The USS John McCain, a US naval vessel, is currently en route to intercept the Kang Nam, a North Korean ship suspected to be holding nuclear materials, missile parts and other weaponry. If true, the Kang Nam would be guilty of violating the recently passed U.N. Resolution 1874, a resolution that deals with North Korea and nuclear proliferation. Unfortunately, while that resolution does make North Korea’s alleged actions illegal, it does not give the US (or any other nation) a lot of room to act. That is to say, the resolution is pretty toothless.
So toothless in fact, that when the USS John McCain actually does encounter the North Korean vessel, they will be unable to board it without the permission of North Korea. Permission which they are highly unlikely to receive, to say the least.
Furthermore, North Korean representatives have recently said that any attempt to board one of their ships will be seen as a declaration of war and that such a provocation would result in a retaliation on a scale of 100 to 1000 times the initial act. And seeing as they recently tested a nuclear weapon and – according to a Japanese news cast – will soon have have the ability to reach Hawaii with long-range missiles, that’s a threat worthy of heeding.
That said, we do have some options. For one, it appears the ship is headed toward Singapore, a popular port for refueling. So if the US is able to convince Singapore to refuse them their fuel – which they should be able to do – the Kang Nam would likely run out of fuel. And that would be that. That’s the hope at least.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the USS John McCain is not actually named after the former Presidential candidate and current Arizona Senator (Yes, it’s true. USS does not, in fact, stand for US Senator). Rather the naval vessel was named after John McCain’s father and grandfather both of which were named John McCain and both of which were successful admirals in the US navy.
photo courtesy of navysite.de
Comments
Drew
June 19th, 2009 - 1:04:53 PM
Just so everyone knows, that recent "successful" N. Korean nuclear test? Looks to be a fake. So I wouldn't be worried about nukes in Hawaii any time soon. Still, nuclear proliferation is a big deal. So hopefully we're able to stop this ship.
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RichP
June 23rd, 2009 - 5:00:14 PM
The US publicly demonstrated its ability to hit Korea with a nuke in August 1945. While it turns out that it temporarily used up its nuke supply in that month, that was soon remedied. It is ironic the US Navy sent the McCain, a ship that celebrates the fact that the US is subordinate to Israel.
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