Anju Links for 3/21
* It’s a pity both sides can’t lose: It’s Taliban v. Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, with high casualties on both sides (I’ll be praying for more). it’s nice to see that the bad guys are just as capable of self-destructive division as we are.
* Larry “Bud” Melman has passed away. He was 85.
* Fifth Column Update: South Korea’s far-left “civic groups” have seen a significant decline in membership. This fits with other recent evidence that South Koreans have become more “conservative,” although I suspect it’s more of a dimming of radical idealism than a resurgence of pro-Americanism or hostility toward juche.
* 50-50: The U.S. and ROK defense ministries have agreed to split the cost of the Camp Humphreys relocation.
* Kim Jong Il’s Taepodong didn’t boost itself very far off the pad, but it turns out to have been a nice boost for missile defense:
Boeing Co. on Monday said its complex system to defend against enemy missile attacks proved more reliable than expected and required less maintenance when it went on alert for a prolonged period last summer before a series of North Korean missile tests. [….]
The system was built to intercept and destroy enemy long-range ballistic missiles during the midcourse phase of their flight. It went on alert before the North Korean missile tests for “much longer than it had ever been before,” Fancher said, although he declined to give an exact timespan.
“The system was much more robust than we had hoped,” he said, referring to its software and memory banks. [Reuters]
I wish I had some Boeing stock about now, because they’re also getting some substantial performance bonuses. A successful system could also have significant diplomatic benefits for the United States. Japan is undoubtedly interested in getting itself under this, although it’s unclear if the system would be all that useful in protecting South Korea from short-range missiles. The most important participant for the preservation of regional peace, however, might be Taiwan.
* It turns out that North Korea’s method of matchmaking is a lot like Borat’s method of wooing Pamela Anderson.
* Gullible Travels: With North Korea just starting to get serious about renegeing on Agreed Framework 2.0, it’s the perfect occasion for the first direct private flight between North and South Korea. The flight will carry a delegation of officials from South Cheolla Province, so lets hope the North Koreans aren’t put off by the radicalism of their guests.
* While the surge has at least temporarily tamed the Shiite militias, the al-Qaeda strategy has been to strike “soft” — read, civilian — targets while exfiltrating into the Anbar countryside to conserve its strength. That has led to clashes with some Sunni tribes that don’t want them around. According to this account, members of one Sunni tribe recently killed 39 AQ, including two of its senior management. If one effect of the surge is to transform 2006’s Shia-Sunni killing into a Sunni-on-Sunni, Iraqi-on-AQ conflict, that will be a significant improvement.