I admit I am ignorant on this issue, perhaps you could enlighten me.
What are the current relations between North Korea and China? If a crisis situation appears to be imminent, could China step in and appear to calm a crisis situation? Would North Korea, or the world accept Chinese peace keepers in control of North Korea military assets? What sealift capabilities does North Korea have?
I am just wondering if China could along with North Korea perform a sort of maskirovka (deception) to unite their forces under cover, while China supplements its military hardware with North Korean assets and gains good PR, in front of a world wide audience, for dissolving a critical situation.
China doesn't need anything N Kor has, and they don't need the expense of keeping the peace on the penninsula. If there is action involving the US, China will be onboard with the US and the rules will be worked out at the highest level.
In essence relations between Pyongyang and Beijing have been more cordial in some respects in the past, but they are still presently quite cordial. And if you factor in the possibilityof a US led 'chastisement' of Pyongyang for the myriads of 'baddie' stuff N.Korea has been doing (eg from relatively 'small' stuff like being the number source for ballistic missile tech, albeit technologically obsolete tech, to more potent stuff like the resumption of unabated nuke research geared towards weapons that could easily find itself down the line directed to US military personell ...or even civilians) there is the chance that China would allign itself with N.Korea in the face of a US attack on Pyongyang.
And why would Beijing take such a stance?
Simply to throw mud in the face of America, plus (more importantly) reacting to an incident happening in the Chinese 'neighborhood.' China intends to keep its geo-political significance, and that would be negated if it just stood still as Washington authorised a strike on Pyongyang and the Chinese let the Americans run all over N.Korea (remember in the Korean war the Chinese were willing to send in their 'screaming hordes' in the millions to attack US GIs .....i was actually watching a documentary describing how the Chi-coms came screaming and were even literally pulling people from tanks. Some generals in the higher-up US echelons advocated the use of nukes ...even McArthur wanted nukes used against Beijing, but even then PC elements took over. I am not saying the decision would have been wise .....but that was the decision made and i am in no position to debate on it).
Anyways China would most certainly not stand still. They may not engage in a proxy war, but they surely would do something. (And do not expect backing from the UN 'yellows' since the only country that would support the US would be Britain alone)
And this obviously worries the South Koreans since their new president was talking today (Tuesday) to the Russians, the Chinese, and even the Japanese about the renewed N.Korean nuclear weaponization program. That is kind of ironical because the Russians have no reason whatsoever to involve themselves in such a messy conflagration (plus they provide virtually all of N.Korean military tech), the Chinese would rather support Pyongyang than Seoul due to ideological quirks (plus whatever weapons Moscow does not provide Beijing does), and as for Japan they themselves are terribly worried about N.Korea (the N.Koreans launched one of their newer ballistic missiles ...which can be armed with a nuke ....and it flew right over Japan before splashing into the ocean ...which was a way of telling Tokyo they were not that far away).
Anyways let me say here that if we wanted to take out the N.Koreans it would be done ....easily. However add the fact that we may be at war with Iraq, and such an action becomes much harder. Also add the x-factor of Chinese interference, and the fact that Pyongyang may launch ballistic missiles (armed with conventional warheads since S.Korea's capital Seoul is just around 30 miles away from N.Korea, and even a convetional ballistic missile attack would be still devastating even if we supplied them with Patriots) at Seoul, plus an implicit threat(it has to be implicit if they do not want American Trident SLBMs flying toward Pyongyang) to use nukes against Seoul or Tokyo (which would never happen since such an act would be veritable suicide ....but in politics a threat is as important as an actual act).
However personally i believe this whole nuclear stuff by N.Korea is just a way for them to maximize their gains ....eg they can develop their nukes in relative safety (hoping that the US will be tied in Iraq). Also they are using that development as blackmail (eg when they asked the US to sign some treaty saying they will not sell more weapons to S.Korea).
Basically it is simple unabated unambiguous blackmail ....meshed with the chance to develop valuable weapons tech at a time of relative security for them (or so they believe). And in many ways they are right. In some they are wrong. But they are more right than wrong (in my opinion).
As for Rumy's words about being able to wage war, conventional war, on both Iraq, N.Korea, and terror .....unless we have the clone army in StarWars that is not possible. After Reagan left that ability atrophied and went the way of the Dodo.
Now if he was implying nuclear war then the US can virtually wage nuclear war with every single country in the world technically ....however conventional war that is a no-no.
We are still trying to manufacture more JDAM kits (that are attached to 'dumb' bombs to make them 'smart' JDAMs) since during the Afghan offensive the supply of JDAMs went down since so many were dropped in an attempt to kill that varmint Usama and his murderous cronies!
However this N.Korean thing is less than it seems (in that Pyongyang is not suicidal enough to try anything ...they are just using a perfect opportunity in the manner that the Us would if the US was some backwater communist 3rd world cesspool trying to gain some muscle). However it is also bigger than it seems because congiscenti are concuring that N.Korea bodes a big future threat (even James Woosely, for all his faults, was elucidating how the North could bode ill in the future)
Anyways that's that!