Posted on 04/03/2013 5:46:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I blame Dennis Rodman.
In a statement published by the official KCNA news agency, the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) said it was formally informing Washington that reckless US threats would be “smashed by… cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means”.
“The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified,” the statement said…
“The moment of explosion is approaching fast,” Thursday’s statement said, adding that a war could break out on the Korean peninsula “today or tomorrow”.
“In view of this situation, the KPA General Staff in charge of all operations will take powerful practical military counteractions in succession,” it said.
Under normal circumstances this is gag material for “Team America 2″ but Ed’s right about the significance of the North kicking South Koreans out of the Kaesong industrial complex. That shows greater seriousness of purpose than usual. Question: Is there any way to deter them short of cataclysmic war? The Pentagon’s sending missile defenses to Guam to show Kim that his chance of hitting U.S. territory is even lower than he thinks, but that’s not really deterrence. If Kim fires something off, it’ll be in the course of fully committing to war with South Korea. He’ll have nothing to lose at that point by taking an extra potshot at America. Typically I’d assume that the way to rein in North Korea is to put pressure on China, but Chinese pressure on NK and Kim’s resulting insecurity probably contributed to the recent escalation. China won’t double down for fear of what Kim might do next. And if Japan and South Korea try to make them double down by declaring that they’ll go nuclear, that might spook Kim into an invasion of the South that he otherwise wouldn’t undertake.
At a minimum, you’d think that the saber-rattling of the last few weeks would put an end to negotiations with NK once and for all, but that could have the same “nothing left to lose” effect on the North Korean leadership’s war plans as regional proliferation would. What now except paying the danegeld again once they ask for it? Is there any sort of preemptive attack (short of a comprehensive nuclear one, which would never happen) that might take out North Korean artillery, at least, before it can do major damage to Seoul? I’m guessing no, and even if there was that wouldn’t stop a North Korean invasion of the South. What’s the game plan now, coach?
Update: Another X factor: What if Kim’s lost control of the military?
There have been defections of small units of North Korean soldiers to China – soldiers who were subsequently turned around and sent back to North Korea, says retired Brig. Gen. Russell Howard, former commander of the 1st Special Forces Group, which has an Asia Focus.
This may seem like a positive development, but it is a problem because it means that Kim may feel the need to reassert his control over the military, by beating the war drum and trying to get his troops to rally around it. The more he needs their support, the harder he might beat the drum.
That assumes that this is all for show. If Kim himself or his handlers fear that the military’s at risk of falling apart, whether through defections, deterioriating materiel, or for other reasons, then they may conclude that they have to attack South Korea now before they lose the capability altogether. And then there’s this:
The concern is that as a favored, privileged son, perhaps he doesn’t realize the seriousness of his actions. “This kid who they have as a leader now is perhaps starting to believe his own press,” Howard says.
“I was fairly certain that his father was rational – or at least had people around him that wouldn’t let him carry out these threats. His grandfather played it to the hilt successfully,” he adds. “I just don’t know with this young Kim.”
He’s young, quite possibly stupid, and also quite possibly drunk on the compulsory adulation he’s getting. All bets are off.
I agree with the fact that China has a hold on far too much American production.
Bring it back to America.
NOW.
On the other hand the flights don't appear very full so maybe at least ten more final warning could not hurt...
Take a look around. Quite a few “nuke’em” cowboys around here.
Each nuke has a definitive footprint. It has to do with how the materials are enriched. Within an hour, most any NEST team in the world will be able to tell where the materials originated.
A little “horse already out of the barn”, but that’s how it’s done.
No need to worry about Kim and NK, Obama has distinguished himself as the first Prsident to apologize to other nations for the behavior of the United States. Watch Obama apologize!
I love how these amateurs are playing Obama’s game of brinkmanship...and winning!
Winning in the sense that I heard that the US is willing to send them food if they’d just calm down a bit...
>>>>“Try to imagine 25 million useless people with their heads full of loony ideas that would have to be deprogrammed before even teaching them the basics of what to do with themselves in a modern economy. “
Are you talking about North Koreans or the urban dwellers of the USA?<<<<
A generation after reunification Germany still pouring billions in development of it’s russified east and it doesn’t help much.
Now compare Norks and East Germany. It’s a mule vs BMW.
If you consider the implications of a reflagged fishing trawler with a lead-lined compartment in the hold showing up in Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, Boston...really any large US city with coastal exposure...it’s not ten years off. It’s right now. Given our current leadership, the Norks could probably sail one right up the Potomac.
A slippery slope?
At Wilshire elementary, San Antonio (within Cuban missile range) we would do that, and tuck our heads between our legs, covering up with our arms.
We understood even then that we did this so we could kiss our butts goodbye.
Recall then that we had a tough-talking Dem CIC who had been shown up over the U2 incident, at the Vienna Conference and the Bay of Pigs.
Books are full of World War III scenarios where country A nukes country B; country B retaliates against country C; country C retaliates against country D ... pretty soon everyone blows up everyone else.
Did you ever see a nuclear reaction modeled with mouse traps loaded with ping-pong balls?
The Mouse that Roared.
When I read that, I actually pictured Obama as Zoltar.
LOL.
It's on YouTube.
But with regard to World War III ... I think that this simulation is very, very applicable. When nukes start flying countries will be forced to launch whatever they have, against those who are responsible and against those who haven't launched yet. There won't be time to investigate. NK can become an initiator of such a chain reaction.
The World War III is not a certainty, of course, even if NK manages to set up a few explosions in a few countries. (If they do, I'm pretty sure they will do it by smuggling a nuke in, not by flying it on a poorly made rocket.) It all depends on rational thinkers in governments of victim countries.
...sounds like something Borat would say
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