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| Axis of Evil |
| US Pacific chief seeks more troops |
| 2003-02-01 |
| The commander of United States forces in the Pacific has asked for additional troops, aircraft and ships in the event of a US-led war with Iraq, US defence officials said. Admiral Thomas Fargo asked the Pentagon to strengthen the US military presence in the region to deter North Korea from engaging in any "adventure" while a conflict was underway, they said. "The admiral wants to be sure that the North Koreans don't launch any adventure to take advantage of what they might see as preoccupation with Iraq," said one of the unnamed officials. "We're feeling a little naked out here, and we don't like that." Tensions between North Korea and the US have risen markedly in recent months after Washington reported the Stalinist state had announced its withdrawal from a 1994 pact on nuclear non-proliferation. I think the BBC is learning. They actually describe North Korea as a Stalist state! Must be a cub reporter. On Friday Washington again expressed concern that North Korea was engaged in a secret nuclear weapons programme after reports that US spy satellites had detected lorries taking on cargo at the Yongbyon nuclear power plant. Admiral Fargo, who is based in Hawaii, is said to have urged Washington to beef up his forces in response to possible plans to move the USS Kitty Hawk to the Persian Gulf in the event of an attack on Iraq. The aircraft carrier is currently based in Yokosuka, Japan. Personally, I think we need to keep one carrier battle group somewhere close to Korea. According to reports from Reuters news agency Admiral Fargo, who oversees all US military in Asia and the Pacific Rim, had asked for B-1 and B-52 bombers as well as extra troops. Not a bad idea, if we can spare them. And have CNN run a few stories on our guys moving into position, just to make sure the NKors know we're not screwing around. "He feels it would be a prudent step," one defence official said of Admiral Fargo's decision. Yep. So far Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is reported to have not yet made a decision on whether to supply the extra troops. The US already has 37,000 troops based in South Korea. I'd feel better about all this if I knew the quality of the ROK forces. Anybody out there know? |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 Asking those here who might know better, but wouldn't the Aegis platforms we've been doing our ABM intercepts with be a better answer, parked between NKor and Japan? Seoul seems to be a lost cause to NK artillery the minute it hits the fan... I thought the SKors even admitted that in their defense strategy planning? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-02-01 15:23:32 |
| #4 Don't we have a few ships to spare based in Puerto Rico? It's getting time to reshuffle the deck. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-01 14:32:11 |
| #3 Don't know much about training and weapons, but I do know character - the South Koreans are tough - a very aggressive people to begin with, they are quick to anger and don't give up grudges easily. The North Koreans would rather defect than fight. If North Korea doesn't use nuclear weapons, South Korea would whip them. |
| Posted by: paj 2003-02-01 09:54:14 |
| #2 Actually, NKor announced their departure from the NPT themselves: the BBC wording again tries to throw the blame on the US. A lot can happen to a military in 29 years: See what Clinton did in 8, or Jimmy Carter in 4. However, the SKors began to hum Kumbaya to the NKors with real fervor in the last few years, so I don't think they went downhill too far, if they went downhill at all. I've read someplace that the whole of South Korea is one massive series of fortifications. There are many stretches of highway convertable to airstrips. I don't think you need a carrier, whose main strength is being a floating airstrip. Just a lot of forward deployed aircraft. Despite all the lovey-dovey talk, the SKors have proposed moving the capital further south: Being able to see the DMZ from a penthouse suite in Seoul means the DMZ is too damn close. (The DMZ, by the way, is the most heavily mined acreage in the world, so I, for one, am glad we didn't pay any attention to Lady Di and her whining about landmines.) The whole problem in NKor is the fact that they have trouble feeding and heating their people. We've planned an invasion during the Iraqi winter so that our soldiers will be comfortable wearing their NBC gear. Iraq and NKor are both north of the Equator, so NKor's in winter too, which increases their invasion difficulties. By the time the shoutin's done in Iraq, we can fly our jets to NKor/Japan Jigtime to watch the fort when things start warming up and conditions are more favorable for an NKor invasion. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-02-01 08:55:51 |
| #1 In 1974,they where tuff,well trained,and highly disiplined.In Vietnam they greatly feared by the enemy. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-02-01 04:51:35 |