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WAPO: North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead
- Thread starter Marion Cobretti
- Start date
squeakywheel
Member
Parking lot time. Why do they feel the need to be the obnoxious kid on the block that nobody likes that keeps doing harmful things for attention??
Nester99
Member
We don't have any working and reliable systems to defend against ICBMs.
Smiles and Cries
Member
no body moves, no body gets hurt
Fox Mulder
Member
We already fucked up the situation years and years ago. If you don't have nukes you get invaded by America. No one will touch North Korea now, not even Donald Trump.
Iran would be stupid to halt their program as well.
Hoping generals will keep the president from military action is like hoping a drug addict won't do drugs.
There are countless examples during the cold war where generals were advocating for a nuclear first strike on the soviet union
NYCmetsfan
Banned
This still makes no sense. Them losing china would give them incentive to signal to the world their nukes are only for deterrence. It wouldn't cause them to use nukes, because that still equals suicide, even more so (because they wouldn't have the potential for China's second strike).
At that point they'd likely look at more formal treaties establishing a clear deterient but one that is inspected and mutual with he region
Yeah this is the part that should terrify people that seems to get overlooked.
Netherscourge
Banned
Until there's a nuclear silo accident and you blow up your own people.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
TBH Reunification doesn't seem to be NK or SK goal for at least the time being.
A stable korea and reduction of tensions with steps towards reunification (with nobody actually seeing a real true unification anytime soon)
Maybe, but halting their program also forestalls an attack by the US. Again, nukes are deterrence weapons, if you've got other means of deterrence you'd likely do that because the time between building up your nuclear deterrence and having one is super dangerous
If anything NK increases the likelihood of a preemptive strike on Iran if they resume, especially under trump. They'd also lose their economic ties that were lifted under sanctions. They don't have the autarkic economy that NK does
TheCochese
Banned
Going to be a fine line in the response to this, as a first surgical strike is extremely messy, risky, and probably not effective. So then you look toward other motivators. The tricky part comes in that you don't want to use too much of a carrot and stick approach, because it just encourages other states to follow the same approach to get what they want. And if NK doesn't get what they want, the threat of nuclear strike or selling their secrets becomes a legitimate option.
NK wants a seat at the big boy table? Fine. They'll need to start acting like one, such as discontinuing offensive nuclear operations, opening borders to humanitarian and inspection efforts. Will it work? Who knows.
NK wants a seat at the big boy table? Fine. They'll need to start acting like one, such as discontinuing offensive nuclear operations, opening borders to humanitarian and inspection efforts. Will it work? Who knows.
Then you should not have placed yours on their borders now, hmmm? And radar that can look in to China, so the only one that could negotiate is annoyed. Well played USA.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Trump will confirm it in a tweet within the day, don't worry, just like he did with the cruise missile story this morning.
(As the Hill notes, Trump has no problem trusting anonymous sources when it tells him something he already believes to be true, that N. Korea are bad hombres)
You'd be wrong. ICBM re-entry vehicles are almost impossible to intercept and destroy. Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) is still a work in progress and hasn't been perfected. It's somewhat easier to intercept them in the launch and boost phase but still quite difficult.
The only sure fire way of eliminating a nuclear threat is to take out the launchers on the pad before they're airborne. But that requires identification of their location first, a difficult job if they're on road-mobile transporters.
Username1198
Member
I wanna play fallout vr not real life fallout. This is scary
That would be a poor decision
I think it's mostly by starving the shit out of the rest of the country. Not hard to scrape together enough resources to make a few hundred people live like kings when most of the country doesn't have food or electricity.
I don't think China actually helps them that much. China generally seems to treat NK like that bratty kid that no one likes but, but has to tolerate because he somehow gets invited to every family gathering.
Fox Mulder
Member
If anything, it'll fire up the war with Iran stuff again. North Korea has nukes, republicans will want war with Iran to stop them absolutely.
Smiles and Cries
Member
I think Trump will move nukes to South Korea or Japan, or both
Chmpocalypse
Blizzard
You just called for murdering every person living under an oppressive regime.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
RoyalLaFlame
Banned
At least it will be less buggy than Bethesda Games, so not bad.
Has produced... Shit. Will he use it? No.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
I did say "long term" at the beginning. No one is suggesting reunification is viable in the short to medium term. In a few decades? Who knows, maybe.
This is my biggest fear.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
I think this is the most likely short term course of action but only further shows kim the need for continued development.
It needs to include dialogue and the ability to back down on tensions.
I know everyone likes to talk about Kim being an irrational actor, but I think Trump would do this without a second thought if he was convinced it would secure his place as a prominent figure in American history.
When was the last time we had a war that killed millions? When was the last time nuclear weapons were used against civilians? Talk about ratings...
I'm pretty sure they don't WANT war, but a few foolish mistakes on either side's part will lead to disastrous consequences.
JonnyDBrit
Member
Dedication of resources. Thing is that North Korea isn't really 'advanced' in most other areas, nor does it really care to be; getting working nukes, and a means of dropping them on someone else's front doorstep is something they've worked on for decades. To use a somewhat crude analogy, they're the equivalent of a Civ player racing down one branch of the tech tree at the expense of everything else.
Goldenroad
Member
I hope you'll understand my reluctance to believe US intelligence officials when they claim a foreign country has weapons of mass destruction at their disposal. America is the last country in the world I would consider trusting on this matter.
Hey maybe we can be adults for once and just stop antagonizing them.
It's better for NK to exist as a secluded hellhole than to go bomb them and start a nuclear war. If we got through the Cold War, there's no reason to attack NK. They want nukes to deter the US from attacking, not because the Kims are nuts who want to take over Asia or something.
It's better for NK to exist as a secluded hellhole than to go bomb them and start a nuclear war. If we got through the Cold War, there's no reason to attack NK. They want nukes to deter the US from attacking, not because the Kims are nuts who want to take over Asia or something.
Smiles and Cries
Member
China and Russia are not going to like it at all, not even sure if that action would go smoothly without starting a war
best case is another Cold War where no one does anything and North Korea keeps stockpiling and improving ICBMs
UristMcDwarf
Member
So am I naive for hoping that the result of this will be with round-table discussions similar to the Iran situation? Perhaps it's too late for that. I also don't think the Trump administration is up to the task either.
How about Japan claiming the same thing days ago
Unlike Iraq North Korea has admitted and acknowledged that it has nukes and is working to create a small enough device to place on a long range missile. Quite a difference.
WhiskerFrisker
Member
Why are they impossible to intercept? Is it because of the speed at which they move?
LegendofJoe
Member
Very true unfortunately, but thankfully most countries prefer to have comparably normalized relations with the rest of the world. But the precedent is concerning nonetheless.
Yes. It's like trying to hit a bullet with another bullet.
TetraGenesis
Member
Ah, yeah. Good point. Trump does have a history of listening to the reasoned guidance of his most experienced advisers. And he doesn't really have a reason to want to give a show of force anyway. He doesn't have a dangerous obsession with feeling powerful and in-command after all and it's not like war historically increases failing presidents' approval ratings.
Fucking SLASH mother fucking S.
Goldenroad
Member
I don't distrust Japan in the same way, but it would be good to get this information from a country that does not have a history of war with the nation being investigated...or maybe...maybe the UN. Could that not be their job?
We'll likely find out, because I have a hard time believing that the US will preemptively attack NK even if they have acquired this technology.
Not much else the world can do but hope NK doesn't use them.
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