Would the kimchee hit the fan if the NK's lit one off?
If they test a bomb, the world goes in. If we go in first before such a test is made, we will be doing it all alone.
Tough choice, plus they can kill people in the south by testing close to the south's northern border.
If they test, launch a first strike.
My guess is that this is the October Surprise.
wondering if saddam gave the syrians his enriched uranium, syrians sold or trade it to the north Koreans, isreal blew up their scientists, but now they ready to cap one off.
That sounds like a line in the rocks.
"Mr. Bush, while declaring he would not "tolerate" a nuclear North Korea"
Two problems with this sentence;
1. Mr. Bush's name here is President Bush.
2. "tolerate" should not be in "quotes".
How about this:
"President Bush, while declaring he would not tolerate a nuclear Iraq, didn't!"
How does the Bush doctrine apply here? There is a provable connection between NK and the nuclear blackmarket; Nuclear materials that are already known to have transited to Pakistan. There's a very thin membrane between PK and the various Islamist terrorist groups.
So why doesn't Bush go in? Is it possible the USGOV has intel NK already has functional nukes, and would use them against Seoul or Japan if the US interceded? Or even missile capability that would reach the US west coast, who knows?
Is it maybe a political calculation that the US is too war-weary for a third major military operation, especially in an election year?
I have a feeling there's alot of info that's not being shared with the public here.
Thank You Bill Clinton and Mad'lin Half-bright....The Klinton admin...the gift that keeps on giving...
Why We Won't Invade North Korea
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-01-06-1.html
HUH?
It's too late to reverse North Korea from going nuclear without taking down the whole regime of Kim Jong Il. The world sat by and let it happen all these years, and now it will face the consequences of letting a maniac Nazi-like state hold one.
The State Department has pressed the case for negotiation, and for offering the North a face-saving way out. While the State Department has won the argument in recent times, how to deal with the North is a constant battle inside the administration.
If Kim does a test, he will gain face, not lose it. What does the writer mean by a "way out"? Kim wants to be a nuclear power since that will allow him to continue his kingdom of the crazy.
As to South Korea's and Japan's reactions, well, Japan is already considered a "paranuclear" state by the FAS. There have been interesting indications and rumors for many years about what might be going on behind the stolid assurances that Japan will never possess nuclear weapons. We already know that South Korea has been experimenting, though apparently to a very limited extent.
As to what we or China might do when Kim does make a test -- I consider such a test as a certainty -- I don't imagine that we will do anything except tut-tut. China will offer their congratulations on joining the club, much as they did with Pakistan. I don't believe that Kim would be doing this unless China had conveyed clearly to him that he was to do so, and they probably have been aiding him directly. If he really were acting out of bounds, they would not allow him to traipse around, like his April visit to Beijing. Contrast with Japan's Prime Minister Koizumi, apparently who is persona non grata due to simply visiting Yasukuni a few times -- this despite an agreement to have reciprocal visits on regular basis. If China really were seriously upset with Kim, Kim would be even more unwelcome than Koizumi.
Of course, if by some freakish chance Kerry were elected, then we would immediately continue the Clinton/Carter appeasement formulation --- heck, we would probably offer to help them improve their yields and offer better missile technology. "Why sell Kim the rope to hang us when we can just give it to them?" seems to be the Democrats "thought" with respect to Kim.
Assuming it takes place in a deep pit! I'd expect the first solid indication we'll get that NK really has nukes might be atmospheric test a thousand miles out at sea, a few weeks before the election.
Kim's so crazy he might even think it's a good idea to choose ground zero so that the fallout crosses the continental US.
Accompany the demo with a statement from Pyongyang that "the dimwit George Bush" had better stop threatening N. Korea, and I think it would have a huge effect on the election. Maybe not like Kim would anticipate.
OTOH, Kerry and the rats would be all over it 24/7, claiming that Bush a madman and that he was leading us into a nuclear Armageddon. Hard to predict what would happen on election day in that case. Lots of Americans would be terrified.
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Looks like they was wrong.
Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N. Korea
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040912/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_explosion&cid=516&ncid=716
Bookmarked.
US Military Freedom Tour, Featuring George W. Bush as CinC:
Afghanistan 2001
Iraq 2003
North Korea 2005
Iran TBD
What case? There isn't any case. There is just a pious wish it would all go away. A face saving way out? They don't want a way out, with face or without. They are winning, you nimnuts, getting away with it. What would they need to back out of?