North Korea Nuclear Standoff

[coriolis]

I don't think that this is anything that should cause a panic. The guy with the bad hair is the international ADHD kid acting out to get attention.

That's not to say that there's no danger, but it must be kept in perspective. There's still how many working missles left over from the cold war?

I think that there's some principals at play that are bigger than this situation. For one, I don't think that we need the UN to get involved. If they have a right to meddle in N.Korea's internal affairs, they'd have a right to meddle in our affairs. The UN has a unique ability to make the US look bad, even when we're right.

Secondly, the US is the international 800 lb gorilla (with a heart, I quickly add). We can't be flailing at every mosquito that flies around us.

Thirdly, Let them test their missle. The test will provide more information than our intelligence services could ever gather. It would be very valuable to know if their missles work, how accurate they are, & etc.

The reports say that their missle would have the range to hit our west coast with a light payload. What's that, a firecracker?

Maybe this guy will accidentally blow himself up.

In any case, it is way premature to react to this with anything more than a few -and I mean a few - pithy words. What would Clint Eastwood say?

Ed I agree..cooler heads must prevail here. From what ive heard one of the tests didnt go very well at all. We need to remain vigilant but I dont see anything to panic over.

i disagree. cooler heads already prevailed and thats why north korea has nukes and missiles in the first place. it was also pointed out that this missile launch was not a total failure. north korea gained valuable knowlege today, and they will eventually get it right. iran is watching very carefully and i hope "cooler" heads dont prevail there and lets iran get nukes. north korea and iran have been very open in their hatred for us, and in irans case for any western nation and jews. cooler heads prevailed in 1938 in negotitations with hitler and 50 million died. if hot heads like churchill had prevailed the nazis would have been crushed at a loss of a few thousand in 1936 instead of 50 million by the time the war ended in may of 1945

I understand this argument completely and it's appealing. I would submit though, that the great democracies must be slow to anger and must react or retaliate in order to preserve their moral high ground. When a democracy goes around pre-empting every threat, there's little difference between the democracy and their crazed adversaries.

I am not so convinced that a different strategy in 1938 would have made the difference that people think it would have. Say, that Churchill prevailed and that England took a harder line towards Hitler at an earlier date. Would France have supported this stance? Would the Americans have entered on the side of England? Would Hitler have just laid low to bide his time? What was England supposed to do - invade Germany? They could have ended up in a situation like the US presently is in, in Iraq: Isolated, criticized for being the agressor, stuck in an open-ended bleeding situation. Maybe England would have been so weakened by a protracted ware that the tide could have turned and Germany could have conquered all of Europe including England. There's no telling how things could have played out.

We can second guess all we want, but we can never be sure that had things been done differently, we'd be better off today. Yes, unspeakable things happened. But in the end, the good guys mobilized and prevailed.

History is full of unspeakable things, and deaths and murders on a grand scale. Something tells me that this will not change much as long as humans are running things.

[cycloneye]

Protests going on in South Korea against North Korea.

[feederband]

I can't believe they did it... and they launched them on the 4th of July.

Britain, France, Israel, Pakistan, India, China, Russia, and the United States all launch missile tests, along with other places. Its often done with strategic reasons, especially timing. We stage exercises in areas we wish to project force, and the Chinese assemble missiles across the straits from Taiwan.

I would be surprised if the North Koreans didn't act reasonably, if they didn't try and get the United States' attention when they knew Americans would care. Its not about defeating America, its about brinksmanship.

Maybe I'm using the wrong words.

There are protocols that are used by most country's even our's on test firing missiles...For the just to shoot them when they want in the Sea of Japan is unacceptable...

Agreed...

Please they know the international community does not want them to have nukes or even test fire long range missles. The fact that they are test firing a long range missle that has the capability of reaching the west coast of the United States is probably something that we shouldn't let go and stand Idle by. IMO this is a much bigger threat the Iraq ever was.

They are sovereign. They can do as they wish, international community be damned. So can the United States.

Firing missiles into the sea of Japan is unacceptable?? The French not long ago were exploding nuclear weapons in the South Pacific.

Your not getting my point...If they would have let the neighboring countries know when they were going to test fire missiles into the sea of Japan then this would be ok...That would alow other countries to make sure the air space as well as any shipping would be clear of any missiles...This is what it makes unacceptable...

[GalvestonDuck]

It all kind of reminds me of one of Paul Harvey's "The Rest Of The Story" broadcasts I heard a couple of years ago (not sure I believe it to be true though).

Seems there was a Japanese pilot who launched his own little attack on US soil long before 9/11. He flew solo from Hawaii to the west coast, unaware of just how much larger our big "island" is compared to his homeland. His attempt to drop bombs on California resulted in nothing more than a small forest fire up in the northern part of the state that was quickly extinquished by a thunderstorm.

So far, their wimpy missile launch is like a three-year old munchkin trying to swing at his 5-foot tall brother while the older one holds the little one back at arm's length with his hand on his head.

[brunota2003]

I honestly think of the missles as a bigger version of the bottle rocket...so they helped in the 4th of July fireworks in a strange way...

[rainstorm]

I don't think that this is anything that should cause a panic. The guy with the bad hair is the international ADHD kid acting out to get attention.

That's not to say that there's no danger, but it must be kept in perspective. There's still how many working missles left over from the cold war?

I think that there's some principals at play that are bigger than this situation. For one, I don't think that we need the UN to get involved. If they have a right to meddle in N.Korea's internal affairs, they'd have a right to meddle in our affairs. The UN has a unique ability to make the US look bad, even when we're right.

Secondly, the US is the international 800 lb gorilla (with a heart, I quickly add). We can't be flailing at every mosquito that flies around us.

Thirdly, Let them test their missle. The test will provide more information than our intelligence services could ever gather. It would be very valuable to know if their missles work, how accurate they are, & etc.

The reports say that their missle would have the range to hit our west coast with a light payload. What's that, a firecracker?

Maybe this guy will accidentally blow himself up.

In any case, it is way premature to react to this with anything more than a few -and I mean a few - pithy words. What would Clint Eastwood say?

Ed I agree..cooler heads must prevail here. From what ive heard one of the tests didnt go very well at all. We need to remain vigilant but I dont see anything to panic over.

i disagree. cooler heads already prevailed and thats why north korea has nukes and missiles in the first place. it was also pointed out that this missile launch was not a total failure. north korea gained valuable knowlege today, and they will eventually get it right. iran is watching very carefully and i hope "cooler" heads dont prevail there and lets iran get nukes. north korea and iran have been very open in their hatred for us, and in irans case for any western nation and jews. cooler heads prevailed in 1938 in negotitations with hitler and 50 million died. if hot heads like churchill had prevailed the nazis would have been crushed at a loss of a few thousand in 1936 instead of 50 million by the time the war ended in may of 1945

I understand this argument completely and it's appealing. I would submit though, that the great democracies must be slow to anger and must react or retaliate in order to preserve their moral high ground. When a democracy goes around pre-empting every threat, there's little difference between the democracy and their crazed adversaries.

I am not so convinced that a different strategy in 1938 would have made the difference that people think it would have. Say, that Churchill prevailed and that England took a harder line towards Hitler at an earlier date. Would France have supported this stance? Would the Americans have entered on the side of England? Would Hitler have just laid low to bide his time? What was England supposed to do - invade Germany? They could have ended up in a situation like the US presently is in, in Iraq: Isolated, criticized for being the agressor, stuck in an open-ended bleeding situation. Maybe England would have been so weakened by a protracted ware that the tide could have turned and Germany could have conquered all of Europe including England. There's no telling how things could have played out.

We can second guess all we want, but we can never be sure that had things been done differently, we'd be better off today. Yes, unspeakable things happened. But in the end, the good guys mobilized and prevailed.

History is full of unspeakable things, and deaths and murders on a grand scale. Something tells me that this will not change much as long as humans are running things.

that moral high ground stuff sounds great, until people die because of it. today we sit back and do nothing while iran and north korea openly advocate the extermination of us and jews. we can do something now, or wait till 100 million die. this is what gets my goat. people like me are seen as rash and "hotheads". i see the rash people as the ones who want to negotiate with people as bad or worse than nazis. im not saying you are one of them, but many are.

we sit back and say,"its no big deal, north koreas missile failed". thats a huge mistake as they wont always fail. lets just take iran at its word. thats the proof we need to prevent the next holocuast from happening. natuarally we recoil from the thought of a few hundred or few thousand dying now for disarming iran of its nukes. and its cold comfort for people 50 years from now to say action now would have prevented 100 million dead. they will be correct, but it will be too late for the dead to care

[cycloneye]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

More laucnhes by North Korea of missiles are possible in the comming hours and days.

[Brent]

They are sovereign. They can do as they wish, international community be damned. So can the United States.

The difference of course is that they are led by a dictator who has publicly stated on numerous occasions he wants to see death to the U.S.

[NBCintern]

I can't believe they did it... and they launched them on the 4th of July.

Britain, France, Israel, Pakistan, India, China, Russia, and the United States all launch missile tests, along with other places. Its often done with strategic reasons, especially timing. We stage exercises in areas we wish to project force, and the Chinese assemble missiles across the straits from Taiwan.

I would be surprised if the North Koreans didn't act reasonably, if they didn't try and get the United States' attention when they knew Americans would care. Its not about defeating America, its about brinksmanship.

Maybe I'm using the wrong words.

There are protocols that are used by most country's even our's on test firing missiles...For the just to shoot them when they want in the Sea of Japan is unacceptable...

Agreed...

Please they know the international community does not want them to have nukes or even test fire long range missles. The fact that they are test firing a long range missle that has the capability of reaching the west coast of the United States is probably something that we shouldn't let go and stand Idle by. IMO this is a much bigger threat the Iraq ever was.

They are sovereign. They can do as they wish, international community be damned. So can the United States.

Firing missiles into the sea of Japan is unacceptable?? The French not long ago were exploding nuclear weapons in the South Pacific.

Kevin, your wrong here. While all countries are sovereign they do have some limitations as to what they can and cannot do. If we take your premise that NK is sovereign, then why are wanting to prevent them from making nukes. Iran is sovereign?

[cycloneye]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

Now let's see what the U.N will do about this.

[HurriCat]

Maybe because they are producing Nuclear Weapons? It's not like the U.S. is alone in urging them not to do it.

Why should they not have Nuclear Weapons? Because they will use them? Maybe...maybe not. Surely the one nation that has used Nuclear Weapons is not the one to be crying foul?

Hee-Haww. Don't even compare the USA to N Korea. Have you even read the quotes from their leadership? They are communists with little regard for human rights, whereas the US was forced to use nuclear weapons to shorten a war against a fanatical enemy (who started the war ) - thus preventing hundreds and hundreds of thousands more deaths on both sides. This can get called political or whatever, but PLEASE!

[cycloneye]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13704198/

The U.S confirms that it was ready to intercept any missile that would go to Alaska.

[Derek Ortt]

And why are we turning to the same UN that let Saddam get away with everything for 12 years?

[cycloneye]

China and Russia oppose tough sanctions



There is a big split in the U.N about imposing tough measures against North Korea.The U.S,UK and Japan at one side with China and Russia in the other.Read at hypertext what is going on or what is not going on in the U.N.

[Brent]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea appears to be making preparations to launch another long-range Taepodong-2 missile but the missile is not yet on the launch pad, NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

[cycloneye]

North Korea



Above is the breaking news about more fireing of missiles including another long range missile that they are preparing to launch.

[HurricaneHunter914]

Man I bet America is starting to panic an you know what sucks? The day right after America's 230th birthday this stupid N. Korea starts to attack us.

[vbhoutex]

Man I bet America is starting to panic an you know what sucks? The day right after America's 230th birthday this stupid N. Korea starts to attack us.

NK is not capable of "attacking" the US unless all of the missle failures have been a hoax. It would not take too long for the US to obliterate NK if indeed they did attack us in some way.

[cycloneye]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202274,00.html

Above is more confirmation that North Korea is getting ready to launch more missiles.

[beachbum_al]

Is NK really dumb enough to miss with the US? Don't they know we win in the long run and we protect our allies. Maybe they need to read the history books and don't make history repeat itself.