Holy crap. North Korea has 12 submarines.

[americanstranger]

Able to launch nuclear missiles.

And who bought them for North Korea? Reverend friggin' Moon, that's who.

"Jane's Defense Weekly is reporting this week that Kim Jong-Il, unstable North Korean dictator may be able to target California with sea-launched missiles. His know-how, Reuters relates, comes from 12 ex-Soviet submarines that fell into his hands. They came with their original launch tubes and stabilizing gear intact. Where does Kim get those wonderful toys?

Funny story: According to U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency documents, they were furnished by Reverend Moon.*

Robert Parry, the ace reporter who broke the Iran-Contra story, obtained these files through the Freedom of Information Act while writing his 2000 story, "Rev. Moon, North Korea and the Bushes," about Moon's gifts to the Communist regime. Read on, if you dare."

http://www.gorenfeld.net/blog/2004/08/rev-moons-submarines-sold-to-kim-jong.html

Yikes and double yikes.

-as

[rpannier]

1. Moon is a Twit

Hated here in Korea.

[Arioch]

2. Junk

...last I heard of those Soviet subs NK bought they were in horrible shape and were more likely to drown their crews than threaten anyone...

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Arioch!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Bowline]

3. This sounds suspicious.

No mention of what type of submarines nor what kind of shape they're in.

Correction: The article mentions F and G type submarines. This apparently references submarines bearing the NATO designation Foxtrot and Golf, neither of which, in the hands of the North Koreans, are capable of sucessfully carrying nuclear tipped ballistic missiles within striking range of the U.S. Not yet at least. It is highly unlikely that the North Koreans could get these things seaworthy, make a missile system that would work with the sub, and then get these old, leaky, noisy boats past the entire U.S. Seventh Fleet and into striking range.

The possibility exists but the probability is EXTREMELY LOW.

[King Coal]

4. How are the Bushes connected to Rev. Moon?

[JHB]

7. Political support, speaking fees, political favors...

...the usual foul mess. Keep in mind he owns the Washington Times "newspaper", which has been the print equivalent of Fox New Channel for about 20 years now.

Here's an index of articles by Robert Parry on some of Moon's political activites, including dealings with the Bushes:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon.html

It's probably the best place for "one-stop shopping" on the subject.
Google moon bush for more, but you'll have to sort the good from the bad yourself.

But another "moonwatch" page:
http://www.gorenfeld.net/blog/2004/01/bush-ally-strongly-resents-us.html

[Caution]

5. This would be scarier

if the Koreans had missiles capable of being launched from a submarine. They barely have mid-range ballistic missile capability.

[htuttle]

8. They say they have sub-launched missiles now

From LBN yesterday:

New N. Korean (nuke?) Missiles Said to Threaten U.S.(West coast)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x725474

Apparently, the 12 ex-Soviet subs that Moon bought them still had their launch tubes and stabilizing gear intact. They were able to use this technology to develop a sub-launched missile. At least that's what the linked NY Times article says.

[Caution]

10. ouch i missed that one

not good. im just so glad bush spent so much time concentrating on Iraq (which is basically in a state of anarchy right now) and virtually no time on an actual threat.

[lebkuchen]

6. Didn't Moon pay for the Chimp's inaugural breakfast? nt

[Minstrel Boy]

9. "The Rev, Bush & North Korea" by Wayne Madsen

From Counterpunch, January 14, 2003:

Moon's own background, which reportedly includes links to both the Korean CIA and its American counterpart, parallels that of other ethically-tainted individuals who have once again found sanctuary in a Bush administration: Elliott Abrams, John Poindexter, Otto Reich, and John Negroponte, all of Iran-contra infamy. The Washington Times was a leading supporter of the Nicaraguan contras and a chief apologist for the perpetrators of the arms-for-hostages scandal. Violating one of the main canons of journalism -- that newspapers should not become part of or create their own stories -- the Washington Times established the Nicaraguan Freedom Fund to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to the contras circumventing the Boland Amendment that prohibited Federal money for the rightist guerrillas. Moon was also one of the few influential people who continued to defend Richard Nixon even as the President was resigning over the Watergate scandal.

In addition to his media empire, Moon also owns a Jonestown-type compound in Brazil called New Hope. He has also invested in the sparsely-populated and impoverished Marshall Islands. He has infiltrated one of the secessionist movements fighting for independence for the Angolan enclave of Cabinda. Moon's favorites in Africa included some of the CIA's most reliable clients: UNITA in Angola and RENAMO in Mozambique. Moon's fronts even maintained a dialogue with Pol Pot's murderous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge murdered 3 million Cambodians. More surprisingly, Moon reportedly partly owns a hotel in Pyongyang and a North Korean Fiat automobile plant. His flirtation with mind control techniques is legendary. Parents have spent millions trying to deprogram their children from the effects of Moon's Pavlovian brain bending methods. Moon's mass marriages of unwitting American males to Korean wives, while humorous on the surface, nevertheless managed to trap Zambian Roman Catholic Bishop Emmanuel Milingo. At least one pre-eminent Washington Times reporter is said to have been enticed into one of his boss's mass marriage ceremonies.

At the 20th anniversary celebration of The Washington Times held last year in Washington, Moon seemingly endlessly spoke in Korean at the alcohol-free affair. He said The Washington Times would "spread the truth about God to the world." But in Moon's world, he is God. President Bush sent a message to the banquet stating, "Since 1982, people across America and throughout the world have relied on The Washington Times as a distinguished source of information and opinion."

Bush seems to value Moon's commitment to family values. Bush named David Caprara, the head of Moon's American Family Coalition, as the director of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). Moon's commitment to family values was exemplified at his 20th anniversary celebration of The Washington Times. The keynote speaker was Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the holier-than-thou radio talk show host who is the psychiatric part of the daily ration of right wing AM radio venom that is complemented by the political indoctrination of Rush Limbaugh and his clones. Schlessinger's own commitment to family values was highlighted recently when she claimed the body of her 77-year-old mother from the Los Angeles County morgue after it had remained there for ten days after her unattended death in her condominium. Schlessinger, who lectures callers on how to keep their families together and wholesome, had not seen her own mother since 1984.

http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen01142003.html

[blm]

11. And most people have NO IDEA that Moon has been a 40 year ally of the Bush

family.

Moon doesn't make his moves without coordinating with Poppy Bush first.

I think Moon is trying to orchestrate some sort of turnover of nuclear weapons to BushInc so he can say "Look how my policies are working." And do it shortly before the election.

[JHB]

13. Afternoon kick

What do we need to get this mainstream?

"NORTH KOREA HAS CAPACITY NUKE TARGETS IN U.S., THANKS TO REPUBLICAN BACKER AND MEDIA OWNER"