Behind Enemy Lines: Axis of Evil

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Korea, 1950.

America fights in a war

that leaves two million dead.

The fighting ends in a draw,

leaving Korea divided...

North and South...

and technically still at war.

The North becomes a surreal blend

of Stalinism, Communism...

and cult of personality dictatorship,

known to the world...

as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,

or the D.P.R.K.

April 1994.

The D.P.R.K. Stuns the world...

when it announces its withdrawal

from the nonproliferation treaty...

and reveals its plan

to build nuclear weapons.

May 1994.

Determined to prevent North Korea

from becoming a nuclear power...

President Bill Clinton orders

Defense Secretary William Perry...

to draw up military OPLAN 5027...

a U.S. Surgical strike

on the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

Many voice their concern

the D.P.R.K. Might retaliate...

with their 11,000 artillery tubes

trained on Seoul, South Korea.

Just as the N.S.C. Is meeting

to discuss the evacuation...

of all nonmilitary personnel

in Seoul...

there is a telephone call

from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

As a private citizen, President

Carter had flown to Pyongyang...

met with North Korea's leader,

Kim II Sung...

and struck a deal

which averted military action.

Had OPLAN 5027 been executed...

the Pentagon had projected

up to one million deaths.

Few people realize,

in June 1994...

America was days, if not hours,

away from war with North Korea.

They're gonna crucify Weylon for this.

- How long till launch time?

- They're saying six days.

- Ten-hut!

- Good morning, sir.

All right, Weylon.

Tell me what you know.

Mr. President, Secretary of Defense Beekman

is in Qatar for the week...

unless you direct him home sooner.

General Vance,

as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs...

- will be discussing the military viewpoint.

- Mr. President.

General.

Sir, approximately six hours ago...

the Satellite Reconnaissance Center

analyzed imaging data from a...

- Mr. President, um...

- Oh, I'm sorry, guys. Be seated.

Imaging data from a KH...12 over North Korea...

showing what we can now

say with certainty...

is a three...stage, Topol...class

intercontinental ballistic missile...

at the Yongjiri missile center.

We were fortunate to acquire these images

as the crane was loading the missile...

into its underground silo.

If it was half an hour later,

we never would have seen it.

The longest...range missile

North Korea had prior to this...

would have run out of fuel

somewhere over Alaska.

Three stages means it can hit New York,

Washington, D.C. Anywhere in CONUS.

- What do we know about its payload?

- It's impossible to say.

- Could it be a warhead or a nuclear device?

- We can't say.

It's not likely, Mr. President.

The Lockheed KH...12

has a rotating periscope mirror...

which means it can get

a high angle of obliquity.

We're gonna spin the bird around,

get a better angle.

That'll help us

determine the load.

We've always assumed North Korea would

never deploy a long-range missile like this...

because of our certain

and inevitable military response.

Sir, even test-firing a three-stage rocket

is a 10-year leap forward...

in their strategic capabilities...

and it represents a direct and grave threat

to our national security.

We won't let that happen.

Let's try to keep things under

control tonight, okay?

Let's try.

- Shultiess, how you doin'?

- Good, sir.

What are you doing?

Master Chief asked me to tell him

when this old man gets off the phone.

Well, carry on.

Where'd you find the banana?

Looks like he's 12.

He speaks some Korean,

and he's a hell of a shot.

I need, like, 200500...won coins

just to call Boston. Isn't that ridiculous?

L.T., did you get

the score of the 49ers game?

- What was that, 36...27?

- Guys, come on. I'm tryin' to count.

- The field temperature was, like, 97.

- You happy?

You guys suck.

Get me a beer.

- Meideros, what's goin' on?

- I got two 8,000p laser-guided chopsticks...

suspended from an extended range

CH-53 chopper, and I'm figuring...

Bad idea. You're way vulnerable to R.P.G.'s

coming from those soy sauce bottles.

Bound to be small-arms fire

coming from the fish flakes.

I bet you even money there's a sniper

hiding in that bowl of jigae.

- Gotta think.

- That's why I roll with you, man.

- Master Chief!

- Keep your eye on these.

- Baby, is that you?

- Fifty bucks says he starts bawlin'.

- I'll take that.

- I love you so much.

- Here it comes.

- I miss you.

Just tell me what's going on?

Are you okay? Yeah. Yeah.

Wait, wait. Here it comes.

Wait for it.

- A girl?

- Wait for it.

- This is sad, man. I can't look.

- I got a baby girl?

- Waterworks.

- What's up with that?

Hello? Amy!

Hello? This goddamn...

- It's a girl?

- It's a girl, dude.

- I got a baby girl.

- Yeah! Congratulations, man.

Yo, um, I already

talked to Amy about it.

We're gonna name her Bobbi.

That's real nice, Spaz.

- I got a baby girl, man.

- You got a baby girl.

I got a baby girl, gentlemen!

What's on offer, General?

Sir, we propose

Operation Sheet Lightning...

a surgical strike on the missile site.

Multiple Cruise missile launches

concurrent with sorties...

from seven B...2 Stealth Spirits

and five ...117 As.

Ellie?

If it was any other sovereign nation, sir,

I'd urge negotiations.

But D.P.R.K. ...

There is just no viable

diplomatic option.

And if they do

test that missile...

it devastates our footing

in the multilateral talks.

Yeah.

Have the warning

orders been given, General?

Okay. So we take out

the missile site.

What's Pyongyang gonna do?

Well, sir, I think Kim's people

could be persuaded to stand down.

I think the general overestimates

my skills of diplomacy, sir.

What are they gonna do, Weylon?

Either a cantankerous

political...diplomatic protest...

or some sort of military response...

not much in between.

Sir?

Sir, that is

Commander Tim Mackey...

Commander, U.S. Naval Base,

Jinhae, South Korea.

Mr. President,

if we attack that missile site...

the D.P.R.K. Will most surely

counterattack at Seoul...

using their 11,000 artillery tubes.

That's possible.

Or a more proportional response

would be Scud missile attack...

against the research center

at Taejon.

The South Koreans respond

with a strike at the D.M.Z. ...

Or the Pyongyang nuclear facility.

And the North Koreans respond

with their artillery.

We bomb them...

They bomb their neighbors.

We have a contingency,

sir, should the North attempt that...

Operation Swift Rage.

We can neutralize 90%

of North Korea's response capabilities...

in the first 24 hours of hostilities.

And we'd be at war.

Sir, I believe we've been at war

for at least six hours now.

Mr. President, if I may?

Negative, Commander.

Go on, Commander.

Mr. President, in 1997...

North Korea opened its air space

to commercial airliners.

A platoon from SEALs Team 1 could

board a commercial airlines flight in Seoul...

deploy over North Korea...

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