relocating south of the Han River in order to allow the ROK army to defend its own hostile border.

A few ships and troops have returned to San Diego and Camp Pendleton from the Gulf and we do have a number of unactivated reservists that were about to be called up for the Gulf but then weren't. 24 bombers were recently stationed at Guam and the state department wants to remove US troops from the DMZ. Wasn't an aircraft carrier stationed up there to play war games as well?

North Korea's saber-rattling is often answered by US saber-rattling, but nothing comes of it but more rants and raves from Pyonyang...

[Stravo]

What's oddly disturbing is we have some low level people parrotting the reasons we went into Iraq. The NK's have nukes, they'll give them to a terrorist organization and they'll set one off in an American city. As a NYer I am terrified of this prospect, after 9/11 I have had several very fucking vivid nightmares of this happening.

BUT I just don't have the same feeling of threat from NK that I did from Iraq. I can see that scenario playing out with Iraq, I just don;t see it with the NK's. Its just weird, because teh murmurs began the same way about Iraq and I'm wondering if the Administration is testing the waters for any kind of action against NK. The weird part is this mumbling is coming from a former CLINTON defense official.

I definately believe that NK is going to be the next major trouble spot unless the drums of war in Iran start beating loudly.

[jegs2]

BUT I just don't have the same feeling of threat from NK that I did from Iraq. I can see that scenario playing out with Iraq, I just don;t see it with the NK's. Its just weird, because teh murmurs began the same way about Iraq and I'm wondering if the Administration is testing the waters for any kind of action against NK. The weird part is this mumbling is coming from a former CLINTON defense official.

I definately believe that NK is going to be the next major trouble spot unless the drums of war in Iran start beating loudly.

Let us certainly hope not. We've not the forces available to counter the Armies that the Imnun Gun would hurl at us and the ROK army. They'd be no Iraq -- they're much better armed. I believe the ROK army could hold their own against a North Korean invasion, but the Imnun Gun would splatter Seoul and everything north of it with chemical weapons and HE artillery, not to mention what the North Korean SOF already in South Korea would do to stir up trouble. IMO, that's a hornets nest we don't need to go poking just yet...

[Trytostaydead]

You know what the scary thing is.. the sound of inevitability.

[Mr. B]

With the paranoid nutcases that are running that hole in the gutter country anything is possible. Jong-Il could believe that his country is doomed and rather than let his state crumble hed gamble on invasion. of course he would probably do this from the safety of some remote island holdhout, just in case he loses.

At least Saddam was predictable.

[Sea Skimmer]

Some people are already predictating the possibility of a war with North Korea within a year due to the North Koreans proclamations of reprocessed fuel and nuclear weapons. However, are we seeing any troop movements or deployment of shifting troops to the Pacfic?

No, and there's no point to doing so. The only way the North can inflict major damage is via WMD attack, they don’t have the food or fuel for a ground invasion of any strength, especially since the US cut off all aid. The heavy bombers and B-83/61 nuclear bombs that would make up the counter strike are quite able to fly from the continental US.

[Col. Crackpot]

What's oddly disturbing is we have some low level people parrotting the reasons we went into Iraq. The NK's have nukes, they'll give them to a terrorist organization and they'll set one off in an American city. As a NYer I am terrified of this prospect, after 9/11 I have had several very fucking vivid nightmares of this happening.

BUT I just don't have the same feeling of threat from NK that I did from Iraq. I can see that scenario playing out with Iraq, I just don;t see it with the NK's. Its just weird, because teh murmurs began the same way about Iraq and I'm wondering if the Administration is testing the waters for any kind of action against NK. The weird part is this mumbling is coming from a former CLINTON defense official.

I definately believe that NK is going to be the next major trouble spot unless the drums of war in Iran start beating loudly.

Clinton actually had Pentagon war planners draw up plans for heavy air attacks on suspected and known North Korean WMD sites way back in '94.

[Vympel]

You're joking. Seoul would be a smoking shattered city full of rubble
within the first hour - 30,000 Norht Korean artillery pieces are within
range of it

You're the *last* person I'd expect to spout such a myth, Shep. Shame on you. A small percentage of the largest calibre guns and multiple rocket launch systems have the range to hit Seoul- the rest don't- not to mention North Korea's SRBM forces should be more worrisome than it's artillery pieces. If anything, I suspect those fancy bunkers they North Koreans have built to protect their big guns would be knocked out in short order at the start of a conflict. They have no respectable air defense to speak of- far worse than Iraq's both in terms of C3I and 'sharp end' weaponry. AA guns? Please.

[Axis Kast]

The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, Vympel, is the most heavily defended country in the world, per-capita. There are tens of thousands of antiaircraft guns located throughout the Communist stronghold. We’re talking about a nation with the capability to literally pepper the sky with overlapping fields of fire during any potential conflict. High-level bombing might work, but close ground support is “iffy” at best; certainly more dangerous than in Iraq.

To move on the topic at hand, open war on the Korean peninsular is distinctly unlikely. Kim Jong-Il might have a certain unfortunate flair for theatrics, though he’s not quite the delusional madman we saw in Saddam Hussein. In fact, if we’re going to apply the “dictators love power” argument to any situation, it works far better with higher-ups in Pyongyang than it ever did in relation to the Baghdad leadership. The man isn’t about to subject himself to suicidal policies and campaigns ultimately doomed for failure under an US/RoK – and very probably a United Nations – boot heel.

North Korea is coming apart at the seams. Especially with the makings of a blockade in place, North Korea is completely at our mercy. Few communications exit the country without first being intercepted by orbiting American aircraft or ships just off-shore. Kim isn’t in any position to coordinate with anybody; even the Chinese are working feverishly to cut him off behind the scenes – they understand, of course, that were he to do anything stupid, the façade of their influence would be utterly destroyed. Aside from the potential that he might sell fissile material through Chinese cartels – unlikely, considering that it’s rather difficult to utilize such material unless you’re a rogue state anyway (and Iraq, the most likely candidate, was just handled) -, there’s not much we should be very worried about. This situation will probably be handled diplomatically within two years’ time – especially as finances in North Korea become increasingly tight and Kim Jong-Il increasingly old and feeble. He cannot hold out long against time; North Korea will return to the fold peacefully - most likely - within another decade.