North Korea threatens US with first strike

North Korea is entitled to launch a pre-emptive strike against the US rather than wait until the American military have finished with Iraq, the North's foreign ministry told the Guardian yesterday.

Warning that the current nuclear crisis is worse than that in 1994, when the peninsula stood on the brink of oblivion, a ministry spokesman called on Britain to use its influence with Washington to avert war.

"The United States says that after Iraq, we are next", said the deputy director Ri Pyong-gap, "but we have our own countermeasures. Pre-emptive attacks are not the exclusive right of the US."

Link - www.guardian.co.uk...

Not a bad bit of journalism for the dreadful Manchester rag, deep-W. fellow-posters are however advised to follow the link as there is rather more there than this snippet might suggest.
I guess that depending upon what you mean by "entitled" any government sensing a much superior hostile power, distracted elsewhere, can say this - the Americans did just lately.Indeed, in 1812 -as a prelude to Mr Madison's War, they actually tried it.
Canada remains Canada

I'm shakin' in my shoes...(insert sarcasm here), anybody else?

A hunger-strike would be about the only strike they could manage that might embarrass the US.
indeed, I believe they began one some years ago.

"Man,
I'm shakin' in my shoes...(insert sarcasm here), anybody else?"

yes.
a volatile situation just got a little more volatile.
that always makes me nervous.

Estragon, I didn't know that you had that kind of humour.

Gazrok, me too, I'm shaking in my shoes...

Anyway, the N-Koreans aren't enough stupid to do that.It will give to the USA all the rights to wipe them out from the earth. And nobody, even China, Russia or France and Germany ( ) would have to say something.

If the N-Koreans strike first, they are DOOMED and they know it !!!

That tends to be the mistake and the weekness of countrys like the US.

They're a bull.

they can lock horns with another Bull and usually beat it back, but when confronted by a swarm of wasps they have no defence.

The war in Iraq is generating wasps. Lots of them.
the likelyhood is that the US will get stung by at least one of them.

I wouldn't be too sarcastic here. You should never understimate your opponents.

NKorea might not be as big as the US but have nuclear power technology that can be used against the US.

And being a comunist country they could have the backing of China. That is a heavy weight.

Laugh best who laughs last..

If I was living in america I don`t think I`d be laughing. Just because you think that the american army is almighty and will sweep everything from its path, does n`t mean to say it gonna happen. Arrogance has been more than one countrys downfall.
One of these days someones gonna give the US the spanking it needs and then you won`t be laughing.

When you want to spank someone, you have to be able to do it. Otherwise, it will be you who'll be spanked !

"When you want to spank someone, you have to be able to do it. Otherwise, it will be you who'll be spanked ! "

true but america will not always have its predominant position in the world and one of these days nations like India and China will be in a position of strength far greater than the americans.
Empires do not last forever and one day they will get a good spanking

To send nukes against America, you have to be one of two things:

1: Immensely Stupid...for you and you little dog Toto will get fried a hundred times over...

2: Plain nuts - unfortunately I sense those in Nth Korea with their fingers on the triggers fall into this category...


...I wouldn't discount Nth Korea lighting US soil up at all unfortunately...

I think the dear leader makes Saddam look sane. Reading this makes me wonder what NK is thinking:
"North Korea is entitled to launch a pre-emptive strike against the US"

sorry but he has a point.

If one country states that they will be bombing another country in the neer future, then the second country is entitled to make a pre emptive strike. its not even preemptive given that the first country has stated its a matter of time not of conviction.

If the USSR said they would launch a couple of dozen nukes at the US on March the 19th, the USA has a perfect right to launch first so long as its sure the USSR are imovable on the subject.

Luckily, the US hasn't stated anything of the sort as of yet. but with all the "your next" vibes eminating from it I wouldn't be massively surprised.

This NK stuff is quite interesting- the reason why NK is concerned about US right now is because we have a ship parked off their coastline. Not a very smart move when we have Desert Storm v2.0 escalating.

We always have ships in that area, what's new?
If Kim is suicidal, fine, but he shouldn't be trying to get his people hurt in the process. Bad enough the scum starves them.

By the way, who do you think is sending North Korea tons of food while this crap is being done? That's right, America. Bad ol', evil America.

Weíre all pretty much of the same mind here agreeing that Mr. Kim presents the image of a deranged and delusional personality. Weíve read the previous threads documenting North Korean people forced to eat grass to survive and being sent to gulags.

I tend to agree with zaxatron that itís never wise to under estimate an opponent, especially one whoís got access to nuclear weapons and appears illogical to say the least.

Even though the U.S. possesses far better technology and military resources, if North Korea got off even one nuke, it would be a very bad thing for everyone.

I canít even begin to guess whatís going on in Mr. Kimís head; how he could actually believe he can make such threats and win in a conflict with the U.S. But thatís why heís so dangerous! Heís appears deluded and deluded people act out their delusions as if whatís in their head is reality.

I hope this issue comes to a swift conclusion with as little loss of innocent life as possible.

Hoping that little guy wakes up and smells the coffee before itís too late,
Deep

We lost to the "wasp swarm" forces in Vietnam not due to any failing in the US military, but due to Washington not making a full committment to the problem (see Clinton in Somalia, etc.). This will not be a problem with the current administration. (I'm no Bush fan, the man's an idiot, but the administration as a whole, will not make those kind of mistakes).

Someone should "spank" the US eh? Well, this country was founded by people who weren't happy where they were and said, what the heck, I'll go over that ocean, and brave whatever comes my way. Just like on that plane on 9/11, when they knew what the other planes were doing, they said "you know what, I may die, but these bastards aren't going to succeed in what they're trying to do". That's the stock we're all made from. As far as fearing terrorist attacks, I don't plan on letting such fears change my way of life. They could happen whether or not anything happens to NK anyhow.

It's not underestimating...simply comparing a handful of rather shoddy tech nukes, and guerrilla warriors with old equipment, to the US's nuke arsenal, best-trained military, and superior technology. Not an estimate, but a simple evaluation...and I'm not shaking a bit...

Cassini: The US isn't an empire. If it were, most of the world would be part of the 'United States of Earth' by now.