The Norks’ Extended April Fool’s Joke?

Impossible to tell from here whether the North Korean boy prince Kim Jong Un’s belligerence is serious, a new attempt to blackmail the U.S., or some kind of internal intrigue to shore up his position against forces in the military or other elites that might think they’ve had just about enough of the Kims.  The fact that we’ve sent over stealth fighters and bombers suggests we’re taking the matter seriously.

U.S.S. John McCain

Today comes the news that we’ve also sent a missile frigate to the waters near the Norks: the U.S.S. John McCain.  I had to doublecheck: is this an April Fool’s joke?  Apparently not.  And on second thought, if we’d really wanted to rattle young Kim, we’d have sent over U.S. Senator John McCain, who is an unguided missile that might hit anything, rather than the U.S.S. John McCain (named for the Senator’s father and grandfather, both admirals) which has precision guided missiles.  (If the Navy ever names a ship for Senator McCain, I’m sure it will be a wooden-hulled minelayer.)  Max Boot has more thoughts on the matter over at Commentary Magazine.

Meanwhile, here’s the latest satellite intelligence photos of what the Norks are up to.

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