(H/T – HAL9000 at Free Republic)
Surprise, surprise, surprise. If it’s the end of May and North Korea isn’t getting their way, it’s time for a missile shoot into the Sea of Japan (note for those confused by the Korean references, they call it the East Sea). Because those missiles were anti-ship missiles, it is speculated that the launches were in retaliation for the launching of South Korea’s first Aegis destroyer. Nonetheless, South Korea (for reasons that are incomprehensible) and Japan (because the missiles were reportedly short-ranged missiles that couldn’t reach Japan) weren’t exactly concerned.
Of particular note are a series of posts at FR between FReepers AmericanInTokyo and expatguy, a couple of Americans on the far side of the Pacific, starting at #10. Just a sampling (this one from #39 by expatguy) –
Had lunch with a Eastern European diplomat today, we were talking about Iraq and the WOT ~ and he said to me ~ “You guys can’t even defend yourselves from being invaded by Mexico … what makes you think you can succeed in Afghanistan or Iraq?”
I highly suggest reading that thread.
Thoughts, AB?
