U.S. F-22 Stealth Jets Join South Korea Drills Amid Sabre-Rattling

[Purveyor]

Source: REUTERS

WASHINGTON, March 31 | Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:54pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea.

The advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force base in South Korea, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the U.S. military command in South Korea said in a statement that urged North Korea to restrain itself.

&quot North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the statement said.

Sabre-rattling on the Korean peninsula drew a plea for peace from Pope Francis, who in his first Easter Sunday address called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/31/korea-north-usa-f-idUSL2N0CN0BT20130331

[Sherman A1]

1. Oh,

[TwilightGardener]

3. It's annual exercises. They're not going to stop because NK tells them to.

[Sherman A1]

13. It is an annual exercise

however, it appears that the F22's were not part of that exercise and recently added. That said, one wonders based upon their recent performance if this is really such a good idea.

[FirstLight]

2. ...and the beat goes on...

"we have always been at war with Eastasia..."

[Posteritatis]

4. Decades-old annual event remains annual; everyone freaks out anyway. (nt)

[freshwest]

12. But it's 2013! It's shiny and new! Nothing like this has ever happened before!!11!!!

I don't know whether to add a icon or a one. Whichever one anyone needs to make it through the day, apply liberally to my post. TIA.

[Gore1FL]

5. Wouldn't they have to re-introduce the F-86 to the theater in order to truly Sabre rattle? n/t

[lastlib]

6. I suspect those Sabres are done rattling........

(...but nice try, BTW!)

[Posteritatis]

7. The remaining ones probably rattle a bit too much. (nt)

[L0oniX]

8. F9F's would do it. n/t

[John2]

9. It is a waste of

tax payers' dollars. I'm not impressed with the shiny toys of wmd. I see they have enough money to play with them too. It solved nothing. How does the U.S. and the West come to the decision North Korea would be more isolated than it has been;Just how so? The only alternative any sensible leader would be to continue to do nuclear tests and increase your nuclear capabilities. A commander in chief would be incompetent not to do so given the adversaries you are up against. It is no different a Policy than Israel took or the United States itself. The media is just propaganda tools of these governments' agenda. President Obama's Policy does not impress me whatsoever because it is nothing new. He will achieve nothing in Foreign Policy during the next four years except double down on the neocon Policies the way he is going. And at the same time making excuses to cut domestic programs at home to appease the rightwing with in this country.

[bossy22]

10. wow, one sided view wouldn't you say?

I'm not going to sit here and say the situation is just black and white, but NK has brought alot of this upon themselves. What would a sensible leader do? Well first off a sensible leader would not starve his population, or restrict their access to the world via the internet. Nor would a sensible leader blow up another countries warship, or lob shells at their cities.

I think that South Korea, and it's ally the U.S. have shown great restraint when it comes to this situations. Sinking a foreign countries naval ship is an act of war, but SK decided to hold back and just do a "show of force".

[John2]

14. Well, since

you asked, I will give a response why I have a negative view of the President's Foreign Policies. I don't think Kim has been in authority that long. As far as the past incidences, I don't think any occurred under his leadership with the exception of a nuclear test.

I find it very hard the North Korean military establishment would boast about their military successes and try to hide others. I understand during the incident with the South Korean ship exploding, at first the South Korean's denied North Korean involvement but later did an about face. At the same time this ship exploded, they were also doing joint exercises with the U.S. military. The only people had access to the wreckage were their military authorities. I find it very hard to believe a North Korean sub could have slipped into an area undetected while joint exercises was ongoing.

Any country's leader as commander in chief, whose country is in a state of War with its enemies would take necessary steps for national security, including food rationing. It is no different than any competent commander would do if your adversaries use economic policies as means to strangle your economy. The internet can also be used as a means for foreign propaganda. An intelligent leader can see right through this strategy.

What an intelligent leader would do is try to make contact to the adversary through an intermediary, such as one not associated with past intermediaries attached to the past Government. Instead it was ridiculed mostly by people who didn't want to see the contact iniated. That is the biggest problem I have with Barrack Obama as President. He is mostly controlled by a rightwing Congress, instead of having direct talks with the enemy for an opening to end the stalemate. The Korean leader has no other alternative but to improve North Korea's military capabilities and not worry about China or Russia either. If I was the commander in chief, those are the steps I would take.

[mainer]

15. I agree with you about the South Korean ship exploding

If NK torpedoed that ship to make a point, why would they then deny even doing it? You don't blow up a ship to boast to the world how tough you are, and then say you didn't do it.

I suspect the torpedo launch was a mistake by some paranoid or incompetent NK sub commander, which the NK government then had to deny to save face.

Or it wasn't NK at all, but a wargames error.

[John2]

16. Well, no matter

what people think of Dennis Rodman, I think it was an opening Obama should have taken advantage of, but yet again, he listened to rightwing extremists within this country. He did the same with Iran and Venezuela. Just maybe North Korea's new young leader used a basketball player because Obama loves basketball. The initial response was he didn't want War, but the whole effort was ridiculed. When will we get a President that does not appease the warmongering rightwing extremists in this country?

[mainer]

17. Dennis Rodman could have been our Ping Pong ambassador

Sometimes it's the weirdest and most unexpected things that open the door to peace.

[fujiyama]

11. I don't believe the F-22s have seen combat before

God forbid this actually erupts into an actual war, but I'm sure there are quite a few in the Pentagon that are curious how effective this very expensive toy performs.

Hopefully Li'l boy Kim will chill the fuck out. Can we bomb him with Xanax instead?

[mbuch64]

18. F-22s

Yes these fighter planes have not seen combat duty. Last I heard, these aircraft had been grounded due to problems with the pilot's air supply system and I have not seen where the F-22 has been cleared for active duty.

[premium]

19. They have been cleared for operational duty.

http://www.dailytech.com/US+Air+Force+Clears+the+F22A+Raptor+for+Operational+Duty/article297.htm

Lockheed Martin's Raptor is cleared for deployment anywhere in the world

Lockheed Martin's F-22A Raptor has been officially cleared for operation in both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. Langley Air Force in Virginia is now home to 12 combat-ready Raptors. It has been a long road for the Air Force's successor to the F-15 Strike Eagle. The first flight of the prototype YF-22 took place on September 29th, 1990 and the aircraft was officially named the F-22 Raptor in April of 1997.

[Purveyor]

20. I'd rather we bomb him with marijuana. I know more than a few people on Xanax that really

are scary, indeed!

[daleo]

21. How many wars can the world afford?

Between wars and bank bailouts, when does the money run out? Are governments no longer going to serve the public good, just coddle plutocrats and militarists?