Tag: war

Donald Malarkey, one of the last surviving heroes from Easy Company, passes away aged 96

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Second World War hero Donald Malarkey, who fought with Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division across several European battlefields, has sadly passed away aged 96.

The war veteran parachuted with his unit into France in the early hours of D-Day, tasked with destroying a German FLAK battery of 88s zeroed in on the Normandy beaches, an action dramatized in the Band of Brothers episode ‘Day of Days’.

Malarkey saw action in France and the Netherlands, notably in the defence of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.

He remained in contact with other Easy Company veterans after the war, and attended the unit’s last reunion in August of this year.

Malarkey was portrayed by actor Scott Grimes in the award-winning HBO production Band of Brothers.

The war hero passed away from natural causes at the age of 96.

Tensions rise further in the Korean Peninsula, as South Korea conducts live-fire drills simulating an attack on a North Korean missile launch site

North Korea’s latest nuclear test, which the Government-run official news site KCNA deemed ‘a complete success’, has sparked a new wave of retaliatory military moves in the region.

In response to the test, South Korea conducted a live-fire exercise on Monday, simulating a full-scale attack on one of North Korea’s main nuclear test sites.

The drill took place after North Korea reportedly set off a nuclear device on Sunday last, an act carried out in blatant defiance of UN-imposed sanctions.

The event, which was independently verified, involved a “two-stage thermonuclear weapon” with a yield of about 100 kilotons. North Korea claims that the warhead was small enough to be transported inside an Intercontinenal Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The two-stage weapons signifies a major advancement in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

In the immediate aftermath of the test -the first since Donald Trump took office-, South Korea has authorized the deployment of four additional THAAD launchers at a site some 300 kilometers south of Seoul. THAAD batteries are mobile weapon platforms that target incoming missiles in their terminal approach. THAAD rockets have no warhead, relying on sheer kinetic energy instead to destroy an incoming missile before it reaches its intended target. A kinetic impact minimizes the chances of detonating conventional weaponry, and a nuclear warhead will not explode after a kinetic strike.

Also, the US has entered talks with South Korea about deploying ‘strategic assets’ to the region, in the form of aircraft carriers, long-range bombers, and special ops personnel.

It is also suspected that North Korea may be preparing to conduct yet another missile test on Saturday, which marks one of the country’s major holidays. Pyongyang favors displays of military might during marked ocassions.

Meanwhile, the war of words between the US and North Korea, after US President Donald Trump branded the country a ‘rogue nation and a threat.’

Tensions might reach boiling point in the Korean Peninsula, after North Korea conducts sixth nuclear test despite international condemnation

The situation in the Korean Peninsula may soon reach the point of no return, as North Korea has conducted yet another nuclear test, its sixth.

The device detonated is understood to be a hydrogen warhead, small enough to be fitted into an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The explosion caused a 6.3-magnitude quake in the country’s north-eastern region.

KCNA, North Korea’s official mouthpiece, has deemed the test ‘a complete success’.

This latest test marks a rapid escalation in the region, making an already tense situation that much more unstable.

International reaction has been swift, with Japan, South Korea -countries within reach of North Korea’s military reach- issuing strong statements calling for the ‘complete isolation’ of North Korea.

The US Administration has not yet issued any response to the event.

Tensions mount in the Korean Peninsula, as South Korea conducts bombing drills in response to its northern neighbour’s latest test missile launch

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The drums of war keep getting louder around the Korean Peninsula, as tensions mount between all sides.

The latest missile launch by North Korea has been answered by a simulated bombing raid by its southern foe.

The exercise, ordered by the South Korean president Moon Jae-in, called for a squadron of F15-K to drop MK84 ordnance on practice targets on a shooting range sited near the border.

The -K variant of the F15 series is specifically manufactured for the South Korean Air Force by Boeing. It can carry almost 14 tons worth of weapons, including the MK84 multi-purpose bomb.

Second only in size to the largest Daisy Cutter weapon, the MK84 -deemed ‘the Hammer’ by F-117 pilots who dropped it during the First Gulf War- the MK84 delivers over 400kg of explosive power to the target.

The bombing drill was intended as a show of ‘overwhelming force’ to the Pyongyang regime.

The move comes hours after North Korea conducted another test missile launch. The weapon, believed to be a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile, flew over the northern Japanese territory of Hokkaido and triggered a planned response. Air-raid sirens blared, trains stopped, and people received text messages urging them to seek shelter immediately.

The missile is believed to have experienced a mid-flight malfunction and splashed down on Japanese waters.

The move marks a dangerous escalation in the ongoing conflict involving North Korea and the US’s allies in the area, South Korea and Japan.

 

Two minutes to midnight: The specter of nuclear war awakens

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The Doomsday Clock almost stopped in 1962. At the height of the Cold War, and with Soviet ballistic missiles close to being deployed on Cuban soil, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear annihilation during a tense 13-day stand-off between the two superpowers.

Diplomatic solutions ultimately ended the stalemate, and sanity prevailed. The world breathed a collective sigh of relief as the nuclear weapons were stood down.

In the intervening years, a number of armed conflicts have erupted in the Middle East and elsewhere, but the very localized nature of these bloody struggles never reached the potentially Armageddon-esque consequences of the missile crisis in 1962.

Fast forward to 2017, and enter Kim Jong-Un, supreme leader of th DPRK, and Donald Trump, President of the United States.

These two guys talk tough, sizing each other up, engaging in a perilous game of international stakes, juggling the fate of the world in their hands.

And it so happens that the countries that these two oversized school bullies represent are highly militaristic in nature. The US’ military might is unrivalled, yet the North Koreans are not short of a gun or two, and could certainly give the US a run for their dollar.

North Korea, a secretive, reclusive, and by Western standards at least, very much ‘poor’, justifies its disproportionate spending on army matters by purporting a constant threat of invasion by ‘foreign’ forces. And the country has a particular bone to pick against the United States.

Background

The seeds for the current tensions in the region were sown almost seven decades ago, when North Korea invaded its southern neighbour, firing the first shots of the Korean War.

Aided by China and the Soviet Union, North Korean troops pushed ahead and brought South Korea to almost defeat. In light of the dire situation, the US came to the assistance of South Korea and helped stabilize the situation with an amphibious assault at Inchon, which effectively cut off the north’s supply lines.

From then on, fighting on the ground continued on a more or less equal footing, with the struggle concentrating around Parallel 38, the ‘unofficial border’ between the two Koreas.

War in the air was a totally different matter, however. The US Air Force mercilessly pounded North Korea from above, turning many of the country’s villages and towns into rubble. The country’s capital, Pyongyang, saw about 75% of its surface pulverized, for instance. The sustained bombing campaign resulted in as much as 400,000 victims.

After signing an armistice in 1953, the two Koreas remained technically at war, with regular acts of aggression by the north over the course of the decades.

Kim Jong-Un, the current ruler, has not forgotten the savage bombardment that his country was subjected to, and in a way, he seeks retribution.

Nuclear deterrence

Kim knows recent history well. He is fully aware that the ultimate fate of most dictators is swift popular justice backed by the US from the shadows, as was the case with Muammar Gaddafi in Lybia, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. His main goal is the
preservation of the regime, and the only real means to do so is the possession of nuclear weapons, something that both Lybia and Iraq lacked, with dire consequences for their leaders.

Nuclear weapons are a powerful bargaining chip in the international game of war. If you have them, you are in the Big League, on a level playing field with the US and some of the other big boys.

Kim has been steadily ramping up his country’s nuclear development program despite continuous sanctions by the UN. Past US administrations toyed with the idea of military action against North Korea, but all thought better of it.

Chemical weapons

North Korea’s arsenal, while it may lack nuclear warheads -for now, at least-, is mighty indeed. Its long range artillery is well within striking distance of hitting the South Korean capital, Seoul, just short of 40 miles away from the border. It is now also known that Kim’s regime owns, or is capable of producing, chemical weaponry. And it’s not afraid to use it, it seems. North Korea is widely suspected to be behind the assassination of
the leader’s half brother in Kuala Lumpur airport earlier this year, using the nerve agent VX.

President Trump’s administration is aware that any military intervention will trigger hard retaliation. North Korean officers have recently made very public remarks to say that the US faces ‘all out war’ if it engages in ‘reckless’ military actions against their country.

Nuclear war

President Trump recently ordered an ‘armada’ to steam towards North Korean waters. The Carl Vinson (CSG-1) carrier group is now on station just off the Peninsula.

North Korea regarded this move as an act of overt provocation, and responded with a tirade of bellicose rhetoric. The recent US’ Tomahawk strike in Syria was likely done as a way of showing that the US means business. US Vice President Mike Pence said that the era of ‘strategic patience‘ sported by previous administrations is now at an end.
During a press conference held at a very symbolic location near Parallel 38, Mr. Pence added that “President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change.

“We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons, and also its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable.”

In other words, the US is ready and willing to engage militarily in the region.

The nuclear specter, remote and largely theoretical for many years, is now back in the public domain as a palpable possibility.

The nuclear giants have been sleeping in their silos for far too long.

World on the brink: Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs warns that war could break out in North Korea ‘at any moment’

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Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, issued the stark warning while talking to reporters earlier today.

Yi’s words come amidst a heightened state of military readiness around the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier this week, the Chinese Army moved 150,000 troops close to the country’s border with North Korea as a large US naval fleet steamed towards the area.

A carrier group, led by the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Carl Vinson (CVN-70) was diverted from training operations off the Australian coast and dispatched to North Korean water earlier this week. Such move caused considerable upset to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, who said that the regime will counter any “reckless acts of aggression” with “whatever methods the US wants to take.” Kim referred to the deployment as a “grim situation.”

Beijing has been pushing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff, but the US appears bent on sparking a military confrontation.

Meanwhile, Moscow sources also advocate a “politic-diplomatic reconciliation” between the opposing sides, and warn against any act that may be perceived as a provocation.

North Korea has no love lost for the US. During the Korean War in 1950-1953, the American army bombed its foe mercilessly, killing at least 400,000 North Korean soldiers.

Analysts believe that the military buildup in the region may very well be a precursor to war. Apart from the mighty Carl Vinson strike group, two US destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles are also on their way, and long-range B1 Lancer and B2 Spirit bombers are on stand-by on Andersen Air Force Base in the Pacific island of Guam.

Speaking about the tense geopolitical situation in the region, the North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister issued the following statement during an interview with AP last Tuesday:

“If the US dares opt for a military action, crying out for ‘pre-emptive attack’, [Pyongyang] is ready to react. We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions.”

The world is now closely watching the events unfolding in the region, with many seeing war as ‘inevitable.’

Fanning the flames of war: Russian warships set to sail through the English Channel on their way to Syria

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There is a heightened state of military readiness among NATO countries, as fleet of Russian warships will soon steam towards the English Channel.

Two Royal Navy destroyers are on station, ready to intercept the Russian taskforce, which is suspected to be heading for Syria to bolster military assets on the ground. Airborne NATO assets are also on alert.

The taskforce includes Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, and a number of other capital ships. A number of Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker multirole fighter aircraft are on board the carrier. These aircraft are likely to be used to carry out bombing operations on rebel-held areas of the besieged city of Aleppo in Syria.

The Russian warships’s intended course will bring them right through the English Channel, a route that has been deemed to be used as a show of force. It is not usual for Russian ships to navigate this route, instead they usually sail down the Black Sea and on to the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus Strait.

The military buildup is the largest Russian deployment since the Cold War, and it coincides with a period of heightened tensions between opposing factions in Syria and elsewhere. This latest move by the Russians is likely to inflame the situation even further.

Once on station in the Mediterranean, the Admiral Kuznetsov will likely initiate combat operations against targets in Syria, a short flight time away.