The covert war to strangle North Korea

The Australian ^ | 07/10/06 | Michael Sheridan

[AKSurprise]

A PROGRAM of clandestine action against nuclear and missile traffic to North Korea and Iran is to be intensified after last week's missile tests by the Pyongyang regime.

Intelligence agencies, navies and air forces from at least 13 nations are quietly co-operating in a secret war against Pyongyang and Tehran.

It has so far involved interceptions of North Korean ships at sea, US agents prowling the waterfronts in Taiwan, multinational naval and air surveillance missions out of Singapore, investigators poring over the books of dubious banks in the former Portuguese colony of Macau and a fleet of planes and ships eavesdropping on the "hermit kingdom" in the waters north of Japan.

Few details filter out from Western officials about the program, which has operated since 2003, or about the American financial sanctions that accompany it. But together they have tightened a noose around Kim Jong-il's bankrupt, hungry nation.

"Diplomacy alone has not worked, military action is not on the table and so you'll see a persistent increase in this kind of pressure," a senior Western official says.

In a telling example of the program's success, two Bush administration officials indicated last year that it had blocked North Korea from obtaining equipment used to make missile propellant.

The US also persuaded China to stop the sale of chemicals to North Korea's nuclear weapons scientists. And a shipload of North Korea-bound precursor chemicals for weapons was seized in Taiwan.

According to US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, the man who originally devised the program, it has made a serious dent in North Korea's revenues from ballistic missile sales. But the success of Bolton's brainchild, the Proliferation Security Initiative, whose stated aim is to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, might also push North Korea into extreme reactions.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Well if it's secret you can bet the New York Times will fill us in on all the details...

[California Patriot]

This is "war"? Sounds like intelligence work to me.
It may be impressive work, and it may even be helpful.
But "war"? Please.

[Graybeard58]

The biggest problem with military options is preventing North Korean retaliation," Saunders says.

He believes half a million artillery shells an hour would be rained on Seoul in the first day of any conflict from North Korean artillery hidden in caves. The North Koreans could fire 200 mobile rocket launchers and launch up to 600 Scud missiles.

American and South Korean casualties, excluding civilians, are projected at between 300,000 and 500,000 in the first 90 days of war.

[unfortunately a bluestater]

frightening

[California Patriot]

We can thank good old Harry Truman for this. It is a painful reminder of Douglas MacArthur's insistence that "in war, there is no substitute for victory."

[wildcatf4f3]

yeah, but bush wants to be the new truman....uh oh

[Atchafalaya]

LOL, I'll log on in the AM to get the skinny.

[bruinbirdman]

Thirteen nations doesn't sound like unilateralism. No bombs, no invasion? Sounds like good diplomacy Thanks Mr. Bolton.

"multinational naval and air surveillance missions out of Singapore"

I always liked Singapore.

yitbos

[Atchafalaya]

LOL, I'll log on in the AM to get the skinny.

[bruinbirdman]

"Well if it's secret you can bet the New York Times will fill us in on all the details..."

It's already 8 hours into tomorrow down under.

yitbos

[nopardons]

bttt

[John Semmens]

North Korea Thwarts US Attack

The government of Kim Jong-Il announced that America's attempted July 4 attack on his country was thwarted when "the supreme mental energy of Kim caused all of the American rockets to explode just hundreds of feet in the
air over their launching pads in cities all across the United States."

The statement went on to say that "as a show of mercy, Kim's psychic powers also caused all of the Nodong and Scud missiles in North Korea's planned retaliatory strike to crash harmlessly into the sea, sparing the Americans
from their justly deserved punishment."

The statement concluded that "Kim's power, wisdom and mercy are unbounded, marking him as the progenitor of a new race of superhumans."

read more...

http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm

[BIGLOOK]

Shhh,,,,,secret war stuff.

[doug from upland]

According to US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, the man who originally devised the program,
=========================================================================

Bolton is already proving he was a brilliant choice by Bush. Keep it up, John. You do have the right temperment, and Hairplugs Biden is dead wrong.

[fish hawk]

I'm sure we have more than one Nuclear sub off the coast of Korea and more close by. I'm sure their longitude and latitude will be posted in the NY Times in the next few days.

[Carolina_Thor]

"yeah, but bush wants to be the new truman....uh oh
"

Yeah? Well who wants to be the new Nagasaki and Hiroshima?

[wildcatf4f3]

very good very good

[Ruth A.]

According to US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, the man who originally devised the program...

Ohmygosh, I feel as though I have two men to love: Mark Steyn and John Bolton. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[The Red Zone]

I don't think this is any altruism out of Singapore. A madman in the Orient is a threat to Singapore as much as to Japan and South Korea.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

He believes half a million artillery shells an hour would be rained on Seoul in the first day of any conflict from North Korean artillery hidden in caves.

That works out to a total of 83,333 shells if you nuke them in the first 10 minutes. Acceptible.

[AmericanChef]

-The US also persuaded China to stop the sale of chemicals to North Korea's nuclear weapons scientists.-

Uh-huh.

[RoadTest]

"a secret war against Pyongyang and Tehra"

Not a secret now, is it?

[Grampa Dave]

I'm really scared that the Short Donged One is exploding our missiles with his mind as our missiles leave their launching pads.

[samadams2000]

Loose lips...

[Napoleon Solo]

Yeah, right. Tell that to the Israeli haters around the world and especially in the UN!!

[Napoleon Solo]

It looks like our good friends the Taiwanese don't know where their bread is buttered.

[reagan_fanatic]

Should be -

-The US also persuaded China to stop re-route in a more clandestine way the sale of chemicals to North Korea's nuclear weapons scientists.

[phillyfanatic]

The noose should be used sooner rather than later. Forget the UN and sanctions. They are both useless against a 5th world nation.

[MinuteGal]

Agents prowling the waterfront.......Macao......Singapore........Sidney Greenstreet dressed all in white and the exotic Anna May Wong whispering behind the beaded curtain hanging on the doorway.......A trembling Peter Lorre watches with heavily-lidded eyes that shift from side to side amidst a haze of opium smoke......John Bolton pulls his fedora down and keeps his hand on the jade-handled revolver in his trench coat pocket as he quietly but confidently enters the dimly-lit den..........

Leni

[AKSurprise]

ROFLMAO