Don’t Give In To North Korea Demands (Updated)

Washington spurns Tokyo's demand for reprisal against North Korea "...Obama's lack of response to the Japanese call, despite the presence of 28,000 US troops on the Korean Demilitarized Zone border – even with limited military action - is bound to devalue the defensive umbrella against North Korea the US has pledged South Korea and Japan. US unresponsiveness is already resonating loudly in the Middle East and Persian Gulf which is beginning to take it as betokening feeble resolve in dealing with Iran and its nuclear weapons aspirations." DEBKAfile

Heritage " New START offers the US no new tools to deal with Iran and North Korea which are the clear and present danger. Instead, all New START does is tie our military’s hands by limiting our capacity to build the missile defense systems necessary to deal with these regimes. The President should spend less time hawking flawed treaties to justify his Nobel Peace Prize and invest more time in fighting for peace against America’s enemies."

North Korean Artillery Attack on a Southern Island

Map from STRATFOR

North Korean Attack Designed to Flex Muscles, Both Internally and Externally  "...every time they do this they are usually also in dire need of food, oil and cash. They do a fair business in the arms trade and have dabbled in nuclear proliferation, but they know they will get satchels of cash, barrels of oil, and some rice if they remind us they can make a big mess. So we will soon be partnering with our good friends and owners the Chinese to pay the North Koreans to chill."

South Korea on war alert after North shells border island   "The White House strongly condemned the attack and callsed for a halt to belligerent action. The Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan ordered its ministers to prepare for "unexpected events" in reference to the worst clash on the peninsula since the Korean war 50 years ago. China and Russian expressed concern over the shelling and Beijing called for an urgent Six Power meeting on the crisis." DEBKAfile

 North Korea and Iran: Containment vs. Regime Change "The ultimate solution is plain: regime change. But how to achieve it is another matter. China is North Korea’s major remaining lifeline, but unfortunately it is hard to see how to persuade the Chinese to cut off their client state. They may not like Pyongyang’s powerplays, but they are even less wild about the notion of a unified Korea allied with the United States." 
Max Boot.