{"id":98438,"date":"2017-09-11T12:01:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T11:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=98438"},"modified":"2017-09-11T11:11:39","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T10:11:39","slug":"what-the-media-isnt-telling-you-about-north-koreas-missile-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/09\/what-the-media-isnt-telling-you-about-north-koreas-missile-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Media Isn\u2019t Telling You about North Korea\u2019s Missile Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Photo by Stefan Krasowski | CC BY 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

4 Sep 2017 – <\/em>Here\u2019s what the media isn\u2019t telling you about North Korea\u2019s recent missile tests.<\/p>\n

Last Monday, the DPRK fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan\u2019s Hokkaido Island. The missile landed in the waters beyond the island harming neither people nor property.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0media immediately condemned the test as a \u201cbold and provocative act\u201d\u00a0 that showed the North\u2019s defiance of UN resolutions and \u201ccontempt for its neighbors.\u201d President Trump sharply criticized the missile test saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cThreatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime\u2019s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What the media failed to mention was that,\u00a0for the last three weeks, Japan, South Korea and the US have been engaged in large-scale joint-military drills on Hokkaido Island and in South Korea. These needlessly provocative war games are designed to simulate an invasion of North Korea and a \u201cdecapitation\u201d operation to remove (Re: Kill)\u00a0the regime. North Korea\u2019s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un has asked the US repeatedly to end these military exercises, but the US has stubbornly refused. The US reserves the right to threaten anyone, anytime and anywhere even right on their doorstep. It\u2019s part of what makes the US exceptional. Check out this excerpt from an article at Fox News:<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than 3,500 American and Japanese troops kicked off a weeks-long joint military exercise Thursday against the backdrop of an increasingly belligerent North Korean regime. The exercise, known as Northern Viper 17, will take place on Hokkaido \u2014 Japan\u2019s northern-most main island \u2014 and will last until Aug. 28\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are improving our readiness not only in the air, but as a logistical support team,\u201d Col. R. Scott Jobe, the 35th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement. \u201cWe are in a prime location for contingency purposes and this exercise will only build upon our readiness in the case a real-world scenario occurs.\u201d (US, Japanese troops begin joint military exercise amid North Korea threat\u201d, Fox News)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monday\u2019s missile test (which flew over Hokkaido Island) was conducted just hours after the war games ended. The message was clear: The North is not going to be publicly humiliated and slapped around without responding. Rather than show weakness, the North demonstrated that it was prepared to defend itself against foreign aggression. In other words, the test was NOT a\u00a0 \u201cbold and provocative act\u201d (as the media stated) but a modest and well thought-out\u00a0 response by a country that has experienced 64 years of relentless hectoring, sanctions, demonization and saber rattling by Washington. The North responded because the Washington\u2019s incitements required a response. End of story.<\/p>\n

And the same is true of the three short-range ballistic missiles\u00a0 the North tested last week. (two of which apparently fizzled out shortly after launching.)\u00a0 These tests were a response to the 3 week-long joint-military drills in South Korea which involved\u00a0 75,000 combat troops\u00a0 accompanied by hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, landing craft, heavy artillery, a full naval flotilla and flyovers by squadrons of state of the art fighters and strategic bombers.\u00a0 Was the North supposed to sit on its hands while this menacing display of brute military force took place right under its nose???<\/p>\n

Of course not. Imagine if Russia engaged in a similar operation over the border in Mexico while the Russian fleet conducted \u201clive fire\u201d drills three miles outside of San Francisco Bay. What do you think Trump\u2019s reaction would be?<\/p>\n

He\u2019d blow those boats out of the water faster than you could say \u201cJackie Robinson\u201d, right?<\/p>\n

So why the double standard when it comes to North Korea? Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.<\/p>\n

North Korea should be applauded for showing that it won\u2019t be intimidated by the schoolyard bully. Kim knows that any confrontation with the US will end badly for the North, even so, he hasn\u2019t caved in or allowed himself to be pushed around by the blustering, browbeating thugs in the White House. Booyah, Kim.<\/p>\n

By the way, Trump\u2019s response to Monday\u2019s missile test was barely covered in the mainstream media, and for good reason. Here\u2019s what happened two days later:<\/p>\n

On Wednesday,\u00a0 a US-led flight-group of\u00a0 F-35B fighters, F-15 fighters and B-1B bombers conducted military operations\u00a0over a training range east of Seoul. The B-1B\u2019s, which are low-altitude nuclear bombers, dropped their dummy-bombs on the site and then returned to their home base. The show of force was intended to send a message to Pyongyang that Washington is unhappy with the North\u2019s ballistic missile testing project and is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the North if it fails to heed Washington\u2019s diktats.<\/p>\n

So Washington is prepared to nuke the North if they don\u2019t straighten up and do as they are told?<\/p>\n

It sure looks that way, but who really knows?\u00a0 In any event, Kim has no choice but to stand firm. If he shows any sign of weakness, he knows he\u2019s going to end up like Saddam and Gaddafi. And that, of course, is what\u2019s driving the hyperbolic rhetoric; the North wants to avoid the Gaddafi scenario at all cost. (BTW, the reason Kim has threatened to fire missiles at the waters surrounding Guam is because Guam is the home of Anderson Airforce Base which is the point-of-origin for the B-1B nuclear-capable bombers that have been making threatening flyovers on the Korean Peninsula for some time now. The North feels like it has to respond to that existential threat.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it help if the media mentioned that fact or does it better serve their agenda to make it look like Kim is barking mad by lashing out against the \u2018totally innocent\u2019 United States, a country that only seeks to preserve the peace wherever it goes?<\/p>\n

Give me a break!<\/p>\n

It is so hard to find anything in the media that doesn\u2019t reflect Washington\u2019s bias and hostility. Surprisingly, there was\u00a0 pretty decent article at CBS News last week written by a former Western intelligence officer with decades of experience in Asia. It\u2019s the only article I\u2019ve found that accurately explains what\u2019s\u00a0 really going on beyond the propaganda. Check it out:<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to President Trump\u2019s inauguration, North Korea made it clear it was prepared to give the new U.S. administration time to review the policy and come up with something better than President Obama\u2019s. \u00a0The only wrinkle was that if the U.S. went full-steam ahead with its annual joint exercises with South Korea (especially if that were accompanied by more talk of \u201cdecapitation\u201d and more flights of strategic bombers over the Korean peninsula), the North would react strongly.<\/em><\/p>\n

In short, the U.S. did, and the North reacted.<\/em><\/p>\n

Behind-the-scenes contacts went up and down, but couldn\u2019t get traction.\u00a0 In April, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paraded new missiles as a warning, to no effect.\u00a0 The regime launched the new systems, one after another.\u00a0 Still, Washington\u2019s approach didn\u2019t change.\u201d (Analysis: Pyongyang\u2019s view of the North Korea-U.S. crisis\u201d, CBS News)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, so now we know the truth: The North gave it their best shot and came up snakeeyes, mainly because Washington doesn\u2019t want to negotiate, they\u2019d rather twist arms (Russia and China), tighten the embargo and threaten war. That\u2019s Trump\u2019s solution. Here\u2019s more from the same piece:<\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 4, after North Korea\u2019s first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, Kim sent a public signal that the North could put the nuclear and missile programs \u201con the table\u201d if the U.S. changed its approach.<\/em><\/p>\n

The U.S. did not, so the North launched another ICBM, very deliberately deeming it a warning to the U.S. that they were to be taken seriously. Still, more B-1 bombers flew over the Peninsula, and the U.N. Security Council passed new sanctions.\u201d (CBS News)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, the North was ready to do some serious horse-trading, but the US balked. Kim probably heard what a wheeler dealer Trump was and figured they could work something out. But it hasn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 Trump has turned out to be a bigger bust than Obama, which is pretty bad.\u00a0 He not only refuses to negotiate but he also delivers bellicose threats almost every day. This isn\u2019t what the North was expecting. They were expecting a \u00a0 \u201cnon interventionist\u201d leader who might be receptive to a trade-off.<\/p>\n

The current situation has left Kim with no good options. He can either cave in and terminate his missile program altogether or increase the frequency of the tests and hope that they pave the way for negotiations. \u00a0 Kim chose the latter.<\/p>\n

Did he make a bad choice?<\/p>\n

Maybe.<\/p>\n

Is it a rational choice?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

The North is betting that its nuclear weapons programs will be valuable bargaining chits in future negotiations with the United States. The North has no plan to nuke the west coast of the United States.\u00a0 That\u2019s ridiculous! That doesn\u2019t accomplish anything. What they want is to preserve their regime,\u00a0 procure security guarantees from Washington,\u00a0 lift the embargo,\u00a0 normalize relations with the South,\u00a0 extricate the US from the political affairs of the peninsula, and (hopefully) end the irritating and endlessly provocative 64 year US occupation. Yankee go home. Please.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: The North is ready to deal. They want negotiations. They want to end the war. They want to put this whole nightmare behind them and get on with their lives. But Washington won\u2019t let them because Washington likes the status quo. Washington wants to be a permanent feature in South Korea so it can encircle Russia and China with lethal missile systems and expand its geopolitical grip bringing the world closer to nuclear Armageddon.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Washington wants, and that\u2019s why the crisis on the peninsula will continue to boil.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________<\/p>\n

Mike Whitney<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to\u00a0<\/em>Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion<\/a>\u00a0(AK Press).\u00a0Hopeless is also available in a\u00a0Kindle edition<\/a>.\u00a0He can be reached at\u00a0fergiewhitney@msn.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 counterpunch.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What the media failed to mention was that, for the last three weeks, Japan, South Korea and the US have been engaged in large-scale joint-military drills on Hokkaido Island and in South Korea. These needlessly provocative war games are designed to simulate an invasion of North Korea and a \u201cdecapitation\u201d operation to remove (Re: Kill) the regime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}