N. Korea threatens U.S. with 'nuclear war'

Yes, they are fucking around. Their supposed ICBM went 35 miles. You'll have to do better than that, boys.

The biggest thing the North Koreans have to worry about is, if their stunts inspire the Japanese to decide one fine morning they want to join the nuclear-arms and ballistic-missile club.

Because while it might take North Korea 25 more years to do it, it would take Japan about two weeks.

 

Amen. But Japan doesn't concern me.

My list -
1.) China
2.) Crazed, Middle-Eastern fundamentalist terrorists (or for that matter, terrorists from any other region in the world)
3.) Tim McVeigh wannabes

 

We'd probably give Japan the nukes if it went that far. Or at least set up our own missile bases there.

No, all this posturing by Kim Jong-Il is only that ... posturing. The only time to worry is if they start looking like they're going to roll south. That would happen at the exact moment Kim decides he's got nothing to lose.

The 30K troops we have on the DMZ are nothing more than a speed bump when a million NK troops start pouring over it. The best we can hope for is to back up the ROKs with air and sea power. That may tip the balance in the South's favor. Those ROKs are pretty badass.

 

I hope the ROKs are better and braver fighters than they were in 1950-51. My dad says you could never tell who was who during a Commie offensive, because the retreating ROKs (and they were always running away) would blend in with the attackers from the north. To be on the safe side, he and his comrades shot at everyone who was coming at them.

 

A) No worries about China until at least after the Bejing Olympics in '08. Heck, I say we just give them the Games every 8-12 years, and they'll be happy as little larks
B) While Putin and China aren't our buddies, they have told Kimberly not to test fire. They won't say much publicly, but behind the doors, I'm sure Red is threatening to turn off the spoon feeding
That being said, Kimberly is nutty. I have a friend who served in Korea, and visited the DMZ a few times. He said Kimberly built a city on the NoKo side and lit it up like Vegas to make it appear as though NoKo is thriving in riches. Meanwhile, everyone is starving and dying in streets..

 

The North Korean issue is extremely complex which is why this president, and pretty much every president before, has no idea what to do.

China has signed commitments to back N.K. in any armed conflict. At the same time, China has no desire to do so based on their growing relation (financial investment) with the U.S.

Japan will not get nukes because China will not like that in the slightest. These two countries are not the greatest of friends.

Throw Russia into the mix. They have financial investments in N.K. and with their economy not so hot, they are not willing to divest themselves of any earnings right now.

South Korea is so close to N.K. that they fear annihilation. At the same time, many S.K. have sympathy towards the North's population and a war is not desirous.

China, while not wanting war, is humored over the whole issue and likes watching us squirm over the actions of Kim Jong-Il.

 

Personal opinion - While Russia doesn't bother me, there's kind of this sociopathic vibe I get from them that's a bit unsettling.

 

"I'm so ronery .... so ronery ..."

I was waiting for that.

 

AP ran a graphic yesterday illustrating the (theoretical) range of NK's Taped-down Dong missiles.

Interestingly, the two nations with the most territiory inside the missile's range happen to be:

1) China, and
2) Russia.



Sooner or later, somebody's gonna put a bag over Kim Jong's head, and it isn't even gonna be us.

 

Methinks there is a big difference from 1950, when all of Korea was a depressed backwater still struggling to emerge from the horrors inflicted by imperial Japan. The ROK has modernized tremendously, and its citizens now have a lot more worth fighting for. North Korea, meanwhile, hasn't made any great leaps forward in military technology sine Five O'Clock Charlie was trying to wipe the 4077th off the map.

 

Yeah, and then Bush would be blamed for not getting Congressional approval for launching the strike and we'd be the bad guys because we sent 5,000 to their 1.