Posted on 06/11/2004 10:43:15 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
N. Korean regime does acknowledge the difficult situation the country is in. They officially call it "March of Suffering." They blame their enemies for their problems, though. That is their official line
N. Korean industry is in moribund state except defense industry. They cannot produce basic products such as cement enough to meet their needs.
This directive is sent to party officials. There are many of them. It is not restricted to a handful of confident es. Due to shortage of all necessities including foods, it is not hard to get hold of the document like this if you are willing to shell out some money. Bribe is working surprisingly well these days in N. Korea. That is one of the concerns Kim Jong-il has. In another directive, which has not been posted here yet, he deplored that many military secrets are being leaked these days. Bribe plays a role in this, I believe.
The United States imports cement because of regulatory restrictions on mining and processing. Yep, that's how lame we're coming to be.
I agree. Saddam tried to bluff his way out of war by hinting at his WMDs and it failed. Pakistan has tested them. Libya figured out it would lose the race and quit.
In my view, N. Korea is not bluffing. She will have nukes if the current regime continues in N. Korea. She may pretend that she is further along than she actually is, in order to gain some advantage at the negotiation table. Or she may pretend that she stopped working on nukes for the same reason. However, either way, she will get them eventually.
I don't think NK is totally bluffing either. But I doubt they can deliver a nuke on a longdong even to Guam. A nuke is one thing, one that fits on an accurate long range missile is another.
If you give Kim Jong-il time and money, he will try.
There are many elements of a race in this equation.
You are quite mistaken if you think that cement requires "almost no technology" to produce. It actually requires considerable technology. It is not particularly advanced technology, but it is precise and it is specific.
Furthermore, portland cement is regularly traded between nations, for a variety of valid economic reasons. I can remember importing many tons of cement into Indonesia from Thailand becasue it was cheaper to obtain from there (at our location) that it would have been from any Indonesian source.
I suspect that you may be using the term "cement" when you really are thinking of portland cement concrete, something that is always locally made, even if the cemnt component is not.
The above link will take you to a story from this week about regional portland cement supplies and shortages in the United States. The US is producing about 85 million tons of cement per year and has averaged 106 million tons consumption per year in this decade.
Besides, doesn't it require a lot of coal or gas to produce the cement? Just how much spare energy capacity can North Korea have?
Re your post 30. You ought to try re-reading who posted what.
Re your post to me, I believe you meant that for sharktrager in post 19.
Dear Carry,
You're right. Sorry... It was your italicized reference that I was commenting on. I should have referenced back to the original item.
No problemo.
I've been in a world of busy these last few days overseas. In fact I was overseas all during the Reagan farewell and could see little. I'll catch up when back stateside and also sign in with something on this topic. --AIT
This information is moot. The game is not one of bunkers but one of missiles of the type that were lobbed over the heads of millions of Japanese.
Who really cares if the NK leadership run scared into a doomsday spiderhole? If the weapons are out of the equation, the "coo-coo for cocoa puffs" leaders are completely impotent and can be ignored until their food, water and air runs out.
Right type of missiles in a open area create far less problem than ones in a underground fortified installation which outsiders may not detect.
Even so, "the game" is one of missiles and not one of bunkers. The missiles can be dispersed or holed-up but the targeting is still focused on the missile.
One could make a really big bunker, fill it with sawdust as a "designated target" and have your missiles everwhere else. Your opponent would have to expend a lot of effort destroying that bunker unless they're 100% certain its missile-free.
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