US Tracking North Korean Ship

[Darth Rotor]

If you're tracking a ship and you want to know where it's going and what it might be carrying, do you release the news to the media so that NK also knows you are tracking the ship?

No, but the last time anything DoD did regarding media relations that made any sense was embedding reporters in Iraq. The past few years gaffes, OPSEC violations, and occasional falsehoods (Tillman's death comes to mind) stagger my comprehension. So, making a big deal about "tracking a NK ship" is yet another OPSEC violation. It is only significant if you take an action after tracking it (sink, intercept, inspect find contraband, what have you.) Merely tracking it is an operational detail that is not appropriate to discuss, IMO.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy is tracking a North Korean cargo ship that left port and was headed south from the Korean Peninsula, several Defense Department officials said Friday.

One of the officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said the United States does not know what the ship is carrying or its destination.

Then these morons ought to keep their mouths shut. This isn't a sporting game, it is a matter of operational detail.

DR