Kim Jong-Un v. Trump: The Dynamics and Statics

BACKGROUND DRAMA

Recent media drama centered around North Korea's mandatory celebration of its founding leader's 105th birthday with the ususl parade of military armanents and expectation of yet another nuclear test and/or missile launch.  The drama was conveniently described as a clash between two hardliners, Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.  Kim even threatened nuclear devastation to South Korea, Japan and the U.S. mainland.  The media covered their entire week-long, fake news drama.

REALITY #1:   Would Vice President Pence visit the DMZ amid the hazardous strife portrayed by the news media? No, he conducted routine policy visits with our allies.

REALITY #2     "Why Did Trump's 'Armada' Sail in the Opposite Direction?" 

As a distraction? No.  To avoid provoking Kim to attack? Yes.

Are Kim's threats hollow? No.  Are Trump's warnings to Kim bluffs? Right now, who knows?

Will trump succeed in de-nuclearizing North Korea?  Yes.  How? The stage has now been set for a coup d'etat in North Korea after Kim loses major face with his military.  When will that happen?  As failures in his ballistic launch capabilities proliferate, which will only be quickened by his promise of frequent tests and launches.  No fortune tellers here, that is all on Kim. 

Kim's military recently boasted it can devestate the U.S. in its own way.  NK's populace are familiar with the boast. Should it prove hollow, Kim would be humiliated and high-ranking military officers will be capriciously executed.  Some already are not completely loyal to Kim and are ready to support a leader who does not import luxuries for his personal consumption as so many countrymen starve.  Some are also undercover spotters for South Korea, keeping regular tabs on movements of high-ranking officials. A very few of them are highly ambitious in their own right and have been awaiting a better opportunity to form a new government with help from mainland _ _ _ _ _.  

Kim Jong-un is the last in his dynasty. Wait and see things unfold against his regime.

Be patient, remember that executions in North Korea do not filter through global news without time for the North Korea public to thoroughly digest the internal cover stories that will result.   

We envision the loss of another North Korean submarine sometime sooner.

Submarines are always silent and strange. 

Faithful Readers Expected this "Cock a doodle coup" Play

Background

From Molten Eagle over a year ago .....  February 11, 2016

and Today April 11, 2017 ... "US Navy carrier strike group sets its sights on North Korea"

"That warship, the USS Carl Vinson, is the flagship of the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 1, and often called "America's Favorite Aircraft Carrier." The strike group, established in 2009, includes the ship’s Carrier Air Wing 2, and embarked Destroyer Squadron 1 deployed with Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain, as well as Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Michael Murphy and USS Wayne E. Meyer."  FoxNews

Now we would all like to know which SSNs are screening  for the Strike Group, which SSBN is patrolling the box, and which SSGN is already loitering undetected off the littorals.

Submarines are always silent and strange. So very few will ever have most of such answers!

But what can be told is that despite his boastful claims young Kim Jong-un is suddenly very, very worried about the loyalty of his military leaders and body guards.  The ideal goal of our U.S. strategy has been named "Cock a doodle coup" in deference to the tentative leadership of a certain cocky leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. 

Kim Jong-un is trapped by his own paranoia. Heeding the advice of his predecessors, he is desperate to reinforce his rule by executing an allegedly disloyal military officer of high rank.  Advice about threatening the U.S. will no longer avail.  And an actual attack against Japan, Guam, South Korea, or the Strike Force is likely not only to end his family dynasty, but his life as well.  What would you do?  Expect another nuclear "test".

 

Financing ISIS Below the Rio Grande

August 3, 2016 ...   RED FLAG [WARNING]

"Worse Than Ransom: $400 Million in Cash from U.S. to top state TERROR sponsor"

• Cash makes tracing proceeds to end receivers extremely difficult.  

• "What will IRAN do with $400 Millions in euros, Swiss francs and other currencies flown to Tehran on a cargo plane?"  ANS: Whatever Iran wishes.
  

• P.O.T.U.S. and his State Department will have plausible deniability if some portion of it is sent to Venezuela under the guise of sorely needed "food assistance", then funneled off to support Latin American versions of ISIS.

 December 28, 2016 ... 

"Spanish Military Report: Islamic Terrorists Operate, Raise Cash in Latin America to Attack U.S."

• "Venezuela, Mexico, Peru and Chile also have large and rapidly growing Muslim populations. Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean islands on the northern edge of Latin America, are identified as “especially worrisome” because local authorities reported that 70 of their citizens traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS."

• The report cites a 2012 article in a military publication from Trinidad that compares the growth of radical Islam in the country to a group of violent Muslims that tried to overthrow the government in 1990. 
  

•  "The top Al Qaeda leader in Mexico was identified in the State Department records, via a September 2004 cable from the American consulate in Ciudad Juárez, as Adnan G. El Shurkrjumah. ...  [B]efore he died Shukrijumah helped plan several U.S. attacks, including plots to bomb Oprah Winfrey’s studio and detonate nuclear devices in multiple American cities."

Submarines are always silent and strange. 

Recent Submarine Curiosities Around Globe

 Curiosity 1  (?)

Can you identify the vessels and location pictured below?

During what event was this?

M.E. Comment:  Answers Friday

Curiosity 2  (US)

  "The Submarine Force is seeking high caliber female applicants from all ratings."

(Actual accompanying photo)

M.E. Comment:  Are those storm clouds rising?

 

 Curiosity 3 (INDIA)

‘Nepotism nuked our careers’  

A critical component of the almost $100 million training programme was a group of 11 officers who were to be trained by Russian experts for operating nuclear reactors on submarines. This group was to play a critical leadership role as India’s nuclear submarine capabilities reached the maturity to launch nuclear missiles.

In a bizarre twist to that pioneering effort, all the senior reactor operators, nine of them, have been denied promotion to the rank of Captain, despite their expensive and exclusive skills in commissioning, operating and maintaining nuclear reactors on submarines. 

 

 M.E. Comment:  Did Vice-Admiral Chatterjee manipulate the promotion process in such a way that he has been the Reviewing Officer for his own son-in-law for family benefit, or because the unpromoted officers are too valuable to INS nuclear subs to promote?  Well, read the linked story. 

 Curiosity 4 (Canada)

Partner with Australia for submarines

The Canadian government has an opportunity to partner with Australia to build DCNS Barracuda-class subs for the Royal Canadian Navy. 

 M.E. Comment:  But read the next curiosity --- is the price of those boats about to rise with India cancelling its big INS order?  India Drops Plans to Add 3 More French Stealth Attack Submarines.

Curiosity 5  (India)

   India Drops Plans to Add 3 More French Stealth Attack Submarines

The Indian Navy has purportedly shelved plans to add more French submarines to its fleet following the DCNS leak.  The INS will not procure additional Scorpene-class (Kalvari-class) diesel-electric attack submarines from France's DCNS, following the leak of documents detailing the top-secret combat capabilities of India’s new submarine fleet, according to media reports.

“India has ordered only six Scorpene submarines and orders have not been placed for three more as reported by some media. Therefore question of cancellation does not arise,” an Indian naval officer told Reuters.

 M.E. Comment: The less work for DCNS, the higher its residual overhead costs per hour of production.  If there was no agreement for 3 additional subs, why has justification been cited? India's defence official said he did not expect any movement on that project until the investigation into the Scorpene leak was completed and new security measures put in place. In other words, for leverage.

 Curiosity 6 (United Kingdom)

Morale: How The Internet Cripples SSBN Operations

In Britain the Royal Navy has found it impossible to attract enough qualified sailors to operate all its nuclear submarines, especially the SSBNs (nuclear powered subs carrying ballistic missiles). The reason is that SSBNs stay at sea for 90 days at a time .... The problem is that too many otherwise qualified sailors and officers are not willing to spend 90 days without Internet access. This shortage has already reduced the number of days British SSBNs can spend at sea.  

 

 M.E. Comment:  What has changed since the Cold War has been the waning interest of the recruiting pool in military service and modern youths' dependence upon their communication culture. (U.K., France, U.S., etc.).  

 Curiosity 7 (Australia)

Submarine Data Leak Roils Three Governments

The revelation Aug. 24 by an Australian newspaper that thousands of pages of presumably secret submarine documents were on the loose shook governments in Canberra, New Delhi and Paris. The news threatened the operational security of India’s new Scorpene-class submarines, embarrassed French shipbuilder DCNS, and raised security questions about Australia’s recent Australian $50 billion deal with DCNS for 12 Shortfin Barracuda submarines, of a design similar to the Scorpenes.

As reported by The Australian newspaper, a reporter was shown samples of up to 24,500 pages of highly technical data on the Scorpene submarine, an advanced, non-nuclear design that has been exported by DCNS to several countries. The documents, said The Australian, include highly technical drawings, specifications and operational capability descriptions of the submarine’s stealth features; noise signatures at different speeds; range, endurance, diving depths, magnetic and infrared data.  

DCNS has been made aware of articles published in the Australian press related to the leakage of sensitive data about (the) Indian Scorpene,” the company told Defense News on Aug. 23. “This serious matter is being thoroughly investigated by the ...  French national authorities for defense security,” DCNS said."

M.E. Comment:  There is ample blame to go around, hence very expensive learning opportunities.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Submarine Quote of January 2016

Background

UPDATE 27 JAN 2016: "Replacing the ageing Vanguard-class submarine fleet - the only underwater vessels capable of carrying nuclear warheads - is expected to cost £31billion over 30 years -"  MAL-JOURNALISM source  (nuclear tipped torpedoes obviously carry nuclear warheads, too).

Why Journalists Get so much Wrong - The Problem and the Fix (2011) 

Professional journalists* (paid writers) rarely consider much less comply with M.E.'s obvious best practices of reporting:
1) Either possess expertise in matters upon which you, the journalist, report facts to readers, or disclose your inexpertise.
2) Report contrary assessments by dissenting experts when topics are controversial.
3) Never write an opinion piece without related education and experience that sets you apart from uneducated, inexperienced readers. 

Submarine Mal-Journalism (2008) 

Submarine Quote of the Month

[color emphasis added]
Tel Aviv — With Israel’s flag flapping over the country’s newest piece of military hardware, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu descended very carefully into the nuclear submarine INS Rahav at its inaugural ceremony this month in Haifa.

.....The Jewish state has for years also been modernizing and expanding its fleet of nuclear submarines, which are seen mainly as a deterrent to a long-range Iranian missile strike on Israel, but are also capable of directing firepower at militants around the Mediterranean basin. - "Facing threats and opportunity, Israel forges Mediterranean alliance" - by Joshua Mitnick,  The Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 25, 2016.

----------------------------------------

Really, is INS Rahav a nuclear sub?  Hardly, it is an Israeli Dolphin 2-class, diesel-electric (non-nuclear sub).  Did the writer and editors flub such a fundamental propulsion methodology or do they imply that INS Rahav is capable of transporting nuclear weapons?  It is capable! --- Other operational diesel-electric subs can transport and fire nuclear arms, and even during the Cold War a few Russian commanding officers now admit their diesel subs had carried them.

Bottom line (who else smells censorship?):  The general public views possession of nuclear propulsed submarines as a mark of technological distinction, while the general public currently views owners of nuclear weaponry with some fear, loathing, and suspicion.  "Israel neither confirms nor denies its widely accepted possession of a nuclear arsenal."  - source

Submarines are always silent and strange. 

 

Update: Crime Worth Mentioning: Enlisted Submarine Nucs

BACKGROUND

ARMED ROBBERY by ex-surface warfare nucs
Why More Sacrifice Matters (from Worth Mentioning: Enlisted Submarine Nucs)
All else being equal, what is the surest way to minimize the criminal element? Answer: require more individual sacrifice.  Criminals like the concept of something for nothing.  The lower they can get the nothing, and the higher the something, the happier they are.  Before leaving the Navy, ET1 Michael J. Burhman, mastermind described below, had completed two deployments on the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). --- Not on a submarine!

LATEST

ILLEGAL RETENTION OF CLASSIFIED NUCLEAR SYSTEMS PHOTOS ex-USS Alexandria (SSN-757) by nuc Machinest Mate ex-submariner (later a First Class Petty Officer assigned to the Naval Support Activity Base in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)

The Navy was alerted to the security breach when the town dump foreman in Hampton found a cellular telephone in a Dumpster and decided to keep it to replace his own. When he noticed that the phone contained photographs, he showed them to a retired Navy chief, who called the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

On at least three separate dates in 2009, he allegedly used his cellphone camera to photograph the boat's classified spaces, instruments and equipment, prosecutors said.

Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly said Friday that a federal grand jury in Bridgeport indicted Kristian Saucier, 28, of Arlington, Vermont, on charges including unauthorized retention of defense information and obstruction of justice. The two charges combined carry up to 30 years in prison.The two charges combined carry up to 30 years in prison.

The sailor's telephone contained photographs of the ship's reactor, reactor compartment and maneuvering compartment, where the nuclear power, steam and electrical systems of the submarine are operated and monitored through control panels. The investigators said that photographs of the control panels were of such clarity that gauges could easily be read, revealing the Alexandria's position at the time of the photograph, as well as its maximum speed, which is classified. An engineer reading the photos could "determine significant design characteristics of a U.S. nuclear submarine, including its reactor plant," the investigators said.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

When the last informed are the least informed

Background 

In last week's (Submarine Quote of the Week) we provided an example of subject matter experts' superior opinion over a lesser informed defense analyst's opinion.

Today, a British journalist misguides readers with equivalent lunacy involving an alleged "Polish" pedestrian thief:

Secret nuclear submarine documents stolen from neighbour, court hears - 23 MAR 2015 The Guardian uk-news

Mr. Kostrzewa, 31, was accused of stealing documents from a neighbour who worked as an engineer at the naval base in Devonport, Plymouth.  He allegedly took documents from next doorneighbour’s airing cupboard and attempted to sell them for £50,000 to Polish embassy. 

What is Wrong With This Submarine Secrets Story?

(Hints are underlined and M.E.'s questions are colored)  

• "Using stolen keys, Marcin Kostrzewa, 31, broke into the flat of his next door neighbour, who worked as an engineer on submarines, and took the documents, the jury was told."    Accomplice?

• "The jury heard that Spencer was working as an engineer at the naval base in Devonport, Plymouth, and from time to time took home documents to work on."   Prohibited?

•  "Kostrzewa, a Polish national, searched the internet using terms including “spies” and “secret documents” and contacted the Polish embassy to try to sell the information, but was caught in a sting operation, it was claimed."   Turned in by Polish Embassy?

• "Alexander Chalk, prosecuting, told the jury at Plymouth crown court that Kostrzewa had committed a “slightly unusual burglary”. He said Kostrzewa broke into Shane Spencer’s flat between January and April 2014 and stole “sensitive or secret material”, which was stored in the engineer’s airing cupboard."   What is an airing cupboard?  ( a warm cupboard for drying washed clothes)  Was Shane Spencer the real target, and had he been set up by his ex who gave Kostrzewa a copy of the key to Spencer's flat?  Would the submarine's hull numbers (see photo) be considered sensitive?

 The reading public is being kept in the dark.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Submarine Shower Video Oversight

The most intriguing answer relating to questions about the USS Wyoming (Gold) video irregularities is the one insiders have been keeping to themselves. Molten Eagle asked that question here in mid-December:

Who actually distributed a shower video copy to an officer on another sub?
a) an enlisted man
b) the Chief of the Boat
c) one of the women officers (RED FLAG)
d) the Wyoming (G) XO or CO?
e) Nobody (it is part of the Navy cover up) 

And, we thought we had covered every likely possibility. Alas, we we had been mistaken.  How many readers realized that there had been one more possibility?

f) an anonymous crewmember may have asked a girl friend (not his) to forward the video to an officer on the other sub, or not, in order to maintain anonymnity.
(RED FLAG)

The title's pun was intended.  

Rumor has it that at least one NCIS (the popular CBS-TV series) writer has been toying with an episode based on actual USS Wyoming events.  Names, ranks, gender, etc. would be changed. Will there be a 13th season for NCIS?  Don't hold your breath, submariners.


Submarines are always silent and strange.

Journalists in the dark or assist Navy Cover-Up

BACKGROUND
A "shower scandal" is the latest stain on the U.S. Strategic Nuclear Force discipline, brought about by unnecessary integration of women into one of the most highly sensitive and highly disciplined military commands before needed. The press has aided cover-up attempts by Congress, the Air Force and Navy to minimize the potentially dire consequences of degraded discipline in our ballistic missile forces, by never publicly pointing their fingers at the root cause - mixing MEN and WOMEN.  In the latest scandal rather serious impacts of unanswered questions are being minimized for a VITAL reason: VITAL NATIONAL SECURITY. The cartoon below entirely misses the gravity of the scandal, which has also gone unnoticed by most of the public (U.S. only).

 

"Up to a dozen sailors are suspected of viewing secretly recorded videos of their female shipmates undressing in a submarine shower over a period of 10 months, according to a new investigative report obtained by Navy Times. ..." -NavyTimes  

"The scandal has marred the Navy's gender integration effort begun four years ago. ... there may be [sic] separate military consequences for bringing recording equipment onto a submarine or viewing the videos without reporting them."  NavyTimes


ME:  Does anyone assume conducting unofficial filming (videography) aboard Fleet Ballistic Missile subs has not marred the Navy either?

ME:  The scandal reportedly only broke after an officer on another sub was sent a copy of the shower video, and reported the violations within another chain of command. If that sory is actually true,  then the CO, XO and COB of USS Wyoming (G) are probably headed for desk jobs (initially). Talk about assigning women due to a looming shortage of male volunteers is bogus. Integrating women (more and more reluctantly, I might add) will amplify any shortage, and the PC-motivated (DACOWITS) move to assign womenn to subs seems to be backfiring. 

Who actually distributed a shower video copy to an officer on another sub?
a) an enlisted man
b) the Chief of the Boat
c) one of the women officers (RED FLAG)
d) the Wyoming (G) XO or CO?
e) Nobody (it is part of the Navy cover up)

Submarines are always silent and strange.