At this moment the Kang Nam 1, a North Korean tramp freighter, is on the high seas tailed by a team of American destroyers and submarines and watched by reconnaissance satellites and aircraft. The vessel had cleared the Taiwan Strait at the end of last week as it headed south. Yesterday, it was reported to have turned back north toward the Chinese coast. On board, its cargo could contain plutonium pellets, missile parts or semi-ripe melons. In any event, Washington wants to know what is in the rusty ship's hold.
There has never been a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War. This means the U.S., a combatant in the conflict, as leader of the U.N. Command, is free to use force against Pyongyang. On legal grounds, the U.S. Navy therefore has every right to seize the Kang Nam 1, treat the crew as prisoners of war, and confiscate its cargo, even if the ship is carrying nothing more dangerous than melons. Because the Navy has the right to torpedo the vessel, which proudly flies the flag of another combatant in the war, it of course has the right to board her. -- The Wall Street Journal
Though it may seem that the administration has no desire for conflicts of any sort, a continually downward-spiraling U.S. economy may prove how much like Franklin Roosevelt Obama will become.
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UPDATE: The North Korean cargo ship appears to be carrying conventional small weapons, including Soviet-era rifles and missile launchers. Destination believed to be Burma. -- source
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