AR182 said:
the u.s. should reverse it & put the pressure on china by building up japan's & s. korea's military. i think that will make china change it's way pretty quickly.
Can't agree there, Al. For one thing, per the Japanese constitution, they are generally only allowed defensive weapons. We are already helping them with a missle defense system and i'm not sure there's much more we can do there. We have airbases there, of course, but there really isn't any opportunity to 'build up' their military.
As far as South Korea goes, again, there isn't much we can do. They have a VERY capable and sizable military and already get a lot of technological help from us, along with our 36,000 troops. There really isn't much more we can do to up the ante other than deploying nukes on the peninsula and that opens up another whole can of worms with China.
On top of all that, I believe that even if the above was possible, it would have the exact opposite effect in regards to China. They would/will never back down to us, especially if we are being aggressive(in whatever way) in that part of the world.
If we could actually do that, it would embolden their relationship with NK. No question in my mind.
Bottom line is that we'd(along with South Korea) win a war with NK, but the entire peninsula would be absloutely devastated for several, if not many, decades. South Korea has such an enormous amount to lose compared to NK.
That's why South Korea is preaching diplomacy and really isn't very far off the Russia/China stance.
I fell in love with that country(SK-obviously) in my 18 months there and if you guys think I prattle on too much about this Iraq thing, you haven't seen anything yet if war breaks out in Korea.
If the north invades like in 1950, then we have no choice, but the utter desctruction would be beyond comprehension. It's such a small country, they would virtually decimate our meager force there within hours.
Seoul is considered 'south' in Army terms when stationed there(I would have loved that assignment), but it is within easy artillery range. Our major posts there are within mortar range.
The deaths to SK civilians, SK soldiers, our soldiers/airmen and of course our NK counterparts would be staggering.
Seoul is the third largest city in the world and is highly crowded density wise. It's a very small city, area wise, in relation to the population.
Eventually, we would send massive re-inforcements (assuming we aren't still in Iraq), and win, but South Korea would never be the same and we wouldn't probably be either, in different ways.
Then you have the wild card of what China would do, with us inevitably advancing into NK and towards their border. We saw what they did in the 50's.
Sorry for rambling, but that region is near and dear to my heart I can get a 'little' windy.
