Wanna know why one coutry spreads rumors about having WMD's and gets invaded, while another boasts that they have WMD's and can prove it and then tests delivery systems and hardly gets any consideration by our government?
For all you leftists out there that immediately screamed, "OIL!!!" please sit down and be quiet.
The Korean peninsula is not very big. The North Korean Army outnumbers the South Korean army by a factor of 10:1. The city of Seoul is within artillery range of North Korea. Basically the South Koreans are sitting ducks. Only our military intervention would eventually liberate the southern part of the peninsula, but would never prevent a successful invasion.
Not much has changed since 1950.
I do hope the Seattle Rainiers win the pennant again this year.
7 comments:
I'm going to completely surprise you here, and say that I don't entirely agree with your assessment of South Korea's ability to defend itself.
While it is true that North Korea has a much bigger army, no one should use this as the ultimate measuring stick.
They may very well have a bigger army than good old America. We have a standing army that is well under one million troops at this point. So should we fear North Korea's mighty legions of soldiers?
Oh hell no. The South Korean army has little to fear as well. They are as well-equipped as any military force in the world, save the USA. They have a reputation for military ferocity from Vietnam that simply scares lesser soldiers. The South Korean Tigers were far more feared than American troops.
They also have a booming economy and plenty of food and money along with an ally that can support them like no other in terms of equipment, intelligence and resupply.
In the air it's even worse. While the North flies barely operable Chinese-made Migs from the '50s and '60s, the South flies F-16s and F-15s, state of the art.
The last time a really big third-world army crossed a border into a smaller country it was a disaster. I'm talking about China's failed invasion of Vietnam when they were dueling over control of Laos. The Vietnamese retreated until China's supply lines were overextended, and then they punished the Chinese who soon fled.
The Chinese are a much bigger threat than North Korea, and they couldn't sustain an offensive against an overmatched foe.
The North Koreans have a population of starving people who have dimished in size and strength physically after generations of inadequate nutrition and medicine. It would be like an army of Ethiopians descending on their neighbor. After two days without food, they'd be paralyzed.
I have my doubts that South Korea possesses the will to destroy the North, but no doubt that they have the means.
So I have to conclude that the real reason we invaded Iraq and not North Korea, is oil. The only factor I can't explain is why Iraq and not Iran.
I blame that poor decision on Bush. He's just not the brightest bulb.
The North Korean Army simply won't have to go too far to take over South Korea...they could go further but the ocean will get in teh way. Our ability to beat them back is well-stated in your post but the havoc they will cause on South Korea will be awful...Hyundai made tanks and all (K1A1 is South Korea's main battle tank)
I think the North would eventually lose, and your Illustrate of China's Laosy strategy against Vietnam is a good example of why. You could say that China's war with Vietnam is really their Vietnam. Again, you could say, but probably shouldn't.
I wish we had Superman to deal with the bastards!
LC, you bring up a good point. Which superhero would best be able to deal with North Korea?
The lamest superhero of all is needed here.
Aquaman.
Only Aquaman can stop those mini-submarines that Kim Jong Il is always sending south to spy on Hyundai.
A couple of smacks from a bottledose dolphin should do the trick.
Actually, what we need here is not a full-frontal war machine superhero- what we need is one that can stealthily move in to cut the figurehead from this ego-based tyranny.
After much research through all worthy candidates, I nominate Nightcrawler to do the job. He can teleport himself behind enemy lines directly to Kim Jung Il's Palace, fight off any resistance along the way, and either kill Kim Jung Il on the spot or teleport him back to a US base where we can let the UN do with him what they will. Clearly Superman could do the job as well as any, and symbolically he would serve our purposes best, possibly even lifting Jung Il off in flight to the UN Trials like he did to Adolf Hitler so long ago. That is worth considering if we want a symbolic undertaking- the symbolic drawback of using Nightcrawler is that he is German, not American.
I'm voting for Jimmy Page, former Led Zep and Yardbirds guitarist. I think he's pretty much the perfect one-man assassin. While he is technically not a super-hero (though Grump secretly loves him) his track record shows that he is more than qualified.
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