The "Arc of History" seems to be a spineless administration bending over backwards to accomodate dictatorial thugs

At least, that how I read The Rosett Report: "Please, No More 'Arc of History'":

And now, here we are, a year after the “re-election” of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked those demonstrations calling for justice. Whatever the final shape of history’s arc, right now it is bending toward an Iranian nuclear bomb, and a rising Iranian-centered axis of trouble that extends not only to Syria, Venezuela and North Korea, but to Turkey and Brazil (with China and Russia arranging for their cut of the action). And what of the Iranian demonstrators who braved the beatings and bullets in the streets? After a year of terror, arrests and executions, there were still reports of sporadic demonstrations on Saturday, here and there in Iran. Try to imagine how much courage that must take. But the huge protests of last year have been smothered, thwarted, silenced. Obama talks about the increasing “isolation” of Iran’s regime, but — as I argue in a column on Iran’s Arc of Injustice – those who are genuinely suffering from isolation are not Iran’s rulers, but Iran’s dissidents.

Fearless Navy Bloggers Take to the Air: Episode 25 If it flies it dies 6/13/2010 - Midrats- Blog Talk Radio

Coming up on Sunday, a special treat during Episode 25 If it flies it dies 6/13/2010 - Midrats on Blog Talk Radio:

To project power from the sea - you need a sustained presence that has the ability to project power ashore. The enemy gets a vote - how do we protect our sea based forces from threats above sea level?

Join us as we discuss 21st Century Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) will all their permutations.

Our guest for the entire hour will be fellow blogger SteelJawScribe.

‘The Arctic Sea’ seizure explained

Remember the mysterious adventure of the timber ship Arctic Sea, allegedly nabbed by pirates in the Baltic Sea and recaptured off Africa (if not, here's a link to previous posts on the topic)?

Now we have a report of what may have prompted the whole adventure here:

The seizure of the Russian-owned Arctic Sea timber carrier was ordered by an Estonian construction and oil services contractor. He hoped to bolster his failing business Somali-style, by extorting a ransom.

You know, that makes more sense then the rumors that the ship carrying a secret cargo of missiles, space aliens or whatever....

Land of Oz

Whither Turkey?

CDR Salamander invited Saturn 5, a Turkish naval blogger to post some thoughts on a A New Turkey? and on Saturn 5's home blog here:

As Turkey is changing, the old Turkey we used to know and understand is fading away. We (secular Turks, Islamic Turks and rest of the world including Sal) must find a way to deal with this change. We must also accept the realities of the new emerging Turkey.

As a youth, I lived for a couple of years in Ankara and will always remember the simple kindness shown to me by the people of Turkey. I certainly wish them the best as they attempt to meet the challenges of the world to come.

Choosing the right path will lead to a greater nation filled with hard-working honest people.

The trick, as Ataturk knew, is maintaining "an open heart full of pure feelings and friendship."

Somali Pirates: Board and Search

GULF OF ADEN (May 31, 2010) Members of U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Detachment 406 and the visit, board, search and seizure team embarked aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56) search a skiff suspected of participating in recent pirate activity. San Jacinto is part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, a multinational task force established to conduct counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ja'lon A. Rhinehart/Released)

Gee, I don't know exactly what may have made the San Jacinto team suspicious -- though that pair of brand new Yamaha motors on the stern of the "fishing" boat would have made me curious . . .

Picture of the Day

From Navy News Service - Eye on the Fleet:

ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 7, 2010) Sailors assigned to repair locker 1 F fight a simulated fire during a general quarters drill aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Enterprise is conducting fleet replacement squadron carrier qualifications in preparation for the ship's 21st deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jacob D. Galito/Released)

Fearless Navy Bloggers Took to the Air: Episode 24 The Navys New Normal

Working through some technical issues, we and our guests persevered in Episode 24 The Navys New Normal 6/6/2010 - Midrats | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio.

I think most of it makes sense, though it was a little odd when the co-host with the control panel dropped off line due to power outages.

 Special thanks to Bryan McGrath and Claude Berube for going with the flow.

Listen to internet radio with Midrats on Blog Talk Radio

Iran: Revolutionary Guard Navy Says It's Ready to Escort Ships to Gaza

Report here from the Tehran Times:

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy is totally prepared to escort Gaza-bound aid ships to protect them against Israeli attacks, the Supreme Leader’s representative in the IRGC Navy has announced.

“Enemies should be met head-on through a spontaneous international movement, and we should foil their evil plots,” Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi told the Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

“The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy is ready to escort the peace and freedom convoys that carry humanitarian assistance for the defenseless and oppressed people of Gaza with all its strength,” he added.

The IRGC follows Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s orders, and if he issues an order in this regard, the IRGC Navy will mobilize all its forces to provide security for Gaza-bound aid convoys, he stated.

Presumably Israel is prepared to sink all the IRGC Navy ships that show up. It's a long transit from Iran to Israel. The blue arrow points to Israel, the yellow to Iran.

Some in Iran seem to feel this whole Gaza shipping hullabaloo is a sign of Israel's demise, as set out in this diatribe:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the act of the "cancerous tumor," i.e. Israel, against the Gaza flotilla denotes the beginning of the end of the Israeli regime, and attests to its weakness. In a speech in the city of Ilam, in western Iran, he said that Israel had attacked the ship with a missile fired from an airplane, killing 20.
Ahmadinejad warned Israel's supporters in the region and its allies to stop their support for this "professional assassin" regime, because their support had made them collaborators in the Zionists' crimes. He said that Israel "should be aware that this [action] will lead to its end," and added, "Someone asked me why I no longer say Israel must be torn down... I said because there is no (longer a) need to say [this] – as this regime is already in the process of being destroyed."
Ahmadinejad added: "The absolute track of history is the elimination of oppression and arrogance. Accordingly, it is best that the supporters of the Zionist regime distance themselves from it. This is friendly advice. History shows that if they do not take this advice, the force of the nations will put them in their place."

Fearless Navy Bloggers Take to the Air: Episode 24 The Navys New Normal 6/6/2010 - Midrats | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

Episode 24 The Navys New Normal 6/6/2010 - Midrats | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

The budget axe points to sea; the nation suffers sea blindness; a non-traditional actor challenges a fundamental exercise of naval power. Join milbloggers "CDR Salamander" and me as we look at the return of familiar challenges to making the Navy effective.

As our guests we will have two Midrats regulars; Bryan McGrath and Claude Berube.

To discuss “The Navy Under Siege—SECDEF and Naval Preponderance” and "Sea Blindness" will be Bryan McGrath, CDR USN (Ret.) the Founding Director of Delex Consulting, Studies and Analysis (CSA), a division of Delex Systems, Incorporated, headquartered in Vienna, Virginia. Bryan spent 21 years on active duty including a tour in command of USS BULKELEY (DDG 84), a guided-missile destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. His final duties ashore included serving as Team Lead and Primary Author of the US Navy’s 2007 Maritime Strategy “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower”. He also hosts his own BTR format radio show and blog by the same name, Conservative Wahoo.

Claude Berube, LCDR USNR will follow up with a broad discussion of NGOs at sea. Though the recent incident off Gaza brought the issue to the front - his recent article in the Small Wars Journal outlines that there is a lot more out there involving aggressive civilian entities from NGOs to advocacy groups using the maritime domain to pursue their larger goals. Claude is a Visiting Fellow for Maritime Studies at The Heritage Foundation. He has taught at the U.S. Naval Academy, and worked on Capitol Hill, at the Office of Naval Intelligence, and for a defense firm. He's been mobilized several times including a deployment with ESG5 in 2004-05. In addition to many articles, he has co-authored two books. His next book will be published next year on maritime security companies (Eagle1 is a contributor). For the past year, he's served as the President of American Independent Writers.

Somali Pirates: Captive Sailors Retake Ship, Pirates Grab Another, More Attacks Thwarted

Crew of the hijacked MV RIM retake control from Pirates, Spanish frigate provides support:

Today at 1010 local time, the hijacked Libyan owned merchant vessel RIM reported that the crew had successfully retaken control of the ship. One of the crew members was seriously injured during the incident.

The incident took place south east of Garacad, off Somalia’s northern coastline. The closest EU NAVFOR warship, the SPS VICTORIA, was immediately tasked by the Force Commander Jan Thörnqvist, to meet up with MV RIM in order give medical assistance. SPS VICTORIA launched her helicopter immediately.
***
There were however, pirates in the vicinity who were attempting to impede the EU NAVFOR operation by utilising another hijacked vessel the MV VOC DAISY. When SPS VICTORIA’s helicopter approached the MV VOC DAISY she changed her course – no warning shots were fired.

It is believed that some of the pirates were killed during the incident; the ship is now under the control of the crew.

In other parts of the "pirate area" Hijacking of MV QSM Dubai in the Gulf of Aden:

In the early hours of 2 June it was reported by the owner of the MV QSM Dubai that a group of armed pirates had boarded the ship and taken control. USS COLE from CTF 508 (NATO) first reported that they had seen a person with an RPG on board. A coalition Maritime Patrol Aircraft was tasked to investigate the situation and reported that the ship was hijacked.

The MV QSM Dubai, a Panama flagged general cargo ship with dead weight of 15,220 tonnes and a crew of 24 comprising Egyptian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Ghanaian nationals, was in bound from Brazil when hijacked in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor.

According to this:

Security forces from Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region stormed a hijacked cargo vessel early Thursday and outgunned the pirates holding it after they fatally shot the ship's Pakistani captain, authorities said.

Authorities decided to try and free the Panama-flagged ship by force after pirates refused pleas to surrender and instead killed the captain, said Said Mohamed Raage, who is the minister of marine transport and ports in the region.

"We can't afford letting pirates capture Somali-charted ships. If we don't act so decisively they will continue hijacking all Somali-bound cargo ships," Raage told The Associated Press.

I think there is some irony in this last report somewhere.

Meanwhile, USS San Jacinto (CG-56)has been out thwarting pirates, as set out here:

The Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser, USS San Jacinto (CG 56) rescued five Yemeni mariners from suspected pirates May 26, while conducting routine counter narcotics operations, 68 miles southeast of Ras Fartak, Yemen.

San Jacinto dispatched a boarding team, in two rigid hull inflatable boats, to perform an approach and assist visit on the Yemeni dhow, Al Jawat, and conduct a routine inspection.

When all of the personnel were mustered on the bow of the dhow, the team discovered one person hiding under a blanket and a hidden cache of four AK-47 assault rifles and four rocket-propelled grenades during a search of the ship.

Upon conversation with the master of the vessel, the team learned 13 suspected pirates were on board, attempting to blend in as part of the crew. The master identified the suspected pirates and the team detained them on the dhow without conflict. The crew and suspected pirates remained on the dhow as Yemeni authorities were contacted.

The Yemeni Navy dispatched a patrol boat from Al Mukalla, Yemen, to take custody of the suspected pirates and spoke with the crew members to investigate the incident. The master stated his dhow had been under pirate control for one day only.

San Jacinto then got the double:

USS San Jacinto (CG 56) disrupted nine Somali pirates from attacking a Maltese-flagged motor vessel May 31, bringing the cruiser's weekly total to 22 pirates interdicted.

San Jacinto responded to a distress call from the M/V Avenue Beauty, which was transiting 90 miles north of Somalia when she reported that she was under attack by pirates. Upon hearing gun shots, the vessels master sounded the general alarm and directed the crew to execute counter-piracy measures which caused the pirate skiff to call off their attack and speed away.

San Jacinto quickly responded to the attack and followed the pirate skiff with her helicopter, Proud Warrior 433. Aboard the aircraft, Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Casey Halliwell tracked the pirate skiff on radar as it headed south toward the Somali coast at a high rate of speed. The skiff, with nine pirates aboard, failed to comply with Proud Warrior's order to stop. Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class Corey Whittle fired warning shots across the bow and stern of the skiff, compelling the pirates to stop their vessel.

In the early morning of June 1, San Jacinto sent a boarding team with U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment and San Jacinto Sailors to the pirate skiff. The boarding team quickly took control of the vessel and searched the skiff and pirates, who had previously thrown their weapons, ammunition, and pirate paraphernalia overboard. The pirates were released in the skiff after the boarding team confiscated one engine and several gallons of fuel, ensuring they could reach shore while limiting their ability to continue piracy attempts.

An alert reader took note that the description of the location of Garacad in the article about the retaking of a ship by its crew was not exactly right so I fixed it.

Israeli enforcement of blockade draws condemnation, but it wasn't "piracy"

So, Israel maintains a well-known blockade of Gaza and it enforces that blockade because some ships in the past have been known to smuggle weapons into Gaza. These weapons are, of course, used to attack Israel. Such attacks, in turn, prompt more interference by Israel with Gaza's internal affairs...

Now, once again employing their most dangerous weapon - favorable press coverage - attempted Gaza blockade runners have found themselves bloodied by an Israeli naval force and got the UN to act: UN condemns Israel for attack on aid convoy:

Pressure on Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza increased further last night as the UN Security Council demanded a probe into the deadly attack on civilian aid ships in international waters. A Turkish charity in Gaza said that 19 people were missing; Israel put the death toll at 9.

As outrage grew over Israel’s attack on the flotilla of mostly Turkish aid vessels bound for Gaza, Security Council members, who had broken off from their spring holiday to hold an emergency session called for a “prompt, impartial, credible, transparent” investigation into the incident, and the release of all civilians being held by the Israelis.

Israel was called on to explain its use of “disproportionate force” against the humanitarian workers and Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, said that he was shocked by the killings and demanded answers urgently.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, called the attack on unarmed civilians on board foreign ships in international waters a “war crime,” and said it would not stop more ships from attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

“Those fleets, one after the other, will be coming until the unethical blockade is put to an end and the suffering stops for our people,” he said.

While criticism of the vigor of the enforcement of the blockade may or may not be appropriate, any comparison to "piracy" is totally wrong. As the widely signed UN Convention on the Law of Sea indicates:

Article101
Definition of piracy
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).

No "private ends," no piracy. The rules of blockade are covered by the law of war. See here for a summary.

But you might note that if you attempt to run a known blockade, you are risking trouble.

Proposal to Name a US Navy ship in the Honor of Lt. John William Finn, USN deceased Petition

There was a time when U.S. Navy destroyers, especially the Gearing-class destroyers, were named after Medal of Honor honorees and other heroes.

Now, it seems that the naming of ships may follow more political winds.

Be that as it may, with the recent death of of "the last living recipient of the attack on Pearl Harbor" there is a movement afoot to honor both him and the old tradition by naming the "next naval vessel" after LT John William Finn.

You can sign a petition to this effect at Proposal to Name a US Navy ship in the Honor of Lt. John William Finn, USN deceased Petition

Be It Resolved:
That the next naval vessel should bear the name USS John William Finn in recognition and honor of his selfless devotion to duty and the preservation of freedom.

We The Undersigned:
Call upon the Congress of the United States to draft a resolution supporting the naming of a United States Navy Ship the USS John William Finn.

Call upon the Secretary of the Navy to support this petition of the tax-paying people of these United States of America and name the next naval vessel to be constructed the USS John William Finn.

Others have suggested that the next Burke-class destroyer might be an appropriate place to start.

Sign the petition and drop an email to your Congressional representatives.

Memorial Day

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Thank you for our freedom.

Heroes

Somali Pirates: Aussie Navy Takes Down Some Suspected Pirates

Reported as Australian navy stops Somali pirates:

An Australian naval vessel has stopped a boatload of pirates believed to have been plotting attacks on merchant ships off the east coast of Africa.

The HMAS Parramatta was patrolling a shipping lane in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, on May 25 when it intercepted a skiff carrying a group of suspected pirates.
***
When first sighted, the suspected pirates were throwing items overboard, including some weapons.
***

Australian crew boarded the boat, but found no additional weapons.

They seized any items that could have been used in a piracy attack, and then left the vessel with enough supplies to make its way safely back to Somalia.

More on Anzac class frigate HMAS Parramatta here.

Somali Pirates: French Navy Breaks Up Attack

Reported as FS Nivose saves Merchant vessel Nordneptun from pirates

A helicopter from the EU NAVFOR warship FS Nivôse was launched against a pirate skiff leading to the disruption of a pirate attack against the merchant vessel Nordneptun off Zanzibar, Tanzania on the morning of 25 May.

EU NAVFOR continues to successfully patrol, intercept and disrupt pirate attacks throughout the EU NAVFOR area of operations. The French EU NAVFOR warship Nivôse responded immediately to a distress signal from Nordneptune, a tanker, which indicated she was under small arms attack from a pirate vessel. As a result of the application of ‘Best Management Practices ‘against pirate attack, the Nordneptune was able to evade the attack.

However, within an hour, the Nordneptune was under further more serious attack by two pirate skiffs. In the interim, EU NAVFOR warship FS Nivôse closed with Nordneptun and was now in a position to launch her helicopter. On arrival, Nivôse helicopter fired warning shots and both skiffs gave up their attack and moved into Tanzanian territorial waters where the Tanzanian Coast Guard was alerted to continue the pursuit.

 Lower photo shows some pirates who escaped.

Somali Pirates: The EU Has a Plan and is Acting on that Plan!

Wonders never cease, as the EU (the Dutch Navy, really) is putting a squeeze on some Somali pirates in advance of "crunch time" for the pirates.

All as set out in EU NAVFOR warship HNLMS Johan de Witt blocking pirate access to the sea:

EU NAVFOR HNLMS Johan de Witt has effectively blocked known pirate camp on the Somali coast from access to the open sea.

As an amphibious ship, HNLMS Johan de Witt is able, from a dock within the ship, to launch a number of smaller vessels, LCVPs (Landing craft for vehicle and personnel transport), that can provide a blockading role on selected known pirate areas of the Somali coast.

Under orders from the Swedish EU NAVFOR Force Headquarters Ship Carlskrona, the warship Johan de Witt was positioned on the Somali coast to provide surveillance and reconnaissance patrols with the aim of gaining useful information while restricting and interdicting pirate movement on the coast. With the onset of the monsoon, increasingly poor weather conditions making pirate activities very difficult, creating an urgency amongst the pirates to get to sea quickly.

EU NAVFOR HNLMS Johan de Witt is providing an excellent blocking force and very effectively denying pirate access to the high sea at a time when worsening weather conditions is making pirate operations increasingly more difficult.

Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

An earlier report here. I like the Dutch.

North Korea: South Korea Ratcheting Up, Threatens "Blockade" of North Korea

The Chosun Ilbo: Torpedo Sinks Inter-Korean Relations to Cold-War Depths:

The sanctions the government announced on Monday include steps to blockade North Korea, which became unavoidable after clear evidence showed that the sinking was an act of military aggression against the South. That ends 10 years of rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula and returns inter-Korean relations to the dark days before 1989, when the two sides agreed to step up exchanges.
***
The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with merely a ceasefire. The South Korean public has once again been reminded of this reality. Lee in a public address Monday said the peninsula faces a "major turning point."

South Korean troops are preparing for action. They resumed so-called psychological warfare against North Korea on Monday, and plan to shift their rules of engagement from defensive to offensive mode. Around next month, U.S. and South Korean forces will hold joint anti-submarine exercises, and when maritime blockade drills begin during the second half of this year in line with the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, North Korea will be forced to heighten its awareness for a prolonged period.

A naval blockade? Oh, my. That's pretty bold after losing a ship to a torpedo.

On the other hand maybe, "...[W]e've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war."

ReliefWeb has a report on the DPRK (that's North Korea) food status here. Oh, yes, while Kim Jong-il is investing in nukes and missiles, his people were having such food as they get catered to them from more useful countries:

Using the apparent per capita cereal consumption of about 140 kg per year in recent years and a population of about 24 million, the country would require about 3.36 million tonnes for human consumption. Considering other uses such as seed, feed, post-harvest losses and some stock changes, FAO estimates that the country would have import requirements of 1.10 million tonnes for the marketing year 2009/10 (November/October). However, given the ongoing economic constraints it is unlikely that this deficit could be covered by commercial imports. As of April 2010 only 177 000 tonnes of cereals have been recorded/declared as imports. Thus a significant international food aid is needed to meet the shortage.
***
The country continues to suffer from chronic food insecurity, high malnutrition rates and economic problems, and has great difficulties meeting the needs of its about 24 million people. The FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) conducted in the late 2008 confirmed a significant deterioration in food security in most parts of the country in recent years. The poor, especially those living in urban areas, continue to be affected by soaring food prices. It is very likely that the financial and economic situation of most households has worsened after recent monetary measures taken by the government to replace the devalued currency by a new legal tender for all transactions.

World Food Program has a similar report:

Since 1995, WFP has played a central role in mobilizing and delivering food assistance to millions of the DPRK’s hungriest people, saving countless lives and helping to achieve significant reductions in malnutrition rates. Emergency operations between 1995 and 2005 secured more than four million tonnes of commodities valued at US$1.7 billion and directly supported up to one-third of the population.

In response to a government request for relief assistance and confirmed new food needs, WFP launched an emergency operation in September 2008. The US$504 million operation set out to target 6.2 million of the most vulnerable groups, mainly young children, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly, addressing immediate humanitarian needs of the population while simultaneously improving the nutritional quality over the medium-term.

Vitamin-and-mineral enriched foods produced at WFP-supported factories are given to young children and pregnant and nursing women, and cereal rations to underemployed workers through food-for-community-development schemes aimed at improving food security and mitigating natural disasters. All of these activities are vital investments in the future of the beneficiaries.

 And aiding in propping up a nasty, corrupt regime by feeding its huddled masses while the DPRK government spends money on weapons instead of plowshare.

Another "worker's paradise."

North Korea: Fearless Leader Tells DPRK Troops to "Get Ready for Combat"

From the South Korean newspaper The Chosun Iibo here:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has ordered the military to be ready for combat, a Seoul-based defectors' group said Tuesday quoting a source in the reclusive country.

North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said when South Korea announced the findings of a probe into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan last Thursday, O Kuk-ryol, the vice chairman of the North's National Defense Commission, in a statement said Kim ordered the entire military, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Security Department, the Worker-Peasant Red Guard, and the Red Youth Guard to be ready for combat."

Kim's order was relayed via wire broadcasting to a speaker installed in each home. These broadcasts are often used by the regime when it disseminates information that it does not want to be known abroad.

That doesn't sound good - what with the DPRK being all "nuked up" these days. I wonder if any one has told old KJ-il about the fallout patterns that might come from nuking the South Koreans, including all the world of hurt the USAF and USN might rain down on his lairs? Maybe he figures his bunkers are deep enough...

Meanwhile, on the surface, the U.S. seems to be willing to try to talk KJ-il to death . . .

On the other hand, there is this:

South Korea and the United States will hold a large-scale combined exercise to deter North Korean submarine infiltration and block sea lanes to the North between June and July, top naval commanders from the two allies announced Tuesday.

The joint naval exercise would be a step toward the resumption of an annual large-scale field exercise by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, observers said.
***
Earlier in the day, Rear Adm. Peter Aguon Gumataotao, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea, visited the ROK Navy headquarters in South Chungcheong Province, to meet with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Kim Sung-chan for discussions over joint efforts against North Korean provocation in waters near the sea border.

"To support the ROK Navy's countermeasures against the North, U.S. Naval Forces Korea will use all available capabilities to play a significant role," Gumataotao was quoted by a South Korean Navy spokesman as saying.

Kim and Gumataotao discussed details to prepare for a ship-interdiction exercise in waters around and outside of the Korean Peninsula later this year, the spokesman said.

Defense sources said the forthcoming naval training would involve up-to-date warships of the U.S. 7th Fleet, such as a nuclear-powered submarine, Aegis-equipped destroyers and an aircraft carrier.

The South Korean Navy's Type-209/214 attack submarines, Sejong the Great-class KDX-III Aegis destroyers and KDX-II destroyers will join the exercise, they said.

Generally, if you have an aircraft carrier involved, there are more than a couple of destroyers along for the training exercise. See here.

60 years ago in June, the Korean War got started when North Korean forces rolled across the border.

And, just for speculative purposes, here's map from the Congressional Research concerning North Korean missile ranges:

For some reason, Guam is not shown on that map. Or maybe it's just a dot in the South Pacific. Where America's day begins.

UPDATE: An intel guy has his own take with a long list of previous North Korean provocations.
And, to appear well-informed, you might like North Korean Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (pdf), though it is 2 years old.