"If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures,"Given the lack of force projection capabilities possessed by the People's Democratic Republic, it's hard to imagine what these physical measure might be. Holding their breath until they turn blue? Rolling on the floor and pounding on the carpet?
Their realistic options for striking directly at the US (as opposed to launching a general war on the penninsula) are limited, and none posit good outcomes for Kim Jong Il & Co.:
1) Smuggle a nuke into the US, perhaps into a port via container ship. In this scenario, they set off a fifteen kiloton warhead in the harbor of, say, Seattle or LA. In return, they get a fifteen megaton airburst over Pyongyang. It's hard to see what they gain there.
2) A strike on US facilities in Japan or South Korea. This brings additional nations into the war, and creates a remilitarized Japan, something no Asian nation wants to see.
3) Well, numbers one and two are really their only alternatives...
Also, it seems that the Norks are busy finding out the hard way that, if it comes to choosing which is the more important trading partner, Beijing is going to pick Bentonville, Arkansas over Pyongyang any day of the week.
Although it doesn't look like Kimmy boy can do much to the US from where he is, he can put a royal hurting on Seoul. He's got something like 100k artillery tubes within range of the city, and could cause nuclear-like destruction on the city even without an actual nuke. Those tubes are a large part of why South Korea has been so soft with them. (Refugees being another major part of it)
ReplyDeleteSo, he can do some really bad stuff without actually hitting the US. I'm definitely not sure what the best course of action is, but I'm sure glad I'm not the one who has to make the decision and have the results on his conscience.
Ugh... grammar nazi's, halve at that previous post! :)
ReplyDeleteEverytime I see the stuff this guy does (not to mention his crazy little buddy in Iran), the phrase "suicide by cop" -- on an international level, pops into my head...
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say. He's nutty, but is he THAT nutty? Does he really want to die? And, perhaps more importantly, how nutty are his generals? If he says "Raunch the nukes!", will they say "Yes, sir, Dear Leader" or "Following a sudden illness, Kim Il Jong has abdicated leadership of North Korea..."
ReplyDeleteAll of that doesn't change the fact that he's still so ronery.
ReplyDeleteMy fear is that
ReplyDelete(#3)the GFWs who seem to have taken over this country would let him get away with it.
Mel
Mebbe the GFWs in this country would let the Norks get away with it, but the Sorks WON'T.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen of them, they're spring-loaded to the "Bring it!" mode, and any southbound projectile would cause them to open their giant can of kimchee-flavored whupass.
Which means does the U.S. abandon an ally or jump in??
Pyongyang seems to forget that no peace treaty ended the Korean War, only a ceasefire. Of course, many Americans don't know what that means, either.
ReplyDeleteIn return, they get a fifteen megaton airburst over Pyongyang. It's hard to see what they gain there.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time seeing that happening. Not that I disagree with the sentiment. Just that I have a hard time seeing it happen. "Those at the top" have lost the cojones for this sort of thing.
I think what we should do is this: send a couple cruise missles into Pyongyang, but instead of an explosive payload they'd dump leaflets. The leaflets would explain, in Korean, that if their Beloved Leader refused to dismantle their nuclear program in 72 hours, the next missles would have a payload of an entirely different nature.
ReplyDeleteOf course, *our* leaders would have to have the fortitude to actually send a follow-on salvo.
All of that is pleasant to think about, but the commenter's are right...we haven't the balls for it unless:
ReplyDeleteNoKo uses it's nuke first and it actually works...even a partial blast in an allied city wouldn't prod Western leaders into growing a pair.
Even so...popping a real nuke over Pyongyang would be seen as 'over-reacting' by the kissy-kissy set.
Best solution - kill the little squirt, then kill his successor, and his successor, and then his.
By that time you should be down to the People's First Deputy of night soil management - probably somebody worth talking to.
I disagree.
ReplyDeleteKabul came within a millimeter of getting nuked after 911 ... the spec-ops war there was an act of mercy.
If the viscious dwarf gets stupid, a lot of people living in North Korea are going to get killed very quickly.
Hmm ...
ReplyDeleteIF they've got another one and IF it's portable, it strikes me as one of the worst things they could do as far as the Western nations are concerned would be to put it (and as many more as they can put together) on the global market.