From the AP: “’It would not be as clean as we would like it to be, but it would certainly be sure, and the outcome would not be in doubt,’ said Gen. Peter Pace.” Read the rest here.
In an article at the Asia Times, Riddles and enigmas from North Korea, Andrei Lankov speculates on how governments get intelligence from inside North Korea, and lists some of the other valuable sources of information from the country.
- #From Mainichi and via the Chosun Bimbo, "In his first reported appearance following news of his hospitalization, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il lost his temper while watching a college soccer match, denouncing several players' long hair as "disgusting," according to a source close to the North Korean government. The outburst was followed by a nationwide ban on long hair for men." We'll all be watching the next soccer match to see if it's so.
- #Outward Bound, an international non-profit outdoor education program, is offering fully funded (including transportation to/from sites) outdoor adventure excursions to all OEF/OIF veterans. It doesn't matter what your current military status is (active, inactive, discharged, retired) - you're eligible to attend as long as you deployed in support of OEF/OIF combat operations while in the military.
- #Via AFP: “South Korea has lifted an overseas travel ban on Hwang Jang-Yop, the highest-ranking North Korean defector ever to come here and a harsh critic of the Pyongyang regime. . . Hwang, former secretary of the ruling Workers' Party and an ex-tutor of Kim Jong-Il, defected during a trip to Beijing in 1997.” His travel restriction was due to 10 years of pro-North ROK leadership, now over.
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October 24th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
We can beat anyone in the world as long as they fight with the gloves on like we do. Next story.
October 25th, 2006 at 6:21 am
I think we could be anyone, even if they try with gloves off… but I’m probably biased.
October 25th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
does that include vietnam ?
October 25th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Absolutely.
October 25th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
on paper it looks overwhelming. and most likely it is. With powers such as russia and china, it’ll invariably escalate into mutual destruction. the planet earth will nose dive head first into a nuclear winter for god knows how many years.
live and let live.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Unfortunately, however, simply being able to beat another nation is not deterrent enough.
It is what was sometimes called the French nuclear war strategy. There was no doubt that the Soviet Union could annihilate France in a nuclear war, in another word “win,” but the French nuclear capability was such that the latter would have been able to “tear off Russia’s arm” in the process. The calculation presented to the opponent was, “Is losing your arm worth killing me?”
In this day and age, it is no longer sufficient for the US to be able to beat an opponent. Simply put, we have to be able to beat an opponent easily. Otherwise, our enemies know that our resolve for long, difficult wars is often shaky, and that our electorate loathes to get into wars that we can surely win in the end, but at some costs to ourselves.
This “French nuclear war strategy” calculus allows our enemies to push us despite their comparative weakness… up to a point.