North Korea Tells of "Trigger" for War

North Korea, in what amounts to an unsurprising announcement sets out its unhappiness with any limits being set on its nuclear program. Instead of holding its breath and turning blue, it once again threatens war over the suggested restrictions.

A senior State Department official said in a statement in Seoul that North Korea must play by international rules.

The countries need to encourage the North "to honor international agreements, such as the NPT and its safeguards agreement with the IAEA," Director of Policy Planning Mitchell Reiss said, referring to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the United Nations nuclear agency.

North Korea unilaterally pulled out of the NPT in January 2003 after expelling IAEA inspectors.

"North Korea cannot expect to be treated as a normal state unless and until it behaves like one," Reiss said.

North Koreans Fail to Measure Up

This report says the North Korean populace is suffering from "chronic growth retardation." This means that while improving nutrition has allowed the South Korean population to grow taller, an NK male is an average of 2.3 inches shorter than his ROK contemporary, according to research by anthropologist Sunyoung Pak.

Her studies, to be published in the international journal, Economics and Human Biology, this month, suggest that North Koreans must have suffered severe malnutrition problems virtually since Korea split into two states in 1948.

Her research shows that the only ages at which the average North Korean in her sample and the average South Korean share about the same height is from 50 to 69 years. Since height is determined during the early teenage years, this suggests that North Korea began to suffer food shortages at least by the 1960s.

'According to the economic statistics distributed by the North Koreans, the country experienced economic development up to the 1970s. But according to my data this is simply not true,' said Pak.

Once again the citizens of the DPRK get the short end of things.

How to Win Wars

The Fourth Rail has a nice piece that sets out how we are prevailing in the wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, contrary to the reports in the MSM.

In Iraq the Iraqis are beginnning to carry more of the load. But it is the ability of the Coalition forces to keep the pressure on the "insurgents" that is paying dividends. In the American Civil War, once U.S. Grant took over the Army of the Potomac, it was his relentless pressure on Lee's forces that finally made the difference. When lesser generals were in charge, Lee was able to exploit their pauses to regroup his own forces. Grant gave the South no such respite. In Iraq, after some pauses to get Iraqi forces organized and to get the logistical chain in order, the pressure has begun to be seriously applied. Fallujah was just the first step. Operations in Mosul and in the Sunni Triangle have been on-going. The enemy cannot keep up the pace the Coalition is forcing. The ability of the Coalition to handle more than one problem at a time is a surprise to the enemy as is the ineffectiveness of his Improvised Explosive Devices. Further, as Iraqi forces take over control of more areas, the other Coalition members will have more combat power to apply to the reeling enemy.

A similar approach is being taken in Afghanistan. The Fourth Rail points to a winter offensive.

[Maj. Gen. Eric] Olson said the offensive -- which will cover the entire U.S.-led force of about 18,000 -- would attempt to disturb militants in their "winter sanctuaries" so that they will be in no shape to move against the parliamentary vote slated for April. The military will be "attempting to attack him in those sanctuaries while he's resting and refitting, staging and planning," said Olson, the operational commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

To reinforce the frontier, Olson said the U.S. military would establish several new camps close to the border. He said Afghan forces would also reposition "along and astride" routes used by militants. And he promised to strengthen cooperation with Pakistani forces across the border.

The Islamofascist enemy is given no respite...

Relentless pressure from different directions is how wars are won. The enemy is given no time to rest, regroup or rearm.
He can only lose.

Update: Corrected some typos and straigtened out some phrasing.

ACLU Sues to Allow Atheists in Foxholes

The ACLU has brought suit to prevent military personnel from praying in foxholes or during other stressful times of combat. "We're seeking to reverse the trend so long expressed as 'there are no atheists in foxholes,' said ACLU spokesperson, Ain Tigotta Klew. "We think that all persons, regardless of their religious convictions, or lack thereof, should be welcome in foxholes or other fighting locations. We are also looking into allegations that prayer is being conducted by these government employees during their working day in clear violation of the policy of separation of church and state."


When this reporter attempted to contact a Pentagon spokesman, an odd sound, somewhat like muffled laughter, prevented this reporter from hearing the military's initial reaction to this suit.

The ACLU is fresh off a success in having the Pentagon to agree to cease any military sponsorship of Boy and Cub Scout troops or Packs.





File under "satire" or "coming soon to a courtroom near you."

Update: Well, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) declares that there are already atheists in foxholes. And they resent those who say that there aren't. So there.

An early UAV: DASH

The Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter was an early UAV and was deployed in large number throughout the US fleet starting in the 1960s. I served in destroyers with DASH hangers, but never got to see one in action. There were lots of rumors about how hard they were to control and how they would just occasionally just decide to fly over the horizon, usually with a destroyer madly chasing after trying to regain radio contact.

This website has a lot of photos and some interesting stories about this precursor to the modern UAVs. Here's photo from that site of a DASH in the air.

Rumsfeld to Stay as SecDef

Newsday reports
Rumsfeld to stay at President Bush's request.

Excellent.

Hat tip: Outside the Beltway

Kosovo: It just gets better and better

BBC reports the new Kosovo Prime Minister is a former KLA commander and a "controverial figure."

Since he was just questioned by investigators for the International War Crime Tribunal, there may be some fire with that smoke. Mr Haradinaj's party is the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, described as "an offshoot of the political successor to the KLA."

Mr Haradinaj is facing a difficult task.
He's got six months to prepare for a planned UN review that will establish how far Kosovo has gone along the road of meeting the required standards of democracy, rule of law and minority protection before talks can begin on Kosovo's long-term status.

It's the fervent hope of Kosovo's Albanians that they will get a positive assessment because they are hoping that subsequent talks will lead to Kosovo's independence.

Meanwhile, Mr Haradinaj's job is being complicated by the fact that the Serb minority overwhelmingly boycotted the October elections - and most of the Serb representatives elected at the time are now boycotting the assembly.

The KLA and it successors want full independence from Serbia. They are ruthless in their efforts to drive the remaining Kosovar Serbs from Kosovo. As I have noted before there are about 28,000 people whose job it is to maintain order in Kosovo, including NATO forces and UN police. Electing a guy from the KLA who is being talked to by investigators is not going to make their jobs any easier.

Why Politicians Make Lousy Strategists

Drudge links to this article from My Way News about Tommy Thompson's announcement of his resignation from the cabinet. It contains this gem:

"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do," he said.

For giving ideas to the bad guys, who already have plenty, I award Secretary Thompson an EagleSpeak Dodo award. It was easy to do.

Update:I see Patterico has picked up on this,too.

Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial'

Yahoo News has a Reuters' story
Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial'

Well, he ought to know.

Hat tip: Drudge

Philippines Typhoon Disaster

About 1,000 Dead or Missing in Philippines Floods says the NY Times.

More than 1,000 people have been killed or are missing after mudslides and flash floods
devastated three coastal towns in the Philippines, a military spokesman has said.
Residents of towns hit by floods have now fled to higher ground to escape an approaching powerful typhoon whipping them
with rain and wind and threatening more destruction.

Swissinfo article

Prayers for those still in peril.

Rwanda Denies Army in Congo

In a Reuters article on Yahoo News
Rwanda Denies Army in Congo, Threatens Only Rebels. This is in direct contradiction to the reports of UN troops in Congo who have stated that they have seen elements of the Rwandan army in Congo territory.

The United Nations said its peacekeepers in Congo could help disarm Hutu rebels threatening Rwanda. The Security Council said it would issue a statement strongly condemning Rwanda for any military action and urging Congo to disarm the rebels quickly.
Diplomats in Kigali said they had also been told earlier by Rwandan officials that there were Rwandan special forces in Congo carrying out reconnaissance missions.

Somebody's lying. And if the "Hutu rebels" get disarmed, who will be protecting them from Rwandan forces? One of the last UN "safe havens" I remember was in Srebrenica, in the former Republic of Yugoslavia when up to 7000 Muslim men were executed.

"Moneyball" Theory Finds Support

Outside the Beltway has an article that appeals to people who read Michael Lewis's excellent book, Moneyball. Moneyball Confirmed says that two economists agree (now there's a headline in and of itself) Mr. Lewis got it right, the on base percentage of a player is a key statistic. For Oakland A's fans (like me) it just adds arrows to my baseball arguing quiver.

Now, will the new Washington, DC franchise pay attention or will they follow the normal path of paying way too much for "sluggers?"

Whoops. Dodo Awards Already Exist. Even if Dodo Doesn't. Still...

In a rare moment of perceived cleverness this morning, I thought I had invented a good idea, the EagleSpeak "Dodo" award. It is a clever idea, but one such award already has been created. Over at ParrotParrot site they already award the "Dumb as a Dodo Awards." ParrotParrot is a site devoted to parrots, not political or military commentary. And it looks like their award page hasn't been updated in 5 years.

So, I'm keeping the Dodo Award idea, but promise not to use it for upbraiding bird owners who do stupid things like sleeping with them.

Perle of non-Wisdom

Alec Rawls at Error Theory posts on some comments made by Richard Perle on the O'Reilly factor and reproted on Newsmax. The essence of these odd comments is that the U.S. should have turned Iraq over to an Iraqi government in exile right after we beat Saddam and that our failure to do (1) is the leading cause of the current insurrgency and (2) is Colin Powell's fault.

Perle's remarks places significant distance between postwar policies and neo-conservatives like himself who have backed the war and have been championed in the Bush administration by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz, and Vice President Cheney.

Perle told O'Reilly the idea of a military occupation was not the Pentagon's original plan.

Alec:

Perle's claim is that if we had not stayed on as occupiers, the insurgency would never have taken place! How is that different from blaming 9/11 on America? ...If we had left, Iraq would simply have been overrun. This idiot has been an architect of U.S. policy? Brrrrrr.

Perle's intent is to exculpate Rumsfeld and the Pentagon (and himself) for the condition of Iraq, while blaming Powell and State.(Why would any sane person want to escape "blame" for one of the great successes and good deeds of all time?) I am certainly sympathetic to blaming State for bad things and crediting Defense with good, but in this case the "bad" thing isn't bad, and if Perle is to believed, it looks like we owe Powell and State some credit for keeping us fully committed in Iraq.

Sounds right to me. It hard to fathom Perle being silly enough to spout this nonsense in public. Let's give him the newly minted EagleSpeak "Dodo" award.

Because it's Funny

Most of North Korea Neighbors Agree to Cooperate on North Korea

The Daily Times of Pakistan reports here that China, Japan and South Korea have vowed to cooperate in resolving the North Korea crisis.

A flurry of reports have hinted at the likelihood of stalled six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States resuming soon, but no specific date has been set for a fresh round of discussions. On Saturday, foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea expressed hope that talks could be held by the end of the year and agreed to boost efforts to bring Pyongyang back to the table.

Good.

'I get to serve my country'

In another answer to the question "Where do we get such men?" Consider this 'article.

"I suppose you could say that one defining moment was Sept. 11 and the nightmare at the World Trade Center. I had flown into New York the night before because I had worked there for Bear Stearns. But I was frustrated, I didn't know how I could help. I didn't know what I could do, so I gave blood and volunteered at a hospital.
"But it was really last fall when I decided I wanted to serve my country by joining the military. It wasn't that anything special was happening. I was still in graduate school. But it had always been in the back of my mind. And before I knew it, it was in the forefront. I graduated from the University of Chicago in June and could have gone into investment banking or private equity, but it didn't surprise anyone when I told my close friends I wanted to join the military...
In the end, Patrick Daley found a way to fulfill his view of public service. "There are many paths of service -- policeman, fireman, political and the military -- but it's an all-volunteer era. I've always wanted to find a way to serve . . . just like my grandfather and my father. Think of it. It's amazing. I get to serve my country."

His father is Mayor Daley of Chicago and his grandfather was Mayor Daley of Chicago.

Godspeed, Patrick!

Hat tip: American Thinker

A New and Improved (?) UN Proposed

The NY Times has an article describing the proposals made by a commission appointed after"after bruising division over the Iraq war left the United Nations feeling ill-equipped to meet modern challenges represented by terrorism, failed states, nuclear proliferation, poverty and violence."

Highlights: Increasing the Security Council from 15 members to 24. Veto power would still be limited to the 5 original permanent members. The Wall Street Journal reports "The panel also said pre-emptive military attacks are legitimate if authorized by the council." (WSJ, What's News, 12/1/2004)

NYT:

The panel also urged a more aggressive approach to interventions when states fail in their primary responsibility to protect their own citizens. "There is a collective international responsibility to protect, exercisable by the Security Council authorizing military intervention as a last resort in the event of genocide and other large-scale killing, ethnic cleansing or serious violations of international humanitarian law which sovereign governments have proved powerless or unwilling to prevent," the report said.

Other proposals include streamlining the bureauracy and retiring some "dead wood" to make room for advancement for younger UN bureaucrats.

Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters posts "UN Proposes New Paths To Greater Irrelevancy" and has this take on the "pre-emptive strike" issue:

In other words, bring your case to the Security Council, where we will take your time-critical situation and debate it endlessly. If you're still alive when we finally get around to a vote, we'll authorize the use of force, as long as France, Russia, and China don't veto it. If they do -- well, it sucks to be you.

His conclusion:

The fundamental problem with the UN comes from its constituency of oppressors and kleptocrats. Any structural changes in their committees and regulations only amount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

This is essentially what The Truth Laid Bear's said about the UN, with which I agree, as was set out in an earlier post. As TTLB wrote:

The U.N. is a grand shell game. It looks like democracy; it acts like democracy. It has all the trappings of democracy; votes and debate and all those wonderful, wonderful procedures. But at its very heart, the votes come from member governments, and many of those aren’t democracies at all. And there, the system breaks down.

"Collective international responsibility" means that some countries have to step forward to volunteer to take action (and provide troops, money and logistical support - because the UN doesn't have any of its own). Otherwise, just more words.

Annan -Oil for Food- It's my story and I'm sticking with it

An AP story carried on Yahoo news,Annan Unaware of Son's Oil-For-Food Link, contains a few gems (in addition to Annan's denial - probably accurate- that he didn't know his son was still getting $30,000 year from OFF funds) but the best part is this:

U.S. Ambassador John Danforth discussed the oil-for-food investigations with Annan Monday and was asked afterward whether the United States still has confidence in the secretary-general.

"I don't think the U.S. government rushes to judgment until all the facts are in," he said.

Ho.Ho. Ho.

Hat tip: GeoPolitical Review

Vio Con Dios, Tom RIdge

HoustonChronicle.com - Homeland security secretary Tom Ridge resigns.

I don't blame him. Getting a handle on the merging of all the agencies that fall under the new Department of Homeland Security would wear anyone out. He did an excellent job in trying to put together some of the most difficult agencies...

Whether or not there ought to be a DHS? It's too late to worry about it.

Thanks for your service, Mr. Ridge.

Update: The Diplomad take is in their headline "Homeland Security's Ridge: Doing A Great Job That Should Not Exist."

They also caution (I think) against moving too fast on the Intelligence bill:

The creation of DHS is not unlike the current rush to "reform" the intel agencies and create a Spy Czar. All too often the demand to do "something" results in redesigning the wiring diagram, moving boxes, and creating new jobs with new titles. At times that is needed, rarely, however, is that the "solution."

(See my earlier discussion on the intel bill here)