Category: Technology

Terror By Remote Control?

I have long feared that this would be the future of terrorism. This time, it’s a terrorist organization hitting a military target. Hezbollah’s MO suggests that darker things are ahead. Update: Not a UAV, but a missile, supplied by our “strategic partners” in China to Iran, and then to Hezb. Hopefully, this will put a lid on Israeli proliferation of US technology to China. More on Chinese proliferation to Iran, and what can be done about it, here.

Sticker Shock: A Post-USFK South Korea Must Do Less for More

A few days ago, the Marmot linked this RAND report on South Korea’s Defense Reform Plan (DRP). The report starts with some alarming disclaimers: it could not access much of the ROK MND’s classified information on strength levels or weapons systems, and the author has no experience (!) analyzing defense budget requests. Nonetheless, the author was able to pull together enough knowable facts to convince me that the DRP will come unglued. How fast? Without a national emergency, I give...

Don Kirk on North Korea’s Divide-and-Rule Coup; Plus, Why the T-Dong 2 Failed

Read it yourself, but I’ll tempt you with his strong close: These differences alone reveal the gulf between South Korea and the US. The North Korean missile shots have landed on target, widening the rift, deepening the discord, resurrecting the specter of the ancient Japanese foe. There may be ways to postpone a widening crisis, but no foreseeable way out.

Why He Took Those Pictures

The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, has paid a very public visit to the Kaesong Industrial Park, and the initial signs are good. Vershbow, a man who seeks the public debate his predecessors so often avoided, has not shied from stating some rather blunt views about North Korea. Thus, the fact that the North Koreans allowed his visit to go forward at all is surprising. Best of all, Vershbow snooped around, took pictures, and even seems to have...

America’s Energy Future

Although new oil reserves are routinely discovered in the U.S. and other parts of the world, eventually oil will be almost entirely consumed. And the looming lack of oil is about much more that just transportation (which includes asphalt for roads, by the way), and keeping the lights, heat, and air-conditioning on. Take a look around you ““ see any plastic? Plastics and many other synthetics are manufactured from oil, from the mouse in your hand, to the insulation of...