I think we are in some deep kimchee re: North Korea

[Rick Myers]

Has ANY nation EVER dismantled it's nuke program AFTER becoming a nuclear power? I cannot recall one, and cannot find any evidence on the Internets...

The US 'BELIEVES" North Korea HAS nukes. Thay have not tested, and they are probably some way from having 'weaponized' nukes, those delieverable by missile or aircraft.

Since noone has ever given up The Bomb, how the Hell does the Bush Cabal think it can get North Korea to be the first? They don't have a clue! Since the Cowboy has proven he cannot back down from a fight and believes He is ALWAYS right, this can ONLY have a very bad ending.

North Korea is the biggest problem on the planet, and all Bush, Condi and the rest of the asshats can do is rattle sabres.

Once these neocon freaks get backed into a corner, they are gonna come out shooting. They will need to act fast, since the military is strained to the limit. We do NOT have the forces to beat North Korea in a conventional combat scenario.

The Bush Doctrine of Preemptive Strike keeps me up at night.

[AllegroRondo]

1. Yes, South Africa has

they are always held up as the 'correct' way to go about dismantling a nuclear program.

[On the Road]

2. Some of the Former Soviet Republics Gave Up Their Nukes

Although they were only developed as part of an overall Soviet system, those countries still had nukes at one time and chose to give them up. That counts for something.

[Rick Myers]

7. A bit of a different situation

And WAY TOO MANY of those nukes are floating around... The ONLY reason we have not had a loose RED nuke used on us is the Soviets had Permissive Action Links as good as ours... PALs prevent unauthorized detonation and toying with the PAL makes the weapon inert.

[On the Road]

10. Yes, They Didn't Develop the Nukes

but they did voluntarily get rid of them.

So while there may be no precedent for Kim Jhong Il destroying his nukes, there would be a precedent for North Korea getting rid of them if the government changed and relations warmed.

[blm]

3. Bush KNOWS they have nukes because his buddy RevMoon helped NK get 'em.

And everyone in BushInc WANTS to use the idea of a growing Korea threat so that they have their ready excuse as to why they have to keep building up OUR arsenal and military.

That's why Eisenhower warned of the military industrial complex. It's the way they take BILLIONS of OUR tax dollars to confer upon an elite group of crony contractors with bank accounts growing faster than Bill Gates.

[one_true_leroy]

4. yep, it's a real cabbage of a pickle....

<sorry, i couldn't help it>

[punpirate]

5. As well as others mentioned...

... Brazil also suspended its program (in part, because it had a reciprocal agreement with South Africa, and when SA terminated its program, that cut off some of its help to Brazil).

So, it is possible--but a lot of that work was done through the auspices of the IAEA Non-Proliferation group. Unfortunately, the Bushies (and Bolton, in particular) undid what work the IAEA N-Ps did in North Korea during the Clinton administration--by threatening them, embargoing oil for power plants that was guaranteed by the Clinton administration.

And certainly, North Korea is not the biggest problem on the planet--it's impoverished and not even self-sufficient. The biggest problem on the planet right now is the US and its antagonistic approach to every problem capable of being solved diplomatically....

[Rick Myers]

6. Right, the first thing Bush did was toss out Clinton's work

with North Korea. He figgers if it ain't on his desk, he ain't gotta worry about it.

Does anyone think they will dismantle a program that has had a successful test?

I don't fear NK missiles falling on LA, but...

All they have to do is wait for a conventional attack. They can bury bombs the size of trucks in the mountain passes, pull back and that's it!

Punpirate IS correct, THEY are NOT the BIGGEST problem, the UNITED STATES is the BIGGEST problem right now!!!

We MUST defend our Nation from the DOMESTIC ENEMY that is destroying it...

I need a drink...

[edbermac]

8. Clinton was on Fox with Greta the other day...

And said words to the effect, if they tried to use their nukes, we'd turn North Korea into a parking lot and they know that...

[Rick Myers]

9. That's very true, but quite frightening...

Because Dubya would LOVE to nuke SOMEONE, ANYONE!!! IT's the only toy he hasn't had a chance to play with...

[LunaC]

11. NK won't give them up

unless Bush signs a Treaty that he won't pre-emptively attack. That's why NK even has them - they sense that they're on the To-Do List of Conquests.