North Korea just launched an ICBM - CONFIRMED.

a reply to: Blaine91555

Could he not land it near the coast of the US in the ocean, detonate it, and wreak havoc with a man-made tsunami? I figure that would be more effective, and also require to be less accurate.

I think force should be a last resort.

I was against Libya and Syria intervention, and find many of the official claims about why those interventions were needed to be skeptical.

But this feels different.

It seems that North Korea and the U.S. and others are confirming this.

I hope that the situation can be resolved without the loss of life, but if not, may it reaction be so swift and brutal that it takes as little lives as possible to resolve.

North Korea can not be allowed to use a nuclear weapon.

I know there is a lot of political divide in the U.S. and around the world, but I think we can all agree that stopping a nuclear attack is a priora.

a reply to: Blaine91555

The problem is that it's not just us. If war with the North breaks out South Korea and Japan are going to get hammered. We can't act unilaterally when through South is going to take brutal casualties and lose so much of their infrastructure.

a reply to: Grambler

I hope that the situation can be resolved without the loss of life, but if not, may it reaction be so swift and brutal that it takes as little lives as possible to resolve.

Thats just the thing, it won't be. This won't be the same as chasing Iraqi armor across the desert. This is a firmly entrenched, well equipped army with high morale. Their hatred for the americans runs deep, multigenerational. Open the negotiations and bring them to the bargaining table. War is not the way forward.

I think everyone also needs to remember the Korean war never ended. All that is in place right now is a temporary halt in fighting.

North Korea will never agree to become a part of a unified Korea under Seoul and South Korea will never agree to become a part of a unified Korea under Pyongyang.

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: eriktheawful

Yeah, but which is smarter, stop him now or wait until he poses a substantial threat.

I'm of the opinion the world has waited too long already.

Ah!

Now that's a good question.

Do we go in or not? Do we pre-empt or not? Do we wait instead and see?

We could go in first, but that has a lot of problems, mainly with it causing a lot of Koreans to die, and 2nd of all: we already have a bad rep with the rest of the world right now as "the bad guys who stick their nose where it doesn't belong"

Or we could wait and see what happens. Which might result in a crazy world leader ending up with effective nuclear weapons and a real working delivery system........who ends up actually using it. Which of course would result in a lot of screaming and yelling about how we (the US) should have done something.

The problem with nukes is: no....not everyone should have them. During the years of the Cold War, MAD worked for the most part.

But that's because cooler heads prevailed and most countries leaders really didn't want to have an all out nuclear war.

What happens when you end up with countries that firmly believe that being a martyr is what gets you into their version of heaven? That the after life is where we all should be and not this world? That it's okay to slaughter everyone? Or leaders who would rather go out in a blaze of glory? Or leaders that actually think that nukes are the perfect blackmail weapon to make demands with?

When I was a lot younger, I used to hope that there never would be any kind of nuclear war.

Now? Now I just hope that where ever it happens, it's far enough away to not have any effect on me and my family.

a reply to: eriktheawful

Then how about a busboy and a silencer?

a reply to: Xcathdra

Well....not saying it can't happen, but I'm thinking it happens more in movies than in real life.

Consider also: this is NK.......I'm betting it's a lot harder it get someone that close to little Kim that hasn't been so vetted, it's most likely easier to have a sniper from a mile away.

But, just because you remove him, doesn't mean that NK government would change over night that quickly, nor their ambitions.

Just a little saber rattling, that's all. I don't think these guys are a real threat to anyone, nor do I think they're interested in committing what would amount to national suicide.

But then there's Trump... guess we'll have to see.

(first post, yippee)

originally posted by: Broot
Just a little saber rattling, that's all. I don't think these guys are a real threat to anyone, nor do I think they're interested in committing what would amount to national suicide.

But then there's Trump... guess we'll have to see.

(first post, yippee)

Welcome to ATS then! : )

I am ok with saber rattling, we've seen it for a long time. However, nuclear-powered saber rattling is another matter entirely, and can't be simply ignored.

originally posted by: THirdKinds
a reply to: Blaine91555

North Korea will suspend it's nuclear program when the USA gets off it's doorstep.
Would americans like it much if Red China or Russia was on the Canadian or Mexican border with a huge troop presence, practicing wargames all the time?
South Korea doesn't even want the mericans there. Time for the US to get out.

Some South Korean citizens don't want the U.S. there. The government does want them there. And you are very naive if you think NK would simply suspend their nuclear program if the U.S. fully pulled from South Korea. If anything, it would give them confidence, and they would strive even harder to become a superpower (in their own minds).

a reply to: CriticalStinker

its good for nk if indeed trillions of dollars of minerals were discovered there

During this launch, Kim Jong sat OUTSIDE AT THE BASE OF A MOUNTAIN to watch. He does this frequently.

Why doesn't the USA send a low-yield cruise missile to Kim's table, while he's sitting there having an orgasm over these launches?

I'm totally perplexed by our lack of action at those opportune times.

a reply to: Broot

Expect there to be retaliation.

it's going to be a long night for them.

a reply to: 3daysgone

After that, China, Russia, etc could respond the same to the US-WWIII. A million scenarios- None which favor the US. We don't have any powerful allies-and why is that? Hmmmmm Lots of little guys like Great Britain, Canada, etc but no fire power. We are in deep doo doo. We sure made a mess in Korea in the 50s. Just like Viet Nam. Makes one wonder.

Check out the trash-talk from Kim today.

""Kim Jung described the ICBM as a gift for the “American bastards” as they celebrated the anniversary of their country’s independence. Kim did not stop there, blithely urging his nuclear scientists to “frequently send big and small ‘gift packages’ to the Yankees” in the form of yet more missile and nuclear tests.

After inspecting the Hwasong-14 missile, he “expressed satisfaction, saying it looked as handsome as a good-looking boy and was well made”."

Full Story, w/Image of Celebration: www.theguardian.com...

a reply to: Justso

Except all those countries agree with the US and are on the same side here.

So many people on here don't understand the power of a nuclear weapon

They are not anywhere as devastating as you may think

MORE than two thousand detonations have occurred in Utah ALONE

MORE than two thousand

I'm pretty sure people still live in Utah

:

One guy even said "use a nuke to create a tsunami", laughable

a reply to: Blaine91555

Wouldn't it be hilarious if Fatboy starts launching and hitting the USSR, China and itself because he was too hasty and excited to make sure of the accuracy of his devices? And even funnier if he is using a compilation from those countries to build his?

That would just be too beautiful.

a reply to: Dfairlite

Oh, really-you believe that? They hate us. They arn't our allies or friends---just economic trading buddies. Don't confuse the two.

a reply to: Justso

They are also greedy and don't want to split the pie with anyone new. If it was economical, they'd stab us in the back, no doubt. But as the largest economy and the only world super power, it's not economical.

What time is it in NK?