Mushrooms Growing On North Korea

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NY Times

This isn't good for anybody...

 

I really don't think many countries can complain about this. As long as the US, Russia, UK, etc, have nuclear arms, I don't think they've got any right to tell others they cannot. If they are worried about the safety, the best way (other than disarming all parties) would be to give Korea the technology to make it safe. The ideal solution would be to remove these weapons from everyone.

I just hope that people don't do anything stupid in reaction to this.

 

North Korea has survived for this long as a result of its skill in political manouvering. Whenever the North has found itself in an unfavorable possition it makes an action or threat to alarm the world and net itself some slack. Be it threat of nuclear weapons, missle tests, or 'outrage' at having its soldiers, who violated the DMZ, shot at. Its a little state and the only thing keeping the West from ending the little dictatorship, where Kim is concidered a god by the way, was the constant threat\ening. As long as it was threat, the West couldnt intervene easily because the North was backed by China.

Now that the threat has apparently become a reality, i'll give it a bit before im convinced, AND that China has, in a historic event, condemned its actions, I can see a whole lot of stupid in the not-so-distant future. Japan, for instance, will likely get into a military groove to prepare itself for the next stupid thing that the North does. And South Korea, well, its been a tense 50 years and things look to get a lot worse before the get better.

 

Kim stated in a newscast I was watching NK had to have nukes to deter the US from attacking, I guess to most of the world we do seem war happy right now. Nukes that small and rockets that can't reach much of the US might make him feel better but will bring out every nut politician from coast to coast. Lets let China, Russia and Japan as well as S. Korea handle the nutcase on their border. He says he wants one on one talks with the US? I don't think my countrys leaders will want to talk now after his test. They are not known for peacefull resolution at the best of times. Kinda makes ya feel empty thinking on what might happen.
Oh, before I get flamed as a lefty my family has 5 unbroken generations of military service and I am a conservative living in Tn backwoods!

 

I don't like the thought of a dictatorship run by a madman having nuclear weapons one bit. The US at the worst of times is still better than North Korea at the best of times in my opinion.

When the US was attacked it didn't nuke another country but if somebody attacks North Korea... well, I can't be too sure they won't want to 'flex' their new nuclear muscle.

 

@AB: What scares me is the thought of the fact that in a starving dirt poor country he pulled the rods out of a working nuke reactor to get the materials to build his bomb. If he has another of his itty bitty blast nukes and someone does go after him does he do the deadman thing? I do not know anyone from that part of the world as far as I know but you don't want to see the death even from a little one even if it's ground level and not air burst.
Thanks for the small thumbs up to the US, we go in cycles and I hope NEVER do a nuke bombing again.

 

...especially those of us living in South Korea.

Oddly enough, most South Koreans don't give a rat's...

 

The sad thing is that rushing to get nukes and show a willingness to use them seems to be the only sure thing for crazy oppressive dictators to stay in power. Iran and North Korea have learnt the lesson from Iraq. Iraq didnt have any nukes or anything at all really but was accused of it and then steamrolled and wacky dictator ousted and humiliated. Iran and North Korea made sure that wouldnt happen to them, how? To actually get all the stuff Iraq was accused of having and lo and behold, a lot of fist shaking at them but no troops in sight.

There is no way in hell the US (or anyone else really) are going to attack someone who can actualy fight back. It just isnt politically viable and not what war is about in the upper echelons of government. Spanking some ragged militias to boost morale and give a sense of superiority is one thing but t engage in real warfare with real casualties is impossible for any reasonably democratic nation. Thus Iran and North Korea are safe to continue with their crap as long as they can keep up the military deterrence. Realpolitiks for the lose.

 

Oddly enough, most South Koreans don't give a rat's...
??????????
Sir Fink, Can I get a little more?

The problem is the US could send almost any country back to the stone age without serious damage to itself. Fist shaking doesnt work forever and everyone including us (the US) needs to stop. I was a young man through the cold war and it's no fun.

 

Hmm - wonder by how much they're going to move the doomsday clock...

 

@Old One : I think any part of a rat will do. Seriously, no one's taking it that seriously here. My classmates are more worried about this affecting their college entrance exams than an actual threat of war. Some people are looking for gas masks(for radiation) but most aren't even bothering to do that.

 

Maybe now the UN will get off its collective arse and do something. It had better, if it doesn't want to set in stone the epitaph of being utterly useless.

 

@Kenixkil: Good luck on the exams, thanks for insight. May you be absolutely correct in your priorities as well.

@Rallymama: The UN has, at least in most things been not worth a good dump. They bluster and yell, however they did do the Korean war. Hope history teaches something. I personally think China is the worlds best hope in this case and also hope Bush can see that.

 

And do exactly what? Even before North Korea had nukes doing anything about it would have caused massive turmoil in Asia and complete destruction of the Korean peninsula. Now when it starts to be quite certain that they have nukes, a military action would lead to deaths and destruction of unmeasurable proportions.

China should have taken an active role in stopping this project a long time ago but they didn't. It's quite amazing how they've been so incredibly passive during this entire issue. I seriously doubt that the leaders in Bejing wanted to see a nuclear North Korea, and now it's too late.

 

UN should do that something to everyone (including that ******* Bush's US) or should keep quiet. I prefer there is no nukes in the whole world; but if US, France and others have the right to have nukes, then everyone else has the same right. It is called "equality"

 

Yeah, and the same applies to guns, obviously

The more people who have nukes the higher the chance somebody will throw one at somebody else. The nuclear deterrence issue is like a big heaping petrol soaked bonfire covering the entire earth... one nuclear spark... everything goes up poo-river without a canoe.

 

I am fascinated by the fact that foreigners seem more interested in this whole piece of news than the Koreans do!

 

Well, the Koreans won't exactly be throwing nukes at themselves if they throw them anywhere. So who'll cop the sharp end of the stick with this situation?

 

Tokyo?

And I'm not so sure about the North not nuking the South...