On beautiful Jeju Island, south of the Korean peninsula, the South Korean Navy is building a base that will soon harbor some of the world’s most advanced weapons.
But the mystery is: who inspired the base to be built on this island of pristine waters and stunning volcanic peaks in the first place?
Peace activist Bruce Gagnon says all one needs to do is call the South Korean embassy in Washington and ask.
“We have had four of our people tell us when they called the (South Korean) embassy to protest the naval base, they were told, ‘Don’t call us, call your own government,’” said Gagnon. “The US is forcing South Korea to build this base so to harbor Aegis destroyers. The base is a key part of Obama’s ‘Forward Base’ strategy for missile defense. This is a very provocative act.”
John Lasker, the author of the article, discusses some myths ab0ut “missile defenses”:
The Pentagon has spent over $100 billion researching missile defense technology that has never proven itself in real combat. This $100 billion technology can also be deceived by balloon decoys that look like warheads, a fatal flaw the Pentagon has desperately tried to keep secret. While billions were being pumped into so-called missile defense during the past three decades, many high-ranking officers from the US military and US Congressmen publicly stated the nation that controls space, controls earth.
Lasker also explains how missile defenses fuel a new arms race between the U.S. and China:
There is no doubt, says Gagnon, that Sino-American posturing in the Pacific has ignited an arms race for the 21st century, as the US continues testing its missile-defense arsenal in the Pacific.
Recall in 2007, when China shot down one of its own satellites. The US followed suit in 2008 by using an Aegis-class destroyer to shoot down an apparent “malfunctioning” satellite as it orbited over Hawaii. WikiLeaks would later reveal the Bush White House essentially had lied about the sputtering orbiter.
The real story, as told by a once secret US cable that was exposed by the elusive Assange, is that the US shot down its own satellite as a direct response to China’s display of space weapon capability the year before in 2007.
Meanwhile, construction of the naval base in Jeju continues, threatening an ancient archaeological site that could shed light on the origins of Korean civilization:
A prominent Korean historian held a press conference yesterday to announce that prehistoric ruins dating back as far as the Bronze Age had been discovered within the Jeju naval base construction site in Gangjeong.
Halt to construction urged
“During the excavation investigation period, all construction must stop,” said Hwang Pyung-woo, director of the Korea Cultural Heritage Policy Research Institute. ”Relics dating from the Bronze Age to the Joseon Dynasty are scattered widely.”
Revealing the beginnings of Jeju civilization, the excavated ruins at Gangjeong are a landmark archaeological discovery, Hwang stated.
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