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US plans total war against Kim
(Ian Mather, NEWS.scotsman.com, 23 Feb 2003)
a battle plan is already being laid in secret by military strategists at the Pentagon. . . . behind the scenes, American strategists are now weighing up the option of a pre-emptive military strike against North Korea . . . It is a terrifying scenario, with likely casualties running to one million during the first day of an attack on North Korea - most falling victim to the long-range artillery trained on its southern neighbour. . . . Japan has already drawn a line in the sand, saying it would have the legal right to strike first if it were to receive intelligence of a planned missile attack by North Korea. . . . China’s main concern is that a collapse of the North Korean economy would have a devastatingly destabilising impact on the region. It also fears a powerful re-unified neighbour. . . . The US military assets now being sent to the region could stage air and missile strikes against the nuclear plant at Yongbyon and other sites . . . But the odds are not good for the US. According to its own estimates, one million casualties could be expected in the first 24 hours of a war. . . . Even though much of North Korea’s hardware is old, its army is nearly a million strong and more than half of its soldiers are deployed within 100 miles of the demilitarised zone with 8,000 artillery pieces. It is estimated that North Korea could fire 300,000 shells an hour on to targets in the south. . . . In addition, it is believed to have about 5,000 tons of chemical and biological agents, including sarin, anthrax, smallpox and the plague. . . . Kim has pledged to respond in kind to any US military move. On Friday, North Korea condemned next month’s joint US-South Korean military exercises as a "nuclear test war" and prelude to military attack. . . . " There are few good military options available to the Bush administration. North Korea has spent the last 50 years planning for this. The missiles are already in place, and the tunnels are already dug. All they have to do is pull the trigger." . . . Kennedy added: "You have two countries, North Korea and Iraq, one with nuclear weapons and one without, one that is contained and one that is not. Yet you invade the one that has no nuclear weapons and is already contained, and you do a deal and send aid to the other."

posted by LoZo 4:42 PM