Did Obama's 'oops' stir up North Korea? -- WND, F. Michael Maloof

[bsteadman]

Did Obama's 'oops' stir up North Korea?

Sources: U.S. didn't anticipate response to U.S. military display

WND
F. Michael Maloof
4/4/2013

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration may be working with China to come up with a face-saving solution that would allow North Korea’s young dictator to back down from the brink of war, where he has brought the Korean Peninsula and United States.

While the Obama administration believes North Korea is engaging mostly in bluster with its threats and warnings of war, sources close to the administration say officials may have miscalculated Pyongyang’s reaction in the recent American demonstration of force – the flight from the continental U.S. of two stealth B-2 nuclear bombers.

The tensions started rising along with the implementation of United Nations sanctions recently. Then came the American show of force in an annual joint U.S.-South Korean military exercise.

The B-2 flights, especially because they can carry nuclear weaponry, immediately caused North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, to claim the United States intended through this exercise to launch a nuclear war on North Korea.

Analysts believe the administration may be reevaluating its approach, and a change in strategy would defuse the confrontation.

Such behind-the-scenes activities come as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to make visits next week to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. Sources say Kerry is opposed to any sanctions, or making existing sanctions even more stringent.

North Korea apparently reacted with bellicose rhetoric that caught the Obama administration off guard, sources say.

The sanctions against North Korea have earned wide approval – even from China, which is supposed to be the Hermit Kingdom’s closest friend. Sources say this represented months of frustration by China trying to get North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear weapons testing.

Sources add Kim Jong-un is going against the tradition of his father, Kim Jong-il, and his father before him, Kim Il-sung – the father of North Korea – to work closely with Beijing

Yet, China appears to be caught between the proverbial rock and hard place when it comes to dealing with the 28-year-old North Korean supreme leader. It must continue to provide the poor country with fuel and food and remains very concerned with the potential for millions of North Korean refugees flooding into China in the event hostilities break out.

At the same time, Beijing has a security agreement with Pyongyang to come to its assistance in event it is attacked.

At this point, China has counseled all sides in the dispute to return to the six-party talks which North Korea had abandoned, realizing its former leverage over Pyongyang is limited

The latest confrontation on the Korean Peninsula began when the U.N. Security Council recently voted to increase sanctions against North Korea for its illegal missile and nuclear tests.
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View the complete article at:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/did-obama...p-north-korea/

[bsteadman]

Free Republic is running a thread titled, 'Report: U.S. backing off shows of force against North Korea for fear of what Kim might do (O Blinks)', which was started 4/4/2013 by 'SeekAndFind'

The thread references a 4/4/2013 Hotair article written by AllahPundit - http://hotair.com/archives/2013/04/0...-kim-might-do/

View the complete Free Republic thread at:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3004096/posts


This isn't merely a failure of nerve, it's a failure of intelligence and a failure to keep operational secrets. The White House had a "playbook," agreed to by O, Hagel, and John Kerry, on how to rattle its saber at North Korea during the next crisis without rattling it so much that NK would get spooked and do something rash. E.g., first comes some B-52 flights over South Korea, then the B-2s make a cameo, then the F-22s, and so forth. Problem one: Kim's gone further in his bellicosity than U.S. analysts expected and now they’re unsure if they know where his personal red line is. Problem two: The deployment of two destroyers last weekend to the Pacific wasn’t part of the “playbook” and wasn’t supposed to be publicized. That was a bona fide strategic move, not a show of muscle-flexing designed for North Korean and international consumption. But then the news leaked and the Navy confirmed it, which turned the deployment into an inadvertent, potentially war-sparking audible.

One screw-up on top of another, so now it’s time to cool things off before someone gets nuked.

Officials said publicizing the destroyers risked ratcheting up tensions with the North more than the White House had intended. Likewise, they said, White House officials became upset because the disclosure wasn’t in keeping with the orchestrated rollout it had sought to control.

The White House has put the next steps in the playbook on hold while it assesses the North’s posture, officials say, though the administration hasn’t ruled out future shows of force. On Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said the U.S. wanted to lower the “temperature” on the peninsula…

[W]ithin the administration, some officials voiced concern about unintended consequences of provoking North Korea [by following an escalation "playbook"]. Some of these officials questioned the faith the White House and Pentagon placed in the intelligence agencies, which have a mixed record of predicting North Korean behavior.

However, few objections were raised at the highest levels during the meetings, according to participants—unlike in other Obama administration deliberations about using military force abroad, including Libya, Northwest Africa and Syria, that have been marked by protracted debates. President Barack Obama gave the green light to proceed with the playbook, these people said.

The unspoken risk: What’s the effect on Kim’s already unpredictable behavior now that he knows the U.S. is willing to tear up its “playbook” for fear of pushing him too far? Does that encourage him to be bolder? Or is this Journal story the White House’s way of making it easier for him to climb down? The WSJ’s sources are “U.S. officials” — important ones too, if they’re privy to what went on during meetings “at the highest levels.” Could be that Obama wanted this leaked as an olive branch to NK: The U.S. will eat shinola publicly for having been a little too aggressive towards Kim, whereupon Kim can declare moral victory and step back from the brink with South Korea. It’s a way to let him save face while retreating. “Look how the Americans tremble!” We’ll see if North Korea’s propaganda mill has any fun with it today. They sure have been having fun lately.

Exit question: How long before China instigates a coup to put someone in the North Korean military who’s more predictable in charge?

[bsteadman]

Photo - U.S.S. Barack Obama

After some remodeling

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-...sts?page=97#97

[bsteadman]

Is THIS real reason Obama's confronting North Korea?

Pivoting toward Asia as China eyes 'new economic world order'

WND
Aaron Klein
4/4/2013

Excerpt:

JERUSALEM – Is the Obama administration’s military build up in the Pacific part of the president’s so-called pivot-toward-Asia strategy, a move that could demonstrate the biggest shift in world power since World War II?

Specifically, is Washington using the North Korean nuclear standoff as an excuse to shift massive military might to Asia just as China and other powers seek to create a new economic order that would rival the Western-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund?

It is difficult for most seasoned observers to explain why Obama is suddenly responding to North Korean aggression when the White House did little in 2008 when North Korea refused to allow United Nations inspectors into its nuclear plants.

The Obama administration also took little action when North Korea in 2009 carried out at least two nuclear tests, one of which is believed to have been the cause of a magnitude 4.7 seismic event.

The White House did not allow the U.S. military any significant response when in 2010 North Korea torpedoed a South Korean navy ship, killing 46 sailors. North Korea then shelled a South Korean island with little U.S. reaction.

Now, purportedly in response to aggressive action by North Korea’s new leader, the White House is sending to Singapore a new class of warship designed to fight in coastal waters.

The Pentagon also announced that it will deploy a missile defense system to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen regional protection against a possible attack. This after the Obama administration largely canceled a similar defense system intended for Europe.

U.S. warplanes, including fighter jets, U-2 spy planes and an A-10 attack jet, were seen flying in South Korea yesterday as part of a massive joint military exercise.

The U.S. says it stands “poised to respond” at the border of North and South Korea, where American troops are on high alert amid possible further Pentagon build-up in the region.

U.S. military ‘rebalance’

Why is the U.S. now responding to North Korea?

Time magazine says the “U.S. pivot toward Asia – and the potential for confrontation with China – became a little more real this week with the arrival of a new class of warship designed to fight in coastal waters.”

That pivot has been declared by the Obama administration itself – a professed strategy of putting a greater focus on the Asia region.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “made clear the U.S. and the Department of Defense remain committed to the rebalance towards the Asia-Pacific region,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said after a meeting between Hagel and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Hagel told Loong that “in the future there will be even more opportunities for closer collaboration between the US and Singapore,” Little said.

‘New economic world order’

The U.S. military shift comes as the so-called BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – seek to create a monetary system to rival and even surpass the West.

While it received little U.S. media attention, last week at its fifth annual summit the BRICS group unveiled what it said was a new development bank aimed at breaking the monopoly held by Western-backed institutions.

The bank would use $50 billion of seed capital shared equally between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa but would clearly be dominated by China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave support for the bank while India’s trade minister said BRICS will “have a defining influence on the global order of this century.”

“It’s done,” said Pravin Gordhan, South African Finance Minister, last Tuesday, adding that “we made very good progress” on the formation of a World Bank-analogue development agency.
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View the complete article at:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/is-this-w...o-north-korea/

[AMERICAN ADVOCATE]

Why is anyone concerned about North Kraporea ??? They only have 2 or 3 missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead . AMERICA could easily shoot down anything they launch , and then wipe out the whole country .