Piffle.
No such thing.
Think there are 5-6 downsides for them, or anybody else considering an invasion of North Korea. A year or so ago, the estimates were that NK had enough material for maybe half a dozen bombs. I’d strongly suspect that the first country to invade will find out if any of that material has been converted into weapons. I also can’t see using up the only bomb in a test, so I’d bet they have at least one more…
NK has tons of options, if unrestricted by sanity. SK or Japan (and the US troops therein) are obvious targets, but Hawaii is possible if the missle system works, or by freighter. A more effective option would be to wait until a potential invader masses troops on a border…BOOM…no more troops. Even a little nuke can wipe out an army…or for that matter, a carrier group.
The scary thing is that Kim actually thinks he’ll be able to nuke a target and get away with it. If he strikes SK, Japan or points east, his little pissant country will get paved. Bush will unlimber the cruise missles and Pyongyang will be a puddle of glass. This, of course, will involve the PRC in some way (good or bad), and do absolutely nothing for the standing of the US. A lose-lose all around.
I hate it when maniacs get nukes.
The deuce you say!?! :rolleyes:
It’s been brought up and I know the Pit isn’t exactly the place for explaining things out to lil’ ol me, but. . . what role does China play in all this? I mean, they are presently the super power in the world in just about every way, so have they spoken out about this?
I’m aware that China is against N Korea having nuclear weapons, but is there some tie between the two nations that would stop China from laying the proverbial smack down? Logic tells me that we should leave it to China, if they’re inclined to handle such a situation.
Maastricht, actually, I think that the world understand the US better than you might think. Thanks to Hollywood, we’ve pretty much run roughshod over the entire cultural output of the rest of the planet. They might not understand the nuances of how our politcal system (mal)functions, but they do know us to a degree. They know we’ve done lots of shitty things over the years, but our track record of using nukes is clear. We bailed out of 'Nam without using them, so i don’t think that people will believe we’re going to use them.
Contrast that with your country (not that I think the Dutch are a bunch of blood thirsty maniacs), but here in the States, you guys are known for dykes, windmills, sugar cookies, and Van Gogh. Most of your cultural output doesn’t make much of dent here (our loss, I’m certain), and while you guys probably make bigger inroads in the rest of the world than you do here, it’s still probably not very much. My primary news source is BBC radio, and they seem to devote as much coverage to what goes on in the US as they do to the rest of the world. (IOW, you combine the total non-US stories they present, and it equals the number of US stories they present.)
DiosaBellissima, China certainly can do something about this, it’s just a question of whether or not they will. Almost all the food aid that goes to NK comes in via China (and NK is keeping the trains the aid is being transported on, much to China’s dismay).
I may have said this before, but perhaps not in this thread. It is understood that a ground war in Asia is not winnable by the US under any circumstances, even using tactical nuclear weapons, right?
The only way to win really is not to play.
Well, in abandoning the Agreed Framework program and instead coming out with guns blazing in his “Axis of Evil” speech, W managed to not only ignore advisors like Colin Powell, but clearly demonstrate (through 2 years of diplomatic inertia) that NK was not a real priority–especially not compared to that hotbed of WMD activity, Iraq. So though it’s not solely to blame (obviously), the administration’s wringing of hands and cries of “Kim Jong Il!!!. He’s CRAZY!!! He’s EVIL!!!” are a bit disengenuous. And, like with Iraq, we’re going to have to pay long after POTUS retires to Crawford.
I don’t understand that at all. The US is at the very least the second most powerful nation in the world. In a standup fight, we can take anybody but China, without nukes. Nobody over there has the ability to project force far enough to stop an invasion fleet from landing, without nukes. With nukes, yeah, they could blow an invasion fleet out of the water–but risk retaliation against their cities.
I thought the sugar cookies were Danish.
Chocolate, now that’s Dutch. Also, cheese, tulips, rijstaffel, cigars, and paint.
Que? 
From here:
And anyway, I think it’s dikes. I’m not going to get involved with the other spelling… 
Here’s Donald Gregg’s Neener Neenering. The president should have listened to his dad and engaged North Korea. This five year hissy fit has served us poorly.
[Hijack]
I just wanted to say, that I find it highly ironic my copy of The Atomic Cafe showed up from Amazon on Friday. I think I’ll go pop it in right now!
[/Hijack]
Tripler
"Remember kids, ‘Duck & Cover!’ "
To whom and when will NK export its nuke technology?
Alabama.
Apparently Iraq didn’t get that memo.
Try to stay serene and calm.
Thank you. Best topical song ever.
Apparrently, you weren’t paying attention. We beat the snot out of Iraq. Destroyed their military and toppled their existing government. From a military perspective, we kicked their ass. Where we failed was in having a plan for what happens after the ass kicking. For some reason, the current administration expected us to be greeted as liberators. Instead, we’re seen as an army of occupation. It’s a political failure, not a military one.