U.S. to Send Signal to North Koreans in Naval Exercise

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/18/international/18DIPL.html?hp

The Bush administration, while preparing for talks soon with North Korea, is also stepping up military pressure with plans for a joint naval exercise next month to train for interdicting at sea arms and other materials being transported to and from the North.

Administration officials and Asian diplomats said that the exercise would be carried out in the Coral Sea off northeastern Australia in September and that it was officially described as directed at no one country. A principal intention, however, was to send a sharp signal to North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, they said.

The next round of talks with North Korea is planned for Aug. 27 in Beijing, with six nations taking part. The United States has been working with its allies to decide which items to present, from economic benefits to security guarantees, that would be provided if the North Korean government agreed to shut down its program verifiably and irreversibly.

At the same time, the United States has stepped up efforts with Japan, South Korea and nine other nations to interdict ships doing business with North Korea. Last December, Spanish warships stopped a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles to Yemen, but released it after Yemen protested

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. The Kim Family in particular...

and the North Koreans in general, have historically responded positively to shows of force.

Right. :eyes:

[Maple]

2. If everybody would stop 'sending signals'

and just sit down and talk...as the North Koreans have been asking for a year now...we'd all be better off.

[Wwagsthedog]

3. Is Bush readying a first-strike strategy?

Interesting take on how the USA is perceived by the rest of the world:

KUALA LUMPUR On Aug. 6, peace activists from around the world flocked to Hiroshima to remember those who died when the first atomic bomb was dropped there 58 years ago. More subdued ceremonies marked the anniversary of the second and, we all hope, last use of nuclear weapons in anger three days later in Nagasaki.
.
Sandwiched between these two dates was a "secret" conference in Omaha, Nebraska, where senior Defense Department officials reportedly met with nuclear weapons specialists to discuss ways of upgrading America's aging nuclear arsenal. The Pentagon's timing of this event will reinforce the impression around the world of U.S. callousness toward the views and feelings of others.
.
Washington sees itself as a leading proponent of nuclear nonproliferation. Its current standoff with North Korea is aimed primarily at stemming the development and potential use or export of weapons of mass destruction. Along with the international community in general, Washington demands that Pyongyang honor its commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
.
Yet Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima says that the treaty is "on the verge of collapse," and not because of North Korean actions. "The chief cause is U.S. nuclear policy," he says.

More...........

http://www.iht.com/articles/106676.html

[gp]

4. 9th september deadline

Many wondered what kind of pandemonium awaits us in september when lil' shrimp returns from his crawford ranch...after all the months of september have been particularly bad under lil' shrimp...

well couple the story above with this one, and you might have a suitable candidate for an answer...

[ewagner]

5. I think it's worse than that

Does anybody remember a thread up here about a month ago that talked about a set of operations designed by DOD to deliberately provoke North Korea? I thought it was strictly tin-foil hat stuff but now i'm not so sure.

[hedda_foil]

6. Yes, I remember it but don't have it bookmarked.

It wasn't tinfoil though. It was a mainstream article ... NYT or WP ... and scary as hell.

[ewagner]

7. Glad you remembered

Now I'm sorry I didn't bookmark it.

If something does go down with NK, it would be a fully documented MIHOP

[BiggJawn]

8. Blinker Light or Flag Hoist?

Or Semaphore?