North Korea Threatens Nuclear Attack on United States
Way back in law school, I wanted Bill Clinton to bomb North Korea if necessary to stop them from getting the bomb. He didn’t, they did, and now we get this:
North Korea amplified its threatening rhetoric as the U.N. Security Council approved new sweeping sanctions, vowing to launch a first-strike nuclear attack against the United States and threatening to engulf Washington in a “sea of fire.”
An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
At a mass rally in Pyongyang on Thursday, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told the crowd that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington.
Hey, I know what we should do: allow yet another country run by madmen (Iran) to get the bomb too.
save us dennis please please please
happyfeet (8ce051) — 3/8/2013 @ 7:36 amIran just wants to generate cheap Eco-friendly energy for their people.
JD (31065f) — 3/8/2013 @ 7:42 amMany dictators try to maintain an artificial unity in their country by mobilizing public opinion against an external enemy, and they need to create that enemy when there is none… It actually distracts people from the bad situation prevailing in their own country. North Korea is a perfect example of that logic.
Shanna Carson (08f412) — 3/8/2013 @ 7:44 amKeeping Iran from getting the bomb will be up to the Israelis: we don’t have a leadership with the cojones to do anything other than bluster.
As for North Korea, they act like petulant children because it has worked for them before. They bluster and threaten and act really, really bad, then they tone it down just a tad, and we in the West think, “Oh, perhaps they are moderating somewhat; now is the time for constructive engagement.” We send over diplomats, and wind up giving them stuff, and after that falls through, they bluster and fuss and threaten again, and the cycle repeats itself.
The only way to get the North Korean government to stop acting like petulant children is to not reward them for acting like petulant children.
It wasn’t all that long ago that we were seeing stories speculating that Kim Jong-un would prove to be a more moderate reformer. đ
The realistic Dana (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 7:51 amMeanwhile:
More hilarity at the link.
The Dana running low on adjectives (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:16 amOur esteemed host wrote:
I don’t see them as madmen at all. It’s clear that neither the North Korean nor Iranian governments share our culture, values or norms, but their actions are completely rational within their own framework. The Kims have maintained dictatorial power for 63 years, through three generations, now; that hardly seems like the work of madmen. The Ayatollahs have held unquestioned power since 1979; whatever they are doing certainly seems to work for them.
The Dana who practically memorized Dr Strangelove (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:28 amMe too. I was in 7th Fleet back then and that was a huge issue for us (still is for 7th Fleet). It was frustrating watching the Clinton administration constantly getting rolled by the NORKs. They’d ramp up the tension, we’d make concessions in return for promises they’d never keep. Then repeat. Warren Christopher would steeple his fingers thoughtfully.
And the Clinton administration kept talking about how “unpredictable” the NORKs were.
The die was cast in 1994 when Clinton signed the agreed framework and let the NORKs build light water reactors. Of course, the rewrite of history began years ago.
It’s Bush’s fault!
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0405.kaplan.html
As per usual it’s based upon magical thinking. You know that if the author can pen something like this:
Anyway here’s one of the magical thinking parts:
See? The rods were under lock and key. The NORKs had given up their ability to build nuclear weapons because the rods had been locked up by Billy Jeff. Who left the keys to the locks with…the NORKs! Then the predictable happened.
But of course if you believe the rods were locked up you have to also believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, and leprechauns.
By the by, Clinton agreed to let the Iranians build their reactors in 1995.
I really have no idea what the NORRs’ game is at the moment. But I will tell you the Iranians are going to go nuclear. Which is why I’m not too upset the Truman CSG’s deployment has been delayed. The Obama admin and inexplicably the JCS (well, not too inexplicably as Obama has appointed a bunch of dancing bears to those positions) try to pretend deterrence is magically accomplished by having carriers in the region.
Not after the CJCS Dempsey told reporters in London a while back”
Now you could have five carriers their and the Iranians would just laugh.
We are so screwed but the Dems are looking on the bright side. When the ME goes up in flames they can put their heads together with their friends in the press and find a way to blame it all on Bush.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:32 amIn case it’s not obvious, and it wouldn’t be unless you read the article at the link, this Kaplan hack was trying to portray Clinton as determined to go to war if the NORKs crossed his “red lines.”
But the fact Clinton chose a quisling to reassure the NORKs that it was all just a dog-and-pony show to entertain his idiot base undoes Kaplan’s point. We knew Clinton wasn’t serious. The NORKs knew we weren’t serious. Nothing says “we aren’t serious” more clearly then sending Jimmuh Cahtah as your envoy.
And we’re not serious now. If we were Obama wouldn’t have chosen Hagel to be SecDef. But then, if we were a serious country we wouldn’t have Prom Queen as President.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:39 amAnd if North Korea invades South, and flash points take the opportunity to erupt elsewhere, what will we do? We canât effectively mobilize for a major conflict. We already have World War-scale debt. Anyone paying attention would know this.
We will watch our free allies fall to slavery and exploitation. The next generation will be driven into isolation and poverty. Then our creditors will come to collect and laugh at our ancestors who fought to the 38th Parallel.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:41 amThe Clinton’s also didn’t figure, that AQ Khan would come along with his handy nuke building kit,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:46 amthey were not willing to commit any large force for any strategic goal
Dana, we can’t even effectively bluster. Note how I mentioned Dempsey telling reporters in London he didn’t want to be “complicit” in an Israeli attack. Dempsey, obviously, is Obama’s man or otherwise he wouldn’t be CJCS.
Now we have a Jooo hating SecDef who keeps announcing to the world that going to war with Iran over nukes or anything else would be “unthinkable.”
And President Tiger Beat can’t keep himself from sending love letters to the Iranians.
WashTimes: Obama sent second letter to Khamenei
(And who can forget how Obama couldn’t wait to run to a phone and offer Ahmadinejad his congrats as well as a full body massage with scented oils and a happy ending after the Runt of Tehran stole that election.)
Iran’s N. Rights Acknowledged by Obama
The administration did finally admit that note the Iranian parliament members gleefully made public (because it looked like something a teenage girl would send to Justin Bieber) was genuine.
The administration also sent the same letter via Rice to the Iranian UN envoy in NY and via the Iraqi President who visited Tehran. Because apparently Obama is convinced begging is a valid negotiating technique when dealing with our enemies.
Bluster? Where do you see bluster, Dana? I mean, outside of our dealings with Netanyahu.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:52 amI’ve got something North Korea can nuke, sitting right here under my desk.
There’s a Greek hillbilly story about BS bravado. One night a villager tells his wife “I need to go to the outhouse, but I am afraid to go in the dark. Can you come with me and hold the lantern?” When they’re outside, he looks up at the full moon and says, “What a bright moon. It’s perfect for burglary.” His wife says, “Poop, my husband, poop. You are not made for burglary.”
Poop, North Korea, poop. You are not made for nuclear war against the United States.
nk (53646e) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:57 amSteve57 wrote:
Your point is well taken.
The Dana who concedes the point (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:59 amnk, Greeks tell very odd jokes, my friend.
SPQR (768505) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:59 amSenÄtus Populusque RĹmÄnus, almost all Greek — and European in general — jokes have poop featured in some way.
The amused Dana (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:06 amThe only reason North Korea still exists is because we need the Chinese to lend us money and keep WalMart and ToysRus shelves stocked. North Korea will be the neighborhood snot-nose brat as long as we are scared of its big brother.
nk (53646e) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:07 amDana, you ain’t s***ing.
nk (53646e) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:08 amThe Russians and the North Koreans built up the nuclear program, for lo thirty years, as the North Koreans contributed to the Deir ur Zeur reactor, and the Russians to Bushehr,
narciso (3fec35) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:13 amEverybody says that north Korea does not have an ICBM that can reach the east coast of the United States – even the west coast. Guam maybe, or Japan.
The White house, without actually saying so, says Star Wars can stop a North Korean missile.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:15 amThe Chinse government agreeing to more sanctions against north Korea can mean one of three things:
1) China is trying to weaken U.S. resolve – agreeing to sanctions forestalls possible military action.
2) The Chinese government is split – civilians and/or moderates control the vote at the United Nations – the military is what is freiendly to north Korea. (actually what seems to have hapepned is that the military people have been given five years to do something that would break the nuclear taboo and let China realistically threaten to use nuclear wepaons – after that the other peoplle regain control
3) China is secretly behind everything North Korea does, but wants not to get any of the blame for whatever may happen.
I think in general the Chinese nuclear strategy is to have some country somewhere use nuclear weapons and survive. Their best shot or the thing that they gamble on most is Iran. Theyt’ll stop as soon as they are called on it.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:19 amComment by The realistic Dana (3e4784) â 3/8/2013 @ 7:51 am
It wasnât all that long ago that we were seeing stories speculating that Kim Jong-un would prove to be a more moderate reformer.
Just like Bashir Assad, the other man who inherited a dictatorship.
The particular son of the last one was picked precisely because he was the more ruthless. He’s not the oldest son of Kim Jong Il. And he were disposed to do something to change everything, at his age he can’t be too muich of a plotter.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:23 amI think Obama sent Dennis Rodman over to NK to try “basketball” diplomacy like Nixon did with ping pong.
Or did I dream that Rodman went over there?
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:48 amI guess it wasn’t a dream.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:52 amhttp://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/opinion/kim-dumond-korea/index.html
I don’t know, it maybe a figment of someone’s imagination, Un is more hot tempered like Sonny, smarter then Fredo, but then so is an Irish setter
narciso (3fec35) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:53 amWell, maybe we should get our troops out of Korea, and the Middle East, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about these people.
Stupid imperialists. Yes, lets just bomb people willy nilly! That’ll make people like us.
Patrick H (f854d7) — 3/8/2013 @ 9:58 amPray, tell us genius, when is the last time we bombed North Korea willy nilly?
Or for that matter Venezuela, whose government also doesn’t like us?
We must have done something horrible to Venezuela to cause Chavez to hate us so.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 11:47 amIf they fire one it’ll probably hit CA. If it hits the depressed interior I don’t know if the important people in places like Marin County will even notice. Now if it hits Sonoma it’s bad news for Merlot drinkers.
Gerald A (7d960d) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:03 pmMr 57, Hugo Chavez didn’t hate us; the man loved us! He built up so much of his rep — and his money — by being the Defiant One, that he had to love what we did for him.
Of course, that was in the past; anymore, he just doesn’t care. đ
The snarky Dana (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:10 pmGerald, just how far into California does Flyover Territory begin?
The Dana who was born in California (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:11 pmOf course, Patrick H is right: it’s just so our fault that we imperialists stopped Kim Il-sung from the noble reunification of Korea.
The Dana channeling Perry (3e4784) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:14 pmIf it hits the Castro district of SF then we know the NORKs build homophobic WMDs. The International Criminal Court would no doubt consider that a hate crime.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:18 pmFlyover Territory starts at the 405 I believe
happyfeet (4bf7c2) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:19 pmBut we let them seize the Pueblo and sink the Cheonan without bombing them willy nilly. Won’t Kim Jong Un kiss and make up?
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:20 pmI don’t think we should bomb people nilly willy, either. Bombs cost money and we should target them carefully.
And I doubt that Kim Jong Un will ever be our friend, but we can certainly make him a former enemy real fast.
nk (53646e) — 3/8/2013 @ 12:56 pmI’m just glad I don’t live near Sacramento, since CNN says that’s the territorial limit of the NORK ICBM’s – it must be, they had a graphic on-screen showing a missile-track from NoKor to a point just NE of the Bay Area.
askeptic (2bb434) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:01 pmWhew, SoCal dodges another bullet!
Comment by Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) â 3/8/2013 @ 9:15 am
But Sammy, the Left has been telling us for 30-yrs that Star Wars was a delusion by a bunch of Reich-wing nuts.
askeptic (2bb434) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:05 pmNow they’re telling us not to worry about the NORK’s , that a missile-defense shield will save us?
Who’s blowing smoke here?
BTW, “flyover country” starts at the “5” north of the Tehachipi’s.
askeptic (2bb434) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:09 pmThere is no life East of Lincoln.
ropelight (befff5) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:18 pmWell, all of SoCal has been described as an intellectual wasteland.
askeptic (2bb434) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:19 pmCorrection, that would be a biological wasteland.
ropelight (befff5) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:46 pmNo, that’s what Gertrude Stein, said of Oakland in the 20s.
narciso (3fec35) — 3/8/2013 @ 1:54 pmStephen Colbert comedy routine about this: (mildly plays to ignorance)
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/03/stephen-colbert-north-korea-propaganda/62889/
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:00 pmI think it was as recent as the Fifties that the NYT described L.A. and Hollywood as intellectual wasteland; and didn’t Gertrude just say about Oakland that “there’s no there there”, which covers quite a bit.
askeptic (b8ab92) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:05 pmI just want to know how long it’s going to be before Obama claims Kim Jong Un’s threats of nuclear war are entirely the fault of the House GOP and the meat cleaver they took to the defense budget with the sequester.
Steve57 (60a887) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:09 pmRoot causes people. Root causes.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:14 pmMissile shields are bad. Palestinians are good.
dana gilbert ward (694db4) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:26 pmPoland bad. Russia good.
Drones killing in sovereign countries, without countries permission good. Waterboarding Bad.
Asking if Obama has Constitutional authority to drone kill Americans not in combat BAD. Attorney General not being willing to answer question good.
McCain and Her Royal highness Lindsey Graham useless as Obama’s law license.
who are the worst are those nasty egyptians
they rape everything that moves and they’re just such vicious anti-semites
happyfeet (4bf7c2) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:32 pmArab Spring!!! It’s just like Irish Spring, except it stinks and rapes.
dana gilbert ward (694db4) — 3/8/2013 @ 2:37 pmPresident Obama should make a formal declaration that the US obligation under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to not target non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons no longer applies to North Korea, and that any such attack, successful or unsuccessful, by North Korea on US or Allied targets will be responded to in kind, if not in degree.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 3/8/2013 @ 3:57 pmBy the way, should we end up changing the Nork regime, I suggest a simple test for criminality: anyone of average weight or above.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 3/8/2013 @ 4:03 pmThe NORKs need to chill out. No one likes rude and threatening commies.
Dave Surls (46b08c) — 3/8/2013 @ 4:35 pmComment by Kevin M (bf8ad7) â 3/8/2013 @ 4:03 pm
Aren’t the Kims on the short side?
askeptic (2bb434) — 3/8/2013 @ 5:12 pmDo you want to make criminals of short-people, or tall-people?
I believe Kevin wants criminals made of the well-nourished NORKS as the implication is they are Kim’s boys or Kim’s “Republican Guard” as it were
Angelo (e49fd7) — 3/8/2013 @ 8:52 pmTo be honest, as long as they do it while The PotUS is doing his SOTU speech…. I think I can deal with that, actually.
Smock Puppet, 10th Dan Snark Master and CRIS Diagnostic Expert (98ae1f) — 3/8/2013 @ 11:22 pmQuick, Rodman, to the Batsh*t-Crazy-Mobile!
Icy (3693bf) — 3/9/2013 @ 7:21 amI believe Kevin wants criminals made of the well-nourished NORKS as the implication is they are Kimâs boys or Kimâs âRepublican Guardâ as it were
Yes. Much the same way you’d tell the concentration camp guards from the prisoners.
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 3/9/2013 @ 9:00 amNorth Korea should have had their nuclear sites stomped right after their first bomb test. If they had been, we’d not be worrying about Iran right now.
It is still not too late
Kevin M (bf8ad7) — 3/9/2013 @ 9:01 amNorth Korean leadership realizes that the overwhelming power of the United States nuclear machine with 3,000 operational and 7,000 nuclear weapons overall would, turn their country into a charcoal briquette and the United Statesâ strategy with the right-wing government in South Korea in pressuring China, North Koreaâs traditional ally, to go along with the program since China fears that thereâs growing danger of an actual war in the Pacific to isolate North Korea. North Korea has carried out a nuclear test, the third responding to the major massive United States military exercises that are conducted in a way to stage a mock invasion and bombing of North Korea which was indeed invaded. Twenty years ago after the demise of the Soviet Union the United States strategic command reoriented hydrogen bombs away from the Soviet Union and targeting North Korea. And thatâs when the North Korea withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and began building its own nuclear capacity.
Last month North Korea said the lesson of the Libyan and the Iraq invasion when the United States either invaded or bombed governments that were targeted, that both of those governments had agreed to disarm, had abandoned any weapons of mass destruction, and the North Korean interpretation of that is, if you disarm, the US will not say, âThank you, letâs have peaceâ, but the US will say, âThank you, now we can prepare more aggressively for an invasion or a bombing campaign.â North Korea is determined not to let that happen, and thatâs how they view the development of their nuclear arsenal â itâs strictly defensive, itâs not a threat.
The economic sanctions by United States are having a very big impact and are now basically depriving North Korea of access to international banking. United States hopes if it can break China, it will do it to Korea what it did to Iraq as a precursor to regime change. Again,
United States needs to stop threatening North Korea and needs to sign a peace treaty, which it refuses to do, and actually end the Korean War, rather than just armistice, which was on July 26, 1953, 60 years ago. United States needs to lift the sanctions, and need to normalize relations. That almost happened in the last eight days of the Bill Clinton administration, it was the beginning of a thaw, the United States could go by that road, but it seems that the Barrack Obama administration is acting a lot like George W. Bush.
The Korean Peninsula is so hot, so tense; itâs the most heavily-militarized part of the world. Even though none of the countries, none of the parties want a full-scale war, any small incident in the Korean Peninsula could lead to both sides stepping on the escalation ladder. Thatâs how wars start, even when thereâs no intention for war. The need now is to reduce tensions, and the onus for that is not on North Korea which is not threatening the United States, itâs the United States that should stop carrying out war games simulating the invasion and bombing of North Korea and lift sanctions.
Nalliah Thayabharan (9759d8) — 3/9/2013 @ 5:28 pmItâs a clear result of China pursuing an appeasement foreign policy with the United States after the Obama administration announced the pivot of Asia. The United States is militarizing its presence in the Pacific; China is very worried that the Korean Peninsula could become a spark causing a larger conflagration right on its own boundaries. So China is upset with North Korea, but North Korea isnât listening to China, North Korean leadership is not thinking mainly about China but it is thinking how it can avoid being collapsed, either by economic sanctions, or military pressure, or combination of both.
tell me more about this charcoal briquette
happyfeet (8ce051) — 3/9/2013 @ 5:50 pmNalliah, you are a raving nut. North Korea has no interest in a “peace treaty” at all. North Korea is the nation that starts up artillery bombardments for no reason.
And your view of China is literally the opposite of what is actually occurring.
SPQR (768505) — 3/9/2013 @ 5:52 pmWe need to send Madeleine Albright back to North Korea to eat all their food again.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 3/9/2013 @ 6:00 pm