US deploys B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea

[Dos Equis]

It's not their air force, it's the 20,000 or so artillery pieces in hardened bunkers in range of Seoul that is a problem. 

Definitely a problem and I am concerned about the safety of our men and women stationed near the DMZ.

Although I do think the outcome of any conflict would be something even more devastating than the Six Day War, and definitely faster than the air campaign during Desert Storm. 

BTW, check this out.  Pretty cool:



The Sea-Based X-Band Radar, which many local residents have nicknamed the giant floating golf ball, is again part of the view at Pearl Harbor. It was away during North Korea's failed rocket test last month.

'Golf ball' radar heads out after North Korean attack threats
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 02, 2013
LAST UPDATED: 04:11 a.m. HST, Apr 02, 2013

The towering Sea-Based X-band Radar, a fixture at a Ford Island pier for most of the past year, left Pearl Harbor recently for the second time amid heightened concerns about North Korea's missile program.

Navy Region Hawaii said the 280-foot-tall radar tracking system got under way March 22 "to conduct routine systems checks at sea."

CNN, however, said the Pentagon made the decision to send the SBX and at least one ship to monitor North Korea's moves following that country's recent provocative statements threatening to attack the United States and South Korea.

U.S. officials said a Japa­nese-based U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer capable of shooting down ballistic missiles had been positioned slightly closer to the Korean Peninsula, The Associated Press reported.

The one-of-a-kind, $1 billion SBX is an advanced X-band radar mounted on a mobile, oceangoing, semisubmersible platform.

The Missile Defense Agency, which oversees the SBX as part of the nation's ballistic missile defense system, referred questions Monday to U.S. Northern Command, which couldn't be reached for comment.

Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit group dedicated to a robust ballistic missile defense system, said in an opinion piece Saturday that even with military exercises and a show of support for South Korea and Japan, "there is concern that we are not doing all that we can" to defend South Korea, Hawaii and other Pacific locations from a North Korean nuclear missile first strike.

Among other steps, Ellison recommended deployment of the SBX between Hawaii and North Korea to provide fire control data to U.S. Navy Aegis ballistic missile defense ships and ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that U.S. actions taken in response to North Korea are "prudent" and have not contributed to escalating tensions.

"I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we're hearing from Pyong­yang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilizations and positioning of forces," Carney said.

The phased-array radar inside the SBX's inflatable dome tracks missile paths with 45,000 transmission and receiving elements and is so powerful it could see a baseball flying through the air 2,500 miles away, according to the Missile Defense Agency.

The radar, which has the appearance of a giant golf ball on a six-legged platform, sailed out of Pearl Harbor on March 23, 2012, about three weeks ahead of what ended up being a failed April 13 North Korea rocket test.

The SBX returned to Pearl Harbor in late May. Asked at the time whether the radar ship monitored the North Korean launch, Pam Rogers, who was then a Missile Defense Agency spokes­woman, said, "We can't discuss the nature of the SBX's operations."

The Missile Defense Agency said in February 2012 that it planned to sideline the missile tracker by placing it "in a limited test and contingency operations status" to save $500 million over five years.

The change was detailed as part of the Defense Department's budget request for 2013, which proposed $487 billion in cuts over the next 10 years that are separate from sequester cuts.

[240 is Back]

daily show was funny today....

showed how the B2's flew 6500 miles, dropped dummy bombs 10 miles from the NK border.... then flew 6500 miles back home....  BY LUNCH

[Irongrip400]

daily show was funny today....

showed how the B2's flew 6500 miles, dropped dummy bombs 10 miles from the NK border.... then flew 6500 miles back home....  BY LUNCH

I was thinking about how funny it would be for Stephen Colbert to go and interview Kim Jong, he'd have no idea he was being made fun of.

[Dos Equis]

U.S. General Says North Korea Situation Is 'Volatile' and 'Dangerous'
By MARTHA RADDATZ (@martharaddatz) and LUIS MARTINEZ (@LMartinezABC)
April 2, 2013

Gen. James Thurman, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, said that in his two years on the job he has never seen things as tense as they are right now, telling ABC News the situation on the Korean peninsula as "volatile" and "dangerous."

Thurman said in his exclusive interview with ABC News that his " job is to prevent war," but that his greatest fear is a "miscalculation" that causes "a kinetic provocation." In military parlance, kinetic refers to combat.

Thurman said North Korea's recent rhetoric has made the situation on the Korean peninsula "a dangerous period," but he added, "I think we're managing it quite well because on this side of the line we're very calm. And we're confident."

In an exclusive interview with Martha Raddatz, Gen. James Thurman, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, said he has never seen things as bad as they are now.

Thurman commands the 28,500 American military forces based in South Korea and also serves as the commander of United Nations Command.

The interview was conducted in one of the buildings at Panmunjon along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where South Korean and North Korean military forces face off just steps away from each other.

Thurman believes the "tough talk" from Kim Jong Un, North Korea's young leader, is him "trying to play to his internal audience." However, Thurman said that more importantly Kim is also trying "to intimidate the South Koreans and intimidate the region And we're not going to let that happen."

"I believe they will because we have a right to protect ourselves. And again we're not going to let the North Koreans intimidate us," said Thurman.

Thurman said with the North Korean rhetoric at such a high level his greatest fear is "a miscalculation. An impulsive decision that causes a kinetic provocation."

The general said he has to take North Korea's rhetoric seriously. Asked if he thought they were empty threats Thurman said "No, I don't think that they are. We've got to take every threat seriously."

With so little known about Kim Jong Un, Thurman said he is not sure what his true intentions are :because he's kind of reckless right now with his talk and all that."

North Korea's latest provocation came today when it announced that it was restarting the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon that it had closed down in 2007. The plant could be used to produce additional plutonium for its nuclear weapons program.

While he described North Korea's missiles as their largest threat, Thurman pointed across the DMZ and noted "there's 14,000 tubes of artillery just across this line beyond that far mountain range over there." That artillery poses a direct threat to Seoul, the South Korean capital which is located just 27 miles from the DMZ.

But if North Korea launches an offensive operation against South Korea Thurman said "I think we got to be ready to go."

"We will defend ourselves. We don't want to respond to some type of deceptive move into a rapid escalation into a conflict ... My job is to prevent war."

Thurman said the North Korean ballistic missile threat have the range to potentially hit the United States though "they haven't demonstrated the full capabilities that they can do an intercontinental ballistic missile as far as the delivery... I think they have a long way to go in my assessment."

"I think as we look at the missile portfolio North Korea has, we protect the homeland number one and make sure all our assets are available so we can provide protection if necessary." Thurman would not discuss what those protection options might be though "everything is on the table."

On Monday the U.S. Navy confirmed that it had sent the guided missile destroyer, USS John S McCain, to the waters off of South Korea. The ship carries SM-3 missiles capable of shooting down North Korean ballistic missiles. And today the Pentagon confirmed that an additional destroyer, the USS Decatur, was ordered to remain in the Pacific region.

Thurman explained that the ships' movements, as well as the public acknowledgement that long range American bombers had conducted training missions over South Korea, were about sending a message of deterrence to North Korea.

"Defending the Republic of Korea against aggression is all about deterrence. And I think we've got good deterrence," said Thurman. "I'm confident as the commander here in what we need to do should hostilities break out."

While North Korea's rhetoric has raised tensions Thurman believes the situation will "calm down. I'm confident it will. I'm optimistic about it."

He pointed to the practical reason that North Korea routinely uses its military to work the fields during the farming season "so that they can have a good harvest."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-general-north-korea-situation-volatile-dangerous/story?id=18863864&singlePage=true#.UVxdhBkx0wx

[240 is Back]

if obama caves and bribes NKorea with a million barrels of oil to appease their warmongering, I will be just as loud and critical of him as i was of bush.

I think it's time we spanked NKorea once and for all, why not? 

[OzmO]

Definitely a problem and I am concerned about the safety of our men and women stationed near the DMZ.

Although I do think the outcome of any conflict would be something even more devastating than the Six Day War, and definitely faster than the air campaign during Desert Storm. 

BTW, check this out.  Pretty cool:



The Sea-Based X-Band Radar, which many local residents have nicknamed the giant floating golf ball, is again part of the view at Pearl Harbor. It was away during North Korea's failed rocket test last month.

'Golf ball' radar heads out after North Korean attack threats
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 02, 2013
LAST UPDATED: 04:11 a.m. HST, Apr 02, 2013

The towering Sea-Based X-band Radar, a fixture at a Ford Island pier for most of the past year, left Pearl Harbor recently for the second time amid heightened concerns about North Korea's missile program.

Navy Region Hawaii said the 280-foot-tall radar tracking system got under way March 22 "to conduct routine systems checks at sea."

CNN, however, said the Pentagon made the decision to send the SBX and at least one ship to monitor North Korea's moves following that country's recent provocative statements threatening to attack the United States and South Korea.

U.S. officials said a Japa­nese-based U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer capable of shooting down ballistic missiles had been positioned slightly closer to the Korean Peninsula, The Associated Press reported.

The one-of-a-kind, $1 billion SBX is an advanced X-band radar mounted on a mobile, oceangoing, semisubmersible platform.

The Missile Defense Agency, which oversees the SBX as part of the nation's ballistic missile defense system, referred questions Monday to U.S. Northern Command, which couldn't be reached for comment.

Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a nonprofit group dedicated to a robust ballistic missile defense system, said in an opinion piece Saturday that even with military exercises and a show of support for South Korea and Japan, "there is concern that we are not doing all that we can" to defend South Korea, Hawaii and other Pacific locations from a North Korean nuclear missile first strike.

Among other steps, Ellison recommended deployment of the SBX between Hawaii and North Korea to provide fire control data to U.S. Navy Aegis ballistic missile defense ships and ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that U.S. actions taken in response to North Korea are "prudent" and have not contributed to escalating tensions.

"I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we're hearing from Pyong­yang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilizations and positioning of forces," Carney said.

The phased-array radar inside the SBX's inflatable dome tracks missile paths with 45,000 transmission and receiving elements and is so powerful it could see a baseball flying through the air 2,500 miles away, according to the Missile Defense Agency.

The radar, which has the appearance of a giant golf ball on a six-legged platform, sailed out of Pearl Harbor on March 23, 2012, about three weeks ahead of what ended up being a failed April 13 North Korea rocket test.

The SBX returned to Pearl Harbor in late May. Asked at the time whether the radar ship monitored the North Korean launch, Pam Rogers, who was then a Missile Defense Agency spokes­woman, said, "We can't discuss the nature of the SBX's operations."

The Missile Defense Agency said in February 2012 that it planned to sideline the missile tracker by placing it "in a limited test and contingency operations status" to save $500 million over five years.

The change was detailed as part of the Defense Department's budget request for 2013, which proposed $487 billion in cuts over the next 10 years that are separate from sequester cuts.

I wonder if they finally got those missile defense destroyers working.  I know they weren't doing well in test 7-8 years ago.

[Soul Crusher]

Meanwhile - we have a concert at the WH w Timberfag

[OzmO]

if obama caves and bribes NKorea with a million barrels of oil to appease their warmongering, I will be just as loud and critical of him as i was of bush.

I think it's time we spanked NKorea once and for all, why not? 

If there ever was a "just" reason to save a people from tyranny NK would be it.  Too bad there is no oil there.

I wonder why BUSH and Cheney aren't beating their WMD drum.  

[GigantorX]

I wonder if they finally got those missile defense destroyers working.  I know they weren't doing well in test 7-8 years ago.

From what I've read they have come a long way.

Land based THAAD, especially.

[Skip8282]

If there ever was a "just" reason to save a people from tyranny NK would be it.  Too bad there is no oil there.

I wonder why BUSH and Cheney aren't beating their WMD drum.   

We can't save them.  They're indoctrinated from pre-school and on.  They worship the last 2 leaders as though they were gods.  IMO, no matter what we do, they would hate us for life.

China is the pivotal relationship here and depending on what they want is really how things will go.

[Irongrip400]

We can't save them.  They're indoctrinated from pre-school and on.  They worship the last 2 leaders as though they were gods.  IMO, no matter what we do, they would hate us for life.

China is the pivotal relationship here and depending on what they want is really how things will go.

We changed the German and Japanese views when we stomped them, not so sure these people wouldn't see us as gods if we did the same to them.

[Skip8282]

We changed the German and Japanese views when we stomped them, not so sure these people wouldn't see us as gods if we did the same to them.

I've never heard of Germans and Japanese being indoctrinated with American/Western hate since they were children.

Not to mention that this has been going on for how long now?  With some 60% of the country under 55.  Basically, I would argue that a majority have known nothing but hate for the west since they were born.

[Dos Equis]

US believes North Korea is moving around mobile missile launchers, officials say
Published April 04, 2013
FoxNews.com

US officials tell Fox News that there is intelligence that North Korea is moving around mid-range mobile missile launchers, indicating a possible test launch. The Pentagon is closely watching the situation.

Earlier Thursday, South Korea said North Korea moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast after an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean army warned the U.S. Wednesday that its military has been cleared to wage an attack using "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear" weapons.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin dismissed reports in the Japanese and South Korean media that the missile could be a KN-08, which is believed to be a long-range missile that if operable could hit the United States.

Kim told lawmakers at a hearing that the missile's range is considerable but not far enough to hit the U.S. mainland. He said he did not know the reasons behind the missile movement, saying it "could be for testing or drills."

The range he described could refer to a mobile North Korean missile known as the Musudan, which has a range of 1,800 miles. That would make Japan and South Korea potential targets, but little is known about the missile's accuracy.

. . . .

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/04/04/north-korea-warns-military-cleared-to-wage-nuclear-attack/

[GigantorX]

I wonder if they finally got those missile defense destroyers working.  I know they weren't doing well in test 7-8 years ago.

I did some digging and the land based Patriot PAC-3's have been intercepting IRBM's for years and even maneuvering ballistic missiles.

[OzmO]

I did some digging and the land based Patriot PAC-3's have been intercepting IRBM's for years and even maneuvering ballistic missiles.

that's cool 

[24KT]

Anyone notice a pattern? Anytime headhuntersix says he's going somewhere... trouble shortly follows thereafter

Is headhuntersix some sort of covert spook up to no good? hmmm.... enquiring minds want to know.

[OzmO]

Anyone notice a pattern? Anytime headhuntersix says he's going somewhere... trouble shortly follows thereafter

Is headhuntersix some sort of covert spook up to no good? hmmm.... enquiring minds want to know.

Sounds like a good CT.   

[24KT]

Sounds like a good CT.   

I heard a great definition of a conspiracy theorist from... wait for it... wait for it... Alex Jones.

He describes a Conspiracy theorist as:

"Someone who has finally stopped believing the gov BS and lies that are constantly being fed to the public.

[OzmO]

I heard a great definition of a conspiracy theorist from... wait for it... wait for it... Alex Jones.

He describes a Conspiracy theorist as:

"Someone who has finally stopped believing the gov BS and lies that are constantly being fed to the public.

I heard a great definition of a conspiracy theorist too:  Someone who compromises common sense and reality in order to explain events they don't understand or fear.

And people like Alex feed off of them like a demographic. 

Moon bots
Reptilian Queen of England
JFK
Chem Trails
9/11
Area 51

just to name a few.....

[24KT]

I heard a great definition of a conspiracy theorist too:  Someone who compromises common sense and reality in order to explain events they don't understand or fear.

And people like Alex feed off of them like a demographic. 

Moon bots
Reptilian Queen of England
JFK
Chem Trails
9/11
Area 51

just to name a few.....

That's not a great definition of a conspiracy theorist. A conspiracy theorist is someone who compromises common sense and reality in order to explain events they do not want the public to understand.

An even better definition is: ...wait for it, ...wait for it, ...wait for it, ...OzmO

Yes, OzmO, an individual who will warp & twist facts to subvert the credible, while denigrating those who have the audacity to not swallow illogical government sponsored scenarios that defy the laws of nations, physics and nature.

[Soul Crusher]

 

That's not a great definition of a conspiracy theorist. A conspiracy theorist is someone who compromises common sense and reality in order to explain events they do not want the public to understand.

An even better definition is: ...wait for it, ...wait for it, ...wait for it, ...OzmO

Yes, OzmO, an individual who will warp & twist facts to subvert the credible, while denigrating those who have the audacity to not swallow illogical government sponsored scenarios that defy the laws of nations, physics and nature.

[headhuntersix]

Anyone notice a pattern? Anytime headhuntersix says he's going somewhere... trouble shortly follows thereafter

Is headhuntersix some sort of covert spook up to no good? hmmm.... enquiring minds want to know.

I'm still on PCS leave and my new assignment deals with alot of counter narcotics and civil affairs shit in latin America. Unless shit really gets bad I'll be sitting out things in Korea, atleast at the beginning.

[OzmO]

That's not a great definition of a conspiracy theorist. A conspiracy theorist is someone who compromises common sense and reality in order to explain events they do not want the public to understand.

An even better definition is: ...wait for it, ...wait for it, ...wait for it, ...OzmO

Yes, OzmO, an individual who will warp & twist facts to subvert the credible, while denigrating those who have the audacity to not swallow illogical government sponsored scenarios that defy the laws of nations, physics and nature.

Shit is still shit weather it's wrapped in a tortilla or wrapped in a grape leave.


Forgot to add Birther to the classic definition indicating looney.  

[Soul Crusher]

I'm still on PCS leave and my new assignment deals with alot of counter narcotics and civil affairs shit in latin America. Unless shit really gets bad I'll be sitting out things in Korea, atleast at the beginning.

Things are bad anough in DC with Obama - we need you hear. 

[24KT]

Shit is still shit weather it's wrapped in a tortilla or wrapped in a grape leave.


Forgot to add Birther to the classic definition indicating looney.   

Things are bad anough in DC with Obama - we need you hear. 

I really hate being a spelling Nazi, ...but gee whiz guys. Get it together already.