Comments | big_paul: North Korea tests nuke, maybe. Are we actually surprised?

big_paul

North Korea tests nuke, maybe. Are we actually surprised?

May 25, 2009 14:43

"No country without an atom bomb could properly consider itself independent."
-Charles De Gaulle.

Ah, yes, once again everybody's freaking out because North Korea tested a nuclear device.I say, "well, duh." What did people expect? The non-proliferation treaty says "OK, you guys without nukes, stay that way," but the other part of that deal is ( Read more... )

Comments 3

plaidrabbit75 May 26 2009, 12:01:43 UTC

See, but we do, Paul ( ... )

big_paul May 26 2009, 18:45:24 UTC

I don't think you can make a self-defense/self-interest argument that the USA, or China or Russia or the UK or whoever, should be even _worried_ about North Korea.

I mean, Kim Jong Il is a leader of a failed state, you're absolutely right. But none of the nuclear-armed countries have any reason to fear what action North Korea might take, because they all have credible retaliatory capability.

And that's only something to worry about in the first place, if you actually believe that North Korea has anything more sophisticated than a "fat man/little boy" type nuclear weapons that weigh about as much as a dump truck. Not something you can put in a Taipodong missile.

"N. Korea could be whipped in a matter of days, provided that the US wasn't alone. I also don't think it'd be all that difficult to get other countries (or, hell, the UN) to sign on to having a force go in and just eliminate this problem before it gets worse."Given the failed state situation, and things like starvation and stuff, I think this is absolutely right ( ... )

plaidrabbit75 May 26 2009, 23:59:41 UTC

Yeah, you're right about the two things with smaller countries. However, I think its more going to be cat and mouse, with the occasional mouse getting out of range. While this isn't the best, I think that when a country gets moved up to the "gold level" of countries (if you will), its easier to convince them not to use them through negotiations. That's just speculation, and it can also lead to crazy situations like Pakistan ("Our nukes are safe. Promise! See, I'm on The Daily Show telling you about it! How could you NOT believe me?") and the Taliban, its much worse to not be a seriously exclusive, limited-membership club. Most of the time, the "members" are able to talk one another into not using the things ( ... )