http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear Apparently they're pissed. I'm wondering what they mean by this: Do you think war with NK is going to happen or do you think China will Annex NK? I wouldn't mind the latter....if it comes down to it.
I think North Korea is trying to shake out the weak hands in a high stakes game of poker. Libs around the world hate confrontation and war. So, when NK plays the "war" card, they are hoping to cause division and thus break International resolve. If they can crack a few states with their war talks the sanctions will be meaningless. Is war possible? Sure. In fact, I agree with NK that war has been declared (though in a non-violent, low level way). Sanctions that deprive them of weapons and luxury goods are meant to cripple their war fighting ability and their ability to offer bribes to their military generals. If you think of war as a spectrum (with violence being at one end), sanctions are moving down that path of conflict/hostility.
I have an idea: The UN should create a program that would allow NK to manufacture nuclear weapons and sell them in return for food and medicine.
i agree, but in the end, i dont think NK can risk a real war...just just a small nation, and wud get eaten alive
You wanna bet? They have 22,912,177 people in their country, and probably nearly 15,000,000 of them (perhaps over) are military personnel. They have over 5x the tanks and artillery the United States does. Practically all of their citizens are ordered by the government to learn how to use a gun, fire a tank, and stab people with bayonets - even the children. They spend so much money and resources on their military that they don't even have electricity at night ... the people are starving ... it's a screwed up political system there.
I think you are liking in make believe land. I seriously doubt NK has more tanks and artillery. How can 15 million be in the military and be starving? Is that an effective fighting force? Russia also trained most school age kids to use guns (AK's). Given that there is no electricity, communications cannot be much of a concern outside the main city, where probably the bulk of the weaponry is kept. NK is perfectly situated to make a military offensive very doubtful. Japan, SK and China are all in range of its weaponry. Lashing out unpredictably (since defeat is inevitable), it could do a great deal of damage as it goes down. I think that's the primary rationale behind no military action. China actually had a study done on the prospects of a military invasion of NK. They surmised that they could not move in quickly enough to prevent SK and Japan taking serious damage from missile and artillery barrages.
When I look at a larger picture I get little affraid...history repeats they say. When I think deeper I relate many stories of today's world to early days of 2nd world war only that countries have changed may be begining days of 3rd war
The issue isn't whether or not they have a military machine capable of doing any serious harm, it's whether or not Kim Jong Il is so crazy and egotistical that he'd destroy his own country just to cripple the rest of the world and show them what a big boy he is. Given the way he currently treats his people (and himself) I think he'd do it. He has nukes and apparently he isn't afraid to use them. Assuming his military can get it's shit together and actually make a) a missle that doesn't crash harmlessly after a few hundred yards and b) a nuke that does more than fizzle when it's detonated, he's a physical threat to everyone around him and a political and economic threat to the entire world.
he lacks the capability to put a nuke on a missile. his best chance for your scenario is to sell it to a terrorist group, which is why an effective blockade is necessary.