U.S. to release Scud ship to Yemen

MSNBC | 12/11/02

[areafiftyone]

The United States has agreed to release a North Korean ship that carried Scud-type missiles destined to Yemen, a senior U.S. administration official said Wednesday. Yemen had protested the high-seas seizure by Spanish and U.S. forces and demanded the release of the cargo, which it said was intended for the country’s military.

EARLIER ON WEDNESDAY, Jim Miklaszweski reported U.S. military officials were frustrated at Yemen, which is ostensibly an ally in the U.S. war on terrorism. They said Yemen had previously denied ownership of the cargo, but now that the government has claimed the arsenal, the United States has no choice under international law but to release the weapons.

[Defiant]

Maybe what gave them away was that North Korea was shipping bags of cement TO the Middle East. Like they need it.

[tracer]

We can only hope that this has been done to facilitate the first field test of the top-secret "Boomerang Guidance Chip"..... 8~)

[Mo1]

you buy it hook line & sinker!

Oh I'm sorry .. What part of I'm not falling for your bait did you not understand

[realpatriot71]

"realpatriot71" was a toung-in-cheek handle I used when I first signed up, but I ended up liking it here. I would probably change the handle to something a little less ostentatious, but people know me by this name now.

Look, I love my country and I will always support her. For instance, I personally think the military option in Iraq is unwarranted at this time, but if we go in, my president and our troops will have my full support. Loving one's country does not mean that one gives that country catre blanche to do whatever it wishes whenever it wishes. I criticize when I feel appropriate.

[tracer]

"All this cloak and dagger stuff with hiding it under cement, and the missle not being on the ship's manefesto will do nothing but raise suspition. "

I'm sure that the Yumpin' Yemenis have a concrete reason for operating in this manner....

[Station 51]

Locator bugs, a few alterations here and there... Oh sure Locator Bugs! Great idea! I am sure the Communist North Korean scientists will not be able to figure out that trick. Perhaps CBS or FOX can create a reality series and follow the SCUD missiles until they are launched at Israel or US Troops.

[tracer]

Yes.....

[agent4cia]

well iot would be nice to do so before a north korean nuke falls on los angles. Guess when oil is on the line its important and when millions of American lives are on the line it is not.

[nocommies]

fair enough, but you conveniently avoid your questioning whether we have the moral high ground when it comes to north korea sending missiles to the middle east. that isnt something that should be in the realm of doubt for a patriotic, or even simply indifferent, american. what kind of "american" thinks the north koreans MAY have the moral high ground over us?

[SouthernHawk]

My idea is that Yemen got the missles back, but they have probably had to "give up" something/someone that is far more important to us then the scuds. The missiles are "too hot to handle" and will not go anywhere for quite a while.

Meantime, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of some event in the near future that is an "incredible breakthrough".

If I were the president, the release of the missles would have come at a significantly high price (that doesn't have to be paid with just cash!).

[CougarGA7]

Yep, they probably didn't want us to know about the purchase. If they are on our side then why would they do that. See what I mean about the suspicion(spelled correctly this time).

Nice pun by the way.

[MeekOneGOP]

U.S. releases missile shipment to Yemen

12/11/2002

Associated Press

SAN'A, Yemen - The U.S. Navy released the shipment of North Korean-made Scud missiles it seized, sending the vessel and its cargo Wednesday on their way to the original destination of Yemen, foreign ministry officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the shipment was released after high-level contact between Yemen and the United States.

The official Saba news agency said the United States had assured Yemen that the shipment would be released as long as the Yemen-North Korea deal was concluded on legal basis.

AP

The Spanish Navy provided this photo of a Spanish sailor boarding the Sosan from a helicopter Monday.

Vice President Dick Cheney told Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that President Bush ordered the shipment to be returned, Saba reported.

"There is no provision under international law prohibiting Yemen from accepting delivery of missiles from North Korea," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters in Washington. "While there is authority to stop and search, in this instance, there is no clear authority to seize the shipment of Scud missiles from North Korea to Yemen, and therefore the merchant vessel is being released."

The Bush administration in August imposed sanctions on the North Korean company Changgwang Sinyong Corp. for selling Scud missile parts to Yemen. At that time, U.S. authorities asked Yemen why it bought the parts; San'a apologized and promised not to do so again, two defense officials said Wednesday in Washington.

Under the U.S. sanctions, Changgwang Sinyong Corp. will be barred for two years from obtaining new individual export licenses through the Commerce or State departments for any controlled items. The sanctions have little practical effect, one official said, because there is so little commerce between the United States and North Korea.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/121102dnintmissileship.90c556e2.html

[KC_for_Freedom]

I agree, a different firing azimuth for Israel to defend, potentially reducing the effectiveness of the Arrow radars. But now that we know, we can provide another PAC-3 battery to Israel to cover this flank attack.

I at first thought this was a dumb idea, to let them go, but if we are not ready to take on the whole of the Middle East then its probably enough that we caught them (or that Spain caught them, if not for Spain did we know?)

We can use this to add Yeman to our list for later.

[badfreeper]

"They denied it at first because they really were not the recipients, but when they relized they could get away with claiming them, all the sudden it's "Those were for our military!". Twelve free SCUDS, how nice."

If that's the case whoever paid for them is going to be pretty mad. I expect they would likely start targeting Yemeni officials until their property was turned over. Hopefully said missiles would have been tagged and rendered inoperable beforehand.

I really like the idea of returning the ships contents based on the manifold. "Missles? What missles?" LOL

[RicocheT]

agent4cia, take a breath, count to ten. Let's do one war at a time. At least President Bush is keeping score on who's naughty or nice. We just hope he puts on the war paint when the safety of the nation is at stake. Is it (our safety) here and now with these scuds?

[G Larry]

Tracking device is almost as important as the blasting cap installation.

[MattAMiller]

Moral highground has nothing to do with anything here. We had no legitimate authority to seize these weapons. Sure we could have done it any way but for what purpose? Yemen poses no threat and it's easy to make sure they stay there.
It's also easy to track them if we want to.

Our biggest interest here is in embarassing North Korea, South Korean elections are coming up you know.

[Uncle Jaque]

REMEMBER THE USS PUEBLO!

Remember the USS Pueblo?

1968, remember?
The Crew was beaten, tortured, and forced to make phony "confessions" for about a year...

North Korea still has the Pueblo... remember?

Oh;... I guess not.

Never mind, then; let the KongSan have their boat back; let the Yemeni have their Scuds (they SAY that they belong to them, so they must - right?) and let's all play nice and get along.

There; don't we all feel better, boys and girls?

Hullo?

[swarthyguy]

The missiles were from North Korea

NK is the Axis of Evil

Pak sends nukes to NK

We have EVERY authority to seize anything coming out of NK.

Remember the Pueblo!!