Nuclear weapons tests in Communist Totalitarian regimes are not funny, but I had to chuckle at this since it was just yesterday that an NK General said they would not "kneel" to the US.

Saying "I'm sorry and I won't do it again" sounds like kneeling to me.

I think some very serious threats must have been made behind the scenes.

I think some very serious threats must have been made behind the scenes.

I would most certainly agree. Sort of like... "Please stop now or else..." as the lead delegate hands Kim Jong a nice plaque and a hallmark card.

I think I'll file this one under the "If you believe this I have a bridge for sale." catagory. All that happened here is that China yanked on the leash of it's lap dog and made it heel.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
I think I'll file this one under the "If you believe this I have a bridge for sale." catagory. All that happened here is that China yanked on the leash of it's lap dog and made it heel.

Undoubtedly. But why? I think because of threats made by the US to NK through China.

The apology was given under extreme duress (while Britany Spears sang Whoops I did it again in the background).

China is the main provider of fuel and trade goods to NK. I think that the Chineese took NK to knock it off.

It was just making NK look stupid to the rest of the world.

This truely is disgusting.
When NK first did the tests everyone was in disagreement with what they did. Personally, although I didn't say much, I thought that they were doing the right thing. Kim was simply demonstrating his power peacefully. But that's not the case here.
The case here is you.
NK tests weapon: "He can't do that! Lets make jokes!"
NK apologises: "He submitted to us! Lets make jokes!"

Please guys. You can't have the best of both worlds. Be thankful he apologised. Be humble about it.

They still have the bomb though don't they? There is nothing that will reverse that fact. Our threats did nothing. This situation made us look like we are losing our international standing and puts China up a peg where they accomplished something with only words mano y mano.


Pie

It goes like this....

We dont talk to NK directly
We talk to China
We ask China to reign in there neighbor or there will be consequences
What kind of consequesnces? Who knows for sure..economic, military?
China tells NK to stop
NK gets all its food and oil from China
NK stops

You have to ask why it was in China's interest to get NK to stop.
Maybe because they know a NK/SK conflict will flash into global war very quickly and they dont want that?

Just one theory with no jokes.

Originally posted by darkbluesky
Just one theory with no jokes.

Yeah, I'm sorry DarkSky. The way people have been behaving toward this has been annoying me recently, thats all.

But personally I think it's just that NK was proud to announce their success, thinking the world would be impressed, and take them more seriously.
But instead it was viewed as a threat. I don't believe that Kim had any intention of causing in incident, let alone an international incident.
When US gave warnings, NK didn't comply. They just didn't want their submitance to be viewed as a weakness.
However, when China told them to stop, being an ally with trade agreements, saw this as an opportunity to save face - regardless of what US told China to do.

Originally posted by Gear
This truely is disgusting.
When NK first did the tests everyone was in disagreement with what they did. Personally, although I didn't say much, I thought that they were doing the right thing. Kim was simply demonstrating his power peacefully. But that's not the case here.
The case here is you.
NK tests weapon: "He can't do that! Lets make jokes!"
NK apologises: "He submitted to us! Lets make jokes!"

Please guys. You can't have the best of both worlds. Be thankful he apologised. Be humble about it.

Hay after it has been processed by a male cow! First thing NK did after popping their little firecracker was to threaten the rest of the world. I don't agree with your opinion that NK has the right to posess nuclear weapons, but that aside, the rest of the countries of the world have the right to disagree with NK and the right to not trade with or dissolve any relations with NK, without fear of threats. Right now NK is acting like a gangbanger who found a gun and is waving it around to try to show how bad he is.

[edit on 20-10-2006 by JIMC5499]

Originally posted by Gear

Originally posted by darkbluesky
Just one theory with no jokes.

Yeah, I'm sorry DarkSky. The way people have been behaving toward this has been annoying me recently, thats all.

But personally I think it's just that NK was proud to announce their success, thinking the world would be impressed, and take them more seriously.
But instead it was viewed as a threat. I don't believe that Kim had any intention of causing in incident, let alone an international incident.
When US gave warnings, NK didn't comply. They just didn't want their submitance to be viewed as a weakness.
However, when China told them to stop, being an ally with trade agreements, saw this as an opportunity to save face - regardless of what US told China to do.

No problem.

I don't understand North Korea. Can't Kim see that the workers paradise promised by Mao and Lenin isnt working? USSR saw it, China has seen it. His people are starving and freezing. Does he really think the US wants his end of the Peninsula? Why doesn't he renounce his nuke program and open the possibilities for international aid and assistance to raise the standard of living of his citizens?

My personal opinion is he is a megalomaniac.

I don't understand North Korea.

Yes it seems strange from our vantage point but I think it's easily explained. Our gov't did label them part of the "axis of evil." Look what we did to Iraq... there's plenty of reason for Kim to be concerned about us.

I guess China must have been pretty firm but offered assurances that they would not tolerate a US war on N. Korea. I don't think N. Korea is willling to switch ideologies just yet.... but if they come to the table for six-party talks, then I think that's a significant step back in the right direction.

It's just shameful that the US let the north korea thing get to this point. I agree with my buddy, Jim, Pelosi and the dems need to admit that they completely failed on this one and then resign and let the Republicans handle things.

It's just shameful that the US let the north korea thing get to this point. I agree with my buddy, Jim, Pelosi and the dems need to admit that they completely failed on this one and then resign and let the Republicans handle things.

Excuse me? How did they fail? Ok if you want to say dems failed let them resign and let reps handle it. By that logic I think the reps should resign over Iraq and let dems handle that. So reps handle NK and dems handle Iraq. Right...

Anyways, the Clinton admin kinda had their NK policy backwards. They allowed NK to get its hands on nuclear technology but they tried to block them from advancing their missile systems. The current administration doesn't seem to care about missiles so much but wants to block them from advancing their nuclear technology.

The difference is with the Clinton admin at least we were talking more with NK and they might have been willing to let international inspectors into their country. Instead we have grown distant and here we are in our current situation.

I'm not real keen on crazy commie dictators having all sorts of military goodies either, but I wouldn't sound the alarm just yet. China's concern has forced NK back to the negotiating table which is exactly what we wanted. Also..... like it or not, it's only a matter of time before other countries are capable of developing long range missiles, WMDs, etc..... It's better to have a constructive dialouge open with these folks.

Personally I don't care who has nukes. I wouldn't mind no one having them. There is no practical military use for nukes except as weapons of terror. There isn't a target in the world that cannot be eliminated by the use of conventional weapons. All a nuke is good for is as a "city buster", a way of killing large quantities of civilians at one time.

I wonder if he could be lying. Who knows