The Commander of U.S. Forces Korea says American and South Korean forces are ready to fight against North Korea if deterrence fails.

We’ve had four terrorist attacks in less than a year, two of which succeeded in killing people and another two which only failed because of the incompetence of the terrorist. Iran is a year or less away from getting a nuclear weapon. Turkey is rapidly sliding towards Islamism. North Korea is doing their best to restart the Korean War.

And what does Barbara Boxer think is the greatest national-security threat facing us in the next generation? Carbon dioxide.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen was in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday to get a progress report from U.S. commanders and local leaders.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has already received more than 90,000 applications for new benefits offered under the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

U.S. forces are withdrawing from the southern Iraqi city of Basra, with fewer than 200 Soldiers remaining to support Iraqi security forces.

Master Sergeant Chester Ovnond and Major Dale Bice are being remembered as the first killed in action during the Vietnam War.

The Commander of U.S. Forces Korea says recent provocations from North Korea have only served to strengthen ties between the U.S.
and South Korea.

A U.S. commander in Iraq says some extremist elements still exist, but Basra now has a sense of optimism thanks to the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces.

U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers continue their push deeper into southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province as part of Operation Khanjar.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen says the initial trends of stability in Iraq are positive since U.S. troops withdrew from the country’s major cities.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen says he’s comfortable with the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen says the U.S. and the international community continue to keep a close eye on the situation in North Korea.

Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died today at his Washington, DC, home at the age of 93.

President Barack Obama is in Moscow for a two-day summit which will include meetings about nuclear arsenal reductions.

North Korea has test-fire two short-range missiles from its eastern coast. It is unclear what type of missiles were launched. This latest test comes just six weeks after the communist North set off an underground nuclear test

I would well imagine that most – if not all – of us have our preconceived notion of what the Kim Jong-Mentally-Il regime is all about.  Unpredictable, for certain.  Certainly bold in their approach to the West and the rest of the international community.  And most assuredly, they have made some boneheaded decisions in reference to their country and their people.

But nonetheless, despite what we know or think about the North Korean leadership, there’s at least one person who knows a lot more than we do: an actual North Korean defector.  That’s right, a defector from the Hermit Kingdom.  And he had plenty to say.  The defector in question?  He would be one Kim Kwang Jin.  Now a little bit about him.

He is 42 years old, a former English professor at a computer college in Pyongyang (the north Korean capital) and now a visiting fellow with the D.C.-based Committee for Human Rights.  And he is also, according to NorKor analysts, the first English-speaking defector to escape the country.

And some of the things that he had to share – specifically in an interview with FOX News – were quite revealing, including a stint with the Northeast Asia Bank and Korea National Insurance Corporation, where he handled accounts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.  Some disclosures by Kwang Jin include:

• Two economies existed in North Korea – one administered by the North Korean Cabinet and a “Royal Court economy”, which is financed by illegal enterprises internationally and providing the hard currency which kept Kim Jong-Il and his buddies in power and luxury.

According to Kwang Jin,

“Kim [Jong Il] himself enjoys a lavish lifestyle. He is giving gifts to his associates: the Mercedes-Benz[es] and whiskeys, first-class room and [air]fare from Japan. Everything’s provided to his aides….Kim Jong Il himself is now ruling the country with [the] dollar, hard currency….Without hard currency they cannot rule the country.”

He also mentioned that the regime’s largest source of hard currency comes from the secret manufacture and sale of weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s).  After that comes the regime’s multibillion-dollar insurance fraud business, in which authorities stage arson and bogus accidents in which to collect multimillion-dollar payouts from international banks and insurers.

Kwang Jin is of the belief that the North Koreans have never dealt in good faith with the U.S. (that’s stating the obvious as the NorKors have never dealt in good faith with just about everyone save their cohorts) and at the same time, he thinks that financial sanctions will be the way to bring the NorKors to their knees as it is expected that the successor to Jong-Il (his son Kim Jong Un) will be markedly weaker.

Perhaps the timing of Kwang Jin’s coming out with this information could be beneficial to the Obama administration; however, I think it is highly unlikely that they will consult with him and try to benefit from this North Korean defector’s wealth of knowledge.

Iraqi troops take the lead in major cities. Adm. James Stavridis takes charge of U.S. European Command. The Marine Corps’ most decorated aviator is buried.

Admiral Timothy Keating told an audience in Washington, DC North Korea’s recent activities are disturbing and unsettling.

The Commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, spoke with reporters in Cairo Monday about Iraqi forces taking the lead in their country’s security.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, spoke with his Russian counterpart, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, about future challenges both countries face.