HOW TO MAKE NORTH KOREA SENILE
The military threat of North Korea is not its nukes. They are a geostrategic threat, as they will be sold to rogue states and terrorist groups. The military threat is the 11,000 artillery tubes dug in the mountains along the North Korean side of the DMZ, 500 of which are long-range. [Our suggestion regarding how to take out North Korea’s nuclear facilities was discussed in PLAYING POKER WITH KOREA]
The capital of South Korea is little more than 20 miles from the DMZ. Thus its 17 million inhabitants are within range of the North Korean long-range artillery, plus several hundred 240mm rocket launchers. Until recently, so were the 37,000 American soldiers in South Korea, positioned on purpose as sacrificial lambs near the DMZ.
This positioning was a key part of the Pentagon’s official war plan for Korea codenamed OPLAN-5027 (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oplan-5027.htm). The US forces were there to block a North Korean blitzkrieg. One of President Bush’s smartest (and little noticed) moves was to order the redeployment of US forces to the south of the Korean peninsula, and out of the way of any attack over the DMZ and onto Seoul.
Nonetheless, even though American soldiers no longer face the threat of all those artillery pieces, 17 million South Koreans still do, and they are very nervous. The land across the border is run by a Stalinesque wacko who could order their destruction in a deranged second. A way has to be developed to take out the artillery before they can be fired and rain death upon Seoul.
One possibility that could be incorporated into next year’s war plan (OPLAN-5027-04) is to incapacitate the North Korean soldiers manning the artillery and stationed along the DMZ (several hundred thousand) by rendering them temporarily senile — that is, chemically inducing symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
Those of you who have endured the nightmare of an elderly parent or relative with advanced Alzheimer’s know that their short-term memory is completely shot. They may recall events of years ago, but what happened 30 seconds ago has vanished from their synapses. A soldier with Alzheimer’s would be incapable of remembering, much less following, an order. An officer would be incapable of giving an order, or recalling just why he should give any orders at all.
There is a chemical called quinuclidinyl benzilate, known as BZ for short. By blocking the key brain chemical or neurotransmitter the brain uses to send memory messages, acetylcholine, BZ induces — reversibly and temporarily — symptoms of advanced Alzheimer’s.
The US military has conducted numerous experiments with BZ for use as an “incapacitating agent.” Incapacitating agents are defined as “chemical agents that produce reversible disturbances in the central nervous system that disrupt cognitive ability.”
Such agents are, and should be, considered far (perhaps infinitely far) more humane than shooting, blowing up, or otherwise killing the enemy. The US military has used incapacitating agents in war before, and against North Koreans. During the Korean War, we lobbed artillery shells into North Korean positions that spread a gas giving North Korean soldiers a very bad case of diarrhea. It’s hard to be an effective soldier if you have the runs and it’s a lot preferable to being shot dead.
A number of BZ experiments have been conducted on US soldiers. At Camp Pendleton, a detachment of Marines was subjected to BZ, whereupon they dropped their weapons, took off their clothes, and wandered around naked giggling hysterically, impervious to any orders or threats from their superiors. They showed no ill effects after the BZ wore off.
So here’s the possibility for OPLAN-5027-04.
Launch swarms of several thousand miniature gliders — no bigger than model aircraft or even smaller — across the DMZ. They would be capable of flying short distances, enough to blanket the area of artillery emplacement (focusing especially upon the areas of long-range pieces). Each tiny glider would contain 1 ounce of BZ and 1-2 ounces of explosive which would detonate upon impact dispersing the BZ. Within a few minutes, North Korean soldiers will be senile.
There is an antidote to BZ, an injectible called physostigmine. It reverses BZ’s effects for about an hour. But since BZ’s effects last for a few days, repeated doses would have to be given — and by whom? With the great majority of North Koreans acting like they have Alzheimer’s, who among them could remember anything about an antidote or how to administer it?
Under these conditions, South Korean commando teams could be sent in to destroy the North Korean artillery — and without any necessity of killing North Korean soldiers.
The US military has large stockpiles of BZ produced and stored. The miniature gliders would be cheap and quick to make. It’s a humane way to remove the North Korean Sword of Damocles hanging over the fearful heads of 17 million people.
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