KW: Correspondent Mike Whitney writes ‘What the media fails 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. Known as ‘operation decapitation’ these needlessly provocative war games are designed to simulate an invasion of North Korea and a “decapitation” operation to remove (Re: Kill) the regime. North Korea’s 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’s part of what makes the US ‘exceptional’.
Another unknown truth is that the South Koreans are insisting that there be no invasion of the North without first their approval but as it now seems that South Korean forces are actually under the command of a U.S. General just how is this going to work out? Eric Margolis reports “Amazingly, six decades after the end of the 1950 Korean War, South Korea’s 650,000-man active armed forces and 4.2 million-man reserves remain under the command of a US four-star general. This neo-colonial arrangement was supposed to have ended years ago, but successive conservative South Korean governments maintained their nation’s acceptance of Washington’s Asian Raj. So does Japan.”
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in says there can be no US military action on the Korean peninsula without the consent of his government. He said that there can never be another war on the Korean Penninsula, but whose listening in the U.S.?
Putin North Korea Would Rather Eat Grass Than Give Up Nuclear Weapons
Putin calls sanctions useless
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a press conference on the sidelines of the 9th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in the southeast city of Xiamen on Tuesday, September 5.
Posted September 05, 2017
Putin warns ‘hysteria’ over North Korea threatens ‘global catastrophe’
- Putin thinks that sanctions could lead to large-scale human suffering
- Putin, speaking after a BRICs summit in China, also warned against further ramping up military hysteria around North Korea
By Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that imposing tougher sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear missile program would be counter-productive and said threats of military action could trigger “a global catastrophe.”
Putin, speaking after a BRICs summit in China, criticized U.S. diplomacy in the crisis and renewed his call for talks, saying Pyongyang would not halt its missile testing program until it felt secure.
“Russia condemns North Korea’s exercises, we consider that they are a provocation … (But) ramping up military hysteria will lead to nothing good. It could lead to a global catastrophe,” he told reporters.
“There’s no other path apart from a peaceful one.” Putin was speaking after South Korea said an agreement with the
United States to scrap a weight limit on its warheads would help it respond to the North Korea threat after Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test two days ago.
US approach ‘ridiculous’
While describing additional sanctions as “the road to nowhere”, Putin said Russia was prepared to discuss “some details” around the issue, without elaborating.The Russian leader also lashed out at the United States, saying it was preposterous for Washington to ask for Moscow’s help with North Korea after sanctioning Russian companies whom U.S officials accused of violating North Korea sanctions.
“It’s ridiculous to put us on the same (sanctions) list as North Korea and then ask for our help in imposing sanctions on North Korea,” said Putin
“This is being done by people who mix up Australia with Austria,” he added.The United States has floated the idea of requiring all countries to cut economic links with North Korea to try to strong-arm Pyongyang into changing its behavior.
In Moscow’s case, that would mean stopping using North Korean laborers, tens of thousands of whom work in Russia, and halting fuel supplies to Pyongyang. Russia has so far refused to contemplate doing either.
See also –
North Korean delegation arrives in Russia, to be joined shortly by South Korean President: The Eastern Economic Forum is a unique meeting which will be attended by delegations from Russia, China, Japan, Vietnam, Mongolia, South Korea and North Korea.
Putin on US diplomatic row: What do you expect from people who mix up Austria and Australia?