(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Orientering Februar 1968
Once, Korea, and especially South Korea, was portrayed as the outpost of freedom to the north and east.
Events both inside and outside Korea have since helped correct, not to mention totally change, this image. The Vietnam War in particular has caused many to see the conflicts on the Asian continent in a new perspective – and more and more people today see Korea as the first Vietnam. The United States is not immediately believed when it comes to communist provocations. One has not completely forgotten the U2 affair, as the US president lied openly to the world opinion, or the intermission in the Gulf of Tonkin which was, according to judgment, an American provocation.
It was this interlude that provided a pretext for the bombing of North Vietnam, and they held their breath for a moment as the first reports came about the launch of the US intelligence ship "Pueblo" off North Korea. President Johnson summoned the 15 000 man from the reserve, the US radio stations brought the mobilization order at short intervals, and the tensions in the United States have not been greater since the Cuba crisis.
Later reports may indicate that President Johnson used the "Pueblo" affair as a pretext to summon the reserve. The forces are needed in Vietnam, but for the sake of opinion he has not previously dared to take such an extraordinary step.
The moral indignation of the United States in this matter is otherwise difficult to take seriously. Much indicates that "Pueblo" was in fact within the North Korean 12 mile limit. The Americans have stated two contradictory positions for the ship: the position statement 127 degrees 54,3 minutes east, 29 degrees 25 minutes north, does not match the distance to the coast on 20 nautical miles that was also stated.
But this is inferior. "Pueblo" has been cruising off the North Korean coast for two weeks. The ship was loaded to the ridge with all sorts of electronic equipment, the intelligence officers on board belong to the NSA (National Security Agency) – the United States ear in the world.
NSA's headquarters are located outside Washington in the US's third largest office complex. Behind the electric fence, watch tower and armed marines, 14 000 intelligence people work around the clock. In addition, NSA 10 has 000 listening records around the world – plus an unknown number of communications satellites. They all have the task of listening and interpreting signal codes, military and political information.
"Pueblo" is one such floating listening post. Outside Cuba lies the sister ship Oxford. During the Middle East crisis, the Israelis accidentally bombed another of the ships, Liberty. Outside China, Vietnam and the Soviet Pacific coast are similar boats. They are all connected in the NSA's network around the earth. Around the clock, US military aircraft Washington arrive with the NSA's secret footage. At headquarters, the codes are interpreted and the calls analyzed. Result: You can level every troop unit on the size of a battalion, and it's 1000 man, the earth above. Through the information provided by the NSA, the Pentagon can know what is happening in defense, politics and economics, both in the East, West and the Third World.
The organization's budget is secret, but Time estimates it to be about 1 billion a year.
This is the electronic war, and it is becoming increasingly important in Washington. In Vietnam, the Americans have discovered that the Soviet air defense batteries come in with surprising precision. When the planes bomb, they are therefore escorted by special aircraft with the task of finding radar waves and search beams from the air defense robots. The job of the escort aircraft is then to destroy the signals. But in order to do that, one must know the wavelength and signal codes.
There was a survey of this type of "Pueblo" occupied with. The signals are recorded on tape and interpreted by computers. Then new instruments can be constructed to paralyze the air defense robots. In the event of a conflict with North Korea, one should be well prepared.
It is therefore not surprising that the North Koreans hijacked "Pueblo". It can hardly be perceived as anything other than a direct self-defense.
The episode itself is otherwise a dangerous consequence of US policy in Asia. The Americans act as self-appointed supervisors and police for the status quo. They support regimes that oppose necessary social change, and similarly actively oppose those countries that have been torn apart from exploitation and foreign domination.
North Korea is one of those states, as is North Vietnam. The country was completely rebuilt after the war in 1950 – 53. The capital, Pyoing-Pang, which after the war consisted of ruins, is today a beautiful city with two million inhabitants. The villages were level with the earth – today there are 3300 cooperative villages, all with a modern irrigation system and 95 percent of them with electric power. Despite South Korea being the peninsula's so-called 7 grain chamber, in North Korea it produces 5 million tons of rice to 10 million people.
The US satellite in the south has a rice production of 4,3 million tons to 28 million people.
Incidentally, North Korean industry is a sunbeam story: tractors, jeeps, trams, trucks and locomotives produce the country itself. The textile industry is booming, and North Korea's example today is undoubtedly an inspiration to North Vietnamese: It shows that a country can be built up in a short time, even if it is abandoned. But Korea is also an anti-example: We failed to get the Americans out of South Korea – and the tracks are frightening.
The FNL's latest offensive gives hope that it will succeed in Vietnam. Americans today are clearly on the defensive – their technical superiority despite.
It is also beginning to emerge for some that it is not for the freedom Americans are fighting. The US state budget amounts to 139 billion. 79 of these goes for military purposes; to support American world domination.
War in Vietnam, suppression of Latin America, nuclear bombs in the ice, spy ships outside Korea, listening posts worldwide – all this can only lead to one sensible claim: Ami go home!
