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| James Stavridis: An expert's assessment on US options over North Korea |
| 2017-10-07 |
| [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 |
| #2 If the United States does a complete Blockade ( the EXTENSIVE deployment of anti missile units to South Kore and our own territories is wise...a LOT of them ) Get the factories that produce this tech on war production footing. Keep it coming. Get more people trained as fast as possible, deploy them too. Enforce Sanction ruthlessly...if you fook with the Bull we squash your cods . Cruise missiles ( all over the place ) and if we get a fix on the little bastard. ( He has to let it slip sometime ). We kill him so fast he doesn't know he's dead. Then we stealth bomb whatever we like and we eat breakfast and check the maps for more targets. China can squeal but they won't die for North Korea, but they might invade and gobble up a struggling dying neighbor. The UN will piss and stand in it. We will read their note and throw it in the circular file, Iran will take it to heart. No body laughs. Give japan a few hi tech anti missile systems. See if Yamato dash is still around. The Democrats will predictably queer the Troops. But then, that is what Democrats are. And we can take notes on who backs out among the Republicans. Put them on the Fairy Boy Roster at Vote time. Something else predictable. The American People will back the war for all of about ten minutes.... so make it fast. |
| Posted by: Glaviling Glomoth1291 2017-10-07 09:37 |
| #1 I'm thinking bugs, the virulent ones, might be the quietest way to take out N. Korea. Unfortunately there might be some collateral damage. |
| Posted by: texhooey 2017-10-07 00:28 |