What to do about North Korea?

[Mr.Ace]

let's not fool ourselves...they have used what little resources they have to create weapons, very possibly weapons of mass destruction, and an obscene loyalty that might just trigger a terrible moment...

al quaeda was not a superpower when they attacked the US...several times

send in the drones

It's not correct to compare North Koria with Al Quaeda. Comparison between a state and terroristic organization. And what can do North Koria against U.S.A.? Are they what, want to commit suiside? Obviosly, in case with Al quaeda they wanted a war in the region (Middle-East). They've got it, because war is their bread, their money. They've got an intrest and reasons to permanent war. And what reasons for North Koria in war with U.S.A.? To be conquered like Iraq, or may be repeat Hiroshima's lot?

[tenngolfer]

They're starving, some reports have them eating their children to survive. I would suspect that creates a lot of hatred toward the leadership, but they deflect it pointing a finger at the USA. I say bomb them with cans of Spam and boxes of twinkies, with little notes saying we wanted to send more, but hey, your leaders said we couldn't.

Or do what a friend suggested, figure out what the war would cost in dollars (what's Irag now, a $trillion), then make them an offer to buy the country. $200 billion? The leaders get to live wealthy on a tropical island, the starving people get McD's, cable tv, and cell phones.

[AdamShadowz]

Nuclear Warfare is and always will be a bluff ever since America proved how devastating and how far they are willing to go in order to beat the soviets or the russians or even china if they decided not to honor the profitable agreements they make. The whole thing is a propaganda operation. When the dictator begins to age he will either back down or be taken down because of the unsure future surrounding the world war arena.

[mjs9153]

Easier for their leaders to continue fostering hatred against the US,and hope they get someone major to kick in on their side..can this be the reason homeland security bought a billion bullets,armored personnel carriers,etc.,I saw on another thread? Can't be expecting a war on US soil,can they? Nah..

[GNTLGNT]

Nuclear Warfare is and always will be a bluff ever since America proved how devastating and how far they are willing to go in order to beat the soviets or the russians or even china if they decided not to honor the profitable agreements they make. The whole thing is a propaganda operation. When the dictator begins to age he will either back down or be taken down because of the unsure future surrounding the world war arena.

...I see where you're coming from...but I still think it's well within the realm of possibility, that one of these tinpot dictators WILL be nutso-cuckoo enough sometime to push the button, so as to initiate an "I told you so!" armageddon...

[guido tkp]

while not many know for sure, the rumor mill has for sometime said NK might just have missiles that can reach US targets, even if only hawaii....which, last i looked....that's part of the US: it was good enough to get us in a war once before, and i'm not sure the wee little dictator is all so brainiac-ish...

the only thing we do know for sure is they certainly have spent pretty much all their $$ on such deadly things...and it only takes 1 w/atomic abilites to create havoc...are we ready to take that chance ?

a terroritic organization, hell bent on creating havoc, is a terroristic organization: doesn't matter to the dead whether they were a country or a group...you get the same thing: lot's of dead people.

they've already attacked, in the last few years, their neighbors to the south...on several occasions...and cold-bloodedly killed...THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT REALITY !!

when your country is ravaged by your own misdeeds, there's nothing like fomenting a war, even if you can't win, in order to rally the stupid to get behind your sorry ass and fight !!

besides...there is not a %100 guarantee that the lil' duce is actually in charge of that sort of thing: it could very well be a buncha generals who hold the strings...and they, being military types (after all this time if sitting around and waiting), may not give a hoot about anything but flexing their knuckles

i'm NOT sayin' the wee tyke IS ready to go off the deep end...i am sayin' we should not just shrug our shoulders and go all ho-hum about it, either...

we looked the other way when GBush & Co. thought the US intell was wrong about AQ...and look what happened...the world thought hitler was nothing...we never gave much thought to whether the japanese could really inflict damage on us...

history has a way of sneaking up and biting you on the posterior...especially when you go all egotistical and think you're ahead of the cue ball...

see Der GG's post @ #25 right above...

[Robert Gray]

Yes. We are ready to take that chance, largely because we are pretty certain we can shoot down any missile they fire. These are the realities:

1. North Korea has been able to count on China as an ally since the first Korean war. It was, in fact, China who came in at the end and forced us back.
2. China does not want, if it can be avoided, a mainland war.
3. China has come over to our way of thinking on North Korea and has supported sanctions sending N. Korea a clear message, i.e. DO NOT.
4. If we preempt and strike North Korea before she tries something, we flush all our gains with China and the International Community away.
5. If North Korea tries something first, our hands will be untied and we will likely have China as a military power on the ground which would end the thing quick.
6. North Korea is unlikely to have a delivery system that can hit the broadside of a barn.
7. Preemptive action would also devastate South Korea as the North could certainly do a lot of damage (and would) there, losing us our last mainland staunch ally.
8. War in the region, particularly one in which we require China against North Korea (we would if only to keep them out as allies on N. Korean side) would allow China to grab Taiwan.
9. The cost in military trades w/China behind closed doors would cripple our reach in Asia.
10. In the end, the war would end the so-called North Korean threat, destroying both North and South Korea, increase the hegemony of China, and leave us with less reach.

Everything is connected in the realm of international politics and very little can be done without starting one kind of avalanche or another. North Korea has been dying for at least two decades. She rattles the saber now and then because it got her concessions in the past (see Clinton era). The best thing that can be done is simply ignore them beyond ratcheting up sanctions and continuing the same old preparations for the worst. If war comes, we need them to start it. We won't gain much by it, but at least we won't bankrupt our gains in the international community at the same time. In the end, nothing had changed since the first Korean War. We cannot beat the North without going to war with China, something we really don't want to do now. The only way we can ever deal with this issue is if they attack first and remove the Chinese connection themselves. Odds are they won't attack. They are rattling the saber just like always. The regime simply wants to survive and we are their "boogeyman" by which they hold on to power. It doesn't cost them anything to rattle the saber. It costs them everything to go to war. They know that too.

[Sepia and Dust]

Certainly, North Korea can do us no harm. They're years away from becoming a nuclear power and years away from a delivery system that can strike much farther away than Tokyo or Guam.

Years away, however, means that the clock is ticking. Eventually, we're going to have this same discussion again, only with slightly different starting assumptions.

[guido tkp]

UNCLE !! greater minds prevail...lumpy the warmongering troll skulks back to his cave...dragging his knuckles...rejected like a caveman...

...awwww, but it's hard to beat RG's logic...why'd he hafta go and get all thinkin'-like, again

...and here i was hoping for our first all-drone war...put all those video gaming skills to some good use

still...it woulda been a short war, that one...the NK's woulda massed at the border...ready to pounce...when the speaker system from the south woulda yelled out : 'soups on !! real chicken in our chicken soup !' and they all woulda defected

[Robert Gray]

UNCLE !! greater minds prevail...lumpy the warmongering troll skulks back to his cave...dragging his knuckles...rejected like a caveman...

...awwww, but it's hard to beat RG's logic...why'd he hafta go and get all thinkin'-like, again

...and here i was hoping for our first all-drone war...put all those video gaming skills to some good use

still...it woulda been a short war, that one...the NK's woulda massed at the border...ready to pounce...when the speaker system from the south woulda yelled out : 'soups on !! real chicken in our chicken soup !' and they all woulda defected

That is a nice thought (and funny), but we both know it isn't true. Patriotism isn't a trait that belongs just to Americans. It would be ugly, horrible war. I have a good friend who is in the military (a Linguist) whose job it is to sit on the border with our South Korean allies and listen to radio chatter. He has a good idea of things on the ground both in North and South Korea. It suffices to say this, sometimes the dog with rabies is best left to die in the cage rather than risk getting bit when you go inside.