On November 28 2010 13:33 phosphorylation wrote: to be fair, a few of those battleships are korean
Well, normally carriers travel in a strike group. Which is 6 warships and 2 supply vessels. These strike groups are kept near the U.S. and used for fast deployment.
However, in war games or in a deployment scenario, the strike group is inflated to a full battle group, with support ships meeting the carrier in theater.
This is what a full carrier battle group looks like....(This is the Abraham Lincoln during the last set of war games a few years ago, I THINK.)
So they might be all U.S. ships, but I can't tell for sure. It depends if the U.S. had ships in the area already or not (I assume they did.)
Perhaps few submarines too somewhere nearby region.
I guarantee there are MANY submarines in the waters, and probably a few in that picture.
If shit happens there will be a silent war beneath the waters between the US Los Angeles class submarines, the South Korean subs and the old shitty russian POS's that the North Koreans have plenty of.
I really have NO idea what NK is trying to accomplish. O_o If they really go to a war involving US they really can't win, US technology and knowledge is about a million years above NKs. Amount of army isn't the only thing that matters, quality is much more important(Simo Häyhä sniped 200+ people <3). China won't properly get involved and even if they do, I really think US still is the stronger country, at least in a vacuum. There's too many variables...
But yeah point being, NK would be totally suicidal if they really sought war. Actually, I think that the change of the leader is a great invulnerability and might be a great opportunity for either a riot or just an attack by outside forces(SK, US)... Best case scenario would be some NK resistance group going around sniping the leaders and taking over power, but I doubt that's going to happen, so we're pretty much guaranteed to need to have some kind of a violent confrontation sooner or later.
On November 28 2010 14:04 Shikyo wrote: I really have NO idea what NK is trying to accomplish. O_o If they really go to a war involving US they really can't win, US technology and knowledge is about a million years above NKs. Amount of army isn't the only thing that matters, quality is much more important(Simo Häyhä sniped 200+ people <3). China won't properly get involved and even if they do, I really think US still is the stronger country, at least in a vacuum. There's too many variables...
But yeah point being, NK would be totally suicidal if they really sought war. Actually, I think that the change of the leader is a great invulnerability and might be a great opportunity for either a riot or just an attack by outside forces(SK, US)... Best case scenario would be some NK resistance group going around sniping the leaders and taking over power, but I doubt that's going to happen, so we're pretty much guaranteed to need to have some kind of a violent confrontation sooner or later.
It's not about them wanting a war or about anything to do with their foreign policy. They are quickly trying to get young Kim Jong-un (recently promoted to four-star status) some credentials in the form of military prowess. This whole drama is most likely about an internal political power handoff in NKR.
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military had ordered civilians on a border island to evacuate to shelters, military officials said Sunday, after hearing sounds of "several rounds" of artillery firing, though no shells landed on the island.
SourceSigns of N. Korea's artillery firing detected: South's military
On November 28 2010 14:04 Shikyo wrote: I really have NO idea what NK is trying to accomplish. O_o If they really go to a war involving US they really can't win, US technology and knowledge is about a million years above NKs. Amount of army isn't the only thing that matters, quality is much more important(Simo Häyhä sniped 200+ people <3). China won't properly get involved and even if they do, I really think US still is the stronger country, at least in a vacuum. There's too many variables...
But yeah point being, NK would be totally suicidal if they really sought war. Actually, I think that the change of the leader is a great invulnerability and might be a great opportunity for either a riot or just an attack by outside forces(SK, US)... Best case scenario would be some NK resistance group going around sniping the leaders and taking over power, but I doubt that's going to happen, so we're pretty much guaranteed to need to have some kind of a violent confrontation sooner or later.
Just a little history into the madness.
The U.S.S.R supplied most of North Korea's food and fuel. In 1991, after the collapse of the Union, those supplies stopped. In 1994, a widespread famine, which lasted for 5 years, killed nearly 3 million people. For reference, the "genocidal" famine in Somalia killed 500k. The NK famine was considered one, if not, the worst in the last century.
In 1998, huge amounts of outside supplies suppressed the crisis. However, in 2003 (Or 02, not sure.), Big Kim decided to reject anymore foreign help. There were a lot of reasons for this but one of the big ones is a philosophy that his dictatorship is built on. (They have a word for it but I forget it at the moment.)...Anyway, this philosophy is based on STRICT self reliance. Taking food from other nations, even their allies, went counter to this (As I said, its more complex, there were other tensions too, but meh.)...Anyway, Big Kim stopped the food.
Since then, there have been multiple natural disasters which have probably horribly affected their water and food systems. We don't know much about what happens in NK, its like a damn black hole...However, they could be in the middle of another famine. If that's the case and if its really bad AND if Big Kim is really sick, his sons fresh reign of power could already be in jeopardy.
However, nothing helps a failing tyrant like an enemy to distract your people from their own desperate situation. He may be actively seeking to provoke SOME aggressive action from the U.S. and SK, so he can use their response to vilify them and garner support of his own people. In short, if he can raise their nationalistic/patriotic feelings, they may just forget their life sucks and Lil Kim can show his people that he is a tough bad ass that can protect them from the big bad capitalist pigs.
That would be my guess, anyway. And it is just a guess. No one knows enough about what is going on inside the country to say for sure--Currently Korea is more mysterious than the U.S.S.R during the cold war. Absolutely NO information gets out of the country, except from the few people who manage to escape and are not assassinated. (Not many escape, though, because if you escape your whole family and extended family is sent to a work camp to die a painful, horrible death.). Some documentaries have been made recently but they are all strictly confined to the capital city.
On November 28 2010 14:04 Shikyo wrote: I really have NO idea what NK is trying to accomplish. O_o If they really go to a war involving US they really can't win, US technology and knowledge is about a million years above NKs. Amount of army isn't the only thing that matters, quality is much more important(Simo Häyhä sniped 200+ people <3). China won't properly get involved and even if they do, I really think US still is the stronger country, at least in a vacuum. There's too many variables...
But yeah point being, NK would be totally suicidal if they really sought war. Actually, I think that the change of the leader is a great invulnerability and might be a great opportunity for either a riot or just an attack by outside forces(SK, US)... Best case scenario would be some NK resistance group going around sniping the leaders and taking over power, but I doubt that's going to happen, so we're pretty much guaranteed to need to have some kind of a violent confrontation sooner or later.
Just a little history into the madness.
The U.S.S.R supplied most of North Korea's food and fuel. In 1991, after the collapse of the Union, those supplies stopped. In 1994, a widespread famine, which lasted for 5 years, killed nearly 3 million people. For reference, the "genocidal" famine in Somalia killed 500k. The NK famine was considered one, if not, the worst in the last century.
In 1998, huge amounts of outside supplies suppressed the crisis. However, in 2003 (Or 02, not sure.), Big Kim decided to reject anymore foreign help. There were a lot of reasons for this but one of the big ones is a philosophy that his dictatorship is built on. (They have a word for it but I forget it at the moment.)...Anyway, this philosophy is based on STRICT self reliance. Taking food from other nations, even their allies, went counter to this (As I said, its more complex, there were other tensions too, but meh.)...Anyway, Big Kim stopped the food.
Since then, there have been multiple natural disasters which have probably horribly affected their water and food systems. We don't know much about what happens in NK, its like a damn black hole...However, they could be in the middle of another famine. If that's the case and if its really bad AND if Big Kim is really sick, his sons fresh reign of power could already be in jeopardy.
However, nothing helps a failing tyrant like an enemy to distract your people from their own desperate situation. He may be actively seeking to provoke SOME aggressive action from the U.S. and SK, so he can use their response to vilify them and garner support of his own people. In short, if he can raise their nationalistic/patriotic feelings, they may just forget their life sucks and Lil Kim can show his people that he is a tough bad ass that can protect them from the big bad capitalist pigs.
That would be my guess, anyway. And it is just a guess. No one knows enough about what is going on inside the country to say for sure--Currently Korea is more mysterious than the U.S.S.R during the cold war. Absolutely NO information gets out of the country, except from the few people who manage to escape and are not assassinated. (Not many escape, though, because if you escape your whole family and extended family is sent to a work camp to die a painful, horrible death.). Some documentaries have been made recently but they are all strictly confined to the capital city.
To elaborate on your last paragraph, it's the distinct lack of information that makes North Korea such an enigma.
We simply do not know the internal politics of North Korea, who holds actual power beneath the Kim family, who hates whom, which generals support X internal faction that promotes a particular policy, etc. This lack of information is in part why so many analysts like to promote the view that Kim Jong Un and/or his father is attempting to solidify a powerbase inside NK, simply because we have no idea of what sort of underground political factions may be vying for power upon the demise of Kim senior. Are there factions in the army that feel Jong-un is unsuited to command? Perhaps, but maybe the Kim cult of personality has so influenced NK that even the very top levels of the military are fanatically devout to the family. The point is that no one knows anything about the domestic political situation barring what is either surmised or assumed from oftentimes vague sources.
I find it extremely amusing at all the people posting "Oh North Korea has very old technology, they don't stand a chance against our American hardware"
On November 28 2010 14:58 Almin wrote: I find it extremely amusing at all the people posting "Oh North Korea has very old technology, they don't stand a chance against our American hardware"
We said the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Exactly, and we are still fighting those wars.
"Old technology" will be meaningless if North Korea is funded by China if this turns into a war
On November 28 2010 14:58 Almin wrote: I find it extremely amusing at all the people posting "Oh North Korea has very old technology, they don't stand a chance against our American hardware"
We said the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Huge difference between crushing a nation's standing military and its ability to wage conventional war and occupying it. First Gulf War, case in point. Likewise, Iraq and Afghanistan were stunning successes in terms of traditional warfare.
Exactly, and we are still fighting those wars.
"Old technology" will be meaningless if North Korea is funded by China if this turns into a war
On November 28 2010 14:58 Almin wrote: I find it extremely amusing at all the people posting "Oh North Korea has very old technology, they don't stand a chance against our American hardware"
We said the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Huge difference between crushing a nation's standing military and its ability to wage conventional war and occupying it. First Gulf War, case in point. Likewise, Iraq and Afghanistan were stunning successes in terms of traditional warfare.
"Old technology" will be meaningless if North Korea is funded by China if this turns into a war
No. Again, the Gulf war as an example.
The 2nd gulf war could have been avoided...saddam forces were destroyed, Iraqis wanted freedom, they asked USA for help, they denied .... they asked if they could give them the weapons the fleeing saddam forces left behind so they could tople the regime, the americans destroyed those weapons, and left the iraqian people with no choice.
On November 28 2010 14:58 Almin wrote: I find it extremely amusing at all the people posting "Oh North Korea has very old technology, they don't stand a chance against our American hardware"
We said the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US is using like 1/100th of their military power against those nations.
HONG KONG, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- The Chinese government said Sunday it will make an "urgent" announcement later in the day amid rising military tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
China's foreign ministry said it will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. for both domestic and foreign reporters based in Beijing, adding that it will not accept any questions during the conference.
On November 28 2010 14:58 Almin wrote: I find it extremely amusing at all the people posting "Oh North Korea has very old technology, they don't stand a chance against our American hardware"
We said the same thing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US is using like 1/100th of their military power against those nations.
Pretty much this(although exaggerated), theres a huge difference between fighting a major international power and occupying a 3rd world country.