• March 28, 2024

WWIII? While we’re focusing on Iran, THIS is happening in North Korea

I served on the Korean peninsula in 1995 in the Second Infantry Division. Back then we still had shootings of North Korean Special Ops troops who had infiltrated south. A little over a week ago we reported here about two South Korean Soldiers who were horribly maimed by land mines emplaced by the North on the southern side of the DMZ. And let’s not forget the North Korean artillery shelling of a South Korean island or the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel killing ROK Sailors. And remember, this is the same North Korea with whom Bill Clinton signed a nuclear arms treaty — that didn’t work out very well. And as a result of mounting threats from the Chinese and North Koreans, Japan is seeking to change its constitution from a self-defense military force to a fully capable military.

Therefore, I would surmise that the latest news emanating from the Korean peninsula should not be surprising — after all, it seems that every enemy is emboldened, as our allies are abandoned.

As reported by CNN, “In an escalation of the tense situation in the region, North and South Korea exchanged fire over their heavily fortified border Thursday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. South Korea detected a projectile, assumed to be a small rocket, that was fired toward the western province of Gyeonggi, a Defense Ministry official told CNN.

The South Korean military responded by firing a few dozen shells at the area from which the North Korean projectile was fired, the official said. The Pentagon is monitoring the escalating tension closely, Cmdr. William Urban, a Defense Department spokesman, told CNN’s Brian Todd. The United States believes that North Korea fired a shot at a South Korean loudspeaker, and South Korea responded with 36 artillery shells.

 The U.S. believes North Korea deliberately placed mines in the path of a South Korean patrol in the demilitarized zone between the two countries, sparking the exchanges, the official said. Tensions spiked on the Korean Peninsula after two South Korean soldiers were seriously wounded by landmines on August 4 in the demilitarized zone.”

Here’s just another example of when you take the Pavlovian path of rewarding bad behavior, you simply get more of the same. We’ve sat back and rewarded the Stalinist North Korean regime over the years with economic and food aid in response to their international extortion via belligerence. There must come a time when we look the short chubby boy with the bad haircut in the eye and say, no more.

 President Obama announced a national security strategic decision to “pivot” away from the Middle East and focus more towards the Pacific Tim. The result has been lackluster to say the least. Sure, we now have a battalion-sized element of U.S. Marines in Australia, but otherwise there’s little proof of a dedicated shift.

The Chinese are building manmade islands and emplacing weapons fortifications along a sea lane of commerce route transited by some 35 percent of global commercial shipping. China has also encroached on the Japanese Senkaku Islands as well as the Philippines’ Sacrborough Shoals. Taiwan is concerned because it sees itself more isolated facing a growing Chinese threat and we all know that North Korea is the puppet state of China acting with full blessings. I suppose the best response from the Obama administration is that next year females will enter U.S. Navy SEAL training – yep, that’ll teach China!

There’s no doubt China is responsible for some of the massive cyber attacks the United States has suffered — we should probably ask them for the missing or deleted Hillary Clinton emails.

But here is the disturbing point. U.S. Pacific Command is a geographic area of responsibility that is mostly maritime-oriented, a large ocean mass. Yet, when we evaluate the capability and size of our current U.S. Navy it should cause everyone concern. Our Navy, “A Global Force for Good” currently sits at approximately 283 warships.

We’ve reported here that for the first time since 2007, America will not be able to conduct a relief in place between two CVBGs (Carrier Battle Groups) in the Persian Gulf — in other words, gapping our capability. The Obama administration plans to lower the strength of the Navy down to 230 warships. As a comparative, during the Reagan administration the U.S. Navy had some 575 surface warships. Funny — we now we almost have more Admirals than we have ships. Our Navy is close to 1917 levels. The progressive socialist left may believe the oceans are rising but one thing for certain is the oceans have not shrunk.

We are indeed witnessing a repeat of history. In Europe the world watched the Nazi Germany war machine being built and the devastation unleashed after years of compromise and appeasement. In the Pacific the world watched a Japanese war machine being built based on a superior maritime force. It was a naval force that brought its devastation to the United States on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. And even our dismissal of the global Islamic jihadist enemy early in the 21st century resulted in the horrific attacks of 9-11. Sadly so, there is a new 21st century axis forming, and its actions speak more clearly and louder than the rhetoric of “peace in our time” from our current administration. A strong capable military is not about fighting wars — but rather preventing them by way of deterrence, in other words “peace through strength.” Unfortunately, the current Obama administration is more concerned with females in special operations training, transgendered troops, and social egalitarianism as part of a historical legacy for an exhibit in a presidential library.

History does not remember Chamberlain but rather Churchill — and the latter was severely and viciously attacked by his countrymen who considered him a warmonger. In fact, the only non-American to have a U.S. naval vessel named after him is Sir Winston Churchill. Something tells me there may never be a USS Barack Obama – unless it’s a tugboat.

Found at Allen B. West 

 

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