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James Stavridis: An expert's assessment on US options over North Korea
[Asian Review] As the doomsday rhetoric intensifies between two untested and inexperienced leaders in Pyongyang and Washington, the risk of actual combat is rising.At the United Nations, U.S. President Donald Trump shocked most of the U.N. General Assembly by threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea to end the "suicide mission" of its "Rocket Man" leader. North Korea has threatened to create a "sea of fire" in both South Korea and the U.S. On Sept. 23, U.S. B-1 bombers flew close to North Korea's east coast on what the Pentagon said was a mission to demonstrate the military options available to Trump. The U.S. president warned that Kim Jong Un and his foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, "won't be around much longer" if they continue their rhetoric. So what are the military options that the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. military could put in front of the president? FIRST STEPS At the lower end of the spectrum of force, the first set of options would dramatically increase missile defense, both in South Korea and on U.S. territories such as Guam. This would include three elements: greater deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, an anti-ballistic missile system for broad area coverage; more Patriot missile batteries ashore for defense of specific locations; and at-sea Aegis missile defense, which has the best overall kill ratio against incoming targets and extreme flexibility in positioning. Beyond bolstering missile defense, the Pentagon will look at how to implement a full-blown naval blockade. This would reduce outgoing exports, helping choke the North Korean economy, prevent incoming shipments of oil and oil products, and stop exports of North Korean weapons, a source of cash for the regime. Such a blockade would require a couple of dozen smaller surface ships (destroyers, frigates, corvettes), as well as an aircraft carrier for air cover and a large command-and-control ship to run the complex operation. Posted by: Besoeker 2017-10-07 |
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