North Korea--Oh Boy!

What a difference a day can make. Yesterday, I reported that the North Korean detonation of nuclear weapons last weekend was minor news. But today old Kim Jong-Il and his lunatic cabinet have come close to unwrapping Pandora's box.

In just forty-eight hours, North Korea has announced that the Armistice signalling the end of hostilities in the First Korean War is null and void. Then North Korea stated that they could no longer insure the safety of U.S. and South Korean warships near North Korea's western borders. North Korea stated that the U.S. and South Korean protests at the United Nations constituted an act of war and are in fact at war with the United States.

Now before we all start digging shelters in the back yard and start singing "duck and cover" songs to our children, we need to remember that we are still at war with North Korea. We signed an armistice not a peace treaty. So, their posturing must be taken with a grain of salt.

North Korea poses a major problem to the stability in that region. China has already told them to back down. China loves being a world power and does not want to be at war with the United States. The economic results would cripple their economy. Also, the Chinese navy does not stand a chance against the United States Navy. For all of you out there saying, "we can't win in Iraq, so how can we take on Korea?" I want you to remember that the United States Military is a master of conventional warfare. Where we fall short is in unconventional wars.

If we put our fleet into combat in that region, we will suffer losses, but any enemy navy will feel the chill of the cold depths of the Ocean. But we do not want this war. North Korea is one giant military. The people are brainwashed and cutoff from the rest of the world. North Korean leadership has no concern for sacrificing their population in a war. When a nuclear power has no fear of annihilation, then the result will be annihilation. The only way we can stop North Korea from taking the South, if they launch a full military invasion, is through the use of nuclear weapons.

North Korea is playing a deadly game. This may just be a test to see how strongly the Obama administration will react to their behavior. North Korea tried this under President Bush and in the end shutdown their nuclear reactors. Bush is out of office and along with that is President Bush's common sense policy--you attack us and we will destroy you! Most hate the Bush doctrine, but in this world of lunacy it protected us.

If this is not posturing and is the start of some sort of military option, we need to watch the Iranian border. It is presumed that North Korea has assisted Iran in its missile procurement program. North Korea would not stand tall and declare war if they did not have a trump card. That trump card may be an ally in a nuclear armed Iran.

We may face, for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, the potential of United States ground troops being exposed to a nuclear theatre of war. I believe that this entire show is exactly that--it is a test of our current leaders. But if it is not then I suspect that we are in serious trouble.

I suspect that somewhere in the Pentagon, Generals are dusting off old war plans for North Korea and our submarines are running weapons launch drills as we speak. Obama and the world leaders must be prepared to place a boot on Kim's throat in order to solve this problem. I could go on and on about how Japan will step into this mess and China might possibly use the distraction to take Taiwan, but I'll wait and see what happens on the diplomacy front. Until then I'll be busy digging a shelter in the backyard.