North Korea just launched an ICBM - CONFIRMED.

a reply to: ghaleon12

There is nothing to start - war exists between all parties and has done so since the 1950's. The only thing in place was essentially a cease fire. There is no permanent peace in place and all sides remain technically at war.

China is part of the issue for propping up the N. Korean regime.
Russia is part of the problem because its predecessor, the USSR, are the ones who gave nukes to North Korea in the first place.

China and Russia are demanding no military action because they know the longer they drag this out the more dangerous a military option against N. Korea becomes.

a reply to: Xcathdra

There is no win here, we either starve them out and cost many innocents their lives in the north alone, but it fails because the south and chinese run in to feed them for some false concession on the north's part.

Otherwise a shooting war puts our people and millions in Seoul under an unprecedented artillery barrage.

This launch is beyond significant Because No one is admitting that these launches could essentially put a nuke into orbit or a satellite containing such into orbit, ready to deorbit onto any point on earth. In fact they could have orbited one with this launch.

The Ka`rama`n Line is the approximate edge of space at 100Km or 62 miles.

If this reached 2800 miles in altitude, its ridiculous altitude, the International Space Station is at 200 miles youre talking 14x times higher. A flight time of 37 minutes.

For example space X falcon 9 can reach low earth orbit of 451 miles and deploy 10 iridum satellites properly spaced across the equator in about 30 mins. Otherwise LEO orbits of falcon 9 take about 19 mins to reach altitude and deploy a single satellite. Most ICBM launches boost to speed for 10 mins and have a further flight of 20 mins at speed. 20 mins at speed is 4500km or Moscow to NYC

The altitude achieved puts everyone at risk. EVERY ONE

a reply to: Merivin

Win what ?

It depends on how you perceive the event.

A wasteland

No. A war. A war against a threat, that you don't see to really understand. Nuclear threat. The ability to decimate great amounts of life. Quite a substantial threat.

How badly you underestimate tenacity of your perceived enemy

How do I perceive an enemy when I have none. You can't use emotion when you conceive tactics, it interferes with your strategy. I just know some of the things our military can do, I am low balling it if anything.

a reply to: Xcathdra

Eh, that's kinda some BS. Kim is not going to go against his own best interests. And his rhetoric or weapons even don't go against that. Unless he can blackmail to get more cheese, that's about the extent of the threat.

Essentially worth billions when he can look around his country and see he is the same as those starving....it's arguably a more dangerous position than those that actually die. That's not being in a position of power.

ATS at one point was consumed by an almost guaranteed Iran war threat, and to say it went on for months would be modest, and that never transpired nor does it remotely seem the case now.

After North Korea launched an intermediate ballistic missile into Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone this week, some analysts warned that North Korea already has the capability to make a nuclear warhead missile hit Alaska, but one expert warns that threat assessment is “outdated.”

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., told TheBlaze last week that there is evidence to suggest that North Korea is currently able to strike not only Alaska with a nuclear warhead, but the U.S. West Coast, and beyond.

Klingner said that while North Korea’s launch on Tuesday involved an intermediate range missile, capable of reaching Alaska or Hawaii, the country has also experimented with longer-range missiles, called intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

These long-range missiles, Klingner said, could potentially reach as far as New York City, Miami and Washington, D.C.

Source

So, this begs the question:

Since Diplomacy has failed repeatedly
and....
Since sanctions have failed repeatedly

What will President Trump do now?

More sanctions? Why try that if they don't work?
More diplomacy? Why try endless talks if they don't work?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the longer we stall on NK, the more likely NK will be to kill millions of Americans. If we attack first, many could die. Imho many more will die should we drop the ball - again - and let Lil' Kim perfect his wmd's.

a reply to: dianajune

Legal, or not, just send a cruise missile to Kim's location at that moment. Take the heat for saving millions of men/women/children...and animals. It's worth the blowback!

Here's an interesting tidbit re. NK's ICBM's:

Unlike other North Korean missiles, the intercontinental-range Hwasong-14 missile uses a "shroud," or a hollow cover instead of a more solid nosecone, researchers have discovered.

ICBMs generally use shrouds if one is "planning on launching multiple reentry vehicles or added countermeasures," David Schmerler, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies told Business Insider.

Shrouds usually indicate that a missile has multiple, independent nukes for a payload, according to Schermler. A missile with multiple nuclear warheads can not only do more damage to its target, but also pose a greater challenge for missile defenses.

While Schmerler said there is "no indication" that North Korea has developed technology to miniaturize warheads such that it could fit multiple nukes in a single missile, it could have installed countermeasures in the shroud that would render US defenses all but useless.

Source

This keeps getting better and better. Something has to be done before NK decides to use its nukes. A sane person wouldn't do so as it would be suicidal, but we all know Lil' Kim is not sane and he is pure evil.

I wonder if Trump and Putin discussed it? If the G20 will discuss it? The G20 wont want an armed conflict, just more sanctions, and more useless sanctions.

Imagine if Russia joined an allegiance with US, SK and Japan to take out all the silo's, artillery and C2 assets!

Considering NK has every incentive to not start trouble, there won't be any.

originally posted by: ghaleon12
Considering NK has every incentive to not start trouble, there won't be any.

They have an incentive not to start trouble until they strengthen their forces even more and gain more confidence.

The strategic patience is great for North Korea's military strength.

What happens tomorrow if crazy fat boy is diagnosed with a terminal disease? Can we trust him sane enough to not use his military might and follow up on his daily threats?

No.

We need to take care of this problem now. no more waiting.

originally posted by: xstealth

originally posted by: ghaleon12
Considering NK has every incentive to not start trouble, there won't be any.

They have an incentive not to start trouble until they strengthen their forces even more and gain more confidence.

The strategic patience is great for North Korea's military strength.

What happens tomorrow if crazy fat boy is diagnosed with a terminal disease? Can we trust him sane enough to not use his military might and follow up on his daily threats?

No.

We need to take care of this problem now. no more waiting.

Strengthen their forces and then what? Take over the world? Meanwhile, SK and the US are also improving their military strength...and economically much more able to do so.

If he gets a terminal illness? And the 99% chance that doesn't happen in his 30s or even 40s? It's irrelevant, his old man went without any fuss.

The US has been engaged in almost constant military action for the past 100+ years. How that gets simultaneously condemned and condoned, I don't know.

This NK stuff is utter BS, and sick. Nothing now is that vastly different than it was years ago. "No more waiting" and I'm sure you'll jump right on the bandwagon for the millions that would die, and put your life on the line as well.