Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com & Agence France-Presse & The Times of Israel – 2017-07-10 21:34:58
South Korea: Bombers ‘Sternly Respond’ to North Korea
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(July 9, 2017) — Early last week, North Korea successfully tested an ICBM, their first success ever. This was responded to immediately by a few US missile launches in the area as a “show of force,” and a solid week of threats. Over the weekend, the US dropped some bombs in what is also being called a “show of force.”
The US B-1B Lancer bombers flew from Guam to a South Korean bombing range, dropping some bunker buster bombs before they left. The South Korean military said this was a “stern response” to North Korea, simulating the destruction of North Korean missile launchers.
North Korea was quick to criticize the move as a “dangerous military provocation,” saying it risked bring the possibility of a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula to “a tipping point.” They added that any small error could start a nuclear exchange
With US officials having been nearly unanimous in the last week in bragging about how their military is “ready” for a war with North Korea at any moment, such exercises so close to the Korean DMZ are indeed risky in that regard, as North Korea may interpret such a “show of force” as actually the start of a US sneak attack, and start retaliating before the US first strike damages their capacity to respond.
Trump Threatens North Korea With ‘Pretty Severe Things’
Says ‘Something Will Have to Be Done’ About North Korea
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(July 6, 2017) — Visiting Warsaw as part of a series of meetings in Europe this week, President Trump did nothing to dispel fears he is about to start a major war in eastern Asia by attacking North Korea, reiterating today that “something will have to be done” about North Korea’s “very, very bad behavior.”
As usual, Trump offered no details on what that would be, beyond saying that he is considering “some pretty severe things” he could do to North Korea. Last week, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster confirmed all options presented to Trump on North Korea involved attacking them militarily.
From the start of the annual military exercise with South Korea to the deployment of an “armada” of warships off the Korean coast, President Trump has been talking up the idea that the US might unilaterally attack North Korea, despite warnings from the major powers in the region it would have disastrous results.
North Korea tested an ICBM earlier this week, their first successful such test, and officials are now suggesting that the US attack could be imminent, with the top US commander in Korea declaring the lack of attacks as America’s “choice,” and that the US could change their minds whenever they want to.
Trump’s comments only add to the belief that might be about to happen, as he talks about dealing with North Korea “rapidly,” and takes every opportunity to excoriate the very notion of diplomacy as the failed policy of the past, whittling down America’s policy consideration to several variations on the same theme: a new Korean War.
US Bombers Drill Near Korea DMZ in Show of Force
Exercise aims to ‘sternly respond to series of
North Korea’s ballistic missile launches’
Agence France-Presse & The Times of Israel
SEOUL, South Korea (July 8, 2017) — US bombers carried out a rare live fire drill in South Korea Saturday, flying close to the DMZ in a show of force after Pyongyang’s latest missile test, the South’s defense ministry said.
After the drill, the B-1B Lancers, deployed from the Anderson Air Base in Guam, flew close to the tense and heavily militarized land border with the North before turning back, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The exercise aimed to “sternly respond to the series of North Korea’s ballistic missile launches,” the South’s military said in a statement.
Four US and South Korean jet fighters joined the live fire drill, which was conducted at a range in Yeongwol County, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the inter-Korean border, the military said.
The long-range heavy aircraft each dropped a 2,000-pound (907.1 kilos) laser-guided bunker-busting smart bomb.
The drill simulated the two US bombers destroying enemy ballistic missile batteries and South Korean jets mounting precision strikes against underground enemy command posts, it said.
“Through this drill, the South Korean and US air forces demonstrated strong determination to thoroughly punish the enemy for its provocative acts, and showed off their capability to pulverize enemy command posts,” the statement said.
North Korea on Tuesday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, an apparent game-changer in its confrontation with Washington over its nuclear and missile programmes.
In response, US and South Korean soldiers fired ballistic missiles simultaneously in a drill Wednesday, simulating an attack on the North’s leadership “as a strong message of warning,” the South’s military said at the time.
The US Missile Defense Agency said Friday it would soon test an anti-ballistic missile system in Alaska, days after the North demonstrated its arsenal was capable of striking parts of Alaska with the ICBM test.
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