Military Tracking North Korean Ship Suspected of Proliferating Weapons Material

reply to post by CX


This is nothing new or shocking. The US tracks ships entering/leaving UN sanctioned countries all the time. I did this in the Persian Gulf and is very routine, but of course the media blows this out of proportion. Go figure.

Originally posted by SeaBass
reply to post by CX

 

This is nothing new or shocking. The US tracks ships entering/leaving UN sanctioned countries all the time. I did this in the Persian Gulf and is very routine, but of course the media blows this out of proportion. Go figure.

Apart from two key facts:

1. This may be nuclear weapons materials.
2. We have to try and inspect the cargo somehow, and N.Korea have told us this would be met with war.

Big difference there!

Originally posted by john124

Originally posted by SeaBass
reply to post by CX

 

This is nothing new or shocking. The US tracks ships entering/leaving UN sanctioned countries all the time. I did this in the Persian Gulf and is very routine, but of course the media blows this out of proportion. Go figure.

Apart from two key facts:

1. This may be nuclear weapons materials.
2. We have to try and inspect the cargo somehow, and N.Korea have told us this would be met with war.

Big difference there!

And yes, the big difference is the enforcement of the U.N. sanctions.
Has push come to shove ?

Originally posted by Black_Fox
Korea has gone on record saying any boarding of thier ships,would be considered an act of war.

You know, I didn't want to say it, but I'm going to have to. It's quite obvious and uncouth, and I apologize, but...

Kim Jong the second needs to take that stick out of his butt. I'm sorry, but come on.
And if there is no stick up his but, then it just seems like they're throwing out hook, line, and sinker. The US biting seems inevitable...

Why do these guys WANT to start a big war??? And if we started pummeling eachother, what about the war in Afghanistan?
Not jumping to conclusions over here, but it just seems like this thing with NK is happening with perfect timing... Call me crazy...

Edit to change a K to a G.

[edit on 6/19/2009 by impaired]

I'm going to have to go with fear mongering on this one. Here are my reasons:

1. We're actually hearing about this, if it were really a danger I doubt we would hear much of anything.

2. Simply launching nukes at the US for no reason would gain Kim nothing more than a radioactive glass crater.

3. I doubt NK's larger allies would allow Kim to attack the US in such a way unilaterally

4. As countries like China and Russia threatening to destabilize the dollar it's important that citizens begin to hate and fear them again (but not so much so that they stop buying Chinese products of course)

5. Our missiles are much much much better than anything coming from NK, I mean, we can nuke other planets if we wanted to.

We are hearing about this in the media because so far its just words. Media loves that and reports that all the time. Right now thats all they have to go on. NK hasnt done anything concrete...YET. I imagine we will only hear about that after it happens.

I look at this, I remember Iraq and Saddam. I sway and then sing to myself "Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round..."

This is getting absolutely insane:

Japan warns that North Korea may fire missile at U.S. on Independence Day

North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii on American Independence Day, according to Japanese intelligence officials.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched in early July from the Dongchang-ni site on the north-western coast of the secretive country.

Intelligence analysts do not believe the device would be capable of hitting Hawaii's main islands, which are 4,500 miles from North Korea.

Gates: US puts more missile defense around Hawaii

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has positioned more missile defenses around Hawaii as a precaution against a possible North Korean launch across the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. "We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile to the west in the direction of Hawaii," Gates said.

Gates told reporters at the Pentagon he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could detect and shoot down a North Korean missile if it came to that.

"Without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say ... we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory," Gates said.

Maybe that boat has an actual missile on it and not just material?




[edit on 19/6/2009 by kosmicjack]

Since my thread was deleted from the breaking news forum, I will have to post it here.

Navy Positions Destroyer For Possible Intercept of North Korean Ship Suspected of Proliferating Missiles, Nukes

The USS John McCain, a Navy destroyer, is positioning itself in case it gets orders to intercept the ship Kang Nam as soon as it leaves the vicinity off the coast of China, according to a senior U.S. defense official. The order to inderdict has not been given yet, but the ship is moving into the area.

Will the U.S. intercept the vessel or not?

IMO, Obama does not have the gonads to intercept the North Korean vessel. If by a miracle, Obama does stop the vessel, will North Korea go forward with their threat or is it just a loud bark?

Originally posted by john124

Originally posted by SeaBass
reply to post by CX

 

This is nothing new or shocking. The US tracks ships entering/leaving UN sanctioned countries all the time. I did this in the Persian Gulf and is very routine, but of course the media blows this out of proportion. Go figure.

Apart from two key facts:

1. This may be nuclear weapons materials.
2. We have to try and inspect the cargo somehow, and N.Korea have told us this would be met with war.

Big difference there!

No, not really. The ship being DPRK flagged does present an interesting problem. The whole nuclear weapons thing is hype.

This type of incident has happened before with DPRK. The only reason you know about it is because someone breached OPSEC.

[edit on 21-6-2009 by SeaBass]

reply to post by TheWretched

Truthfully, Kim appears deranged and judging by the bizarre cult of personality that permeats his country, he may be so out of it that he probably does not care how much destruction he wreaks on his own people as long as he A) Is seen as a "player" on the world stage instead of a marginal despot of a third world country and B) Gets the "respect" (read: attention and response) he feels entitled to. He definitely shows traits of a messiah complex if you look at how he has manipulated his public image within his country, those very often are the people who incite slaughter because they think they have a "mission" or a "destiny" to do so. He's old and in failing health by most accounts, he has zero to lose at this point.

I did not know where this would fit best and so am placing it here for more background on N.Korea. Much of this information from the CFR is dated and leads me wonder and ask just how much more prepared are they now than then just a few short years ago? Furthermore is it possible that they could be making such a bold show without backing from other countries?

Well here is a Crisis Guide by the CFR, kind of scary as it is but good to know your enemy if in fact we must become enemies by a preemptive strike. I hate that he places so many innocent people in jeopardy.
www.cfr.org...

Also when looking into the rights N.Korea may or may not have in this situation I found this Wikipedia page helpful but also not exactly clear as to the law once threats are being made as nothing is set in gold if there is a threat to the safety of any given country.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place from 1973 through 1982. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. The Convention, concluded in 1982, replaced four 1958 treaties. UNCLOS came into force in 1994, a year after Guyana became the 60th state to sign the treaty.[1] To date, 158 countries and the European Community have joined in the Convention. However, it is now regarded as a codification of the customary international law on the issue.

We can all presume that because they did not sign the treaties, that they assume that they are free from its limitations and control.

Territorial waters
Out to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Vessels were given the right of "innocent passage" through any territorial waters, with strategic straits allowing the passage of military craft as "transit passage", in that naval vessels are allowed to maintain postures that would be illegal in territorial waters. "Innocent passage" is defined by the convention as passing through waters in an expeditious and continuous manner, which is not “prejudicial to the peace, good order or the security” of the coastal state. Fishing, polluting, weapons practice, and spying are not “innocent", and submarines and other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on the surface and to show their flag. Nations can also temporarily suspend innocent passage in specific areas of their territorial seas, if doing so is essential for the protection of its security.

en.wikipedia.org...



[edit on 23-6-2009 by antar]

reply to post by kosmicjack


Hmm, I live on Guam, and its a lot closer to NK than Hawaii is.. also we have a huge military presence here... wonder if I should be worried that they may change target..

Oh well, not gonna worry myself about it. Its out of my control.