Thursday, 22 February 2007
 

R J Del Vecchio: "Quid, me vexare?"
Contributed by Bill Faith

Email from Del:

Or as the MAD magazine character Alfred E. Neumann used to say, "What, me worry?".

Well, here's why I worry.

1- There have been in the past more than enough examples of crazy/nasty/megalomaniac leaders of nations and movements who did not hesitate to lie, cheat, manipulate, punish, destroy, and murder in pursuit of their own agenda for power, to the point of bringing horrific damage to not only all those they wanted to conquer or destroy, but also their own people.  From Napoleon to Pol Pot, we do not lack knowledge of what such people can accomplish if left alone to build engines of destruction while descending into an egomaniac arrogance of invulnerability.  Why would we believe none such can exist in the world of today or tomorrow?

2- We have only to glance at North Korea to see a true hellhole on earth, ruled by the present nutcase and his father before him for the past 60+ years, with a starving population but an army of brainwashed automatons champing at the bit to invade South Korea, and an apparent devotion to having nuclear weapons capacity.  A government that has defied and manipulated the West for decades, extorting food and energy supplies by threats of violence, while conceding nothing of any meaning at all.  What is there to indicate to the madmen at the top that anything can ever happen to really affect them negatively, when the West has acted largely as a supplicant and the worst that happens is the occasional UN embargo that doesn't cause that leadership to be deprived of so much as an after dinner mint?

(Continued "below the fold.")

3- Or we can examine Iran, the modern history of which started with the most blatantly illegal and illicit international outrage of modern times, a 444 day imprisonment of an entire diplomatic staff, for which there were no real negative consequences, but the enormous positive consequence of being the first "little nation" to successfully defy and indeed humiliate the USA.  A nation under rule of what is the only real theocracy of modern times, dominated by fundamentalist Islamic thought that has concentrated on hatred of Israel, the USA, and the West in general for over a generation now.  A government in power under a radical whose public pronouncements are so strongly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler that people who wish to do so, can dismiss him as a crazy clown (just as Hitler was dismissed by many in the late 1920s).  A government which has exported massive amounts of weapons and supplies to radical jihadists in many parts of the Middle East, and very effectively fomented violence and expansion of radicalism in the region, and has yet to suffer the slightest penalty for so doing.  A government that continues to defy the world in its drive to also obtain nuclear weapons capacity.

4- Underlying all this is the broad spread of Wahabism throughout the Islamic world, funded in large part by billions in Saudi oil money that has gone to build madrasa schools far and wide, where young boys are inculcated in religious extremism, where fiery preachers learn their trade and end up in mosques from Scotland to Skokie spreading the word that the caliphate must be restored, the infidels conquered or destroyed, and of course, Israel be utterly removed from existence.  There are multiple currents in this overall stream of jihadism, the contributions of Hamas and Hezbollah, often allied with Iran, cannot be neglected either, and the incredible perversion of Islam that glorifies suicide attacks against innocents and has mothers rejoicing in their sons' deaths while acting as mass murderers is the most dramatic evidence possible of how a culture of death and destruction has been created and nurtured into significant proportions.  And the tactics of terror have rendered mute the great bulk of the moderate communities of Islam across the world. 5- And who is left to counter the growth of these threats to world peace and stability?  The UN, which could do nothing in Ruanda, failed in a feeble attempt in Somalia, can do nothing today in Darfur, could not even manage a very public and important program to allow Iraq under Saddam to export oil solely for food to feed his people?  Like it or not, the US is the only six-foot-six guy in the room, everyone else is 5'6" or less, and when anyone thinks of heavy lifting to be done, all eyes turn to the red/white/blue.  But at the same time, they want, and many of our own people want, us to be able to do things with transparent perfection, so no innocent is even made uncomfortable, much less hurt or killed, indeed, even fanatic killers by their own admission must be treated far better by us than our own convicts on Death Row, and infinitely better than they'd be treated by authorities in their own countries.  The least transgression, real or alleged, by our troops is trumpeted as evidence of our utter moral failure and brings screaming condemnation from all sides, while a massive policy of atrocities by anyone else generates at most some expressions of regret.  (Or even various levels of excuses as to why such acts are understandable, if not quite excusable.)  All of this leads steadily towards inevitable impossibility of achieving any good in the world, and impels Americans back more and more towards feelings and concepts that harken back to the days of Isolationism.  (Which didn't work then and sure as hell won't work now.)

6- So we see all these very worrisome things rolling along with no real brakes to be applied by the UN or anyone else.  Here is the quote that I am only too sure applies now- "If history teaches us anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly."  Today's self-delusion is that the West can walk away from Iraq and let it collapse into complete bloody chaos, and it'll all work out somehow.  And just a decade or two from now people will be taking great vacations there, greeted by warm and friendly locals, just as we can today in Viet Nam.

But Iraq is NOT Viet Nam, and rising Islamic extremism is not weak and failing Soviet communism.  No, there is no "Green Army" of divisions of men, with tanks, planes, ships, large military bases, etc, threatening to invade like the Panzers into Poland in '39.  That doesn't mean there's no real threat in the long term.  Iran and North Korea are threats as well. In terms of the world today and these dangers, a very simple principle applies- You can pay now, or you can pay later.  And later, the costs will be much, much higher.

I don't have a perfect, easy answer, nobody does.  But abandoning Iraq, and continuing to tolerate rogue states that openly threaten the peace and continue to work at gaining nuclear weapons with which to bully and endanger the world are absolutely the wrong answers.

Del

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 22, 2007 at 05:08 PM in Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo, R J Del Vecchio | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Saturday, 14 October 2006
 

Not quite The Eiger Sanction, but a start
Contributed by Bill Faith

Security Council Unanimously
Approves Sanctions on N. Korea

UNITED NATIONS —  The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for its claimed nuclear test, declaring that its action posed "a clear threat to international peace and security."

North Korea immediately rejected the resolution, and its U.N. ambassador walked out of the council chamber after accusing its members of a "gangster-like" action which neglects the nuclear threat posed by the United States. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon said North Korea wants talks but warned that it will consider increased U.S. pressure a declaration of war. ...

... The resolution demands North Korea eliminate all its nuclear weapons but expressly rules out military action against the country — a demand by the Russians and Chinese. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton warned Pyongyang, however, that if it continues pursuing nuclear weapons, the United States would seek further measures. ...

I'm doing my best to keep up with the situation at Bill's Bites. Stop by and check out my new digs.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 14, 2006 at 03:31 PM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 10 October 2006
 

It's da bomb 2 -- Last update 2006.10.10.19:34
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous: It's da bomb

• 2006.10.10.00.39

Report: North Korean nuke test failed?
Allahpundit

Top of the page right now at Drudge. We were tossing this possibility around last night and then again this morning. Even a small nuclear explosion would yield a blast equivalent to a few thousand tons of TNT. This one was in the ballpark of 500.

Here’s what “NPP,” a retired munitions expert, had to say in the comments to the previous post:

It’s definitely possible to make nuclear weapons with yields under 1kt, but it requires a level of expertise and knowledge the NK’s almost certainly do not have…

Fireworks
Bryan Preston

It’s looking more and more like the North Korea nuke test was a dud. If it’s true, that’s obviously very good news. We know from the July 4 launches that North Korea’s long-range missiles got no dong–they don’t work. NoKo scientists may have gotten good telemetry data even from the flubbed launches, though, and they’re undoubtedly studying that data to improve the next batch.

Now we see an apparently failed North Korean nuclear test. But like the dud missiles, NoKo scientists will learn from the nuke failure (if that’s what it was). They’ll use the data from this test to improve the next batch. That’s how science works.

We now know that we have a window of time in which to deal with a North Korea that has played its cards before the world: ...

• 01:18

Fizzlemas In North Korea
Ed Morrissey

Bill Gertz writes in tomorrow's Washington Times that the nuclear test performed by North Korea may not have been nuclear at all. American intelligence has begun reviewing the seismic data and are increasingly convinced that the test was either a failure or a hoax:

U.S. intelligence agencies say, based on preliminary indications, that North Korea did not produce its first nuclear blast yesterday.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that seismic readings show that the conventional high explosives used to create a chain reaction in a plutonium-based device went off, but that the blast's readings were shy of a typical nuclear detonation. ...

• 10:37

North Korea Threatens Nuclear Launch

Kim Jong-Il either needs a hug or a straitjacket. North Korea followed its rogue nuclear test by issuing an explicit threat to attack the US with a nuclear missile unless we allowed Pyongyang to operate its counterfeiting business without interference:

A North Korean official threatened that communist nation could fire a nuclear-tipped missile unless the U.S. acts to resolve its standoff with Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

"We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes," the unnamed official said on Monday, according to a Yonhap report from Beijing. "That depends on how the U.S. will act." ...

Kim: Just Another Shrimp On The Barbie

The Australians have stepped up to the plate, as they always do when tyrants threaten global security, in the wake of the North Korean nuclear test. They didn't bother to wait for the UN Security Council to slap sanctions on the Kim Jong-Il regime, and told the UN that they had better snap to it themselves:

Australia will impose a range of measures on North Korea, including curtailing visas and supporting any U.N. sanctions, in response to the country's nuclear test, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday. ...

"We were urging our friends and allies in the United Nations to pass a resolution imposing sanctions," Downer told reporters. ...

China Rethinks Its Alliances

The nuclear test by North Korea yesterday may have produced results which Kim Jong-Il did not anticipate. China issued an unusually harsh response to their client state, and the London Times reports that Beijing may reconsider its relationship with the impulsive Stalinist:

CHINA responded with rare fury to neighbouring North Korea’s nuclear test, resorting to language generally reserved for imperialist opponents rather than communist friends.

Beijing’s response was unusually swift. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has ignored the widespread opposition of the international community and brazenly carried out a nuclear test,” it said. ...

• 11:51

The result of no consequences
Michelle Malkin

The New York Sun weighs in on "The Axis Bomb:"

To the extent that America needs to be particularly wary, it is of the danger that the North Korean test could be, like the war in Lebanon and Israel this summer, an Iranian-Syrian stunt aimed at diverting world attention from Tehran's own nuclear program. The North Korean test has prompted predictable calls for renewed and invigorated diplomacy, but America has been dealing with North Korea diplomatically since the 1994 "Agreed Framework," negotiated by our most hapless president, Jimmy Carter. In 2000, President Clinton went so far as to dispatch Secretary Albright to pay homage and clink glasses with Kim Jong Il, a toast that will live in infamy as one of the lowest points to which an American state secretary has ever sunk. North Korea has reveled in the diplomacy while moving ahead with its nuclear weapons program.  ..

• 18:37

Saving Face

From Reuters: China, other powers say N. Korea should be punished.

China, North Korea's most important ally, joined other world powers on Tuesday in calling for a tough response to the reclusive communist state's announcement of a nuclear weapons test.

China and Russia, which both border North Korea, met with other veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council to discuss a range of sanctions proposed by the United States and Japan to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program. ...

• 18:47

Confirmed(?): No nuke explosion in North Korean test
Allahpundit

Michael Yon breaks some news. Or, at least, independently confirms the news broken by Bill Gertz last night in the WashTimes.

But he does add one important detail:

The source stressed the importance of bearing in mind that though the explosion occured in North Korea — if it was actually a test and not merely a dictator clamoring for attention and influence — the test may have been by or for the Iranians. ...

[...]

Update: The Interocitor has a theory about why the NK test fizzled.

• 19:34

Try, try again?
Michelle Malkin

Reuters reporting:

North Korea appears to have conducted another nuclear test, Japanese national broadcaster NHK said on Wednesday.

Japanese government sources had information that there was a tremor in North Korea this morning and they were checking on the possibility of a nuclear test, NHK said.

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 10, 2006 at 12:38 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 09 October 2006
 

It's da bomb -- Last update 2006.10.09.15:27
Contributed by Bill Faith

Consolidating some information from Bill's Bites into one post in an order that makes a little more sense. I'll add to this post as time goes on.

• 2006.10.08.22:16

North Korea Says Nuclear Test Successful

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test. The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the test was performed successfully and there was no radioactive leakage from the site. ...

Report: North Korea Tests Nuclear Weapon

SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test Monday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing government officials.

South Korean officials couldn't immediately confirm the report. ...

Unconfirmed report: N.Korea nuke test
Michelle Malkin

Drudge siren. Fox reporting. Allah monitoring: U.S. intel can't confirm.

Bryan Preston's thoughts from Friday: ...

Report: North Korea tests nuke
Allahpundit

Just breaking on Fox, according to South Korean government officials. Standby.

Update ....

• 2006.10.09.01:38

Report: North Korea tests nuke;
Update: Yield of only 550 tons of TNT?
Allahpundit

[Keep scrolling]

North Korea nuke test: Eyes on Tokyo
Bryan Preston

Japan’s new Prime Minster Shinzo Abe is generally seen as a hawk, in the mode of former PM Junichiro Koizumi. But he’s not yet seen as being as strong a leader as the flambouyant Koizumi was. In one sense that’s good–Koizumi was very good at managing relations with the Bush administration, not so good at managing ties to China and South Korea. Abe’s ascent was already seen as a chance for Japan to stay in the US camp while mending fences with those two neighbors. That may help keep the international response to North Korea’s nuclear test focused on the core issue. We’ll probably know very shortly what kind of leader Abe is capable of being, as he is inheriting the worst foreign policy crisis Japan has faced in decades. North Korea threatens Japan nearly as often as it threatens the US; Japan has to see a nuclear armed Kim Jong-Il as an intolerable threat. Japan may find itself leading the world in taking on the threat from a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Abe has already formed a task force to discuss the North Korea issue. ...

• 01:53

Unconfirmed report: N.Korea nuke test;
update: seismic activity detected;
update: USGS reports 4.2 magnitude
US intel officer: "More fizz than pop"
Michelle Malkin

... ***scroll for updates...U.N. has no immediate comment; emergency meeting scheduled Monday morning...Australian PM John Howard condemns NoKo test. ""North Korea is very gravely mistaken if she thinks this nuclear test will improve that country's bargaining position," Howard told parliament."...Fox News reporting: "More fizz than pop," according to intel official, but "provocative" nonetheless, according to White House...***

10/9 1258am Eastern update: James Rosen reporting for Fox News: US will push for strong Chapter 7 resolution at the UN Security Council to make it illegal to transfer missile technology of any kind to NoKo and general trade sanctions but not on oil...

Joshua Stanton at One Free Korea predicts:

I think this was an enormous miscalculation on North Korea’s part. The Republicans will be gleeful that no one will be talking about Mark Foley next week.  ...

• 02:10

Initial thoughts on the NoKo nuke

Actually, the NoKos are looking pretty silly right now. They tried to build a 20 kiloton nuke and it fizzled.

Watch for Japan to have working nukes before the NoKos

Congressman Furley? Who's he? I'm voting Republican.

• 12:36

We are in range;
another test coming?
Michlle Malkin

... A military reader sends an illustration of the various ranges of North Korea's missiles. He writes: "Looking at their Taepo Dong 2 (two stage) missile range, nearly half our country is in range."

[image]

Good morning to you, too.

***

Taken with a grain of salt, but Russia's defense minister sez: ...

Video: Bush on North Korean nuke test;
Update: Equivalent to “several hundred tons of TNT”
Allahpundit

The head of South Korean intelligence reports “unusual movements” this afternoon at another NK nuke site. Kim likes his provocations in bunches, as you’ll recall.

Japanese planes are monitoring radiation levels on the peninsula; I did some bomb math at the end of the previous thread and it seems to me the Russian figure of 5-15 kilotons is likelier than the South Korean pop-gun estimate of 550 tons. Meanwhile, the Australian has a primer on the nuttiness of the North Korean dictator for those who still need one.

Israel’s worried, but then Israel’s always worried. ...

• 12:58

How bad is it?
Paul Mirengoff

In news of the inevitable, North Korea has exploded a nuclear device. Weird dicatators crave nukes -- it's one of the less weird things about them. No one was/is going to talk or pressure North Korea out of developing such weapons. If we had a shot, it was back in the mid-1990s when North Korea was just getting started. Our failure to take meaningful action and to hide instead behind the "agreed framework" is another piece of President Clinton's legacy and another item in President Carter's disgraceful resume.....

• 13:18

The Norks have nukes
Uncle Jimbo

... So the Norks officially have nukes, lovely. Nobody saw this coming, I mean they have been negotiating in good faith right? All we need to do is establish some common ground, open up lines of communication, establish a dialogue, conduct round after round of formal lying in formal wear and surely we can all just get along.

Nope, and now one of the craziest, megalomaniacal, homicidal tyrants on earth has the trump card, just lovely. As horrifyingly bad as this is I am going to focus on the upside first. Nothing like the actual threat of nuclear devastation to focus the old mind eh? ...

• 15:27

Kim Triggers Nuke, Pelosi Calls on Hastert to Quit

(2006-10-09) -- In the wake of the weekend detonation of North Korea’s first atomic bomb, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, called for the resignation of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL.

“It’s important that lawmakers keep the main thing the main thing,” said Rep. Pelosi. “We can’t get so distracted by debates about North Korea’s sovereignty that we forget that Dennis Hastert is still on the loose, indirectly endangering America’s children.” ...

Audio: Waybacking the North Korea nuclear crisis
Bryan Preston

CNSNews.com has pulled a prescient six-year-old story out of its archives, regarding how we got to where we are in Korea. It is one of the most relevant and informative articles you’ll read on the subject.

Earlier this afternoon I spoke by phone with CNSNews.com’s Editor in Chief David Thibault regarding that article and where the world stands a day after the North Koreans have conducted their first nuclear weapon test. Audio of that interview is below. It runs about 10 minutes.

Photoshopping Kim Jong-Il
Bryan Preston

Send us your links! ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on October 9, 2006 at 03:00 PM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The David and Goliath Syndrome
Contributed by Karl Bossi

Isn't it ironic that fifty years after defeating tyranny in Europe and in Asia America today is viewed as a Goliath by many countries? In spite of everything America has done since then to reduce suffering in the world she is vilified by some of those same countries. Many of the countries that once flocked to her defense often remain silent or actively impede her efforts when America is under siege. Fair-weather countries that fear the backlash of their citizens who no longer hold America in high esteem.

And so, America has become a Goliath in their eyes, worthy of being taken down by a golden stone between the eyes. A golden atomic stone is what some countries seek to gain the respect of the world community and intimidate the Goliath that America represents to them. Kim Jong-Il, the man who dresses like your neighborhood auto-mechanic, is the leader of a vast, dysfunctional and truly dangerous regime. A man that behaves like an angry schoolchild on the playground leads North Korea. When he says, "So you won't play with me? I'll show you." In seeking the golden atomic stone, North Korea and their client, Iran, hope to gird themselves against any perceived threats from the American Goliath.

Both North Korea and Iran need to come to grips with the long-range consequences of their burning quest to join the nuclear club and build a nuclear arsenal. Weapons that can only destabilize the delicate stability of Asia and the Middle East. Weapons available to terrorists in a deadly Stop and Shop store exported for hard currency to those seeking to devastate America. In addition, the inherent cost of membership in the nuclear club is exorbitant and employs critical resources sorely needed by their impoverished citizens. What made a man like Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi forsake the Libyan program to develop Weapons of Mass Destruction? In a dream did he hear the American Goliath whisper, "We have a deal you can't refuse."? What will it take to bring North Korea and Iran to their senses and get serious about meaningful negotiations? What will it take for them to get over their Rodney Dangerfield mentality, "I don't get no respect."?

Until an overpowering alliance of the world community gets serious about putting a moratorium on the expanding membership in the nuclear club the American Goliath will be at great risk for an atomic stone between the eyes. 

Contributed by Karl Bossi on October 9, 2006 at 09:20 AM in Iraq, Karl Bossi, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 26 September 2006
 

The Secret of Ramona
Contributed by George Mellinger

One of the benefits of the collapse of the Soviet Union has been a tremendous opening of information, as thousands of Russians devote themselves to "filling in the white pages" of their past. Much of this concerns the remoter period of Lenin and Stalin. Sometimes the revelations extend into the very recent past. There have also been a small host of independent military analysts and reporters who take their inspiration from the independent commentators and organizations in the U.S.A. Some of these men, such as Pavel Felgengauer have gained a certain following in the West, while others such as the appropriately named Andrei Soldatov remain relatively unknown.

My non-OWD life is devoted to the history of Soviet military aviation, particularly its pilots. But sometimes I find other materials which just seem too interesting, or too important to let them slide past me.

The following article is one such. I found it on a Russian website a couple years ago, translated it, and shared it with friends A couple of days ago, I went back and found that in the interim, the Russian webmaster seems to have made his own English language translation, but both the original article and his translation seem to have vanished from his site. All the more reason that I should make my translation available to the wider public.

Georgii Pobedonosets (George the Victory Bringer) is the Russian name for Saint George

The article in its original form begins beneath the fold.

-Rurik

                The situation was, as a final measure I raised the question about a Russian base in Korea with friends from the worldwide club of radio enthusiasts “Spooks”.  Their hobby is to use homemade radio receivers to listen in on military and special frequencies (in distinction from Russia this is not forbidden in other countries), and also to collect and to catalog  publications about electronic espionage around the world.  Learning that there are members of this club in very different countries and that for a long time they have exchanged information, the club commanded a very suitable base of information in the area of electronic espionage.  At least, except for Spooks, I have nowhere else encountered charts of the activity of the radio transmitters at Lourdes.

                But Eri[1] Bonder the leader of this club could not help at all.  “I have never heard anything about a Soviet or Russian base for radio-technical reconnaissance in North Korea. Could it possibly have been only just opened?  But I strongly doubt that Russia would do this after the decision to close Lourdes and Cam Ranh”, was the not very comforting response I received from Eri.

                The anniversary badge continued to be a bother, and it gave me no peace that a Soviet radio-espionage base might exist secretly in such an explosively dangerous region, when information about its existing now would be reason for a major international scandal.  But except for the badge in my hands there was nothing.

                I mostly forgot about the base for a while.  Until the news of the sentencing of diplomat Valentin Moiseev of working in South Korean intelligence.

The Judge reveals the secret

On 14 August 2001 the Moscow city court handed down its sentence in the case of Valentin Moiseev, the former deputy director of the 1^st Department Asia, of the MID (Ministry For Foreign Affairs) of Russia.  The ex-diplomat was found guilty of spying in behalf of South Korea and was sentenced to 4.5 years deprivation of liberty with the sentence to be served in a strict regime settlement.  In the hall of the presiding judge was published sensational information about the Russian base in the PDRK.  Here is the citation from the sentence:

“The court...established...fulfilling the conditions of APNB (spying for South Korea – A.S.), Moiseev V.I. ...handed over... in the fall of 1997 secretly compiled state secrets in the area of

military cooperation and content from secure information of the Korean Department of the 1 DA MID RF about military cooperation between Russia and the PDRK, in part concerning the fulfillment of the contract between the RF and PDRK for the MiG-29 and the completion of the functioning in the PDRK of the Russian radio-technical reconnaissance complex “Ramona”.

This was the first time that any of the listeners had heard name of the secret electronic espionage base operating, judging by the text, in the interests of our special services at the very least until 1997.

Birth of “Ramona”

True, it is not clear what was done at this base, nor in whose interests. From the judgement of the court one might draw the conclusion that the base was responsible for radio technical reconnaissance.  As defined by the Voenizdat[2] book “Radioelectronic Reconnaissance”, Radio technical reconnaissance (RTR) is a form of radio electronic reconnaissance for discovery and location of radio location stations (RLS), radio navigation and radio technical systems using methods of radio reception, and directional and signal analysis of radio signals.  Translated into Russian (or English - G.P.) this means that RTR does not listen to the secret discussion of the enemy but “only” provides enemy activity in the radio band consisting of patterns of the transmissions of the discovered radio stations. 

How this is useful, is explained best of all by Viktor Suvorov in “the Aquarium”:

“And thus, as a result of a multi-year analysis it appears possible to say “if RB-7665-1 appears in the ether, it means that four days later a massive flight to Ramstein will be executed”.  It is an inviolable rule. And if suddenly the station which we call Ts-1000 begins to work, then it is obvious to a child that military readiness of American forces in Europe will be increased....”.

                In the system of the Russian special services there are two organizations which are concerned with radio intelligence, the GRU and the so-called Third Glavk FAPSI - Main Administration of Radioelectronic Reconnaissance by Means of Signals (GURRSS).  Information which might be obtained by means of radio technical reconnaissance has clear military significance.  And most the top secret “Ramona” belongs likely to the department of military reconnaissance, and all things considered, specifically with the help of this base our reconnaissance kept track of US aviation in Japan.

                I found one more argument in favor of our interpretation that the “Ramona” base worked against Japan and the USA in the book “Kim Chen Ir” which quickly was provided to me.  The book was written by two defectors from North Korea, Kim Han Sik and Son Kwan Du and published in 1998 in a limited tirage by “Shartarap” publishing in Alma Ata. (In South Korea the book was printed in October 1997).

Defectors remember that “till 1995 (This is what the downloaded text says; I suspect a typo, and that it should read till 1985 - G.P.) relations between North Korea and the Soviet Union were chilly.  But from 1985 there was an expansion of military contacts because North Korea undertook the task of modernizing its army.  After the visit of a Soviet military delegation to Pyongyang in honor of the fortieth anniversary of liberation, in the following year, 1986 a large group of generals, to the number of 470 individuals went to the USSR for study....In Ansan, Hwanghae Province, the reconnaissance base “Ramona” was fitted out for collection of reconnaissance information about the American army deployed on Okinawa.  .In connection with this the number of military specialists was increased by and additional 80 men.

And the inglorious conclusion

According to the words of knowledgeable sources, by the summer of 1996 discussions were held about the closing of our base in North Korea.  And on 11 June 1996 the MID RF (Foreign Ministry-RF) received a document from the PDRK embassy concerning discontinuation of activity under the Russian-North Korean agreements in the area of military reconnaissance.  Thus ended the history of our most secret Radioespionage base beyond the borders.

                However, perhaps it might not have concluded.  In April 2001 a PDRK military delegation came to Moscow for the first time in ten years.  On the Russian side discussions were led by Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov, and on the North Korean side by Minister of the Peoples Armed Forces of the PDRK, Vice-Marshal Kim Ir Cher.  The result was a signed agreement on the development of cooperation in the military area.  Nothing is known about the substance of this document.  Perhaps there is a point about the resumed functioning of “Ramona”...

Okinawa - the object of reconnaissanceAfter the second world (war) Okinawa was separated from Japan and for a long time was under the administration of the USA, and on its territory was constructed a whole complex of American military bases.  It was a complicated situation summarized by one journalist as  “No American bases are located on Okinawa, but Okinawa on the bases”.  On 15 May 1972 in accordance with an Japanese-American intergovernmental agreement Okinawa was returned to Japan and again became one of its 47 prefectures.  However, the US military bases remained.  At the present time thee are 11 US bases located on Okinawa, taking up 20% of the island’s territory.  This is 75% of all American bases in Japan.

Contributed by George Mellinger on September 26, 2006 at 01:21 PM in George Mellinger, NoKo, Russia | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thursday, 17 August 2006
 

Do you believe in coincidences?
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous related posts here and here.

I'd have to say Dan Riehl raises some real good questions here:

Troubling, Perhaps

So, the Iranians are destroying individual satellite dishes a week before their answer to the UN on nukes and are also launching a country-wide military exercise said to be running for an extended period. Meanwhile, North Korea could be preparing for an underground nuclear test. Should we make anything of all this?

I suppose if we want to take a guess and connect the dots we are seeing, whether they are genuinely connected or not, there is some amount of co-operation between North Korea and Iran. We know that from the Iranians attending North Korea's recent missile tests.

But the North Korea move could be a diversion for a test somewhere else, as all that has been observed is the movement of cables underground. India and Pakistan both managed to conceal their underground tests - why not North Korea, too?

[Read on.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 17, 2006 at 11:55 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

NoKo Preparing For Nuke Test?
Contributed by Bill Faith

N. Korea Appears to Be Preparing for Nuclear Test

U.S. Officials Tell ABC News That Evidence Points to an Underground Test

Aug. 17, 2006 — There is new evidence that North Korea may be preparing for an underground test of a nuclear bomb, U.S. officials told ABC News.

"It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility," said a senior State Department official.

A senior military official told ABC News that a U.S. intelligence agency has recently observed "suspicious vehicle movement" at a suspected North Korean test site.

[...]

"What does he have to lose?" asked one senior military official, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

[Read the whole thing here. H/T: Dan Riehl]

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 17, 2006 at 06:40 PM in Bill Faith, Current Affairs, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 09 August 2006
 

Austin Bay:
The guns of August, the missiles, rockets and IED's of July
Contributed by Bill Faith

Sensationalists, fear mongers, defeatists and terrorists prefer predictions of catastrophe and disaster. On the surface, last month looks like a violent disaster, an August 1914, with this July's missiles, rockets and improvised explosive devices replacing the guns of that terrible August.

August 1914 began World War I. World War I seeded World War II, which lingered as the Cold War.

However, instead of starting a global conflagration, July 2006 exposed or made explicit key elements of and trends in an ongoing war with global, regional and very local dimensions.

Exposure and definition of problems and problematic actors create diplomatic, political and military opportunities -- the chance to forge a genuine, more resilient peace.

But let's give the sensationalists and defeatists their due.

[Read on.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 9, 2006 at 03:49 AM in Bill Faith, Hezbollah, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 26 July 2006
 

So how much do we trust our friends?
Contributed by Bill Faith

Showdown Brewing Over F-22 Sales

Senate appropriators this week moved to keep in place restrictions that prohibit the Air Force from selling its F-22A fighter to other nations, setting up a conference showdown with their House counterparts who support the idea.

During a July 18 Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee mark-up of the fiscal year 2007 Pentagon spending bill, panel Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) confirmed the measure would keep in place the so-called “Obey Amendment.”

Tacked onto the FY-98 defense spending measure by Rep. David Obey (D-WI), the provision reflected lawmakers' concerns at that time about secretive technologies planned for the F-22A being passed to potential U.S. adversaries. It prohibits the service from selling the Raptor to any other nation. Obey is now the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.

[Read on.]

Does it sound to anyone but me like someone's being a little too cautious here? Should we sell top of the line fighters to China or Iran, or even to Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Pakistan? Not just "No," but "Hell no!" On the other hand, I can't think of any reason in the world that Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Great Britain, Australia, or any of several other allies, shouldn't have the best weapons money can buy. When it hits the fan (I said "when", not "if") with Iran or North Korea, we're going to be glad to have all the help we can get, and we need them to be armed with the best. Is it really that complicated?

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 26, 2006 at 06:41 AM in Bill Faith, China, Current Affairs, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo, US Air Force | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 15 July 2006
 

Strategic Distraction, a game more than one can play
Contributed by George Mellinger

Several of the best strategic thinkers on the web seem to have noticed the same detail about the new Lebanese fighting. By now everyone seems to recognize that at least the Iranians and Syrians are in this up to their turbans. But Froggy at Blackfive speculates that the current campaign against Israel may involve coordination between not only Iran and Syria, but also North Korea. And Uncle Jimbo seems to agree. Now dafydd provides some supporting evidence by reporting the use of Chinese/North Korean missiles in damaging an Israeli warship. And  Allahpundit examines the North Korean withdrawal from talks about their missile tests and questions the curious timing of events.

In my opinion, it goes even further. Way back on April 8, when the disturbances on our own Southwestern border were the news lead, I suggested that Venezuela and Iran might be meddling and stirring up the Mexicans to cause trouble. What I have learned subsequently is that the Chinese, North Koreans, and Russians have also been canoodling with Chavez. all of these governments cooperate, and run interference for each other. To believe that these countries are not coordinating with each other requires a great leap of faith or intellectual incompetence. Evidence of Cuban and Russian active participation is less clear, but common sense and experience suggest that must be because they are just keeing a lower profile.

For the moment Mexico seems quiet. They have just had an election, and to the surprise and disappointment of some Latinos, the most anti-American candidate did not win - though he is promising to dispute his defeat by insurrection. During the latter stages of World War II, the Russians practiced along their lengthy front, what was called "accordion strategy" playing up and down the keyboard in sequential attacks. Attack in one sector, push as far as you could go, and then to give the troops a chance to consolidate and regroup, while attacking immediately a bit further up the front, keeping the enemy off balance and their dwindling strategic reserves hustling like a fire brigade from one breakthrough to another.

Perhaps we have a similar "accordion" strategy being conducted against us now. I expect to see another surge in terrorist attacks in Iraq to keep American forces tied down and unavailable for aiding Israel. And I expect to see other distracting attacks, such as the carnage in Mumbai. While we are distracted, Curly Jong Il will be preparing his next round of missile launches, and the Chinese will be quietly assisting and supplying everyone else, perhaps even applying some more pressure against Taiwan.  And I expect that very soon we will see another bout of heightened disturbances and assaults along the Mexican border, perhaps with some new outrage. We should be not surprised.

To me it also suggests that the most useful assistance to Israel may not be direct support in Lebanon. Israel has demonstrated repeatedly it can whup large coalitions of the local sheet heads if it really wishes and does not hold back. Perhaps we might be most helpful if we were to give the Iranians so much to think about that they lose all interest in Lebanon. "That's a real nice holy city you got there Mister Mo. It would sure be a shame if something were to happen and turn it into a Qum splot".

Strategic distraction is a fun game that everyone can play. During the Reagan years, John Lehman considreably unnerved the russians by suggesting that if a war were to break out in Europe. we would not confine our response to that main theater, but might well (read - definitely would) open a new front in some place not of the agressor's choosing - like the Soviet Far East. Marshal Ogarkov had a conniption.  And with Strategic Distraction the biggest players are guaranteed the most success if they're just willing to use their size advantage.

-Rurik

Contributed by George Mellinger on July 15, 2006 at 08:48 PM in George Mellinger, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo, Remember the Alamo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 14 July 2006
 

NoKo Talks Collapse
Contributed by Bill Faith

Allah questions the timing.

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 14, 2006 at 03:52 AM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 13 July 2006
 

The 12th Imam, Kim Jong Il & an Albino Goose
Contributed by Bill Faith

Nobody says it like Uncle J. Click here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 13, 2006 at 08:49 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Froggy: "Worst Case Scenario... Coordination"
Contributed by Bill Faith

With the now burgeoning war between Israel and Lebanon, things on this planet could get very, very ugly. 

It is well known that Lebanon is a client state of Syria and further, that Syria is a client state of Iran.  There are reports that Iranian defense officials are now in Damascus possibly pulling the strings on a coordinated assault of Israel by Hamas and Hizbullah.  Israel has already buzzed Syria's dictator's house, and the leader of the "militant wing" (is there a non-militant wing?) of Hamas is also under the protection of the Syrians in Damascus.  If you think that this is a potential nightmare scenario for Israel and the US, it gets worse.

Remember North Korea?  ...

[Read on.]

Froggy, please, please, be wrong this time.

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 13, 2006 at 07:10 AM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 10 July 2006
 

CQ: Japan Considers Pre-Emption
Contributed by Bill Faith

North Korea may have awoken the Japanese military impulse, this time in self-defense, with its missile launches. The Chief Cabinet Secretary announced that Tokyo would rethink the common interpretation of its constitution that restricts Japanese military action to self-defense in terms of a pre-emptive strike on any missiles Pyongyang stages in the future:

Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North's missile bases would violate its constitution, signaling a hardening stance ahead of a possible U.N. Security Council vote on Tokyo's proposal for sanctions against the regime.

[...]

[Read on.]

Bryan Preston and James Joyner have more.

Related at CQ: Gray Lady's Editors Continue Spinning For North Korea

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 10, 2006 at 04:31 PM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 09 July 2006
 

Russia offered to help N. Korea
Contributed by Bill Faith

LONDON -- Russia secretly offered to sell North Korea technology that could help the rogue state protect nuclear stockpiles and safeguard weapons secrets from international scrutiny, but officials backed off after the arms flirtation was publicized.

Russian officials touted the equipment to the communist regime at an information technology exhibition in Pyongyang late last month -- just days before North Korea sparked international alarm by launching a salvo of short- and long-range missiles into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

[Read on.]

***

Hot Air: Russia: Lending North Korea a nuclear helping hand

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 9, 2006 at 10:57 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo, Russia | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Saturday, 08 July 2006
 

Bryan Preston: North Korea developments
Contributed by Bill Faith

AP headlines its latest story “U.S. Offers Bilateral Talks With N.Korea,” but that’s misleading. The offer is only good within the six-party talk framework, which means it’s not a new offer and doesn’t represent any movement on the part of the US toward the North’s point of view. There have been several bilateral talks between the US and NK over the past few years, but always as a sideline within the six-party framework.

[Read on.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 8, 2006 at 03:12 PM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Jon Wolfsthal: Deterrence is Not a Dirty Word
Contributed by Bill Faith

North Korea's failed test launch of the long-range Taepo-Dong II missile on July 5 may show that North Korea is not yet able to strike the United States with ballistics, but Americans should not let down their guard just yet. This is unlikely to be the last North Korean attempt to launch such a missile and once their engineers figure out the problem, they will go back to the launching pad. No one knows how long this process will take, but it could be as little as a few months and North Korean engineers will want to save their jobs and more by fixing the problem quickly. This continued development of missiles should worry all Americans as over the past few years North Korea has acquired enough nuclear material to build a small arsenal of nuclear weapons and while they cannot yet miniaturize a nuclear warhead to fit on a long-range missile, they are clearly pursuing a system capable of holding American cities at risk of attack. Their success is only a matter of time unless Pyongyang can be convinced their course is futile.

Over the long run, how can Americans be sure that some future "test" missile won't be fitted with a nuclear weapon and targeted on a US city? ...

[Read on.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 8, 2006 at 09:41 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 06 July 2006
 

U.S. was ready to shoot down NoKo missiles
Contributed by Bill Faith

US interceptors were ready for NKorean missile

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States placed its interceptor missiles in Alaska and California on alert for the long-range North Korean missile that failed less than a minute after being launched, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The launch of Pyongyang's intercontinental Taepodong 2 missile, and at least five shorter-range missiles, marked the first time the fledgling U.S. anti-missile shield has been officially reported to have been primed in response to a specific event.

[Read on. Hat tip: Hot Air]

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 6, 2006 at 08:23 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Paper Bullet
Contributed by Bill Faith

***

See also: U.N. May Threaten Kim Jong-Il with Time Out

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 6, 2006 at 03:08 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Report: 3 or 4 new missiles on launch pad in NK
Contributed by Bill Faith

Allah's following the story here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 6, 2006 at 12:09 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 05 July 2006
 

It does sorta make you wonder about those nukes.
Contributed by Bill Faith

Tough times on the lunatic fringe
By Uncle Jimbo

All right let's take a quick look at what went where with all of this North Korean fireworks.

First, and I take complete credit for this, they took the threat of our knocking their toy down enough to fire some Scuds attempting to draw our fire. Sweeeeet.

Second, none of their 1950s vintage tekmology (to quote Ali G), worked worth a damn. Well maybe the Scuds, but we knew that, the rest of their stuff didn't even really make the Japanese nervous.

Third, ...

[Read on here.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 5, 2006 at 11:16 PM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 04 July 2006
 

NoKo Fireworks Fizzle
Contributed by Bill Faith

Allah's all over it.

Froggy: Don't be trying to upstage Uncle Sam on Independence Day... Biatch!

CQ: North Korea Launches Missiles, Fails Miserably. I wondered who was going to wonder about that first.

***

N. Korea Launches Attack Against Sea of Japan

***

CQ: North Korea Tests Seventh Missile

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 4, 2006 at 10:54 PM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Three Stooges?
Contributed by George Mellinger

Now that Curley has launched his rockets and they have failed to do anything but annoy some whales and kill some plankton, I wonder what Mo and Larry will say. Mo also has his own program, but since he got his rockets and much of his science from Curley, there might be some questions. Is it true that Curley (involuntarily known to his subjects as Dear Leader) is also known as the man with no dong? Somebody needs to slap him.

The Reuters story is here

-Rurik

Contributed by George Mellinger on July 4, 2006 at 08:08 PM in Current Affairs, George Mellinger, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 03 July 2006
 

North Korea: Why it belongs in the axis of evil
Contributed by Bill Faith

Don't miss Bryan Preston's excellent report here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 3, 2006 at 05:34 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 02 July 2006
 

CQ: Taepodong-2?
Contributed by Bill Faith

Janes: North Korea To Launch Taepodong-2

In the wake of the escalation from Hamas in Gaza this week, the North Korean standoff has received less attention of late. However, Jane's Defense Weeky reports that the Kim Jong-Il regime still intends to launch its Taepodong-2 missile. At least JDW thinks it's a TD2, because according to Joseph Bermudez, no one's still quite sure what they have on the launch pad:

[Read on here.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on July 2, 2006 at 06:31 AM in Bill Faith, NoKo | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack