A visit to a captured US warship
April 9, 2007 1:36 PM   Subscribe

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
Weird how the tour of the Pueblo seems to be getting more press than the actual objective of Richardson's mission: the repatriation of the remains of member of the American armed services who died in the Korean War.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:41 PM on April 9, 2007


In return, he should bring Kim Jong Il over to Albuquerque and let him tour New Mexico's finest Korean restaurants and then show him Los Alamos.

Coincidentally, I am distantly related to the Pueblo's Commander, Lloyd M. Bucher.
posted by mattbucher at 1:54 PM on April 9, 2007




Thanks, but that was also the last one in the post.

Oops, I missed that.
posted by scottreynen at 2:04 PM on April 9, 2007


According to the wingnut armchair commandos commenting on the captured British forces over the last couple of weeks, the crew of the Pueblo were cowardly pussies who should have faced evil and fought to the death.
posted by 2sheets at 2:21 PM on April 9, 2007


Well that's suspicious as all effin hell... what is Richardson (who I was supporting as Democratic candidate for President) doing visiting North Korea (at this time) (with the endorsement of Bush II)?

I had him figured as more savvy than that. Unless there's something I haven't understood here.
posted by sighmoan at 2:37 PM on April 9, 2007


sighmoan writes "Well that's suspicious as all effin hell... what is Richardson (who I was supporting as Democratic candidate for President) doing visiting North Korea (at this time) (with the endorsement of Bush II)?"

Recovering the remains of US servicemen from the Korean War?
posted by mullingitover at 2:43 PM on April 9, 2007


what is Richardson (who I was supporting as Democratic candidate for President) doing visiting North Korea (at this time) (with the endorsement of Bush II)

North Korea is a threat to both Republicans and Democrats, and even people who aren't Americans.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 2:45 PM on April 9, 2007


Very interesting. Until today, I did not know that the USS Pueblo was still in commission. Looks like it's in the most unusual circumstances of any ship still listed in an active status on the naval register. I had thought the Arizona was also still commissioned, but it is not.
posted by Midnight Creeper at 2:53 PM on April 9, 2007


Well that's suspicious as all effin hell... what is Richardson (who I was supporting as Democratic candidate for President) doing visiting North Korea (at this time) (with the endorsement of Bush II)?

The same thing he did in North Korea in 2005 and 2006 before this, and in Iraq and Palestine before that. Representing US interests in diplomatic relations with hostile regimes is kind of the basis of Richardson's campaign. You might also be interested to know that Edwards is the son of a mill worker.
posted by scottreynen at 2:59 PM on April 9, 2007


"and even people who aren't Americans."

Who?
posted by klangklangston at 3:15 PM on April 9, 2007


Maybe he's secretly setting up another arms sale to Ethiopia.
posted by homunculus at 3:28 PM on April 9, 2007


"Japanese, South Koreans, Chinese"

Who?
posted by klangklangston at 4:05 PM on April 9, 2007


There a fuckin' owl in this thread?
posted by basicchannel at 4:30 PM on April 9, 2007


Unlike sighmoan, learning of this rather awkward international mission of Richardson's increases my respect for the Governor, demonstrating his international policy knowledge, concern for human concerns (recovering Korean War remains) and his ability to deal with nutcases like Kim (AND Bush) without embarrassing himself (at least, to me). Poise, respect and savvy. I'm impressed.
posted by wendell at 4:56 PM on April 9, 2007


The hidden connection to the Walker spy ring:

One of the very few things John Walker did not give the Soviets was a working copy of an encryptor. Unfortunately, they did not need him to do so, as the U.S. Navy was about to all-but-deliver functional KW-7s to the Soviets, in the shape of the USS Pueblo (AGER-2).... She had been carrying very large amounts of classified material, plus a number of encryption and intercept devices, and despite valiant attempts, the crew was able to destroy less than 10 percent of the material. According to Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB major general, the North Koreans captured and passed on to the Soviet Union working copies of the KW-7, as well as a complete set of operation and repair manuals....

From the Soviet standpoint, instigating the capture of a U.S. Navy ship, even second hand, would be a highly risky move, and would only be done if they thought that there was a correspondingly large payoff. Capturing one or more working copies of encryptors might fit the bill; but there is one problem: they could reasonably expect that the U.S. would respond to such an obvious compromise by making some changes to the encryptor, which would render the seized copies unusable. The U.S. did, in fact, do so; and the Soviets had John Walker giving them copies of the change orders that allowed them to modify the seized devices when the changes were made.

Since the USS Pueblo incident happened so soon after John Walker began spying, and since John Walker was placed to give the Soviets exactly what they needed to make the best use of the items seized from the ship, it naturally raises the question of whether the two events were related. While the conclusion is not iron-clad, the balance of the evidence indicates that they were: that the Soviets asked the North Koreans to capture the USS Pueblo, because they knew that they would have the information they needed to exploit the seized equipment to the maximum extent.

posted by dhartung at 5:35 PM on April 9, 2007


Also a damn fine made for TV movie. http://imdb.com/title/tt0070573/
posted by Gungho at 7:25 PM on April 9, 2007


Is that fair, homunculus? Do you think Bill was involved?

Unlike sighmoan, learning of this rather awkward international mission of Richardson's increases my respect for the Governor, demonstrating his international policy knowledge, concern for human concerns (recovering Korean War remains) and his ability to deal with nutcases like Kim (AND Bush) without embarrassing himself (at least, to me). Poise, respect and savvy. I'm impressed.
posted by wendell


High-fives! & let's hope it all ends well! ;)
posted by taosbat at 9:21 PM on April 9, 2007


Is that fair, homunculus? Do you think Bill was involved.

No and no. I was just practicing my bullshit in that comment. It was kind of liberating, actually. That must be how professional pundits feel.
posted by homunculus at 9:52 PM on April 9, 2007


I've wondered if it was like astral projection or something..."how professional pundits feel."
posted by taosbat at 10:08 PM on April 9, 2007


You'd think after the DPRK stooges published those pictures of the Pueblo's crew giving the Hawaiian Good Luck Sign that they would have scuttled the Pueblo to prevent further embarassment.

And Richardson proved he was no less a stooge by participating in the DPRK's hamfisted propoganda.
posted by three blind mice at 11:37 PM on April 9, 2007






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