Spanningen op het Koreaanse schiereiland - Nuclear war? #21

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11-4-2017:

Noord-Korea 'klaar voor oorlog' na komst marineschepen VS

De Noord-Koreaanse regering heeft dinsdag gezegd 'klaar te zijn voor oorlog', nadat de Verenigde Staten afgelopen weekeinde bekendmaakten een vliegdekschip met escorte naar het Koreaanse schiereiland te sturen.

Pyongyang noemt het Amerikaanse besluit een "roekeloze actie" en waarschuwt voor de "catastrofale gevolgen" van verdere provocaties, schrijft The Guardian.

Rodong Sinmun, de belangrijkste krant in Noord-Korea, schreef dat het bewind in Pyongyang in staat is zelf een preventieve aanval tegen de Verenigde Staten uit te voeren.

"De huidige ernstige situatie bewijst dat Noord-Korea juist heeft gehandeld door zijn militaire capaciteit voor zelfverdediging op alle mogelijke manieren te versterken'', meldde het Noord-Koreaanse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken.

Het ministerie benadrukte dat het nucleaire arsenaal "de spil" van die militaire capaciteit is.

Vliegdekschip

De uitzending van het Amerikaanse vliegdekschip USS Carl Vinson en andere marineschepen is het gevolg van spanningen rond de Noord-Koreaanse kernwapen- en raketprogramma's, die in de afgelopen maanden hoog is opgelopen na een aantal Noord-Koreaanse wapentests.

Aan Noord-Koreaanse zijde wordt zwaar getild aan een aantal gezamenlijke militaire oefeningen van de Amerikaanse en Zuid-Koreaanse strijdkrachten, die volgens Pyongyang een voorbode zijn op een invasie van Noord-Korea.

Bovendien beschouwt het Aziatische regime de Amerikaanse raketaanval op een Syrische militaire vliegbasis vorige week als een duidelijk waarschuwing dat de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump bereid is geweld te gebruiken.

China

De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump had afgelopen weekend zijn Chinese collega Xi Jinping op bezoek. De twee leiders spraken voornamelijk over handel, maar Noord-Korea kwam ook aan bod.

"Ik heb aan de Chinese president uitgelegd dat een handelsovereenkomst met de VS veel beter voor hen zal uitpakken als ze de kwestie-Noord-Korea oplossen", schreef Trump dinsdag op Twitter. "Noord-Korea is op zoek naar problemen. Als China besluit te helpen, dan zou dat geweldig zijn. Zo niet, dan lossen we het probleem zonder hen op! U.S.A."

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9-4-2017:

VS stuurt marineschepen naar Koreaans schiereiland

De VS stuurt een vliegdekschip en enkele andere marineschepen naar het Koreaans schiereiland vanwege bezorgdheid over de Noord-Koreaanse raketlanceringen.

Het gaat om de zogeheten Carl Vinson Strike Group die wordt verplaatst. De Amerikaanse marine noemt het een voorzorgsmaatregel om de gereedheid in de regio te waarborgen.

"De grootste dreiging in de regio blijft Noord-Korea vanwege de roekeloosheid, onverantwoordelijkheid, het destabiliserende raketprogramma en hun onderzoek naar nucleaire wapens", aldus de marine.

De vloot bestaat uit een vliegdekschip (de USS Carl Vinson), twee torpedobootjagers en een kruiser. De vloot beschikt ook over de mogelijkheid om ballistische raketten te onderscheppen.

De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump liet eerder weten bereid te zijn om in te grijpen als dat nodig is. "Als China Noord-Korea niet gaat aanpakken, doen wij het wel. Dat is het enige wat ik hierover zeg", zei Trump in een interview met de Britse krant The Financial Times.

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 17:51 schreef Aether het volgende:

twitter:

realDonaldTrump twitterde op vrijdag 11-08-2017 om 13:29:31 Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path! reageer retweet

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When Donald Trump raised the specter of a nuclear confrontation with North Korea this week, he wasn’t just saber-rattling; he was issuing a specific kind of warning. As Rich Lowry put in a new Politico piece:

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was on the receiving end of the alliteration heard around the world, when Trump promised “fire and fury” if Pyongyang continued to threaten the United States.

It was classic Trump – a memorably pungent expression that dominated the news cycle and probably didn’t reflect more than about 30 seconds of thought.

It was a promise, however, that the American president had no intention of keeping. Trump vowed “fire and fury” in response to North Korean threats, which naturally led to more North Korean threats. The Republican, confronted with the provocation he’d just said would be unacceptable, responded quickly – by complaining about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Kim Jong-un didn’t hesitate to cross Trump’s bright red line, just as Trump didn’t hesitate to back down from the “fire and fury” promise he’d made for all the world to see.

The president, in other words, was bluffing – something Trump does often, despite being horrible at it.

Indeed, it’s become one of the underappreciated hallmarks of the president’s style. A month before taking office, for example, Trump declared, “I don’t know why we have to be bound by a One-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things.” Two weeks into his presidency, Trump, in a rather pathetic display of groveling, Trump reversed course, declaring his support the “One-China” policy – publicly and in writing – in exchange for nothing.

A month later, when the House was weighing its first health care bill, Trump’s team at one point declared that the bill was closed, negotiations had ended, and members should stop asking for changes. Several House Republicans quickly discovered, however, that they could go directly to the president, who’d reopen the bill in the hopes of making skeptics happy.

A month after that, Trump said he was prepared to shut down the government unless Congress included funds for his border wall in a temporary spending bill. Members of both parties risked the shutdown, assumed the president was bluffing, and were proven right: Trump quietly slinked away from his threats when no one found them credible.

Two months after that, Trump threatened former FBI Director James Comey with the release of secret tapes. Comey wasn’t intimidated in the slightest – in fact, he welcomed the release of any recordings – and the president was forced to concede his bluster was hollow and the tapes didn’t exist. (It wasn’t the first time he was caught bluffing about secret recordings.)

Trump even announced his intention to sue the many women who accused him of sexual misconduct, only to back away without explanation.

The lesson for everyone – friend and foe, here and abroad – is that Donald Trump likes to make threats, but he tends not to follow through on them. The American president has an unhealthy fondness for bluffing; I just wish he were better at it.

'Empty & Dangerous': Donald Trump's North Korea Threats Lack Specifics | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 18:19 schreef hierissieweer het volgende:

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Er is dus wel oorlogsmaterieel onderweg naar Korea?

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 18:46 schreef SgtPorkbeans het volgende:
Welke nederlaag precies? Misschien zie je ze nu op de korte termijn als overwinnaar, maar op de lange termijn delven ze zeker het onderspit. Dan krijgen ze weer sancties e.d. aan hun broek.

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 18:51 schreef Eyjafjallajoekull het volgende:
Ze weten dat de VS elke beweging volgt, dus het kan ook gewoon een tactiek zijn om de druk nog verder op te hogen.

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 19:13 schreef Monopoly het volgende:

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Pesten, treiteren! Stop daarmee.

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The Hwasong-12, a domestically developed liquid-fueled missile, has a maximum range of 3,000 miles, and hits an altitude of about 470 miles on the way to its destination. The velocities needed for those numbers mean that by the time the missile has been in the air one minute, it is already traveling several times the speed of sound.

At those speeds, a missile trying to chase and hit it from behind would have no chance during this part of the flight, called the “boost phase.” The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, several of which are now stationed in South Korea, could use its radar to track the launches of the North Korean missiles. But it is not designed to hit them as they climb into space.

At one point, the United States Air Force poured billions of dollars into a huge laser mounted on a Boeing 747 that was designed to destroy enemy ballistic missiles during the boost phase — and it worked. But it was so expensive, and required the laser-equipped aircraft to fly so close to enemy territory, that it was abandoned.

In Midflight

Once the Hwasong-12’s booster burns out and it reaches the edges of the Earth’s atmosphere, it is no longer accelerating, but is traveling blisteringly fast and higher than some satellites. This part of the missile’s trajectory is called “midcourse,” and it is the most difficult time for an interception, because a fast-moving warhead can also release decoy balloons that are hard to distinguish from the real thing.

But destroying an enemy ballistic missile in space is attractive because it keeps high-speed debris and explosions far from the friendly target. Both Japan and the United States have ships equipped with SM-3 missiles designed for ballistic missile defense. They can hit intermediate-range missiles in midcourse, according to Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Global Security Program of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Most recently, Japan tested two of the latest versions, the SM-3 IIA, against missile targets in space. A test in 2008 used an older model SM-3 to destroy a malfunctioning satellite in orbit.

But the trajectory of a Hwasong-12 aimed toward Guam could put the midcourse portion of its flight too far past the Sea of Japan, where the country’s ships carrying SM-3s are usually stationed. Intercepting the North Korean missile at this point would be difficult without moving those ships closer to Guam.

America’s existing system to stop intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the continental United States is called Ground-Based Midcourse Defense. It is based in Alaska and California, and is not in a position to stop a missile flying that far south over the Pacific. It also has a spotty record, although its most recent test, in May, was a success.

On the Way Down

As with all ballistic missiles, gravity takes over after the midcourse phase, and the warhead falls toward its target. Some missiles, like the retired Pershing II, can steer during this part of the flight, called the “terminal phase”; that is not true of the Hwasong-12, whose final destination is determined entirely by course corrections when its engines are still running.

Theoretically, that makes it an easier target.

The SM-3 can intercept a ballistic missile at this point. The United States Navy does not typically disclose the exact positions of its warships, but several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which are equipped with SM-3s, are permanently based in the western Pacific. If they were stationed near Guam, they could take a shot at the Hwasong-12s. It’s unclear whether Japan would reposition any of its warships to defend the area around Guam.

The Thaad system, of which at least one is permanently based at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, could also take a shot. Thaad has a good record in tests, most recently destroying a target simulating a missile similar to the Hwasong-12 in July. Finally, the air base may be defended by older, shorter-range Patriot missile batteries, the most advanced of which — the Patriot PAC-3 — can also shoot down slower ballistic missiles.

Worth Taking a Shot?

Missile defense is an attractive but tricky strategy in dealing with missile threats. It has been compared to hitting a bullet with a bullet, and even just testing such systems can be expensive. The payoff, of course, is protection from enemy ballistic missiles, which proved deadly in the first gulf war despite attempts to shoot them down.

If Japan or the United States shoots down the missiles, North Korea could see it as an escalation, prompting a military response. If they do nothing, and allow the North Korean missiles to fly unharmed, it’s unclear how Pyongyang would interpret it.

On the other hand, if they try to intercept the missiles but fail, it could undermine the credibility of both countries’ assurances that their antimissile systems can work.

“Some people argue that this would be disastrous for the U.S.,” Ms. Grego said. “Maybe it would cause some to question how useful the systems are. But these are not yet mature systems. I think some failure is possible and perhaps expected, as they haven’t yet been tested in fully operationally realistic conditions.”

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 19:19 schreef SureD1 het volgende:
Dat riep Henk-Jan de Boer uit 's Gravenwolde ook op 11 augustus 1938...

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Op vrijdag 11 augustus 2017 19:32 schreef Straatcommando. het volgende:

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Toch sta je daar aan het front als dat zo uitkomt. Dat is de realiteit.