Text Fwd: Translation: [Cheong Wooksik] Would South Korea fall down into a ‘swamp of MD’? [영문 번역] MB 정부, 결국 ‘MD의 늪’으로 빠져드나?

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See also

Sunday, October 31, 2010
Text Fwd: Translation: 37 Korean civic organizations’ joint press Interview against ROK’s joining of MD
[영문 번역] 한국의 미사일 방어망 참여 반대, 37 개 한국 단체 공동 성명

Saturday, October 23, 2010
Would South Korea join the United States Missile Defense system?
남한은 미국의 미사일 시스템에 참여할 것인가?
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* Image & caption source: Cheong Wook-Sik blog(Original Korean writing site)

A launch scene of a SM-3 that emerged as a favorite of the ‘regional MD’ under the Obama administration.

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* The below is an arbitrary translation and got the review from the author.
* 아래는 자의적 번역으로 작가의 검토를 받음
* The original Korean writing can be seen HERE.
원 국문 글, MB 정부, 결국 ‘MD의 늪’으로 빠져드나? (정욱식, 평화 넷트워크 대표)은 여기 클릭
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* Bruce Gagnon thankfully distributed this to his email list on Nov. 1 and M. S., Japan thankfully translated this in Japanese (See HERE). M.S. translation of Koji Sugihara's message 'against the SM-3 launch by Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force, off Kauai,' on Oct. 28 can be also seen HERE (Japanese & English) and HERE (English & Korean).
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#ROK means Republic of Korea (South Korea)
*ROK MD is called as the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD)
#The English translations of the Korean cited phrases from the English documents may not exactly match with the original English documents.
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Would South Korea fall down into a ‘swamp of MD’?
Cheong Wooksik
Representative of Peace Network
Oct. 25, 2010

South Korea is in fact, being incorporated into the Missile Defense system initiated by the United Stats. Following the large deployment of US MD system such as the most advanced PAC-3 and radar in South Korea during the Roh Moo Hyun- Bush period, the speed of her enrollment [into the US MD system] is being rapidly accelerated under the Lee Myung Bak administration.

Kim Tae-Young, Minister of National Defense, caused the recent controversy. During a National Assembly’s government affairs audit on the Ministry of National Defense on Oct.22, upon the question by Shin Hak-Yong, National Assembly member, Democratic Party, which was whether it had been the condition for the ROK to join the US-demanding MD when the ROK and US had agreed upon the installation of the ‘Extended Deterrence Policy Committee’ at the time of the Security Consultative meeting (SCM), [the Minister replied] on his question that “We are examining the MD issue together, too.”

Following it, Minister Kim said, “The thing to be a little considered is why our people have denying response on the MD. It is because the United States created the MD to protect the United States' homeland. Now it is changed and [the need of MD] is regionally considered. So it became a little different from the past and [we] are prudently considering it." [His] remark was sufficient for the people to have the suspicion that the Lee Myung-Bak government is stepping on the process of joining the MD.

As the controversy became bigger, the Ministry of National Defense began to explain it in a separate material on [Oct.] 23. It stated that, “The both authorities of the ROK and US would discuss on the sharing information and operating measures to protect the Korean peninsula from the North Korean threat of the Weapons of Mass Destruction within the ‘Extended Deterrence Policy Committee’ in the future.” Despite that, he claimed that, “ It does not mean that we join the regional MD of the United States, but that, while we establish the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), primarily for the subsystem defense, we will also strengthen the cooperation in sharing information and operating usable assets to effectively respond to the North Korean ballistic missile threat, with the United States Forces of Korea (USFK).” In a word, what it means is while it strengthens the MD cooperation with the United States, it is not the participation in the MD initiated by the United States.

United States says, “South Korea is an important partner.”

However, such explanation by Lee Myung-Bak government can be said, in a word, like ‘covering the sky with the palm of hand.’ Even though he is nominally denying the joining the [US] MD, the symptoms of [South Korea] being virtually and more deeply incorporated into the MD can be grasped here and there.

Related to this, it is needed to notice on the remarks by Frank Rose, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation. Through his speech in Tokyo in the latter September 2010, he expressed his strong will on the establishment of the Missile Defense in the Asia region. Calling that, “In Asia, Japan and South Korea are already important missile defense partners,” he emphasized the necessity of the cooperation by multiple parties that goes beyond bilateral cooperation. It is very unusual that a high-ranking officer mentioned South Korea along with Japan as “already important missile defense partners.”

* Frank Rose's Japan statement can be seen HERE.

Rose, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, claimed that multiple access including South Korean’s is important for three reasons. “Political” because it would strengthen the joint response ability against enemy threat, “operational,” because it would increase the MD operation ability in the way of sharing data and interception missile, and “budgetary,” because it would reduce the overlapped investment among the MD alliance countries and establish the cost-saving MD.

As if proving his remarks, South Korea and the United States have staged the joint MD exercise. The both countries’ navies carried out the joint missile interception drill in early July 2010. It is said that the Sejong the Great, the South Korean Aegis Destroyer traced an enemy ballistic missile and provided the U.S navy with its position information, and then the U. S. Aegis Destroyer launched a SM-3 missile and shoot it down. It is because, while the Sejong the Great has the ability to detect and trace the launch of a ballistic missile, it is not outfitted with SM3. In other words, sharing of information and operating of available asset have been already being done. In reference, the interceptor missile that is outfitted in the Sejong the Great is SM-2, which is primarily used for the interception against enemy’s cruise missile and aircraft.

‘Is the regional MD, O.K.?’

There is a more thing to be noticed in the remarks by the personnel of the Ministry of National Defense, including its Minister, Kim Tae-Young. It is the claim that, while the reason for South Korea to join the [US MD] was not big in the past when the US MD was for the protection of the homeland of the United States, [now is the time for South Korea] to strengthen the cooperation with the United States as [the MD] is being changed into the ‘regional MD’ under the Obama administration. [The claim] thus goes further to justify the connection between the KAMD and the US regional MD. However it does not fit into facts.

First of all, the regional MD that the Obama administration advocates is the same concept with the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) that was driven under the Clinton administration. The Clinton administration dividing the MD with the TMD that was for the overseas United States military & its allies, and National Missile Defense (NMD) that was for the protection of the US's homeland, has requested South Korea to join the TMD. However, the Kim Dae-Jung government expressed its unwillingness [to join it] considering its tremendous cost & performance imperfection, and inter-Korean & neighborhood relationships. In other words, the TMD that was a ‘regional MD,’ existed in the past and South Korea chose not to join it considering her national interest.

It was the Bush administration that named the MD integrating the NMD and TMD then converted it to the ‘global MD.’ However, the distinguishing between the NMD and TMD in the matters of system and operation has not disappeared. The NMD that was for the protection of the US homeland, changed its name to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) and the TMD applicable such as PAC-3, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (ABMD) & Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) have been continuously developed, produced, deployed and operated.

The Obama administration that came into power after [the Bush administration] estimated that, while the GMD was accompanied with tremendous cost, its performance had not been proven but rather caused the negative influence to the negotiation on the nuclear arms reduction, inducing the repulsion from Russia. It also considered that the threat of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from North Korea or Iran that the United States faced was not imminent. Therefore, the Obama administration adjusted its speed on the GMD, and resurrected the concept of the TMD during the Clinton administration, with the name of the ‘regional MD.’

The reason that Obama preferred the title of the ‘regional MD’ was because he thought it would be far easier for his allied countries to join and to share its cost and role. Seeing in that context, it can be said that the Lee Myung-Bak administration became to exactly be involved into the intention of the Obama administration by its attitude that shows far more favorable response to the ‘regional MD.’

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* Author's another writing on the South Korean MD
* 작가의 한국 MD 관련 다른 글

Text Fwd: Missile Defense and the Korean Peninsula-What Is the Problem?
Written by Cheong, Wooksik, translated by Agatha D. Haun
March 6, 2009

국문은 아래 사이트로 마우스를 내려가면 보입니다.
MD와 한반도, 무엇이 문제인가?
정욱식(평화네트워크 대표), 2009 년 3월 6일
(*영문 번역은 아가타 혼)

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Text Fwd: Translation: Korean civic organizations’ joint press Interview against ROK’s joining of MD [영문 번역] 한국의 미사일 방어망 참여 반대, 한국 단체 공동 성명

* Image source & caption: Xinhua News Agency, Oct. 25, 2010
(* Informed at the StopNATO mail list, Oct. 26, 2010)

'South Korean people hold a protest against the Missile Defense (MD) system, in front of the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 25, 2010. The South Korean Defense Ministry said on Saturday that it has planned to strengthen cooperation with the United States in its anti-missile defense system to maintain peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, although it does not plan to join the U.S. system. (Xinhua/Park Jin-hee)'

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* Related blogs

Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Photos Fwd: 37 Civic orgs. denounce the Defense Minister’s remark on his consideration of the ROK involvement in the MD
김국방장관의 미사일방어(MD) 체제 참여 검토 규탄

Sunday, October 31, 2010
Text Fwd: Translation: [Cheong Wooksik] Would South Korea fall down into a ‘swamp of MD’?
[영문 번역] MB 정부, 결국 ‘MD의 늪’으로 빠져드나?
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* The below is an arbitrary translation, not officially approved by the stating organizations, yet.
아래는 국문 성명서의 자의적 번역으로 아직 단체들의 승인을 받은 것이 아닙니다.
* For the original Korean joint statement, go to HERE or HERE.
* 원 국문 성명서는 여기 또는 여기를 클릭
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* Bruce Gagnon thankfully introduced this in his blog on Nov. 1 and M. S., Japan thankfully translated this in Japanese (See HERE). M.S. translation of Koji Sugihara's message 'against the SM-3 launch by Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force, off Kauai,' on Oct. 28 can be also seen HERE (Japanese & English) and HERE (English & Korean).
_______________________________________________________

#ROK means Republic of Korea (South Korea)
*ROK MD is called as the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD)
#The English translations of the Korean cited phrases from the English documents may not exactly match with the original English documents
# *marked organization names are temporary translation, which are not official English titles.
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- Civic organizations’ Joint Press Interview
to denounce the remark by Kim Tae-Young, the [ROK] Minister of National Defense, who said he was examining to join the MD system-

1. [If ROK joins the MD], it is inevitable that the ROK MD (KAMD) would be incorporated into the sub system of the US MD!

On [Oct.] 22, Kim Tae-Young, Minister of National Defense officially stated for the first time, on his examination on joining United States Missile Defense system, during the process of a National Assembly audit. Not to mention Kim Dae-Jung & Roh Moo-Hyun government but the Lee Myung-Bak government has said on its position that it ‘is difficult to join the U.S. MD system,’ despite the United States’ relentless demand since the Bush administration, because ROK involvement into the US system is a grave and sensitive issue which would shift the Northeast Asia security topography.’ Nevertheless, the Lee Myung-Bak government officially announced its joining the MD, taking the opportunity of the 42nd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) that had been held for the first time after the Cheonan ship incident.

Even though the Ministry of National Defense quibbled that the Minister’s remark did not mean the [ROK] participation in the U. S. MD, as criticism upon [his remark in the audit] has spread, it is clear that its saying is a lie to hide the wavelength caused from the ROK involvement in the US MD as one sees through the traces of works by the ROK & US authorities.

The South Korean government has established so called the Korean MD based on the Patriot 2(PAC-2) ground-based sub-system and Standard Missile 2(SM-2) Aegis sea-based sub system. Further it has driven the plans to establish the Korean Theater High Altitude Area Defense (K-THAAD) by upgrading PAC 2 to PAC 3 while SM 2 to SM 6 and by improving the ‘Cheolmae II’; and to complete the establishment of the so called Korean MD system by 2012, by establishing an early warning system with the introduction of early warning radar from the Elta Co, Israel (500Km detection distance), along with the Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS), and by the Air and Missile Defense Cell (AMD Cell).

It is known that the ROK and US authorities, following the transfer of the operational control right, would connect the C4I in the both nations’ militaries through the Allied Korea Joint Command and Control System (AKJCCS) and would integrate & operate AMD Cells in the both nations’ militaries. The thing that the both ROK, US authorities integrate and operate the AMD cells means that the ROK MD would be connected with the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), U.S. 14th Air Force, which coordinates and executes the United Sates’ Air Force’s space operation, on behalf of the U.S. Strategic Command. It means the ROK MD would be wholly subordinated to the US MD system.

(For the related blog, click HERE)
'In addition, the sides are trying to develop an operating system for the joint combat command headquarters as well as a C4I system for the joint command. To this end, the ROK military is working to develop an Allied Korea Joint Command and Control System (AKJCCS) by 2011, which will then be linked to the U.S. military’s C4I system. (* Excerpt from the Ministry of the Defense Department, South Korea, Status of OPCON transfer Date 2009-02-16 16:16)'

In the ‘Ballistic Missile Defense Review (BMDR),’ that the United States has issued this February, she pointed out Iran and North Korea as “the objects for special concern” and declared that “ The primary purpose of the missile defense plan is to protect the mainland of the United States and her allied nations.” And then, calling South Korea as “an important partner of the United States MD system,” and saying “ the ROK and US are in negotiation on the requirement of the ROK missile defense,” she issued that “The United Sates is prepared to cooperate on the strengthening of the ROK missile defense ability against North Korea as the consulted requirement is decided and expects advanced measures for the cooperation in operation and cooperation in missile defense between the ROK and United States.”

On the extended line of such move, the remarks by Kim Tae-Young, Minister of National Defense, embody the agreement “to provide and strengthen extended deterrence for the ROK, using the full range of military capabilities, to include the U.S. nuclear umbrella, conventional strike, and missile defense capabilities,” which were commonly mentioned both in endorsed 42nd SCM joint statement (* See its No. 6), and ‘ROK-US Defense Guidelines,’ in the scope of MD. It also carries out the agreement in the ROK-US Defense Guidelines’ that reads that the both authorities of the ROK-US “will more develop the ability to respond against the North Korean ballistic missile threat.”

Also when Minister Kim said that [the ROK would] discuss about sharing information and operating measure on the ‘regional MD’ of the United States to defend the Korean peninsula from the threat of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction, as one of the agendas that would be dealt with in an Extended Deterrence Policy Committee (agreed on [No. 6], 42nd SCM), it meant that the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee would be the passage for the United States to fulfill the MD in South Korea. The thing that the both authorities of the ROK and US plan to discuss on the sharing information and operating measure regarding the regional MD that the United States would drive in each region, holding the 1st practical affairs meeting of the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee in coming December shows that the issue is now rapidly being processed. If the both authorities of the ROK and United States discuss on the sharing information and operating measure, it is clear that the United States would demand ROK an involvement in the SM-6 that the US navy is now developing, purchase of x-band radar or permission on the deployment of it in the Korean peninsula, as a price for her provision of the information on the North Korea’s nuclear & missile and of the MD means, to South Korea. It means that South Korea would join into the subordination system of the US MD system in the Northeast Asia region.

2. ROK’s involvement in the MD heightens danger of nuclear war and cause military subjugation to the US and tremendous cost charge!

Obama, the President of the United States has opened the possibility of strike against North Korea and Iran, excluding those countries from the objects of the Negative Security Assurances (NSA) in the ‘2010 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR)’. The US MD that is driven as a part of the extended deterrence is a measure for nuclear preemptive attack.

The ROK joining of the MD is not only dangerous to heighten the danger of nuclear war but problematic to provoke the nuclear arms race in the northeast Asia, causing the strengthening of nuclear arming in North Korea and China. It is against the current, that makes remote the peace agreement connected to the non-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula and brings the new cold war in the northeast Asia.

3. Immediately stop the examination on joining the MD that does more harm than good!

As above, South Korea’s participation in the US MD system does more harm than good, as it would bring nuclear war and nuclear arms sale, therefore would seriously threaten peace in the Korean peninsula & northeast Asia, aggravate her military subordination into the United States, and throw tremendous financial burden to her people. The United States is doing that to strengthen her military domination in the northeast Asia, positioning South Korea as her advanced base, while the Lee Myung-Bak government is enforcing that to secure its vested rights amidst the political situations in the inside and outside of the Korean peninsula, which are becoming disadvantageous to it hanging on the ROK-US alliance, and furthermore to drive the absorbing unification by force against North Korea.

We resolutely oppose South Korea’s joining the US MD system, which is really dangerous and unnecessary. We strongly demand the Lee Myung-Bak government to immediately stop the examination on the involvement in the US MD, and Kim Tae-Young, the Minister of National Defense, to promptly resign from his post. We will briskly struggle to prevent [South Korea’s] MD involvement, with our people who aspire complete non-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, realization of the Peace agreement, and dissolution of the ROK-US alliance, the root of all kinds of subordination and peace-threat.

Oct. 25, 2010

Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Democratic Labor Party, New Progressive Party, Socialist Party of Korea, Labor Front*, People’s Solidarity for Social Progress, Revolution 4.19 Committee*, Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements (Christian Social Mission Solidarity Council*; Labor Human Rights Center; Farmers’ Pharmacy*; Supporting Committee for Prisoners of Conscience; Korea Council for Democratic Martyr; Institute for Research in Collaborationist Activities; Association of the Family Movements for Democracy Practice*; Buddhism Peace Solidarity*; Council for the Drive on Our Nation’s Unification through Federation System*; Korean Peasants League; Pan Korean Bereaved Families’ Association for Nation and Democracy*; Pan Korean Bereaved Families’ Association for Democracy Movement (Inc.)*; Pan Korean Poor People’s Association for Liberation*; Korean Women Peasant Association; The Central Association for National Unification of Korea; Pan Korean Association for Reconciliation (Minhwaryon); Korean Democratic Workers’ Council*; Solidarity for Democracy, Public-Welfare, Peace, Unification and Sovereignty*; Pan Korean Women’s Solidarity; Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification of Korea, South Korea branch; Veterans for Peace, Corea; Unification Square; Korea Youth Solidarity; 21st Century Pan Korean University Students’ Association*; June 15 Youth and Student’s Solidarity*) Anti-War Peace Solidarity*, All Together, Asian Wide Campaign (AWC)_Korea Committee

Video Fwd: CLIMATE CHANGE WATCH: FLOODS DEVASTATE BENIN 기후 변화 감시: 홍수는 아프리카 베닌을 황폐화시킴

Bruce Gagnon blog
Friday, October 29, 2010
CLIMATE CHANGE WATCH: FLOODS DEVASTATE BENIN



West Africa is reeling from severe flooding following heavy rain. Hundreds of people are known to have died. Worst affected is the tiny nation of Benin, where the receding waters are revealing the true extent of the damage. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull has our exclusive report.

Instead of increased global militarism we should be marshaling the world to deal with our real coming crisis - climate change.

Text Fwd: Missing Nukes from the US Air Force: Treason of the Highest Order 미공군 기지에서 없어진 핵무기: 최상부 명령으로부터 온 모반

Global Research
Missing Nukes from the US Air Force: Treason of the Highest Order
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Oct. 29, 2010
____________________________________________________
Global Research Editor's Note

On October 27, 2010, a computer failure emerged at the FE Warren Air force Base in Wyoming. "Mr President we've lost control of FIFTY nuclear warheads"

"Pentagon chiefs were stunned to discover that a U.S. air force base had lost control of 50 nuclear, inter-continental missiles.

A power failure meant that one-ninth of America’s nuclear arsenal went offline for three-quarters of an hour, it emerged yesterday. Minuteman missile: Computer breakdown meant the U.S. Air Force lost control for 45 minutes

As multiple error codes appeared on the computer control system at FE Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, the Minuteman III missiles went into ‘LF Down’ status, which meant that officers were unable to communicate with them.

Defence officials insisted yesterday there was never any danger of an accidental launch. But the incident was deemed serious enough for Barack Obama to be briefed on it later. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1324190/Obama-told-nuclear-arsenal-hit-45-minute-glitch.html?ito=feeds-newsxml)

The failure involved the launch control computers at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, "causing a loss of communication with the missiles".

"The failure also meant that certain security protocols were down as well. While the missiles were still able to be launched, control was only possible via an airborne communications platform." Failure at U.S. Air Force Base Takes 50 Nukes Offline)

This is not the first time there is a "glitch" in the control over America's nuclear arsenal. Invariably, these failures are not reported.

A far more serious incident emerged in August 2007. As documented by CRG Research Associate Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, several nuclear warheads actually disappeared.

In total there were six W80-1 nuclear warheads armed on AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMs) that were “lost.”

This was not a computer glitch. It was something far more serious.

"There is a rigorous, almost inflexible, chain of command in regards to the handling of nuclear weapons".

Why then did these nuclear warheads go missing?

Nazemroaya's research suggests that "unauthorized removal" of nuclear warheads is an impossibility unless the chain of command is bypassed, "involving the deliberate tampering of the paperwork and tracking procedures."

The incident went virtually unreported and was casually categorized by the media as "negligence".

See Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya's detailed analysis, published in October 2007, on how these nukes went missing.

Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, October 28, 2010

The original October 2007 Global Research article

____________________________________________________

Missing Nukes on August 29-30, 2007

According to a wide range of reports, several nuclear bombs were “lost” for 36 hours after taking off August 29/30, 2007 on a “cross-country journey” across the U.S., from U.S.A.F Base Minot in North Dakota to U.S.A.F. Base Barksdale in Louisiana. [1] Reportedly, in total there were six W80-1 nuclear warheads armed on AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMs) that were “lost.” [2] The story was first reported by the Military Times, after military servicemen leaked the story.



It is also worth noting that on August 27, 2007, just days before the "lost" nukes incident, three B-52 Bombers were performing special missions under the direct authorization of General Moseley, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. [3] The exercise was reported as being an aerial information and image gathering mission. The base at Minot is also home of the 91st Space Wings, a unit under the command of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC).

According to official reports, the U.S. Air Force pilots did not know that they were carrying weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Once in Louisiana, they also left the nuclear weapons unsecured on the runway for several hours. [4]

U.S. Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Requirements, Major-General Richard Y. Newton III commented on the incident, saying there was an “unprecedented” series of procedural errors, which revealed “an erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards” [5]

These statements are misleading. The lax security was not the result of procedural negligence within the U.S. Air Force, but rather the consequence of a deliberate tampering of these procedures.

If a soldier, marine, airman, or sailor were even to be issued a rifle and rifle magazine — weaponry of a far lesser significance, danger, and cost — there is a strict signing and accountability process that involves a chain of command and paperwork. This is part of the set of military checks and balances used by all the services within the U.S. Armed Forces.

Military servicemen qualified to speak on the subject will confirm that there is a stringent nuclear weapons handling procedure. There is a rigorous, almost inflexible, chain of command in regards to the handling of nuclear weapons and not just any soldier, sailor, airman, or marine is allowed to handle nuclear weapons. Only servicemen specialized in specific handling and loading procedures, are perm certified to handle, access and load nuclear warheads.

Every service personnel that moves or even touches these weapons must sign a tracking paper and has total accountability for their movement. There is good reason for the paperwork behind moving these weapons. The military officers that order the movement of nuclear weapons, including base commanders, must also fill out paper forms.

In other words, unauthorized removal of nuclear weapons would be virtually impossible to accomplish unless the chain of command were bypassed, involving, in this case, the deliberate tampering of the paperwork and tracking procedures.

The strategic bombers that carried the nuclear weapons also could not fly with their loaded nuclear weaponry without the authorization of senior military officials and the base commander. The go-ahead authorization of senior military officials must be transmitted to the servicemen that upload the nuclear weapons. Without this authorization no flights can take place.

In the case of the missing nukes, orders were given and flight permission was granted. Once again, any competent and eligible U.S. Air Force member can certify that this is the standard procedure.

There are two important questions to be answered in relation to the "lost" nukes incident:

1. Who gave the order to arm the W80-1 thermonuclear warheads on the AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMs)? At what level in the military hierarchy did this order originate? How was the order transmitted down the command chain?

2. If this was not a procedural error, what was the underlying military-political objective sought by those who gave the orders?

The Impossibility of "Losing" Nuclear Weapons

READ MORE

Text Fwd: Spanish Anti-War Protesters Storm NATO Base 스페인 반전 시위자들, 나토 기지 한 때 점거

StopNATO
The Reader
Protestors barge into NATO base and call for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan
October 30, 2010

A FLASH mob of anti-military pressure-group members managed to enter the NATO headquarters in Bétera (Valencia) today demanding that all Spanish troops be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

They also called for the NATO base to be close down.

The protestors began with a demonstration in the street through the municipality of Bétera before 13 participants entered the building by climbing under the fence on bikes, juggling balls and turning the centre into a 'circus', witnesses say.

This was an attempt to call for the NATO base to be turned into a 'social and civic centre' instead of a armed forces headquarters.

Nobody was arrested, although the Civil Guard were called out and identified a number of the people who had managed to enter the complex.

The demostrate was joined by in the region 50 people, say the organisation Alternativa Antimilitarista, which has already carried out demonstrations in other parts of the country including Alicante, Tenerife, Barcelona, Albacete and Elche.

Their next attempt to dissolve NATO and bring Spanish soldiers home from the war-torn, Taliban-ruled Asian country will take place in Rota (Cádiz), followed by another in Lisbon on November 20 to coincide with the NATO Summit meeting in the Portuguese capital.

Text Fwd: Pentagon Forges NATO Proxy Armies In Eastern Europe 미국방부, 동유럽에서 대리 군대 날조

* Image source: same as the link.
To see more images with the text, click the link.

* Text sent by Rick Rozoff on Oct. 30, 2010

StopNATO blog
Pentagon Forges NATO Proxy Armies In Eastern Europe
Rick Rozoff
October 30, 2010


On November 19 and 20 the leaders of 28 North American and European nations, all the major Western military powers and their vassals, will gather in the capital of Portugal for this year’s summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Until recently held every other year, NATO summits are now annual events, with the last held in France and Germany in 2009 and the preceding one in Romania in 2008.

Prior to last year’s summit in Strasbourg and Kehl, the first held in two nations, four in a row had occurred in Eastern Europe: The Czech Republic in 2002, Turkey in 2004, Latvia in 2006 and Romania in 2008. None of those host countries, of course, are anywhere near the North Atlantic Ocean. Neither are any of the 12 nations incorporated into the Western military bloc in the past 11 years.

This year’s summit will endorse the Alliance’s first Strategic Concept for the 21st century, a draft of which was crafted by a so-called group of experts led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and presented in a report entitled NATO 2020: Assured Security; Dynamic Engagement.

Despite NATO referring to itself as a “military alliance of democratic states in Europe and North America” and claiming that all its members’ opinions carry equal weight – as though Luxembourg and Iceland could block or override the U.S., the world’s sole military superpower as its current head of state proudly christened it last December – next month’s summit will be a rubber stamp affair.

Everything the Pentagon and White House demand will be granted, most notably:

The subordination of NATO’s theater interceptor missile initiative, the Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Programme launched in 2005, and the U.S.-German-Italian Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) to a U.S. missile shield structure throughout all of Europe and into the Middle East.

The retention of at least 200 U.S. nuclear bombs on air bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

A complementary cyber warfare “dome” over the European continent directed by the new U.S. Cyber Command. [1]

The qualitatively accelerated military integration of NATO and the European Union in the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty entering into force last December 1. A Portuguese adviser to President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso recently affirmed “that the best solution for the enhancement of EU-U.S. relations would be that the European Union (EU) joins NATO.” [2]

The continuation of both components of what are frequently (and artificially) presented as being contradictory: NATO’s founding and core mission – the collective military defense of its member states – and its constantly expanding missions far outside the Euro-Atlantic region, with the war in Afghanistan the prototype and standard of the second.

The Lisbon summit will formalize and extend what has been underway in earnest since NATO’s first war in 1999: The projection of the U.S.-dominated military alliance into an international intervention and occupation force. One that is moving steadily to the east and south of the European continent, which has been unified under NATO and will soon be subsumed under American missile and cyber warfare systems.

READ MORE

Photos Fwd: [Kiryung Update] Hunger Strike 17th day as of Oct. 29 기륭, 10월 29일 날자로 단식 17일째

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* Related blogs 관련 블로그들

Thursday, October 28, 2010
[Kiryung Update] On the day of 12th day sit-in on a top of forklift truck, Poet fell down with wound... Now in a Hospital
[기륭 엎데이트] 송경동 시인, 포크레인 추락상

Friday, October 22, 2010
Photos Fwd: Rally in the Kiryung Workers' sit-in site on Oct. 22, 2010
[사진들] 기륭 노동자 농성장 집회, 2010년 10월 22일
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*All the image source: Kiryung Workers' website, Oct. 29, 2010

Abolishment of irregular jobs! Secure the regular jobs!
Two Kiryung workers,Yoon Jong-Hee, Oh Suk-Soon's 17th day Hunger strike, as of Oct. 29, 2010

Kim Hyung-Woo, Vice Chairman of Metal Trade Union,
8th day solidarity hunger strike

Kim So-Yeon, leader of the Kiryung workers’ strike
15th day Sit-in on the folk lift truck

Kim Jong-Min, Chairman of the Democratic Labor Party, Seoul branch
3rd day hunger strike

In place of Song Kyung-Dong, the poet who was wounded on Oct. 26 and got an operation on Oct. 29, Kim Hyung-Woo, Vice Chairman of Metal Trade Union (left in the photo) has been filling Song’s place on the top of the fork lift truck since Oct. 26, along with Kim So-Yeon.

May there be the world without irregular jobs!

Photos Fwd: Unification Rice to North Korea! Rice is Love! 통일쌀을 북한으로! 쌀은 사랑이다!

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* This blog is an incomplete answer to a question by the Reality Zone blogger who gratefully questioned (see the comment at the bottom of this) about the rice donation site on Oct. 29, 2010.
_______________________________________________________

Rice is Love!

Pan Korean movement for Peace, love, and unification!
Not for the absorbing unification by military power!

* Image & caption source: Kim Jin-su, Hankyoreh, Oct. 12, 2010

'South Korean civic organizations hold the inauguration ceremony of the National Campaign Headquarters for Collection of Peace Rice and collect written pledges of rice donations in container in the shape of the Korean peninsula in front of the Renaissance Seoul Hotel on Monday.

They have called on Koreans and international residents in South Korea to donate 20 kilograms of rice or 40,000 Won ($35.55) per household to help North Koreans, saying, “We cannot look other way from their starvation.”

They plan to carry on their campaign entitled “Rice is Love,” in twelve major cities this month and send one thousand tons of rice collections to North Korea by the end of this year.

* Image source: Hankyoreh, Jul.15, 2010

'Coalition calls for rice aid to N.Korea instead of animal feed program.
The rice surplus has led to plumetting rice .'

* Image & caption source: Lee Jong-geun, Hankyoreh, Mar.24,2010

'Civic and political figure hold signs that read, “Bring peace to the Korean people, bring hope to farmers with unification rice” at the Conference for Sending Unification Rice to North Korea held at the Press Center in Seoul, March 23.
During the conference, participants also urged the government to make changes to its unilateral North Korea policy.'

* Image source: Korean Women Workers' Association, Oct. 22, 2009
Click the link to read the captions (Cannot be copied here)

* Image & caption source: Daylife

'Reuters Pictures: Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and a farmers' group load sacks of rice onto a ship at a port in Incheon, west of Seoul January 8, 2009. The KCTU and farmers' will send total 174 tons of rice to North Korea on Friday by a ship to help the North. Korean characters on the rice sack read,"Unification Rice".

Video Fwd: DMZ 38 News Feature on YTN 비디오: DMZ 38뉴스, YTN 에 나옴

* Video source: DMZ 38 YTN- 24 Hour Korean News Network, 2006

Text Fwd: Defense Ministry retaliates against challengers of book ban 국방부, 책금지에 도전한 장교들에 보복

*Image & caption source: same as the link

'Dismissed military judicial officers who challenged the military ban of “seditious books” present their position on the ruling in front of the Constitutional Court, Oct. 28 (Photo by Lee Jong-keun)'

Hankyoreh
Defense Ministry retaliates against challengers of book ban
: Military judicial officers dismissed by the government have lost careers in the military, and some have incurred bans on practicing law
Posted on : Oct.29,2010 14:35 KST
By Noh Hyun-woong

Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling Thursday granting an indulgence to the Ministry of National Defense in its designation and restriction of access to “seditious books,” attention is focusing on the situation of the military judicial officers who played “David” to the ministry’s “Goliath.”
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* Related article

Hankyoreh
[Editorial] An unconstitutional ban on books

Excerpt:

The Constitutional Court has ruled the Ministry of National Defense’s designations of “seditious books” to be constitutional. This means that the ministry can prohibit books with content it believes seriously diminishes the armed forces’ spiritual fighting strength. It is regrettable that the Constitutional Court, which should be serving as a bulwark protecting basic rights, has instead given a free pass to a clear violation of those rights.

As the court itself acknowledged, Article 16, Item 2 of the military service regulations, which the ministry took as its basis for designating the books in question, places restrictions on the “right to know.” As a result, freedoms of scholarship, thought, and conscience can also be violated.

Even if a soldier is in a special situation where he or she must have basic rights such as freedom of residence and relocation restricted to some extent compared to ordinary citizens, the rule is that those restrictions should be limited to what is strictly necessary, and that the essential content of basic rights cannot be infringed upon. Guaranteeing basic rights without exception is the beating heart of constitutionalism.

Text Fwd: [News Briefing] Standoff intensifies over China’s Korean War remarks 중국의 한국 전쟁 발언으로 한미 와 중국 관계 거리감 심화

Hankyoreh
[News Briefing] Standoff intensifies over China’s Korean War remarks
Oct. 29, 2010

The Chinese government on Thursday supported remarks by China’s Vice President Xi Jinping that China‘s entry into the Korean War was “a great and just war for safeguarding peace and resisting aggression” from the U.S.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu made the Chinese government’s position clear, saying that Xi’s remarks are the decided view of the Chinese government, while South Korea and the U.S. government have denounced them.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Xi on Monday met with veterans and heroes of the Chinese People’s Volunteers (CPV) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the volunteer army entering the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to help in the war to resist U.S. aggression, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Xi said in his speech that China’s entering was “also a great victory gained by the united combat forces of China’s and the DPRK’s civilians and soldiers, and a great victory in the pursuit of world peace and human progress.”

The Chinese people will never forget the friendship established in battle with the DPRK’s people and army, Xi added.　

The Xinhua and the Chinese Communist Party’s organ People’s Daily, however, ran an article on their websites Thursday to acknowledge that the Korean War was started by North Korea’s invasion based on former Soviet Union documents.　

Site Fwd:[PACOM] All the crazy PACOM headlines 아시아 태평양 사령부 사이트의 미친 기사 제목들

* Image source: Asia Pacific Command

* Image source: Asia Pacific Command
Click the image for larger views

Secretary of State Visits Service Members on Guam Posted: October 29, 2010

Planes Drop Food as Indonesia Struggles with Aid (Yahoo News) Posted: October 29, 2010

NMCB 11 Seabees Build Lasting Relationships in Cambodia Posted: October 29, 2010

Japan Carries Out Successful Missile-defense Test (Stars & Stripes) Posted: October 29, 2010

Eielson Airmen Participate in Convoy Training Posted: October 29, 2010

U.S., Russia to Join East Asia Summit: ASEAN (The Hindu) Posted: October 29, 2010

America's Engagement in the Asia-Pacific (Dept. of State) Posted: October 28, 2010

Amphibious Force Commander Dedicates Building at Cambodian High School Posted: October 28, 2010

Japan, U.S. Set for Joint Missile-defense Test (Reuters) Posted: October 28, 2010

Humphreys, S. Korea Volunteers Join Forces with Locals to 'Make a Difference' Posted: October 28, 2010

U.S. Invites Indian Army To Alaska For Field Engagements (AHN) Posted: October 28, 2010

644th Combat Readiness School Teaches First Combined Combat Training Course Posted: October 28, 2010

Clinton in Hawaii for Talks with Japan FM (Associated Press) Posted: October 28, 2010

U.S., Australians Military Participate in Exercise Hamel in the Land Down Under Posted: October 27, 2010

Clinton Departs for Two-week Asia Trip (Yahoo News) Posted: October 27, 2010

Harpers Ferry Sailors Donate Clothes to Typhoon Victims Posted: October 27, 2010

U.S. Offers Aid to Cyclone-hit Myanmar (AFP) Posted: October 27, 2010

USS Halsey Encourages Partnership during Malaysia Port Visit Posted: October 27, 2010

Text Fwd: Clinton Presses, Courts Beijing 클린턴, 중국에 압력과 구애를 동시에

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton speaks during a press conference in Honolulu on Wednesday.

* Defense Newletter on Oct. 29, 2010
Wall Street Journal
Clinton Presses, Courts Beijing
By JAY SOLOMON

HONOLULU—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged greater U.S.-China cooperation in Asia, even as she stressed that the U.S. will increase its effort to remain a military and economic power in the region.

Mrs. Clinton, embarking on a seven-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific region, said the Obama administration is committed to defining events regionally and safeguarding the defenses of its allies, such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

"Now, there are some who say that this long legacy of American leadership in the Asia-Pacific region is coming to a close. That we are not here to stay. I say, look at our record. It tells a different story," Mrs. Clinton said Thursday in Hawaii.

Still, Mrs. Clinton said the U.S.'s presence in Asia doesn't seek to isolate China nor does it need to turn into a zero-sum game for competing influence.

Rather, she said Washington and Beijing stood to benefit from cooperation on everything from combating global warming to nuclear proliferation.

"To those who still believe that the U.S. is bent on containing China, I would simply point out that since the opening of diplomatic relations between our two countries, China has experienced breathtaking growth and development," Mrs. Clinton said, adding, "We look forward to working closely with China, both bilaterally and through key institutions."

Mrs. Clinton travels to Asia amid heightened tensions among China, the U.S. and Washington's allies on a range of economic and security issues.

On Wednesday, the U.S.'s top she expressed concerns that Beijing might use its monopoly over rare-earth minerals as a political weapon.

She called for America's partners to find alternative sources of supply.

The U.S. and China have also jostled in recent months over issues ranging from the value of the yuan to territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

In a bid to smooth ties, Mrs. Clinton will visit China's Hainan Island on Saturday to meet with State Councilor Dai Bingguo.

Some analysts have warned that Mrs. Clinton's last-minute trip to Hainan could appear to be the U.S. acquiescing in the face of Chinese belligerence. Hainan is particularly sensitive to Americans, as Beijing grounded a U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane there in 2001 and held and interrogated its crew for 10 days before receiving a letter of apology from the U.S.

Mrs. Clinton said the U.S.-China relationship was too central to regional security for Washington not to remain continuously engaged with Beijing. On Wednesday, she said she will use her meeting with Mr. Dai to help plan Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington early next year.

"We have a long list of issues to discuss," Mrs. Clinton said.

She said she has been heartened by signs China is willing to open up the trade of rare-earth minerals and settle disputes through multilateral institutions.

On Saturday in Vietnam, Mrs. Clinton will be the first U.S. secretary of state to attend a gathering of the East Asia Summit. The event includes the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, Japan and other Asian nations.

Mrs. Clinton said in her speech that she is using her tour of the Asia-Pacific to showcase Washington's commitment to remaining an active player. She will also visit Cambodia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

"Everywhere we go, we will advance one overarching set of goals: to sustain and strengthen America's leadership in the Asia-Pacific region and to improve security, heighten prosperity and promote our values," Mrs. Clinton said.

The issue of China's dominance over rare-earth metals is a potential flashpoint for the trip.

China is estimated to supply about 97% of the global demand for these metals, which are essential for the production of computers and other electronic products.

Tensions between China and Japan have increased in recent months, fueled by a dispute over islands jointly claimed by the two Asian nations. In July, Beijing announced a drastic curtailment of its export quotas for these minerals, as well as a crackdown on smuggling, which began to be felt in subsequent months. China says the limits reflect its growing environmental awareness, are perfectly legal and won't be used as a policy tool.

The moves nevertheless raised fears that China was seeking to pressure Japan and other industrial powers.

Mrs. Clinton stressed following a meeting with her Japanese counterpart in Hawaii that recent Chinese restrictions on sales of the important commercial inputs must serve as a "wake-up call" for the U.S. and its allies to diversify their sourcing.

"Because of the importance of these rare-earth minerals, I think both the minister and I are aware that our countries and others will have to look for additional sources of supply," Mrs. Clinton said at a joint news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara.

In Beijing Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry said it wouldn't use its dominance in rare-earth minerals as a "bargaining tool" with competing nations. Mrs. Clinton said she would seek to clarify this position during her scheduled bilateral meeting with Mr. Dai.

"I would welcome any clarification of their policy and hope that it means trade and commerce around these important materials will continue unabated and without any interference," Mrs. Clinton said.

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com

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* Related blog 관련 블로그

Saturday, October 30, 2010
Site Fwd:[PACOM] All the crazy PACOM headlines
사이트 포워드:[아시아 태평양 사령부] 미친 아시아 태평양 사령부 뉴스 제목들

Thursday, October 28, 2010
Text Fwd: PACOM Headlines: Pacific Integration key to Army strategy
[아태 사령부] 군사 전략에서 태평양 통합의 열쇠

Saturday, October 23, 2010
[국문 번역] Text Fwd: Clinton and the colonial paradigm
클린턴과 식민지 패러다임

Text Fwd: WARS ON EARTH & IN SPACE 지구와 우주에서의 전쟁들

Participants at national conference October 9-10 in Nagpur, India
- click on photo to see banners

Bruce Gagnon blog
Friday, October 29, 2010
WARS ON EARTH & IN SPACE

Excerpt

The Obama administration has continued the long U.S. tradition of blocking any hope of creating new international law to protect space from the ravages of war. At the United Nations today the U.S. voted to abstain (and thus block) any real hopes to negotiate and pass the "Transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space activities". The vote was 167 in favor with the U.S. abstaining. (Without the U.S. genuinely involved nothing can happen.) Today's vote came just two days after the Obama administration had the U.S. torpedo the U.N.'s annual Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) treaty resolution supported by Russia and China. That vote: 170 in favour, 2 abstained (U.S. and Israel). Just who is pushing an arms race in space?

10월 29일, "외계 우주 활동들에 대한 투명성과 신뢰 조치들"에 협의하기 위한 유엔 투표에서 미국은 투표 삼가함으로써 그 조치를 막음

Event Fwd: [Veterans for Peace, Maine]PEACE WALK EVENING PROGRAM SCHEDULE 미국 메인주 평화 재향 군인회 , 11월 2~11일 평화 행진

* Image source: same as the link

Bruce Gagnon blog
Thursday, October 28, 2010
PEACE WALK EVENING PROGRAM SCHEDULE


Below please find the full schedule of Maine Veterans for Peace potluck supper/program events during the November 2-11 Walk for Peace, Human Needs, and Veterans' Care.

Potluck supper/program schedule

* Farmington potluck supper/program on November 2 (Tuesday) to kick-off the peace walk at 6:00 pm
Old South First Congregational Church
227 Main St
Farmington
293-2580


* Skowhegan potluck supper/program on November 3 (Wednesday) at 6:00 pm
Skowhegan Community Center
39 Poulin Drive
Showhegan
643-2356


* Waterville potluck supper/program on November 4 (Thursday) at 6:00 pm
Pleasant Street UMC Church
61 Pleasant St
Waterville
643-2356


* Bangor potluck supper/program on November 5 (Friday) at 6:00 pm
St. Johns Episcopal Church
235 French St
Bangor
944-2609


* Belfast pot luck supper/program on November 6 (Saturday) at 6:00 pm
UU Church
37 Miller Street
Belfast
338-9509


* Rockland potluck supper/program on November 7 (Sunday) at 6:00 pm
Rockland UU Church
345 Broadway
Rockland
596-7784


* Bath potluck supper/program on November 8 (Monday) at 6:00 pm
Grace Episcopal Church
1100 Washington St
Bath
319-9188


* Freeport potluck supper/program on November 9 (Tuesday) at 6:00 pm
First Parish Congregational Church
40 Maine St
Freeport
865-0655


* Portland potluck supper/program on November 10 (Wednesday) at 6:00 pm
Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Church Hall
80 Sherman St at Mellen
Portland
773-6562

On November 11 (Thursday) walkers will participate in the Veterans Day parade in Portland and afterwards will join a potluck lunch and Draw-a-thon at Space Gallery (538 Congress St)

We would like for you to let us know if you plan to be with us for any part of this peace walk so we can more effectively make our logistical plans. Contact us at danellis@vfpmaine.org and let us know the date(s) you plan to walk with us, your name, and contact information for each person.

For full walk schedule, route maps, and registration information see http://vfpmaine.org/vfp.htm

Thanks for your support. See you on the road.

Maine Veterans for Peace
865-0655 or 443-9502
http://www.vfpmaine.org/