Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Will the Buzzer ever be used?

Not far from St Petersburg in Russia, radio station MDZhB is thought to be sited in some abandoned buildings, with rusted iron gates, in the middle of swampland. Since 1982, this radio station has been broadcasting a continuous buzzing sound 24 hours a day and is joined by another sound every few seconds. Once or twice a week a woman reads out some words in Russian, like 'dingy' or 'farming specialist' and then the buzzing resumes. Anyone can listen in on radio frequency 4625 kHz and people actually do. They call it the Buzzer. There are any number of theories as to the purpose of the Buzzer but the accepted one is that Russians are occupying the frequency for an emergency. If Russia is attacked, especially with nuclear weapons, then orders to counterattack can be broadcast on that frequency which is known to all Russian agents abroad. The scary thing is that if Russia is prepared for an all out nuclear war, then so must be the US and China. Of course, leaders of these countries are not mad and will do everything not to reach a point of no return, but what about an unexpected event. Couple of days back North Korea fired a missile across the northern island of Hokkaido in Japan. Sirens sounded in Japan and people were told to take shelter in basements. The missile flew a distance of 2,700 km, at a height of 550 km, and fell into the sea 1,180 east of Japan. North Korea has been getting away with aggressive acts. In 2010, a North Korean submarine torpedoed a South Korean naval vessel killing 46 sailors. Later the same year, North Korea fired artillery at a South Korean island, killing 2 marines. This time South Korea returned fire but the South is cautious about pushing the North too far because its capital, Seoul is only a few miles from the border and casualties will be in tens of thousands in the event of a war. But what about the US? What if a missile lands accidentally on a US warship? Is the US obliged to retaliate and, if so, how strongly? If the US does attack, it will probably target Kim Jong Un. China will be in a difficult position. If it defends North Korea and shoots down US planes the US will respond with severe trade sanctions which may sink the Chinese economy. If it doesn't and the North's regime collapses it could have US forces right on its border. Recently, Trump announced new plans for Afghanistan and directly blamed Pakistan for supporting the Taliban. We do not know what happened the night Osama Bin Laden was killed, but it seemed to have been too easy. What if the Taliban captured nuclear weapons? Perhaps, it is time for India to have its own Buzzer.  

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