North Korea. Threat?
Okay, getting past the massive MSM rhetoric and alarm bells, here’s the reality of N. Korea’s nuclear test:
The thing was 10 feet long, weighed 4 tons, massively heavy, and the explosion was only from about 550 to 1000 comparable tons of TNT. In other words, less than a single kiloton. The Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima in WWII weighed almost 9 tons and was a 15 kiloton blast.
This means one of two things. Either the device malfunctioned and went poop instead of pop, or the explosion was nothing more than conventional explosives. The explosion took place in an abandoned coal mine and there was no detectable leakage of radioactivity, which supports the real possibility that this was a fake nuke. It should have yielded a blast at least as big as Little Boy did, given the improvements in technology since 1945.
Whether fake or real, the device is far too large to be delivered by missile. Its weight would have to be reduced by a factor of 10 to 1. Otherwise it would have to be delivered by airplane.
North Korea is no threat to the United States, but it is an immediate threat to its neighbors, such as South Korea, China and Japan. Any attack on them would bring an immediate military response which would result in N. Korea being attacked by at least 3 different nations simultaneously and the ending of the regime. The whole point of developing nuclear weapons is to ensure survival of the regime, so an actual attack on anyone by N. Korea is extremely unlikely.
The real threat from North Korea, and the major concern, is their selling the technology to other nations and proliferating it, primarily to Iran.
Which brings us back to my old refrain, deal with Iran. Iran is the epicenter of global terrorism. The entire muslim world looks to Iran to see what they can get away with. Take out Iran and all the rest of the terrorist activity and Islamic screaming and yelling and cartoon bullcrap will simmer down to a whisper, and North Korea will be willing to deal with the world on a more reasonable level once again.
October 9th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
I am still waiting for some type of confirmation. Was it actually a nuclear test? No one has answered that question and are just assuming it was nuclear. I’m holding off and still just askin the question, did they, or didn’t they.
October 9th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
North Korea, poop, pop, or pouch?…
Did North Korea really test a nuclear bomb, and if so was it a small bomb, or was it a small portable nuclear device? PoliPundit says, “This “small test†was simply an advertisment to buyers that North Korea has a…
October 9th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
I don’t know where you got your NK test info, but I hadn’t seen that report yet. I saw someone had posted a seismograph report on Right Truth that isn’t what I was briefed. Also, I agree with dealing with Iran first. However, although I agree with taking out Iran, I don’t think that it eliminates the rest of the whackos. If anything, it will get worse. Do we have the commitment to stick to it? I don’t have that much confidence. Although you referred to me as eithe a Liar, an idiot, or both, I appreciated the back and forth banter.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:57 am
Nope, that wasn’t personal. That was a generalization. I posted a reply to you on Right Truth. That does look like I meant you, I agree. My apologies.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
The source with the seismograph has updated with more current seismographs and there does seem to be a tiny bit of activity in the expected range, but not enough for a nuclear bomb they don’t think.
October 10th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
I haven’t seen that detail yet either, reports seem somewhat varied in the UK press.
Whether the threat is real or not, it’s a major dilemna for Bush. I can’t help feeling that if the despised Clinton was still president he would actually be in a stronger position than Bush simply because the latter has talked so tough in the past.
It only makes sense to talk tough IF you are prepared to follow it through. Given the relative immunity of Korea to any form of sanctions, since they have virtually no trade or meaningful international relations except with China, there really is no effective action the US can take except a military one.
Unfortunately the US or any western nation have the major handicaps (apart from egomaniac dimwitted leaders that is ) of civililisation and democracy. Actions that will kill thousands of innocent people or too many of our own forces cannot be embarked upon lightly.
PS Many thanks for the link, I am sure your readers will love to trawl though pages of drivel about wasps to read the odd item on Islam. NOT! I do like your blog, one that recognises the real threat from Islam without (despite the name) being unbalanced about it like so many. And sticks with the present realities! I get pissed off with the blogs who feel it relevant to bang on about the prophet having had an 8 year old bride.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:20 pm
It’s about honest reporting, Xog. About not aligning myself with a political party or religion or current trend.
Clinton actually isn’t despised except by those who have sucked up the GOP line. In reality, he and George Bush senior are great pals. It’s all just politics.
In war, things happen that are unthinkable in peacetime, such as the internment of all the citizens of Japanese descent during WWII for the duration of the war. I can see something similar happening to the muslims in this country. Islam is beginning to be recognized by our government as the threat. Not “radical” or “fundamentalist” but simply Islam for what it really is, a violent doctrine that is totally intolerant of any form of religion, government or laws other than Islam, one that glorifies death instead of life.
What I can see happening that is the most likely, is the essential outlawing of Islam without actually doing so, by arresting and imprisoning virtually all the muslim clerics on various charges relating to terrorism, whether there is valid proof or not. Without clerics to lead them in prayers and with a government that is suppressing them and a populace that is hostile toward them, many muslims will quietly convert to Christianity with the idea of going back to Islam when it’s all over. By the time it actually IS all over, openly espousing Islam again will be pretty foolhardy and by then the muslims will be enjoying the benefits of Christian thinking too much to want to quit. At least this seems to me to be the logical progression.
I don’t think the world will ever be free of Islam. I think what will have to happen is that a new “prophet” will have to arise who reveals that the “Final Prophet Muhammad” wasn’t the final one at all, and who adds some new ideas to Islam to take much of the hate and evil out of it and make it compatible with modern civilization.
Regarding your other comment, what’s coming is in fact a war between two religions, so yes, mob attacks on muslim shops and firebombing mosques is probably in our future. You have to remember that Islam demands that we convert or be killed and that can easily backfire on them with a sufficiently enraged population of non-muslims. It all depends on how much they attack the rest of us. People will only take so much.
Consider the attacks on abortion clinics and the killing of doctors by people who considered themselves to be Christians. Just because Jesus Christ preached non-violence doesn’t mean his so-called followers feel the same. Being a Christian is supposed to mean emulating Christ, but that’s seldom how it works out. Which is why I take a non-religious stance, I don’t lose my balance that way.