What the hell is wrong with North Korea lately, your thoughts....

[south]

On a more serious note though, I believe they declared the 1953 armistice to be invalid last month
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...052600555.html

Which would significantly raise the stakes imo...

Wow... Ok, let's squash them like a bug!

But seriously, I wouldn't object to a sending a nice little cruise missile to Mr Jong-Il's residence and let the North Korean people decide what to do after.

[Raider]

If the US deems that the launch of an NK 4000 mile range missle in the direction of Hawaii as an act of war, then...

What N. Korea is doing has "nothing" to do with the US and Obama remember?

You may want to go to the library and brush up on your ignorance.

[draggar]

On a more serious note though, I believe they declared the 1953 armistice to be invalid last month
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...052600555.html

Which would significantly raise the stakes imo...

Don't they do this every few years to rattle their sabres?

Also - IMO if they do fire the missile to Hawaii, I call that an act of war and an official declaration of war. If they fire, I say we fire back.

[biggedon]

i'm so glad that none of you guys have access to the keys or are in any position to press the button to launch any missles!

[INVIGOR]

Reminds me of this joke. Now NOTE, this is JUST A FREAKING JOKE and yes I've modified it a bit:

So, Did you hear the one about the Cowboy, The Indian & the NORTH KOREAN Extremist?

Three strangers awaiting their flights strike up a conversation in the airport passenger lounge in Bozeman, Montana. One is an American Indian passing through from Lame Deer. Another is a Cowboy on his way to Billings for a livestock show. And the third is a fundamentalist NORTH KOREAN student, newly arrived at Montana State University from the NORTH KOREA who is headed to a training conference in Detroit.

Their discussion drifts to their diverse cultures. Soon, the two Westerners learn that the student is a devout, radical KOREAN who supports Jong-Il, so the conversation falls into an uneasy lull. The cowboy leans back in his chair, crosses his boots on a magazine table and tips his big sweat-stained hat forward over his face. The wind outside is blowing tumbleweeds around, and the old windsock is flapping; but still . . . no plane comes.

Finally, ! the American Indian clears his throat and softly, he speaks, "At one time here, my people were many, but sadly, now we are few."

The Korean student raises an eyebrow and leans forward, "Once my people were few," he sneers, "and now we are many. Why do you suppose that is?"

The Montana cowboy shifts his toothpick to one side of his mouth and from the darkness beneath his Stetson says in a drawl, "That's 'cause we ain't played Cowboys and Koreans yet, . . . but I do believe it's a-comin'."

[mulligan]

That's not a joke, it's an insight to your mind and the way you think.

[INVIGOR]

mulligan: Yes, you're right! I'm a latin american hispanic racist bigot with a particular disdain for North Koreans... Um yeah... Have you sharpened the point above your ears today?

The preamble was directed and inserted specifically for folks at the ready with a stirring stick, such as yourself.

I'm curious, are you from North Korean or of origins from the original rendition of the joke, which I remind you I did not write!

Give me a break...

[Focus]

F*CK NK!

[Dale Hubbard]

F*CK NK!

Exactly.

[Anthony Ng]

F*CK NK!

Now this is what I would say the most well thought out and sophisticated post in this thread so far. Kudos!

[Dale Hubbard]

Now this is what I would say the most well thought out and sophisticated post in this thread so far. Kudos!

I agree, but the beauty of it is as a summation of sentiment with the barest minimum of verbiage -- i.e. it 'does what it says on the tin' and in six letters to boot.

[Raider]

i'm so glad that none of you guys have access to the keys or are in any position to press the button to launch any missles!

If members like myself had access to the button, this World would be a much safer place.

[Anthony Ng]

I agree, but the beauty of it is as a summation of sentiment with the barest minimum of verbiage -- i.e. it 'does what it says on the tin' and in six letters to boot.

A major flaw of such oversimplification is that, by "creating" a public enemy, one loses sight of the complexity of Realpolitik. For instance, some naively think that China would aggresively back the North Korean Kim regime (like they did in the 1950s), not knowing that circumstances now are VERY different from those back then (with e.g. South Korea now being one of their BIGGEST foreign investors).

Again, if any foreign country is to intervene (not counting South Korea), it would be China, which shares a common border with North Korea, and any instability there would prompt a HUGE influx of refugees. (For those who know NOTHING about Korea and Asia, there are MILLIONS of Korean descent living in China right now, at least partly a result of the turmoil in the area during the first half of the last century.)

More importantly, most sensible minds would not dare to relive that ugly chapter of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians during the second US invasion of Iraq. Getting rid of the Kim (FYI: Kim, NOT Jong-il, is the family name) regime is one thing, waging an all out war against North Korea won't even get the nods of most South Koreans.

Yes, the real world is complicated.

If members like myself had access to the button, this World would be a much safer place.

Yeah, I'm sure the world would be much safer when we all play with clubs and stones, AFTER people like you gained access to that button AND PRESSED IT. LOL!

[acronym007]

What I would really do, which is no declaration of war. I would set up Patriot missile batteries in SK and Japan, or use what's currently set up. Maybe a a few US Naval Cruisers. I would not allow NK to test long range missiles. I would attempt to shoot it out of the sky over open territory. What would be their complaint? No civilians harmed but a message would be sent. I agree with others though, it's like a little kid with a temper tantrum, in the long run this amount to nothing.

Those with the biggest mouths often yield the least power.

[draggar]

If members like myself had access to the button, this World would be a much safer place.

The world would be a much better place if "the button" didn't exist but humans being humans we would have invented better buttons.

What I would really do, which is no declaration of war. I would set up Patriot missile batteries in SK and Japan, or use what's currently set up. Maybe a a few US Naval Cruisers. I would not allow NK to test long range missiles. I would attempt to shoot it out of the sky over open territory. What would be their complaint? No civilians harmed but a message would be sent. I agree with others though, it's like a little kid with a temper tantrum, in the long run this amount to nothing.

Not a bad solution and it could easily been said that the trajectory of the missile put Japan, Hawaii, the US, etc.. at risk.

[Gerry]

Members perception on Swine flu is -

Why all the fuss? 36,000 people die of flu every year.

The reality is that is normal flu under normal conditions during normal flu season.

----

Appling that same logic to NK and nuclear weapons -

Why all the fuss? Only 140,000 people died in the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima?

For the sake of saving some the task of explaining things to me,
it is a rhetorical question that requires no answer.

[Adatise]

You conveniently forget the Carter years and the Iran Hostage Crisis, it may not of been on US soil, but it clearly showed the end result of a weak President taking the diplomatic approach.... The seizure of our Embassy was only to last a few days, but thanks to Jimmy Carter (your hero I'm sure), he turned it into a diplomatic crisis that lasted 444 days.

And let us not forget 1961, The Vienna summit when JFK met with Nikita Khrushchev, It was Kennedy's ego and inexperienced handling of this meeting that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which nearly caused a nuclear war between the U.S. and USSR.

What's so laughable about you Liberals is that History teaches you NOTHING.

Yes, I concur. I was thinking about Carter before I read your post. JFK came closer to getting us all killed than any other President or cause ever. Nobody knew how close we really were to nuclear war until later, other than a few elite Government officials well hidden underground or in other countries. I agree with you fully. Well wrote Raider. Both were terrible presidents IMO. The two worst in my lifetime anyway.

[JMJ]

A dead man can't defend himself so those still alive can make up whatever story they wish. You should look into what George Bush Sr was doing down south between Florida and Cuba during the missile crisis. His oil company was a CIA front and he was launching covert operations in Cuba to enrage the crisis. Hoover was making plans with Kennedy to shut down the CIA during the time. This along with Kennedy trying to restore sound money is what got him killed.

[tekz999]

I heard eating too much spicy kim chee, and lead to aggression. I also heard if each of us just spit a drop of saliva, north korea will be flooded and submerged into the abyss.

[Anthony Ng]

I heard eating too much spicy kim chee, and lead to aggression. I also heard if each of us just spit a drop of saliva, north korea will be flooded and submerged into the abyss.

LOL! My wife and I (esp her) LOVE kimchi (even though we're not of Korean descent). Historically, the Koreans have been the victims of aggression (from both China and Japan). And like most Japanese (or Chinese, or Canadians, or Cubans), most Koreans are peace-loving folks.

And thanks for your reminder, perhaps it's time for me to go to a Korean restaurant today.