How deadly?

Kim Jung-Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea commonly referred to as North Korea, is, to my mind, a wacko. The man makes threats of major military actions against the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Do not aggravate a bear unless you are prepared to fend off an attack by the bear. He should consider himself extremely lucky that no nation's leader has taken his threats seriously and launched a preemptive strike against North Korea.

Any ship or other meeting of our military can have a conflict which escalates into a war, be it an intentional act, an accident, or a commander on the scene consciously trying to start a war. The 1965 movie "The Bedford Incident" is the fictional story of two ships meeting and unintentionally that meeting leads to military conflict.

Kim's latest threat is that he can sink an approaching U.S. aircraft carrier. To accomplish that his missiles, aircraft, or ships would have to penetrate several layers of security and defensive measures and then hit the aircraft carrier with multiple strikes. Also, a carrier does not travel alone. The ships surrounding her provide additional protective and defensive measures. These defensive measures include radar itself and radar controlled guns. That radar, as well as satellite oversight, provide another level of security and warning to launch aircraft to meet an approaching threat. The other factor in an attack is that there will be a retaliation of some type taken against the attacking country.

One of the reasons some are concerned with the possibilities of war with North Korea is that all of the ships currently approaching North Korea are not equipped with the Aegis surveillance system to track anti-ship ballistic missiles. U.S. Navy Adm. Harry Harris claims that North Korea does not have anti-ship ballistic missiles. Harris pointed out that while this carrier group may not have the Aegis system, the U.S. has other ships in the Sea of Japan so equipped.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.