General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs anybody stupid enough to believe North Korea is going to nuke anybody out of the blue ?
Is anybody stupid enough to believe North Korea is going to nuke anybody out of the blue and sign their own collective death sentence ?
Kim has learned the lessons of Saddam and Colonel Gaddafi . The United States has never attacked a nation that has nuclear weapons.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,097 posts)So either we are being lied to and controlled with said lies, or these two countries are more dangerous than others, or we dont know.
What I do know is the last person, and I really do mean the last person ALIVE who should be in charge of ANYTHING let alone this, is you know who.
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,705 posts)But I don't believe he's crazy enough to nuke us or an ally out of the blue. What does he gain ?
Eliot Rosewater
(31,097 posts)that unless we have the very best in power on our end, something is going to go wrong, horribly wrong.
Election was stolen, on the ground on the day of the election by Putin and the GOP.
The entire human race may have to pay for that criminal activity.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)to have nukes too . . . . . . as a deterrent to bullies in this world.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)The Saudis need nukes to regardless...
Thinking of some other folks that need...um- Venezuela - If Maduro had nukes right now his country wouldn't have near the problems they have.
Who would you add to the list?
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)crap all of the West sucks...I thought we were on the same page here?
lame54
(35,141 posts)We are the trump states
And the trump states may be that stupid
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Instead of going over it?
It's not like they have "real" rocket scientists LOL
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,705 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Vinca
(50,170 posts)WhiskeyGrinder
(22,147 posts)that have the bomb, it's that simple.
Doreen
(11,686 posts)working together. They are doing a global scare tactic to hide their collaboration. I have said before that both NK and Russia are trumps wet dream of power.
DFW
(54,057 posts)Kim could have spared himself the rockets' expense. Any first year analyst could have told him: Republicans are cowards at heart. They do NOT attack countries they know will shoot back They don't even attack countries they THINK will shoot back back (Iraq was a major miscalculation, not a change in strategy). They attack places like Grenada and Panama. They do NOT attack places like Iran, because Iran would shoot back. Russia would shoot back. Pakistan would shoot back. North Korea would DEFINITELY shoot back. The Republicans will not attack them without provocation.
Tobin S.
(10,418 posts)China supplies North Korea with food and most of it's petroleum supply. Russia provides similar support on the black market especially when North Korea gets hit with sanctions, and that, of course, is coming with Putin's approval. China shares a border with North Korea, and Russia is right there, too. There is also the fact that North Korea can wipe Seoul off the map within a few minutes.
So, I think that will keep Trump from going too far. If he were a crackpot dictator like Kim Jong-un in the same position that he is in now with the power of America's nuclear arsenal, the world might already be burning. But I think he's got some people there who are keeping him corralled in this regard because they truly understand the reality of the situation.
DFW
(54,057 posts)Trump can't just press a "nuke" button like in the Genesis "Land Of Confusion" video. There are people who can prevent a catastrophic decision by an obviously irrational president.
I'd say it's also conceivable that there are some cooler heads in the North Korean military who are silently feeling the same way. They know that the moment Kim Gone Nuts goes too far, that their chances of becoming Dust In The Wind increase geometrically three seconds later.
machoneman
(3,952 posts)A group of NK generals decide to overthrow Rocket Man (I know, but it does fit).
During the attempted takeover, RM decides to have some loyal officers launch the nukes.
End-of-times!
Noodleboy13
(422 posts)I have a couple of thoughts. I'm not a military expert, so feel free to poke holes or correct information that I might get wrong.
I don't think we should assume that Kim Jung Un is going to behave rationally. I'm not saying he's crazy or disturbed, rather that he's not going to be constrained by the same things that would give Western Democratic leaders pause. I think his threats to nuke Guam should be given some credence. If I were in his shoes here's why it's an attractive option and how it might unfold. (again, this all coming from me channeling KJU.)
Nuking Guam is a great strategic move. Yes, it would make you an international pariah, but you're ALREADY an international pariah. But it wipes out the airbase there that the long range bombers that fly out of there. Without Guam, we can only project air power from carrier groups. B-1's don't land on carrriers. Basically our ability to project air power is severely limited.
We really don't have a viable nuclear retaliation option; our hands are tied. We can't nuke NK without causing significant problems in SK and Japan. Also, I don't think our best frenemies China and Russia would be super chill about us playing with nukes in their back yard.
This limits us to conventional weapons. NK is massively bunkered. Bombing them "into the stone age" is only going to cause massive civilian casualties, KJU and the power structure would remain largly intact. KJU has already demostrated that he isn't overly concerned about his own citizens.
NK can claim that is only defending itself from American meddling and imperialism in what should be the Asian sphere of influence. Make it a US vs Asia thing. NK looks like the underdog standing up to the bully America. It also gives KJU enormous "street cred' among some nations; he got into a staring contest with the US and we blinked first.
The analogy I like to use is Peter Dinkledge punching Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) in the nuts at a Hollywood function. If you're Dwayne Johnson you can't just beat the hell out Peter Dinkledge even if you want to because the world would just see a giant man beating a little person. All you can do is cough a couple times and maybe call him an ass.
Again, just my thoughts playing the game from the other side, I'm sure there many holes in this theory.
peace,
Noodleboy