HACKWORTH TO SHARE HIS INSIGHT ON NORTH KOREA ON YOUR WORLD IN A FEW MINUTES!!!

Fox News

[Sparta]

The self-proclaimed "America's most decorated soldier" is about to share his insights on the current situation in North Korea.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

And just why is it not valid? Our armed forces were decimated by the Clinton Administration, our intelligence capabilities also. Since 9/11 the administration has been building the armaments and the armed forces to say nothing of our intelligence gathering. You forget that Russia and
England our good allies, were also under attack before we and we went to their aid before and after Pearl Harbor. The fact is if we could fight on more than one front then we sure as hell can do it now!

We(FDR)was helping the Brits with lend lease and Russia was attacked in 1941 by Germany, I believe, I am thinking that you are intimating that they were left to suffer for our armament building,and with any forsight at all that may have been part of the equasion. We did not join the war before Pearl Harbor because our Congress and our citizens were very much against fighting a war in Europe for Europeans. It wasn't until we were attacked that all holds were negated.

[Bommer]

The present danger is not DPRK's nukes, but that Kim Jong Il might launch an invasion of South Korea with his conventional forces while we are tied down elsewhere (in Southwest Asia). If that happens, it is the United States which will need to resort to nukes to save our 37,000 troops from annihilation. If North Korea does obtain nukes, the threat to Tokyo just raises the stakes.

Good luck. They would have to cross over into the most heavily mined area on the planet. Half starved forces tend not to fight as hard and surrender pretty damn fast when they see half their buddys evaporate from a BLU-42. North Korea puts on a real good May day show, but then so did Russa and so far Chetsnia (sic) has them in a quagmire.

[dighton]

That was a poor attempt [in #124] to represent profanity, not a link to anything. ... Instruction in these matters is welcome

Welcome to FreeRepublic.

That's a bug or feature (take your pick) in this site's HTML auto-detect. The "@" makes it think "email address," so the string of characters is turned into a mail-to link.

[BradyLS]

Maddie and Kim look like they're having a lot of fun on their date. I'll bet it was love at first fright!

[BradyLS]

As I recall, Hackworth's main achievement as a battlefield commander was in setting up battles his men could WIN without undue casualties. He has a good nose for sucker traps and this is a big one.

Well, of course! No soldier, from private to General, is trained to play fair with the bad guys. The best always set up the table so that they win. You hit 'em where they're weakest and it hurts the most.

[Slipjack]

You couldn't have said it better!

[Slipjack]

Yes he's hyperventilating, and should PASS along with and Keep his big mouth shut and let the White House do the work we are pay them to do....

[Republic of Texas]

The ROK armed forces are substantial, and technologically far superior to NK. But in sheer volume, NK doubles the ROK in every one of those categories. The best they could hope for is a holding action until the big boys arrive. (US)

[Slipjack]

PING - He's became the Lefto-Pinky-Socialist DemocRATS & Hilteriers Right Hand Monkey.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

Thanks for the info dighton, feel free to correct me when i make those mistakes, or any protocall/decorum mistakes:-}

So, how is this thread going?

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

i would think the object of Korean Mistake II would be to get the DPRK forces to concentrate in one place like cockroaches in a rent controlled apartment in the dark, and then spray them with the great-big-can-of-whoop-a$$, curtesy of the ROK and US Air Force. Attack them where they think they're strong.

[wtc911]

Read our own DoD white papers on the subject. The real problem is that 1/4 of all South Koreans live in Seoul and every inch of Seoul is charted, mapped and within easy reach of the north's guns. The destruction and chaos and refugee flight would be crippling.

I am not advocating withdrawal of USFK but I am pointing out that ROK is no paper tiger. Do the math. Their standing army almost equals ours in numbers, and they are all at home. How many divisions do you think we could expect to have on the ground within ten days of hostilities, including the MEF on Okinawa? I know the answer already but won't put it here. Suffice it to say that the major share of casualties would be ROK.

[wtc911]

See my post 172....exactly how many Infantry Divisions does the US Army have that are combat ready? There are three MEFs, one on Okinawa. How large are they? Where does the air power come from if the Kitty Hawk is diverted from station again? (as it was earlier this year). The ROK forces are well trained, well fed, well armed and well led. The USFK and ROK forces are jointly HQ'd and led.

Don't believe the hype. If we need to put 250,000 people anywhere else ROK cannot rely on "the big boys" to get there in numbers or on time.

[wtc911]

To see how wrong your analogy is pick up Bradley's and Churchill's post war tomes. You will see that we were able to gear up in 42-43 only because Russia and Britian paid a terrible price. (You will also learn why we invaded Italy in '43.) If there are two similarly positioned and intentioned allies in today's game please tell me who they are.

In January '42 where was the strong, vocal anti-war movement? Do you really think that today's anti-war movement will sit down and shut up if we happen to find ourselves with a hot Iraq and a hot Korea? If you do please explain your reasons.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

CONUS has 10 combat ready divisions, if they are combat ready. i have always liked the ROK people, they are a lot like we were, sort of like little brothers (no ethnic/racial slights intended). Something like this is just what is needed for them to become big, tough, little brothers. Nothing will rise them up like whipping that crazy a$$hole up North, and they are in better physical condition than their poor, starving northern brothers, with better logistical support. As for the civilian panic in Seoul, how large of a reserve component do you think they have? All we really need to do is help them out with Air Support from Gaum, or Japan, and let their army kick a$$. They have Patriots, so don't look for DPRK nukes to figure into the equation, unless they have tactical nuke arty.

[Republic of Texas]

I agree totally. We are not ready for a two-front war. We have about 40,000 Marines in Okinawa I believe. It would take months to get troops en masse to SK. The time to confront the NK's is now, and let them know that we won't respond conventionally if they attack the south. If we wait, they'll have more nukes. The price is only going up.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

We could theoreticaly move the 25th Light out of Schofield Barracs,HI in two days, but light infantry is not quite what they are going to need, unless the Light divisions have beefed up their anti-tank capabilities. No matter what, i can't see ROK forces being pushed back to Pusan again, they are pretty tough. The Korean Capitol Division served in Vietnam, and after about two months, Charley avoided them like an Ebola ward.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

To compare today's war on Terror with WWII is comparing apples with oranges anyway. I didn't mean to start a long drawn out course on WWII History, which I lived through. I simply stated that we are strong enough to fight on more than one front. Much stronger than we were in 1942, certainly.

In 1942 much of the anti war crowd was shut up by Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Our rent-a-crowd of today are much more well financed and organized and will appear at any number of political riots upon notice. Same faces different riot.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

i was a vet in college when Desert Shield/Storm started. The rent-a-mob wackos were holding demonstrations on the campus of the small state college i attended. There were a large number of vets enrolled there. We excercised our First Ammendment freedom of expression and "adjusted a few attitudes". The B/S stopped. The American people know when it is time for such nonsense to stop, and always will. If we have to build up, we can. What concerns me is that we no longer have the industrial/manufacturing base that we did up to Vietnam. Hell, we bought those black berets from China!

[wtc911]

According to Jane's there are 22 ACTIVE Combat Divisions in the ROK army (@ 550k warriors) and 4.5 million reservists. In addition there are two Marine Divisions with armor and @ 2300 tanks of newer design than the North's.

Every conversation I've had with someone in the know or white paper I've read concerning a North Korea initiated war of reunification expresses concern over the choke points that would be created by massive flight from Seoul. The conventional wisdom is that because of arty, surprise, numbers and civilian panic the first week or ten days would belong to the North. After that logistics and exhaustion would tip the scales.