TOKYO – More than six decades after U.S. Marines stormed ashore on Okinawa, it may finally be time for them to go home. Japan Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Friday fired his defense minister, in part for missteps and verbal …
Korea
How America Painted Itself Into A Corner on North Korean Succession
Great Washington Post piece on China’s intense desire for stability on Korean peninsula, thus the clear backing of the “Great Successor” Kim Jong Eun. Wrap-up paragraph says it all:
The notion of a democratized Korean Peninsula
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Wipe That Smile Off Your Face, Kim Jong Un…
He’s wearing a $3.5 billion grin because of this contract the Pentagon announced New Year’s Eve eve (click on it to enlarge):
But enough real-world woes. May all Battlelanders have a joyous New Year’s celebration…even if many of you tend to focus more on fiscal new years than the calendar variety, and FYDPs instead of …
The Medal of Honor: 150 Years of Valor
In 1861, Iowa Senator James Grimes proposed a medal to honor the bravery of Navy personnel, which Abraham Lincoln signed into law 150 years ago today, Dec. 21, 1861. That following summer, Lincoln signed authorization for an Army …
Pyongyang’s Proliferation
Kim Jong Il’s death leaves the Korean peninsula and the rest of East Asia in a period of great uncertainty. But one of Kim Jong Il’s most dangerous legacies has security implications well beyond the region: he leaves behind a thriving nuclear weapons export business that must now be stopped.
There has been mounting evidence in …
Iran Drone Drama Collapses into China-NoKo Christmas Comedy
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgzqLyYAvMs&feature=player_embedded]
The wild and crazy guys over at Next Media Animation are poking fun at pretty much everything associated with the fumble of the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone into Iranian hands last week. They suggest it might end up in Chinese hands, and under North Korea’s …
Here’s Looking At You, Kim
In a not-so-subtle full battle-rattle feather-flash toward North Korea, a flock of U.S. F-16s readies for war in full nose-to-tail “elephant walk” mode at South Korea’s Kusan air base. “What we’ve done today is essentially …
Live, From Pyongyang: Good Morning, Beijing!
North Korea’s official propaganda arm will begin broadcasting its positive messages of peace and harmony (except where the U.S. is concerned, of course – check this out) in Chinese December 1. “It will contribute to boosting traditional friendship between the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and China,” the …
Missile Defense: The Sky Continues To Fall…
Many mornings you can hear Boeing boasting over the Washington airwaves about how its ground-based missile system is protecting the United States. From what? There is no nation primed to attack the U.S. with I.C.B.M.s — or even close to it — in any military significant way. Yet we’re spending billions of dollars annually against …
About Those Status-of-Forces Agreements
The U.S. military says it had no choice but to pull out of Iraq by year’s end because Baghdad would not give U.S. troops immunity from local prosecution. U.S. troops overseas almost always are covered by a so-called Status-of-Forces Agreement, which bars local prosecution in favor of giving jurisdiction to the U.S. military and its …
“Is China Getting Ready to Try and Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific?”
Continuing this week on Command Post, our tour of the national-security challenges associated with the Middle Kingdom. John Nagl, of the Center for a New American Security, and I ask if China, beginning to flex its military muscle, is readying to tell the Pentagon: the western Pacific is ours, so scram! We’re joined in the discussion …
How Crazy are North Korea’s Leaders?
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..apparently deranged enough to airlift McDonald’s hamburgers from China to the elite in Pyongyang.
And You Thought Reuniting East and West Germany Was Hard
South Korea is buzzing about plans — including taxes — to pay for the reunification of North and South Korea. Reports the Korea Times:
Despite the lingering tension, President Lee Myung-bak cited the need to map out a blueprint and use taxpayers’ money to prepare for the unification. “It is necessary to use the taxpayers’
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