Your thinking is muddled. There is no new cold war. We CAN take care of these idiots and we don't need nujes to do it. Neither China nor Russia will do a thing to stop us except mouth off about how we are imperialist, capitilist running dogs, as they always have. Yes, it is realistic to think we can fry(non nuke) these idiots with out much trouble.
"Yes, it is realistic to think we can fry(non nuke) these idiots with out much trouble."
My thinking is muddled? I think you look at it from one dimension.
We've got 130k troops in Iraq and even though it's the right thing, it's a big drain on us militarily and economically. The world would never agree to military action against N. Korea, so we'd go it alone. And if we attack, you can be sure that the 5 or 6 nukes they do have will be detonated somewhere not in N. Korea. Japan and S. Korea come to mind. N. Korea isn't a paper tiger. They have squandered all of their assets building a military, and they are supported by China. Attacking them would come with a significant cost in casualties.
So, at that point China, S. Korea, and Japan are angered at the US by their action.
This isn't cowboys and indians. It's not your little WWII battle set. It's real, and complicated. But thanks for trying.
The NK issue is not that easy. To assume that China would gripe and protest, and that's all, would be to repeat the one major mistake of General Douglas MacArthur in the Korean War.
He didn't believe China would mess with the US forces as they approached the Yallu River and the defeat of the NK Communists. 333,000 Red Chinese soldiers pouring across the border and driving US forces almost all the way back down the peninsula dispelled his delusion. (Although, MacArthur was still right about our response -- we should have nuked the Red Chinese then and eliminated that problem. But no, the Chinese Commies even then were counting on Truman and the Dems to back down, make nice, "contain" and appease).
NK has direct strings linked to their puppet masters in China, and indirect links to Iran, and to Russia. China won't hold back NK, and won't allow its client state on their southern border to be taken. Additionally, if we were to get tied up in NK, watch for Iran to make a move against the US or Israel, or China to move against Taiwan.
It's not that easy Cal -- these people aren't stupid. Evil, yes, but stupid? Nope.