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In the absence of a newly forged international community, a U.S.-led crackdown on the old rogues is bound to backfire. Already Western efforts have driven rogue states into each other’s arms—Burma is trading military hardware and perhaps nuclear secrets with North Korea; Iran is forging closer ties to Syria; Venezuela is supporting Cuba more lavishly. Worse than these warming relations among relatively weak troublemakers is their growing support from legitimate rising powers. Brazil, Turkey, Russia, China—all are making no secret of their resistance to America’s anti-rogue diplomacy.

Obama came into office thinking that a more responsive diplomacy could rally global support for the old Western agenda, but that’s not enough. What’s needed, more than a change in tone or a U.S. policy review, is a new set of baseline global interests—neither purely Western nor Eastern—defined in concert with rising powers who have real influence in capitals like Rangoon, Pyongyang, and Tehran. This requires a painful reconsideration of America’s place in the world. But it promises real help from rising powers in shouldering the financial and military burden of addressing global threats.

Today countries large and small, well behaved and not, are looking for partners, not patrons. Where Washington looks to punish rogues, seeking immediate changes in behavior, rival powers are stepping in with investment and defense contracts, and offering a relationship based on dignity and respect. This is the story of China in Burma, Russia in Iran, Brazil in Cuba, and so on down the line. And given that the core institutions of global governance—the U.N. Security Council, the World Bank, and the IMF—are unwilling to grant the new powers a seat at the decision-making table, it’s not surprising that they feel no obligation to back sanctions they’ve had no say in formulating.

Source/Full Story:  Newsweek.com

Citizens in three countries foresee a U.S.-backed military intervention in Iran in the next decade, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 58 per cent of respondents in Britain, 56 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans regard this as a likely possibility.

In addition, a sizeable proportion of people in the three countries believe Vladimir Putin will be directly involved in the Russian government ten years from now, and at least three-in-ten think a U.S.-backed military intervention in North Korea will take place.

Source/Full Story:  Angus Reid Global Monitor

The Transportation Security Administration is investigating after they say an outdated version of their standard operating procedures manual was posted on the Internet. Who gets more scrutiny in line? What countries’ passports are singled out? Who’s exempt from screening? The answers to those questions and more were posted online for everybody to see.

The document is dated May 28, 2008, and it is considered sensitive security information. It details who gets special treatment, and what to do with people who balk at the checkpoint.

Many passengers who spoke with WTTG-TV in D.C. about the story at Reagan National Airport said it was concerning. Some pointed out that if we could get our hands on the document online, so could anyone else.

Documents note that passengers from Cuba, North Korea, Libya and a number of other countries must undergo additional screening.

“You don’t want discrimination against a certain country or against a certain population group or a certain group of people but if you don’t profile, then I think you’re missing the boat. You’re not being realistic,” said Bob Boswellin, a passenger.

It offers examples of identification documents that screeners accept, including congressional, federal air marshal and CIA ID cards; and it explains that diplomatic pouches and certain foreign dignitaries with law enforcement escorts are not subjected to any screening at all. It said certain methods of verifying identification documents aren’t used on all travelers during peak travel crushes.

Source/Full Story: FOXNews.com

The Pentagon is speeding up delivery of a colossal bomb designed to destroy hidden weapons bunkers buried underground and shielded by 10,000 pounds of reinforced concrete.

Call it Plan B for dealing with Iran, which recently revealed a long-suspected nuclear site deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom.

The 15-ton behemoth — called the “massive ordnance penetrator,” or MOP — will be the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal and will carry 5,300 pounds of explosives. The bomb is about 10 times more powerful than the weapon it is designed to replace.

The Pentagon has awarded a nearly $52 million contract to speed up placement of the bomb aboard the B-2 Stealth bomber, and officials say the bomb could be fielded as soon as next summer.

Pentagon officials acknowledge that the new bomb is intended to blow up fortified sites like those used by Iran and North Korea for their nuclear programs, but they deny there is a specific target in mind.

“I don’t think anybody can divine potential targets,” Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. “This is just a capability that we think is necessary given the world we live in.”

Source/Full Story: Yahoo! News
Technorati Tags: massive ordnance penetrator

Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea today on a surprise visit to seek the release of two American journalists serving 12 years for "grave crimes", in the highest profile visit to the country by an American for nearly a decade.

The highly unusual trip comes amid increased tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the stalled aid-for-disarmament talks and the latter’s recent nuclear test and missile launches.

The former US president was greeted by the North’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, and a high-ranking parliamentary official after landing in an unmarked jet this morning. A young girl presented him with a bouquet.

US officials have confirmed Clinton will negotiate for the freedom of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were arrested in March on the border with China.

The journalists were detained while on a reporting trip for California-based Current TV – co-founded by Al Gore, Clinton’s former vice-president.

They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labour for entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts".

North Korea and the US do not have diplomatic relations, but Washington is believed to be working behind the scenes to negotiate their release. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said "everyone is very sorry" about the incident and urged Pyongyang to grant them amnesty.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul’s Dongguk University, told the Associated Press that Clinton’s visit could serve two purposes: securing the women’s release and improving ties between the two countries.

"I think it’s not just about journalists. It will serve as a turning point in the US-North Korea relations," he said.

Source/Full Story: guardian.co.uk

South Korea was bombarded Thursday with a third wave of cyberattacks, which disrupted and in some cases halted access to government, banking and media Web sites.

Intelligence officials in Seoul, meanwhile, presented no hard evidence to support earlier suspicions that North Korea may have been behind the disruptions that have hit Web sites in South Korea and the United States in recent days.

The timing of Thursday’s attacks, which began in the early evening, had been predicted by the country’s largest computer security company, Ahnlabs. It said hackers had planted "malicious codes" in thousands of personal and business computers, which contained instructions to bombard seven Web sites in South Korea at 6 p.m. local time.

When the attacks began, however, there were many more targets than predicted. About half a dozen government Web sites not on the company’s list, including those of parliament, the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, slowed down or temporarily stopped working.

South Korea’s main spy agency said that the "level of the attacks was highly organized and meticulously planned," indicating the work of "certain organizations or state."

Source/Full Story: washingtonpost.com

North Korea fired several short-range missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, an act that the U.S. watched closely and South Korea called provocative.

Pyongyang fired six short-range missiles in less than seven hours, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.

The missiles were apparently Scud-type, estimated to have a range of about 500 kilometers (310 miles), according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

South Korean intelligence estimates that North Korea has about 700 such missiles in its arsenal.

Pyongyang test-fired four such missiles off the east coast Thursday, Yonhap reported.

South Korea called the launches a provocative act, according to a government statement.

North Korea had issued a warning to mariners to avoid an area in the Sea of Japan at certain times between June 24 and July 9 because of a "military firing exercise," according to a U.S. military communication about the warning provided to CNN.

The recent firings come amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May, fired test rockets and threatened U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters.

Source/Full Story: CNN.com

Tension was growing in the Pacific today as the US navy prepared to intercept a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weapons in defiance of a United Nations ban.

The US navy has been tracking the Kang Nam since its left a North Korean port on Wednesday.

It would be the first ship to be intercepted since the UN last week imposed sanctions on North Korea as punishment for conducting an underground nuclear test last month. The sanctions ban the import and export of nuclear material, missiles and all other weapons other than small arms.

A USS destroyer, the John McCain (named after the father of the Republican senator, who was an admiral), was awaiting orders to intercept the ship off the Chinese coast.

The UN sanctions only allow the US to hail a North Korean ship and demand to be allowed to conduct a search, but not forcibly board it. North Korea has said a forcible search would be regarded as an act of war.

Reflecting heightened tension, the US today began moving radar systems and ground-to-air missiles to Hawaii. The Pentagon said it fears that Pyongyang could test-fire an intercontinental missile in the direction of Hawaii over the next few weeks in retaliation for the UN sanctions.

US officials designated the Kang Nam as being of “special interest” soon after it left port.

Source/Full Story: guardian.co.uk

North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii on American Independence Day, according to Japanese intelligence officials.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched in early July from the Dongchang-ni site on the north-western coast of the secretive country.

Intelligence analysts do not believe the device would be capable of hitting Hawaii’s main islands, which are 4,500 miles from North Korea.

This is North Korea’s Taepodong-2 missile which has a range of 4,000 miles. Intelligence analysts do not believe it would be capable of hitting Hawaii which is 4,500 miles away

It was announced today that the U.S. has deployed anti-missile defences around Hawaii in response to the threat.

North Korea test-fired a similar long-range missile on July 4 three years ago, but it failed seconds after liftoff.

Source/Full Story: Mail Online

The world’s great powers slapped North Korea with more sanctions Friday, to punish the regime for defiantly setting off atomic blasts despite previous promises and international pleas.

In a unanimous vote, the world’s five, veto-wielding great powers – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – were backed by the 10 other members of the Security Council, but the new sanctions have largely symbolic value.

Most importantly, China and Russia backed the measures, a clear indication that Beijing and Moscow have run out of patience with the unpredictable and unstable regime in Pyongyang.

North Korea, the planet’s last neo-Stalinist state, was nurturing its next-generation personality cult Friday. Hours before the Security Council imposed a full arms embargo and ordered North Korean cargoes stopped and checked for contraband on the high seas, Pyongyang bestowed the moniker Brilliant Comrade on the 26-year-old, third son of the ailing Kim Jong-il.

Tough-sounding, but largely toothless, the new sanctions include no enforcement provisions.

For instance, while warships of all UN members states are authorized to stop and search any ships bound to or from North Korea, theoretically a potent deterrence to Pyongyang’s widespread and lucrative weapons proliferation exports, the use of force is explicitly prohibited. If a ship declines to stop, the country where it is flagged, or registered, can be reported to the Security Council.

“Countries have to act prudently, with sufficient grounds,” said China’s UN envoy Ambassador Zhang Yesui, adding “under no circumstances should there be use or threat of force.”

The unfolding North Korean crisis poses grave risks for U.S. President Barack Obama, whose much-touted change in approach, with an offer of an outstretched hand, was met with bellicose derision, missile testing, and finally an underground atomic blast from Pyongyang.

It took three weeks after North Korea’s latest salvo of missile firings and its second underground nuclear test, firmly establishing Pyongyang as the latest outlaw member of the nuclear weapons club, to cobble together the latest sanctions.

Source/Full Story: The Globe and Mail

North Korea is actively preparing for the launch of a powerful ballistic missile, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Saturday with reference to a source in the South Korean government.

According to information obtained by intelligence services of South Korea and the United States, a powerful device resembling a ballistic missile was brought from a military plant in the area of Pyongyang to the Musudan-ri range last week, the agency said adding that this information was provided by American military satellites.

According to Yonhap, North Korea appears to be preparing for a long-range missile test, an informed source said Saturday, defying the UN Security Council whose members are negotiating a resolution to punish it for its recent nuclear test. The source, asking not to be identified, said an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was recently spotted on a cargo train near Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

The missile has since been moved to an undisclosed location, according to the source. “It usually takes about two months to set up a launch pad, but the process could be done in as little as two weeks, which means the North could launch a long-range missile as early as in mid-June,” the source said, the agency reported. The remarks came shortly after a defence source said some activities were spotted at a North Korean munitions factory used to build long-range missiles.

Source/Full Story: ITAR-TASS

Sources close to MiNa claim the US Army has moved their alert level to Defcon 2. This was initiated by the alarming situation in North Korea. The US Army has over 35,000 troops stationed in South Korea, well within reach of North Korean convential weapons.

North Korea has the largest artillery force (can be equipped with nuclear warheads) in the world, which adds more to the already tense situation.

Earlier today, N. Korea’s leader Kim Jong issued threaths to the South Korean and US Navy ships for coming too close to North Korea’s territorial waters. The South Koreans and the Americans, may be positioning themselves for a preemptive strike.

…

Standard peacetime protocol is DEFCON 5, descending in increasingly severe situations. DEFCON 1 represents expectation of actual imminent attack, and is not known to have ever been declared. During the Cold War, DEFCON 1 was feared because it would most likely precede an all-out nuclear war.
In a national state of emergency, seven different alert conditions known as LERTCONs can be issued. They consist of five Defense Conditions and two Emergency Conditions (EMERGCONs).

Source/Full Story:   MINA

U.S. satellite imagery has spotted "vehicle activity" at a North Korean ballistic missile site, two Defense Department officials said Friday.

South Korean soldiers ride in armored vehicles during a drill Friday in the border city of Paju.

This activity is similar to that before a long-range missile launch by North Korea earlier this year.

North Korea test-fired a short-range missile Friday off the country’s east coast, a South Korean military source said. It would be the sixth such missile test since the country conducted a nuclear test Monday.

Also Friday, North Korea upbraided the U.N. Security Council for slamming its nuclear test, calling the members of the body "hypocrites" and warning of "stronger self-defense countermeasures" as the world body considers more sanctions against the country.

"There is a limit to our patience," the Foreign Ministry said in a combative statement.

Source/Full Story:   CNN.com

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North Korea appears to have resumed reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods at a previously shuttered facility, the Chonsun Ilbo reported today (see GSN, May 26).

(May. 27) – South Korean troops look into North Korea today from a point near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two nations. North Korea appears to have resumed spent fuel reprocessing at its Yongbyon nuclear complex (Jung Yeon-je/Getty Images).

Steam has been spotted emanating from the plutonium reprocessing plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, suggesting that the North might be trying to produce weapons-grade material in the wake of Monday’s underground nuclear test.

Operations at the Yongbyon facility, which lies about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, were halted as part of a 2007 deal under which the North agreed to dismantle its nuclear sector in exchange for various benefits from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. However, satellite images have documented increased activity at the complex in recent weeks, as the North reacted to U.N. condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch (see GSN, May 13).

Source/Full Story: NTI

Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war, news agencies quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.

Interfax quoted an unnamed security source as saying a stand-off triggered by Pyongyang’s nuclear test on Monday could affect the security of Russia’s far eastern regions, which border North Korea.

"The need has emerged for an appropriate package of precautionary measures," the source said.

"We are not talking about stepping up military efforts but rather about measures in case a military conflict, perhaps with the use of nuclear weapons, flares up on the Korean Peninsula," he added. The official did not elaborate further.

North Korea has responded to international condemnation of its nuclear test and a threat of new U.N. sanctions by saying it is no longer bound by an armistice signed with South Korea at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying the "war of nerves" over North Korea should not be allowed to grow into a military conflict, a reference to Pyongyang’s decision to drop out of the armistice deal.

Source/Full Story: Reuters