# Should I be worried about NK nuking me? Also Trump... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126 "2017-08-08T19:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/21 "2017-08-09T01:05:19Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Sorry, didn’t see this thread. > > CNBC: N Korea Seriously considering (nuclear) strike on Guam. > > Story here: [https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/08/08/north-korea-seriously-considering-strike-on-guam-reports-citing-state-media.html](https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/08/08/north-korea-seriously-considering-strike-on-guam-reports-citing-state-media.html) A surprise attack on an American island in the middle of the Pacific that’s home to a huge military installation. What could go wrong with that? Seriously, if I’m Kim, I realize I only have one shot before my entire reign gets wiped off the face of the earth. I’d rather go for a target like L.A. or Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/22 "2017-08-09T01:16:02Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > No, OP, you should not worry about Lil’ Kim’s nuclear arsenal. > > You should be more worried about getting hit by a bus. Or struck by lightning. Or getting struck by lightning while being hit by a bus. > > Get some proportion. There’s an entire world out to get you, and a tinpot Stalin-wannabe is waaaay down the list of likely effective candidates. [Never happen](http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1997-08-08/news/9708080049_1_lightning-strikes-bus-severe-thunderstorms). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/23 "2017-08-09T02:31:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > ? > > Yes he did. Or did I miss the joke? Oops, I was thinking of the wrong soviet leader. I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/24 "2017-08-09T06:14:54Z")
While we don’t have adequate defenses against the MIRV warheads that the Chinese and Russians would be able to send our way, we have more than enough of a shield against the dozen (maybe) single warhead missiles Kimmy would have in his arsenal. The bigger danger would be him targeting one of our allies that don’t have our thousands of counter-missiles. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/25 "2017-08-09T07:56:03Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > It’s the “Fire & Fury” super-villain cage match, battle royal. A tale told by an idiot, full of fire and fury, signifying nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/26 "2017-08-09T08:06:48Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > It’s the “Fire & Fury” super-villain cage match, battle royal. And we are all in the cage. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/27 "2017-08-09T08:12:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > A surprise attack on an American island in the middle of the Pacific that’s home to a huge military installation. What could go wrong with that? > > Seriously, if I’m Kim, I realize I only have one shot before my entire reign gets wiped off the face of the earth. I’d rather go for a target like L.A. or Chicago. Actually if he _was_ going to send a nuke, Guam would be kind of a smart target. It would give the US a real dilemma. Targeting Guam would kill a (relatively) small number of people. If the US hits back and provokes an all out exchange, untold people die in South Korea, even assuming NK is annihilated shortly afterward. There’s the risk of bringing China in, at which point it gets even worse. In other words, attacking Guam would be enough to be immensely provoking, but just possibly not big enough to justify the even worse damage that responding in kind would or might cause. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/28 "2017-08-09T09:35:53Z")
If the US does not respond massively after a nuclear attack on Guam - even a failed one - then it will be open season on all US forces and civilians around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/29 "2017-08-09T09:45:46Z")
Responding is different to “wiping an entire reign off the face of the earth”. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/30 "2017-08-09T11:41:07Z")
IIRC the US has the policy that the response to a nuke is a nuke. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/31 "2017-08-09T11:51:00Z")
I’m more worried that Trump will do something stupid. But it seems that the adults are just letting him play on Twitter, and not actually control things, given how they responded to the transgender ban. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/32 "2017-08-09T11:58:42Z")
MUST . . . KlLL . . .RUKAS!!! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/33 "2017-08-09T12:10:52Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > If the US does not respond massively after a nuclear attack on Guam - even a failed one - then it will be open season on all US forces and civilians around the world. Maybe -one- failed one in which a dud falls in the sea, we could get away with conventional retaliation short of erasure by loudly proclaiming “hell, we knew all along it would not work (wipes away profuse sweat)”. He keeps trying, or the miss into the sea actually goes off, or the dud hits target and becomes a “dirty bomb” where the detonator “merely” spreads contamination… Well, I don’t see declaring _ **US Territory,** _ site of bases for a large part of the Far East forces (and planned to replace Okinawa as main base by the 2020s), and _ **160,000 US citizens** _ as expendable would be politically or strategically sustainable. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/34 "2017-08-09T13:16:02Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > There’s an entire world out to get you, and a tinpot Stalin-wannabe is waaaay down the list of likely effective candidates. Yeah, well, we’re still stuck having to deal with him … considering he’s our president and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/35 "2017-08-09T13:46:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > A surprise attack on an American island in the middle of the Pacific that’s home to a huge military installation. What could go wrong with that? Right. What happened the last time an Asian nation launched a surprise attack on an American island in the middle of the Pacific that’s home to a huge military installation? It didn’t end well for Japan. Or for all the other people killed and maimed along the way. I don’t expect any happier results if something similar happens again. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/36 "2017-08-09T14:08:55Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > IIRC the US has the policy that the response to a nuke is a nuke. Cite? While I imagine this is probably the standard tactic in 95% of scenarios that start with a nuclear hit on US soil, I’m skeptical that a one-off nuke hit on, say, Guam, from a country with limited inventory of nuclear weapons would guarantee a nuclear response in retaliation, especially if a massive conventional strike would get the job done just as well, and an ally was right across the border. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/37 "2017-08-09T14:52:04Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > Cite? Sorry, no cite, hence the IIRC qualification. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/38 "2017-08-09T14:54:19Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > MUST . . . KlLL . . .RUKAS!!! What’s a rukas? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/39 "2017-08-09T15:03:08Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > What’s a rukas? the op.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126/40 "2017-08-09T15:07:40Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > While we don’t have adequate defenses against the MIRV warheads that the Chinese and Russians would be able to send our way, we have more than enough of a shield against the dozen (maybe) single warhead missiles Kimmy would have in his arsenal. The bigger danger would be him targeting one of our allies that don’t have our thousands of counter-missiles. Well, that is the official line, anyway. But if you’ll read the link from the post above by **Aspenglow** , or any number of other critical assessments like [URL=[What You Should Know about the Upcoming GMD Missile Defense Test: Part 2 - Union of Concerned Scientists](http://allthingsnuclear.org/lgrego/2017-gmd-test-part-2)]this one by the Union of Concerned Scientists\*\*, not everybody is buying the party line that the orchastrated tests performed under controlled conditions with an explicitly defined target scene has satisfactorily demonstrated reliable performance of the interceptor system. To be fair, it is difficult to provide a genuinely realistic scenario to test the overall system for end-to-end functionality under stressing conditions, but the current tests have been nominal, “down the middle” tests of system capability, not stressing challenges, and even then, the Ground Based Mid-Course defense system has failed as often as it has succeeded. Even if we accept the interceptor (booster and HTK vehicle) as being reliable, there remains the question of the reliability of detection, discrimination, and command/control systems. The Sea-Based X-Band 9SBX-1) radar has infamously spent most of its more than a decade of operational life under testing and repairs at Pearl Harbor rather than on deployment or in its operational home up at Adam Island, where it has never been ported because of its inability to withstand high sea conditions in the fall, winter, and early spring months. Although I think the likelihood of North Korea attacking the US mainland in the foreseeable future is remote at best, I would not rely upon GMD for assurance against attack. > [@BigT](#): > > I’m more worried that Trump will do something stupid. But it seems that the adults are just letting him play on Twitter, and not actually control things, given how they responded to the transgender ban. Although advisors may seek to limit Enfant Terrible Trump’s public outbursts, the President has plenary authority over the deployment and use of nuclear weapons by law. But even if he doesn’t engage in the nightmare scenario of a unilateral strike, the inflammed rhetoric is not helping. You don’t deal with a crazy person by trying to out-crazy them. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-worried-about-nk-nuking-me-also-trump/793126.md?page=3)