If the US gov't made sounds like this, I'd nnnnnnnnever believe it, but usually the Japanese pattern is when it gets ANNOUNCED TO THE PUBLIC, in fact, the actual decision has been made in private YEARS EARLIER.
So you can be pretty sure than now that they're actively "forming a consensus", the money is getting allotted, etc., and the proper expensive dinners in Tokyo have already been eaten.
The Japanese need Tomohawks up the ying-yang, air-to-air refueling, heavy bombers, long-endurance UAV's...lots of stuff.
And with the Taiwanese getting serious about land-attack missiles, the Asian Pacific theater looks like it stands an outside chance of not getting swallowed by the PRC wholesale in 15 years, or so...
GREAT NEWS!
I sure hope this Crazy Kim keeps on shooting 'em off...!
If the US gov't made sounds like this, I'd nnnnnnnnever believe it, but usually the Japanese pattern is when it gets ANNOUNCED TO THE PUBLIC, in fact, the actual decision has been made in private YEARS EARLIER.So you can be pretty sure than now that they're actively "forming a consensus", the money is getting allotted, etc., and the proper expensive dinners in Tokyo have already been eaten.
That's my take also. Since the preemptive option has been mentioned before by officials, I take this latest version to mean that preparation is, in the Duke of Wellington's phrase, "done already".
Considering how the Japanese have initiated military operations in the past, I suspect that if they do take preemptive measures that we will all be surprised at both the boldness and the complexity of the plan.