US 9/11 style drill on day and loc of South Korean ship explosion and massacre

[Dig]

Antisubmarine drill done on day of Cheonan sinking
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100607001639
2010-06-07 19:12

The Defense Ministry confirmed Monday that South Korea and the U.S. conducted a joint antisubmarine exercise in the West Sea on March 26 when the corvette Cheonan sank, but said that stopping the exercise had nothing to do with the incident.

The Associated Press reported on Saturday that the exercise was conducted roughly 120 kilometers away from the scene of the sinking.

“We already explained the fact before that the exercise was conducted on the day. The exercise had nothing to do with the Cheonan case given when the exercise was conducted and where the exercise took place,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae in a press briefing.

“The exercise already came to a halt before the incident occurred. In addition, the exercise took place some 170 kilometers away from the scene, not 120 kilometers away.”

Quoting Army Col. Jane Crichton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. forces in Korea, as saying the anti-sub exercise began at 10 p.m. March 25 and ended at 9 p.m. the next day, the AP report said the exercise was terminated “because of the blast aboard the Cheonan.”

This suggested that the South Korean military’s official announcement that the incident occurred at 9:22 p.m. could be wrong.

“The maritime special warfare exercise, including the antisubmarine drill, ended at 5 p.m. on the day. The entire exercise (for the day) was scheduled to end by 9 p.m.,” Won said.

Officials added that the remaining exercise schedule, which was to continue through March 28, was canceled due to the sinking of the Cheonan, which took the lives of 46 sailors.

The government-appointed investigation team concluded last month that a North Korean midget submarine torpedoed the 1,200-ton vessel in the waters near the tense western inter-Korean maritime border. The North denies any involvement.

[Dig]

S.Korea-U.S anti-submarine drill conducted night of Cheonan sinking
This confirmation by USFK is expected to reignite controversy over the cause of the Cheonan’s sinking
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/424581.html
Posted on : Jun.8,2010 11:35 KST

United States Forces Korea (USFK) officially confirmed Sunday that 20 minutes prior to the sinking of the Cheonan, South Korea and the U.S. had conducted an anti-submarine drill some 139 kilometers away in which a South Korean submarine played the role of a target. This marked the first time since the sinking that U.S. officials have concretely discussed what specifically goes on during joint South Korea-U.S. drills.

Quoting U.S. military officials, the Associated Press (AP) reported Saturday (local time) that prior to the sinking of the Cheonan, two US destroyers and other ships practiced tracking while a South Korean submarine played the role of enemy.

In response, USFK spokeswoman Army Col. Jane Crichton confirmed that the drill began at 10 p.m. on March 25 and ended at 9 p.m. on March 26 due to the blast aboard the Cheonan.

The AP reported Western experts stated there are still questions about what happened that day near Baengnyeong Island. In particular, one official who asked to remain anonymous, since he was not authorized to discuss the issue, said the sinking of the Cheonan “may not have been an intentional attack at all, but the act of a rogue commander, an accident or an exercise gone wrong.”

The AP stated that the anti-submarine drill was part of the Foal Eagle exercise, which began in mid-March following the Key Resolve exercise, a computer simulation that ran for 11 days from early March. Foal Eagle includes live fire from U.S. Marines, air attacks, urban warfare and anti-submarine training.

“From 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 26, a drill to block North Korean special operations units from infiltrating by sea was conducted, and until 5 p.m., this included an anti-submarine drill,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-je during a regular briefing Monday. “After 9 p.m., the drill was over and the units were on orders to conduct night-time patrols.”

Won also said that since the drill was conducted 170 kilometers from the site of the Cheonan sinking, it had nothing to do with incident. As for why the location point of the drill differed in the South Korean and US explanations, a military expert said the difference could be because mobile maritime drills on the sea take place over dozens of kilometers.

[citizenx]

I still think maybe it was an accident -- -maybe, the ship ran aground and then some Korean Rahm Emanuel (or, maybe, THE Rahm Emanuel) decided to make the most of it.
 
A South Korean professor and naval expert has said there is no way that one torpedo could have caused the corvette to split in two the way it did.  In fact, he said, that the entire Naval doctrine would have to be rewritten if this were possible.

At first, I didn't think Lee Myung Pak and his cronies had the chutzpah to just manufacture evidence, but I think they pulled this old German torpedo out of their collective asses as it were.  I think it is a total fabrication from square one.

He was a crook before he took office, and his misdeeds were swept under the rug just before he actually became president. He is no different than his predecessor in that regard, except that his predecessor was a little more personable than the "bulldozer".

This whole thing still really stinks.  I hope the UN Security Council treats this with the helathy dose of skepticism it seems to deserve.  I still don't want to see this thing used to stoke up a fire here on the peninsula.  Especially, since it may just be a cover-up/exploitation of an acciden that, perhaps, could have been avoided.  If it was such an accident, the officers responsible should be made to pay, so that the families of the sailors lost see justice.

Unfortunately, I think this may be swept under the rug with some of Lee's other wrong-doings.  If it is going to be disposed of, let it be without the loss of any more lives.

[Dig]

I still think maybe it was an accident -- -maybe, the ship ran aground and then some Korean Rahm Emanuel (or, maybe, THE Rahm Emanuel) decided to make the most of it.
 
A South Korean professor and naval expert has said there is no way that one torpedo could have caused the corvette to split in two the way it did.  In fact, he said, that the entire Naval doctrine would have to be rewritten if this were possible.

At first, I didn't think Lee Myung Pak and his cronies had the chutzpah to just manufacture evidence, but I think they pulled this old German torpedo out of their collective asses as it were.  I think it is a total fabrication from square one.

He was a crook before he took office, and his misdeeds were swept under the rug just before he actually became president. He is no different than his predecessor in that regard, except that his predecessor was a little more personable than the "bulldozer".

This whole thing still really stinks.  I hope the UN Security Council treats this with the helathy dose of skepticism it seems to deserve.  I still don't want to see this thing used to stoke up a fire here on the peninsula.  Especially, since it may just be a cover-up/exploitation of an acciden that, perhaps, could have been avoided.  If it was such an accident, the officers responsible should be made to pay, so that the families of the sailors lost see justice.

Unfortunately, I think this may be swept under the rug with some of Lee's other wrong-doings.  If it is going to be disposed of, let it be without the loss of any more lives.

the ship exploded and broke perfectly in half.

Unless the ship is made of balsa wood, it was no accident.

I also agree that one torpedo could not do it, more evidence of a 9/11 style preplanned demolition charges

[citizenx]

If it hit a reef (and there are shallows in the area), it very well could have buckled, but I certainly can't rule out pre-placed demolitions. 

There needs to be ANOTHER truly objective international (not just S.K.,U.S., U.K.)inquiry -- like the commando raid on the Mavi Marmara/Free Gaza flotilla.