N. Korea threatens US; world anticipates missile

Scary, indeed. Kim Jong Il is (IMO) mentally unstable AND he is a far greater threat to our national security than Saddam ever was.

(You know you've been on allnurses.com too long when you start to type 'threat' and it comes out 'thread'. )

My sentiments exactly, Elvish.

Bush fiddled in Iraq while NK burned......with nuke fever.

OK, so it's a badly worded analogy, but y'all get the picture. Saddam was evil, but Kim Jong Il is evil AND crazier than an outhouse rat.

'nuff said.:stone

Respectfully, I don't think we can lay this at Bush's feet. North Korea has been a thorn in the US's side for over 50 years. They started out as a pawn in the cold war between the US and the USSR and continued on as a loose cannon after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

There are quite a few chickens coming home to roost, here ... probably about evenly distributed between Dems and Republicans, conservatives and liberals. I'm sure the effect the Bush administration had on US foreign relations hasn't helped ... but the roots go way back and are probably impossible to kill.

The US government made a choice during WW2 to race the nazis to build an atomic bomb ... and used it to end a war that was killing our people at a horrendous rate. Whether that choice was right or wrong is a subject for another thread ... it ended the war with Japan quickly, which was the government's job.

The nuclear weapon genie has been out of the bottle ever since ... it was only a matter of time.

If there was ever a time for international cooperation, this is it.

No worries, the current administration will use diplomacy to prevent N. Korea from developing and testing nuclear bombs and long range missiles. It's hard to see why this is even a problem. Didn't N. Korea promise to Clinton and Carter not to make any bombs in return for food, aid, and nuclear reactors? Surely Kim Jong IL wouldn't lie.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/...7/164846.shtml

I would like to know what you propose as an alternative to diplomacy. Bomb them back into the stone age ... as I've seen recommended for every enemy we've had since Vietnam?

Feh ... there's plenty of dirt on both sides of the street. Keep wasting time pointing fingers and eventually Kim Jong Il, or some other megalomaniac, is going to bite it off.

I'm neither democrat nor republican ... in fact, I'm a flaming radical ... so I don't see much difference between those parties.

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, this is true. It makes sense to look at the roots of a problem to figure out how to solve it. However, I don't think we learn much from wasting energy trying to score debating points.

You're right, it's easy to cast stones without offering an alternative. Here's how I'd handle N. Korea. First, it's naive for us to assume Mr. Kim will keep any promises so giving him more gifts is not realistic. I'd use our satellites to monitor and report his actions. Encourage the UN to pass whatever resolutions they may deem appropriate. Encourage N. Korea's neighbors to negotiate with them. If China told N. Korea to cease and desist, I think they'd listen. I'd also make sure we had missile defense setup to protect from anything coming from the Far East.

If N. Korea fired a single missile at the US then I'd use standoff weapons to destroy their military. Then S. Korea could work on unifying Korea.

Now, what would you propose doing about N. Korea?

I do agree there is not much difference between the Dems and Reps. Both like to send our troops overseas. It's just a difference in where they want to send them.

First, what's a stand-off weapon?

I'm not a foreign policy wonk, so I honestly don't have any concrete ideas as to specific action ... I think that your ideas have a lot of merit ... with an emphasis on international cooperation.

Letting the US be cast as the bad guy here, by taking unilateral action, is just playing into the nutjob's delusional system. Short of an actual attack against which we have to defend, I think pushing for international action is the way to go.

I really do think there's something to your notion of asking China to exert some pressure. They have a lot to lose, these days. As for the UN, I've long thought that they need more teeth, so to speak. Resolutions are great rhetorical constructs ... but if they can't be enforced, that's all they are. If this loon were a patient, he would have landed in seclusion in restraints after the first test. Unfortunately, there's no international court or authority that can override national sovereignty in situations like this. The US tried that in Iraq and look where that got us!

Let me also say that my pacifism extends only to the point where someone's fist hits my nose. I just hope it doesn't come to that.

IMHO, I'm afraid we set ourselves up for incidents like this when we took on the role of the world's policeman with such gusto over the years. When you're king of the hill, you become the target for everyone with a grudge.

By standoff weapons I mean cruise missiles, bombs, and in some cases artillery, anything that doesn't require putting troops on the ground. If N. Korea fired a missile at the US I'd be happy to program a couple of cruise missiles with his sunny face and send them over to brighten his day, to about 10 million degrees. Then just send a courtesy note saying we dearly hope the next leader is not quite so persnickity. Oh, and maybe some flowers too, lilies would be nice.

The world can "anticipate" all it wants.

Fact: No idiot running a country is going to lauch a WMD at the US. To do so is to invite instant disaster. From the mullahs running Iran to the dynasty in control of North Korea - everyone knows this (other than us, if usual news media is to be believed).

The Soviets at the height of the Cold War had thousands of nuclear warheads aimed at us... and we survived.

The Koreans can play the brinkmanship game all they want.
My opinion?

Halt any and all contacts with the Hermit Kingdom - short of trade. Remove all US troops from South Korea (why are we still there?)

This is a problem that the Koreans - North and South - need to solve by themselves. Our meddling in their affairs doesn't help.

The US Government needs to stop behaving as the "World Policeman".
We have enough troubles at home as it is...

cheers,