NK is just posturing to get sanctions removed. I don't believe for a second they have the weapons to do much harm. Their missile tests failed and their nuke test failed. It'll be a shame to give in to such rhetoric. Slap them with more economic sanctions. Call their bluff.
I agree--if we are prepared. Kim is a nutcase and he may not behave logically about this. The worry, of course, is not that he can hurt us with a nuke today, but that he might invade South Korea or attack Japan which would stetch our military capabilities to the max with our Army deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. My contention is that Kim is a real problem with real WMD (they have huge stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, too) rather than an imaginary one, as with Saddam. We need to be prepared for him if he does something rash, which will put us at war on three fronts with a military that is a fraction of the size of the cold war force and even smaller than the Gulf War.
Another concern is him selling weapons and/or the technology to anyone, namely terrorists groups. They need money and may be willing to sell if the offer is right. I believe we have less intel on NK than we had on Iraq 4 years ago, so that's a little scary. NK has been a closed society for decades and we just don't know what is going on. I don't doubt they have some wmds, but we just don't know to what extent and the type of technology they have. It's interesting that we have yet to verify this nuke test. No radiation detected in the atmosphere nor can we find a crater anywhere. It could have been detonated deep underground, but that would make little sense b/c lil kim wants the whole world to think he has nukes. I don't think he would hide the evidence. I'm starting to think it was just a hoax. Not sure if there is an easy solution for NK. It's hard to negotiate with someone who is crazy and can't be trusted. They'll secretly continue to develop their nuke program no matter what deal we strike with them. Sanctions won't stop the development, but could possibly make them implode from within. But that will take years. A military strike is pretty much off the table since Bush has no political clout these days, unless NK does something really crazy that forces the world to act. I think we'll negotiate a deal through the U.N., then have this same discussion in a few years.
What is there to negotiate, really? Once they have the bomb, they ain't going to give it up. We've negotiated before and they broke their word many, many times in the past. UN sanctions will amount to little if Russia and China don't go along. I think the US and its allies must go ahead with sanctions regardless of the UN. This will put more pressure on China, Russia, and other nations that support Kim and perhaps in time they can depose him for someone more reasonable. A new Korean war or a rogue nuclear client state is not in China's interest either. The last thing they want to see is a rearmed Japan, which is going to happen if Kim stays in power. The more we can make Kim into China's problem instead of our problem, the better.
I agree. We should never go through the U.N. when our national security is at risk. What other countries think we should do is unimportant. It's a waste of time. Unfortunately, that's not what we are doing. We are pushing through some meaningless resolution. Proposed U.N. Resolution Japan already announced sanctions against NK. They aren't waiting for the U.N. or the U.S. NK has responded with threats. This alone would be a good enough reason for us to arm Japan. North Korea Threatens Japan
I think we should just leave the UN and charge rent for the building in NY. However, with all the threats that NK is giving us, I say we let Japan and Russia to get their plan around because looking at the map, they would be first to get hit by something if NK should carry out an attack. Side-note, Officials didn't find any radiation in the air around were the test went off suggest that A: it wasn't a sucessful test or B: it was a bluff. Another possibility is that it NK could have sealed the test site extremely well. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/13/nkorea.test.sample/index.html
