[Johnny_H]

Andy, I don't blame them. The civilian causalities alone given full hostilities would be unimaginable and the worst seen since WWII.

[andyt]

Well if they don't want to fight then stop with the rhetoric - I doubt if it scares NK when it's never backed up by action.

[Johnny_H]

They returned fire with a artillery barrage and they scrambled close air support. I think the response met the demand of the provocation well enough. Got the message across that this will be met with action rather than rhetoric. The only reason why they didn't go after the N.Korean Navy when they sank the corvette is because it was all over by the time the media got wind.

This time however, they were able to respond immediately. A flare up in artillery exchange within seconds or minutes of the first strike is far far different than sending the navy to conduct anti-submarine action hours or days after the fact. Ones a brief flare up in hostilities which can be quelled quickly and the other is a complex maritime operation which is much harder to stop and diffuse.

These two scenarios are apples and oranges. No one wants a war there as much as we'd all like to see "Dear Leader" pulled out of a Spider Hole by the USMC or brownings and BAR's mowing down the reds coming over the Yalu its just too costly for a war both in terms of economics and more importantly human lives.

[The_Doctor]

Damn another continuation of a war. Why all this senseless death and suffering.

[andyt]

The_Doctor The_Doctor:

Damn another continuation of a war. Why all this senseless death and suffering.

It seems to be hard wired. Kurt Vonnegut talks about being anti-war is like being anti-glacier - ie pretty futile. Tho I guess if we keep up this global warming stuff, maybe we'll get rid of glaciers, so then we can put our minds to stopping war. Those that are left.

[Bodah]

I hope it doesn't escalate.

[Public_Domain]

[Gunnair]

"Mr_Canada" wrote:

The_Doctor The_Doctor:

Damn another continuation of a war. Why all this senseless death and suffering.

aaaaaaand cue the vapid and predictable Marxist speaking point!

$1:

What better way to kill off the proletariat?

Thanks, Mr. C, you always have our six.

[Bodah]

Mr_Canada Mr_Canada:

The_Doctor The_Doctor:

Damn another continuation of a war. Why all this senseless death and suffering.

What better way to kill off the proletariat?

Still pissed about being the little cog in the machine huh ?

Go to school learn a trade and the amount of teeth in your cog will grow by leaps and bounds.

Follow that recipe while using your imagination then expound on it. Eventually you can live the life you want and can stop demanding cash from the rest of us in order for you to do it.

Capitalism = a nations way of sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

[Public_Domain]

[Tman1]

I agree with andyt. Seems like N.Korea can pick and choose its targets, when and where and expect to get away with it while the rest of the world can just condemn (gee, like they care) and give them more sanctions, as if that worked the last few dozen times. China of course doesn't want anything to happen since their 'buffer zone' is at stake. I'd blame China as well. Should have reigned in their lap dogs before instead of having their thumbs up their asses and blowing hot air when talking about calm when N.Korea starts tugging on its leash.

[ShepherdsDog]

How do we know that this scenario isn't a proxy action for the Chinese? The NK are their lap dogs, and they see the SK as vassals of the Americans. This could be small scale nose thumbing.

[Gunnair]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

How do we know that this scenario isn't a proxy action for the Chinese? The NK are their lap dogs, and they see the SK as vassals of the Americans. This could be small scale nose thumbing.

It seems unlikely. North Korea seems to have these little tantrums in order to threaten violence for aid and it uses just enough violence to a) not provoke a massive response from South Korea and b) scare South Korea and the US enough to come to the table.

China seems half indulgent of it's pet and half bewildered by it.

[Public_Domain]