I've written many times that these military maneuvers can lead to no good outcome.
One might remember that, even though North Korea was making very bellicose comments about the maneuvers, they suddenly seemed to back down and went silent.
Well, now we know. It seems that the Chinese and the North Koreans have outflanked the USA (and South Korea and Japan) once again.
It has now been reported that China and North Korea are discussing the deployment of Chinese troops in North Korea for the first time in over 20 years. The report from Press TV:
China and North Korea are reportedly discussing details of a plan allowing Chinese army forces to be deployed in the communist country for the first time in about two decades.
Citing an anonymous official at the presidential Blue House, the South Korean ChosunIlbonewspaper reported on Saturday that the troops “would protect Chinese port facilities” in the Rason special economic zone near the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
“North Korea and China have discussed the issue of stationing a small number of Chinese troops to protect China-invested port facilities,” the unnamed official told the newspaper.
“The presence of Chinese troops is apparently to guard facilities and protect Chinese nationals,” the official added.
US imperialist military fools! Now, do you think you can be whacking the North Korean hornet's nest without getting very severely stung?
The USA must stop antagonizing North Korea!
USA out of Japan. USA out of South Korea. USA out of Asia.
South Korea says it will hold its largest-ever live-fire drill near the military border with North Korea on Thursday, just as tension on the peninsula eases after Pyongyang's attack on a southern island.
The drill, involving artillery, fighter jets and the largest number of personnel in a peace-time exercise, comes after the South's live-fire artillery exercise on Monday on the island of Yeonpyeong and is bound to infuriate the North.
North Korea this week offered to re-admit UN inspectors concerned about its nuclear weapon program, leading to speculation of a resumption of six-party disarmament talks and a general sigh of relief around the world that the crisis had passed.
The news this morning about what is going on over in Korea is not good. The saber's are rattling.
North Korea is accusing the US of goading South Korea into provoking North Korea (and rightly so). I can't believe that South Korea is actually going to go through with military exercises on a contested island, in North Korean waters!
The last time South Korea pulled that stunt, North Korea fired back on them... Of course.
Here is proof that South admitted firing first in the last incident in November of 2010:
Now, anybody with a lick of common sense must be scratching their head and wondering, "Why is South Korea going to do these sorts of live-fire exercises again?"
You know they would never do this without US approval. Think about it for even one second, does anyone think that South Korea would be so belligerent and boisterous if they knew the US wasn't standing right beside them? Why are these people risking a hot war?
PYONGYANG, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday accused the United States of goading South Korea into provoking it, the official news agency KCNA reported.
South Korea's plan to hold firing drills again on Yonphyong Island was an "intolerable tease" and "absolutely unfair bellicose provocation," a spokesman for DPRK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.
The move would lead the situation on the peninsula to an explosion and bring about tragic disasters if it broke the bottom, he said.
The DPRK has sent warnings that provocateurs who infringe on its sovereignty and territory would be punished "firmly and unmercifully." It is not empty talk, the spokesman said.
He pointed out that the United States should be blamed for South Korea's manipulation over the second shelling incident, as it has openly supported the provocation of South Korea and threatened the DPRK over its defense measures, ignoring opposition from neighboring countries and the international community.
The article then goes on to point out that, in upcoming live-fre drills, no matter where South Korea fires, the shells will land in North Korean territory.
South Korean declared Dec. 16 that a live fire artillery drill would be held in waters south-west of Yonphyong Island near the disputed maritime border on a selected day from Dec. 18-21, depending on weather conditions.
The situation on the peninsula has been getting tense since the exchange of artillery fire on Nov. 23 between South Korea and the DPRK, which killed four people.
No matter where the firing was directed, all of the shells would fall into the DPRK's territorial waters, as Yonphyong Island is in the territorial waters of the DPRK, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Nov. 24.
Is there any nation in the world that would tolerate live-fire exercises in their own territory by another country? I think not.
The title reads: Japan Needs to Kick the US Empire Out! Yes. We do. We need to before those meathead militarists get us stuck in another war.
When the shooting started the other week between North and South Korea, one of my best friends seemed to jump the gun and started to blame North Korea's Kim Jung Il. Like most people would.
But I smelled a rat. When you stop and think about it for a second you know that North Korea doesn't want a war with anyone. They can't win, and, if things escalate and get out of hand, they could get blown back to the stone age.
No. The government wonks and Kim Jung Il's family all have it quite nice the way it is, thank you, there's no way they will be rocking the boat unless they are really being pushed. Why in the world would Kim Jung Il and the higher ups in the North Korean government risk their jobs or worse?
Everyone knows what happened to Saddam Hussein.
No, I suspect (I'm sure) the responsibility for this North Korea and South Korea mess lies squarely on the shoulders of the USA.
The USA needs to prop up the failing dollar; a war is good for that.
The USA needs to make a presence near China to stir up tensions; a war in Korea is good for that.
Here is an article that spells it all out pretty well and how the USA and South Korea are, for political and economic purposes, swatting a hornet's nest. It is entitled "Spiralling Out of Control: The Risk of a New Korean War From Global Research:
By the end of December, South Korea plans to hold another round of artillery drills on islands lying in disputed waters, including, dismayingly enough, Yeonpyeong Island. Nothing could be calculated to be more provoking under the circumstances. In preparation for the response to the drills that are expected from North Korea, island defenses are being beefed up. South Korea has added multiple rocket launchers, howitzers, missile systems and advanced precision-guided artillery to the Yeonpyeong arsenal.
Now, today, another piece of the puzzle is reported: Japan needs to pay the USA another $2.2 billion dollars a year for imperial stormtroopers on Japanese soil. From Yahoo News:
Japan's government agreed Tuesday to continue contributing $2.2 billion a year toward the cost of stationing American troops in the country. Under the agreement with the United States, Japan's share will remain at the current 188 billion yen ($2.2 billion) through March 2016. The current pact expires next March. Japan had sought a cut in its payment during months of negotiations on the renewal because of economic woes. But officials agreed on no reduction after tensions on the Korean peninsula and worries over China's growing military might highlighted the U.S. military's role as a deterrent for security threats.
Japan needs a Japanese government who will stand up to the USA and kick the US troops out of this country. There is no benefit to US troops in Japan.
Our Asian neighbors do not negotiate with us as equals as long as US troops are here and the US keeps interfering in the domestic affairs of our neighbors.
As my friend, Andy "in Japan" so succinctly put it:
"How about a small suggestion regarding Korea. Namely, why don't outsiders like the Japanese and American party bosses butt out and let the Koreans deal with this sad situation? It's clear to me that without USA government troops on the ground, peace would have broken out decades ago and the cruel dictatorship in the North would be more easily ended."
Wiser words were never spoken! It should be obvious to anyone who is not asleep at the wheel that the US empire is dying and they will do anything - even start wars - to protect their position. It's what dying empires do.
It's way past time that Japan got back into the family of Asian nations and gets out of the aggressive militarist US empire.
This man is a complete and total buffoon. Japan had colonized Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II in 1945.
It wasn't a friendly colonization, either. Korean young men and women were captured and shipped off to be used as slaves; the Japanese military government of Korea tried to outlaw the Korean language.
There is an entire encyclopedia of the foolish things the Japanese military government of Korea did. Needless to say, there is still a lot of bad blood between the two nations about it.
Let's hope that time and peaceful cooperation will heal these wounds and bring these two nations closer together.
Yes. Let's hope. Let's also hope that Japan gets rid of her idiot politicians, like Naoto Kan, the current Prime Minister who actually is stupid enough to suggest that Japanese troops could be on Korea soil again! What a moron!
South Korean officials on Sunday brushed off as ""unrealistic"" Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's remarks on a possible dispatch of his country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to the Korean Peninsula in case of contingencies. In a meeting Friday with the families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea, Kan was quoted as saying that his government plans to hold talks with South Korea on sending SDF to rescue the abductees in the event of a contingency in the region.
I think the wording of this article and comments by South Korea officials is spun to make them seem nicer than they really are. Most probably when they heard the mere mention of a Japanese Prime Minister even suggesting Japanese troops on Korea soil again, they probably blew their tops.
It seems these remarks caught the South Koreans off guard;
"I don't know in what context Prime Minister Kan's remarks were made," an official at the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, adding that they may not have come after thorough consideration.
Get that last sentence? "They (the comments) may not have come after careful consideration!?" Hee har! Duh! You think so? Kan is a buffoon.
Kim Jong Il would just love for Japanese troops to be running around South Korea. That would be the best thing that ever happened to him. He has always said that South Korea and Japan are US imperialist "tools."
China has warned against military activity near its coastline ahead of U.S.-Korea naval exercises, according toReuters.
China's Foreign Ministry said in an online posting that naval exercises risks starting a war: "We oppose any military act by any party conducted in China's exclusive economic zone without approval."
North Korea has also threatened to respond to military gestures with more attacks: "The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the (North)."
There is nothing that happens on the Korean peninsula that doesn't affect Japan. But we must always use a cool head and be patient when making judgements and not jumping to conclusions.
The reports earlier today were completely blaming North Korea for agressive actions and killing civilians for no apparent reason.
The North accused South Korea of having started the exchange by firing shells inside North Korean territory during a set of South Korean military exercises that the North called "war maneuvers." The South denies that charge, saying that its soldiers were merely conducting military drills and that no shots fell in North Korean territory.
This report makes North Korea out to look like it is completely in the wrong.
The skirmish began when North Korea warned the South to halt military drills near their sea border, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters — but away from the North Korean shore — the North retaliated by shelling the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population.
Seoul responded by unleashing its own barrage from K-9 155mm self-propelled howitzers and scrambling fighter jets. Two South Korean marines were killed in the shelling that also injured 15 troops and three civilians.
We know that North Korea is run by some very paranoid people. We know that Kim JongIl is sick and about to be replaced by his son. It's a pretty safe guess that the son is willing to show that he cannot be pushed around easily.
So why does South Korea antagonizes these people?
It is easy to imagine that North Korea would get very upset about belligerent military maneuvers near their maritime border. Then after they demand a halt, they are ignored. What would be their response?
If they fired shells into the water, it might look like they were poor shots with poor equipment. I can see why they would fire on a military base.
I am not excusing North Korea at all. They are dangerous and not to be messed with.
I think that if you are messing with a hornet's nest and they buzz by your head and warn you to stay away, you'd better to stay away. Why in the world would South Korea fire shells into North Korean waters? What could possibly be the purpose of that besides starting a war
Once again, China is in the news in Japan. The recent riots and demonstrations in China, as well as loud noises coming from North Korea, have the Japanese government in their perennial tizzy.
Here's a news report from this morning about demonstrations in China:
This news report is very disturbing. For one, how could so many younger Chinese people even care about this nonsense? And, then, the video showing the Japanese prime minister at a military drill reminds one of the 1930's.
Is this the kind of sensationalism we have come to expect from the MSM? Well, yes it is.
These sorts of events have our inept Japanese government upset. Actually, I'd imagine that, in many ways, they are happy about these things as it gets the attention of the people off the disastrous condition of the domestic situation and economy.
While attending the inspection parade of Ground Self-Defense Force at Asaka base in Tokyo and referring to China's military enhancement, Kan said, "We need to keep a posture that enables us to cope with various situations effectively."
"In order to build a truly effective defense capability, we will compile an outline of a new defense program by the end of the year that will meet future needs," he said.
He also showed willingness to enhance the Japan-U.S. alliance and promote activities to improve international security.
It should come as no surprise that this situation repeats itself in different forms. I have offered a solution that I originally wrote in 2006 and was published on Lew Rockwell. Of course the Japanese prime minister's name has changed but the situation hasn't really basically changed at all.
I stand by these recommendations and think that this is the only way forward for Japan.
Please read it and comment if you agree or disagree:
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The Paradox of Japanese Remilitarization
by Mike Rogers
In order for Japan to repent completely for past deeds and war crimes while returning to the fold as an equal partner in peace with her Asian neighbors, a seemingly monstrous contradiction must occur. Japan will be obliged to renounce her pacifist constitution – specifically Article 9 of the constitution – and create her own standing army so that she can become a normal independent nation, pursuing her own independent foreign policy and interests.
Until Japan does renounce Article 9, she will never be able to come out from under the US security umbrella and, in turn, be able to create and maintain relations with her neighbors on an equal footing. Japan must create her own military again in order to rid herself of US occupation and control.
Nevertheless, the notion of renouncing her pacifist constitution understandably causes Japan’s neighbors to become very nervous due to Japan’s past Asian aggression. This is the paradox of Japanese remilitarization.
Today’s Japan is at a crossroads. The US security umbrella that Japan has lived under these past 60 years often hampers relations between Japan and her neighbors. Japan’s economic relations with those neighbors hum along at a fantastic rate, while her political relations are constantly hindered by political stumbling at home and Japan’s security agreement with America. Even though many Japanese are beginning to think that staunchly supporting the United States is not a good idea with over 75 percent "quite dissatisfied" with Japan’s support of the illegal invasion of Iraq, Japan today is at the beck and call of the American empire.
But what can Japan do about the current situation? Many people in Japan feel that the US-Japan security agreement is an outdated and ill-fitting rented suit that must be changed. But how?
One solution has been presented by the current Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and looks like it might be acted upon in 2006. Koizumi wishes to revise Article 9 of the constitution that renounces Japan maintaining a standing military. As former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone said, "(Revising Article 9) would make Japan a ‘normal country’ that can share responsibilities and cooperate with the world …" Even though some politicians like Nakasone are also against prime ministerial visits to Yasukuni Shrine, this policy of revising the Japanese constitution has drawn much criticism from China, Korea, and the Japanese Left.
Also, though many countries and groups object to any proposed changes to Japan’s pacifist constitution, would these changes signal a hard-right shift in Japanese politics? Would these revisions put still more strain on a China already under enormous pressure from a very belligerent United States? Would a remilitarized Japan be what the US empire really wants?
Not necessarily. Incredibly, in the long run, a Japan with a foreign policy independent of the United States just might be much better at reducing Asian-Pacific tensions than a Japan that is a lap-dog of the USA.
In many ways, this entire matter is merely a problem of semantics. Japan’s Self-Defense Force is currently called Jieitai;the name of this force is to be changed to Jieigun, which translates into Self-Defense Army. To westerners, this may seem like a minor detail. But in a country that is filled with contradictions and has a language that holds hundreds of words meaning the same thing, albeit with slightly different nuances, this minor change can lead to major changes, depending on how it is interpreted. Would this change confirm that Japan is rearming and could pose a threat to her Asian neighbors once again? Or is this just another enigmatic problem of modern Japan that requires deeper consideration of the psyche and linguistics of today’s Japanese nation?
"Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. 2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized."
As of 2004, Japan is already in the world’s top five in military spending. Will changing Japan’s military status make any real difference? Does Japan having her own military spell trouble for China or Korea? Leftists and some critics say that it does. But after researching this issue, I have to conclude that it does not. I have become convinced that the only way Japan will ever be able to free herself from US control and handle her own foreign affairs with all of her Pacific neighbors as an equal partner will be to renounce Article 9.
Many of Japan’s neighbors complain that Japan accedes to the USA’s every wish and whim. I’d have to agree with that; in fact I complain about it as much as anyone. But I would add that if Japan’s Asian neighbors want Japan to get away from the US security umbrella, then they have to expect that Japan will want to be treated as an equal partner in all discussions and problems.
Thus, Japan escaping from the US security agreement is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, an independent Japancan take a dissenting opinion to the USA on Asian disputes. On the other hand, Japan will have to have her own military to do so. To this very day, Japan is treated as a junior in all aspects of her relations with all of her Pacific neighbors. China, Korea, and the rest of Asia will have to realize that they cannot have their cake and eat it too.
The Japanese are a very pragmatic people. An independent Japan will require an independent Japanese military. To expect Japan to leave the US security agreement without having a standing military of her own is absurd. No politicians in any country would last in office for an hour if they allowed their country to fall into the precarious position whereby its national or economic interests could not be protected in an emergency. To think that any country's politicians could is completely ignorant.
In spite of what you may read in the mass media, Japan is still under US occupation in 2006. Undeniable evidence of this can be found in the fact that Japan doesn’t even fully control her own airspace or her own territorial waters.
For example, for over the last 20 years Japan has been begging the United States to give her back the airspace above and around areas of Tokyo. Here is an extract from an article entitled U.S. to return part of Yokota airspace that appeared in the Japan Times on March 12, 2006.
"The United States has basically agreed to return part of the airspace over Yokota Air Base in Tokyo as part of the realignment of U.S. military forces in Japan, informed sources said Saturday. "The basic agreement is expected to alleviate the overcrowding caused by the 470 commercial flights that must take detours around the so-called ‘Yokota RAPCON (Radar Approach Control)’ area each day.
"The Yokota RAPCON covers the airspace above Tokyo and eight prefectures – Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Niigata, Nagano and Shizuoka. The military airspace is 7,000 meters high at its northern part and 3,700 to 5,500 meters in its southern part near Tokyo.
"Flights bound for western regions, such as Chugoku and Kyushu, have to ascend to avoid entering the banned airspace, while flights originating from those regions must make a detour south of Yokota, according to the transport ministry.
"The agreement, however, will effectively shelve Japan’s request for the complete return of the airspace, which it has been seeking since the 1980s."
You’ve heard of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq having an illegal "no-fly zone" imposed on it, but I bet you didn’t know until now that the USA still enforces one over Japan.
After reading the above, is there anyone who believes that US occupation of Japan ended in 1952? Today, there are over 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan. In a recent survey, 63 percent of the Japanese people wanted the US troops out. The US military is a huge financial strain on Japan.
Another article that appeared on Japan’s Kyodo newswires on March 12, 2006 reported that the US was returning three military bases on Okinawa to Japan. Kyodo also reported that Japan looks set to cover the broken down empire’s $8 billion estimated cost of removing 7,000 US marines from Okinawa and sending them to Guam. (I calculate that at $1.14 million per marine. Those guys must have a lot of luggage.) Many Japanese wonder why Japan must pay for the removal of US troops from Japanese territory to another US colony in the Pacific.
The choice is clear: the only way Japan can become a normal country, treated as an equal by her Pacific neighbors, is to walk along the very same road her neighbors do. It would be a wonderful thing if every nation in the world would have a constitution that renounced military force and prohibited a standing army; it would be fantastic if war were abolished forever, but that is not the way things are. Japanese pacifists will blast me for stating this opinion, but as I have written about many times, the Japanese are, in many ways, very romanticist. It is a lovely and artful, heartwarming way to be, but unfortunately it is not the way the world works.
Would a remilitarized Japan, free of US control, become more neighborly with China and Korea? Considering economic trends and business ties, one would hope and strongly suspect so. But, either way, in order to investigate those possibilities, Japan must escape from the grasp of the US.
Japan’s goal should be to rid herself of US occupation and control. After that, in order to maintain peace, Japan will have to negotiate with her Asian neighbors on an equal footing in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. Unfortunately, because of the way things are done, to do so will require Japan to change her pacifist constitution more in line with the way everyone else does things. In order for Japan to become friendlier with her Asian sisters, she will once again have to support a military, like a normal country. It is fact-of-life. It is unfortunate that Japan must support a military to do so. It is most fortunate if doing so allows her to return to her Asian family.
In this insane world, every normal country has a military. A normal country honors its military dead.
That is the tightrope walk for Japan’s politicians today: Japan must fulfill the requirements of any normal country while reassuring her neighbors of peaceful intentions.
This is the huge paradox of Japanese remilitarization.
