This is bull shit! Why would N. Korea want to launch a missile at the US?

[cantstandbush]

they may want to test their missiles but it would be suicide for them to launch a missile at the US. Thye aren't that crazy. They have a right to test their missiles just as any other nation has. With the Bushbots in charge every nation on earth needs to prepare to protect themselves. This administration is capable of anything if Iraq gets any worse.

[i radical]

1. they hate our kimchee? nt

[LynnTheDem]

2. I hate our kimchee. nt

[1620rock]

3. ROTFLMAO !!!!

[Dogmudgeon]

4. I just tried Kimchi for the first time this week

I love the stuff.

I've got to find one of those Korean groceries where they sell it for $2 per gallon. It's supposed to be good for you the same way yogurt is -- scientifically spoiled food with beneficial germs in it.

Obviously, Kim Jong-Il hasn't been eating enough.

There may also be an ED problem. The missile is called the Nodong.

--p!
None Dare Call It Bulgogi

[Jazzgirl]

8. I luv kim chee too...

Haven't had any in a while. Now, I'm gonna go buy me a spoiled jar of cabbage! }(

[dflprincess]

5. Because other terra threats, bird flu, gay marriage and

undocumented immigrants aren't scaring us enough.

My mother, who usually show better sense, was freaking out over this. She calmed down when I reminded her of the constant state of fear Bush wants us to be in and that, if it's true, we can't do a damn thing about it anyway.

[dcfirefighter]

6. This is one of the most ridiculous justifications for missile defense

A) North korea is run by a dictator who lives a very confortable life. Launching a nuclear missle would end that.

On a related note, if a 'rogue' nation or non-state entity obtained a nuclear warhead, the last way they'd deliver it would be by ballistic missile.

The first way would be by smuggling, either in a container on a container-ship, by small boat, plane, or in a truck crossing a land border.

The second way would be in a kamikazee aircraft.

The third way would be by a cruise missile.

To attempt to deliver it by ballistic missile would more than likely result in the loss of your ace in the hole. The previously mentioned modes are so much more reliable that it is ridiculous.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. These days who DOESN'T???

Their entire economy is geared to the defense of their nation- they know very well an attack on by us would be extremely difficult, so they have little to fear.

There used to be a great article on the defense capability of N. Korea at http://www.fas.org - it may be worth tracking down and reading.

On edit: I actually found one article: it's well worth the read. I don't believe it's the original one I was thinking of, though.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/doctrine/index.html

[jdlh8894]

9. Putting Flame Suit On

There are other a$$holes out there,besides GW*, that want to rule the planet.

[Yollam]

10. They're probably not, but they still like to threaten...

...they've found it's a good way to get aid when their basket case of an economy has left millions in starvation again. N. Korea is the emaciated, deranged attention whore among nations.

God forbid Kim Jong Il follow the example of Russia and freaking REFORM.

[Art_from_Ark]

25. The squeaky Kim gets the grease

not to mention occasional center stage as a stand-in Snidely Whiplash

[zulchzulu]

11. It's the old "throw the shit on the wall" and see if it sticks...

So North Korea would launch a nuke on the US...and we'd turn the country into powder within five minutes. Do you think we have any nuclear subs in the area? Nah...

[Blue_In_AK]

12. They are looking for concessions...

They want the international community to say, hey, we'll give you more aid, food, whatever you need, if you'll just promise not to launch this missile. From what I understand, North Korea is in desperate straits economically.

[Snivi Yllom]

13. NK is looking for goodies

a handout, they posture big time, it gets them noticed.


A very stupid dangerous game. I think the odds they launch ( not at the US, but over some other country) are about 85%, and the odds the US shoots it down is about 50-50.

[Igel]

14. I'll agree in part with #12 and #13.

But I'll disagree.

There's a certain breed of strong man sees himself as victim. That's the primary way he portrays the current state of his country--a poor victimized, oppressed state, proud and strong in the face of outside forces, held back from the greatness that is theirs. Their government does no wrong, only right; and all bad things happen because somebody else makes them happen ... on purpose. Coup attempts and threatened invasions abound; * sneezes, and there's solid, concrete evidence of a coup attempt. Therefore they need a large military. It serves to get the populace to support the government that's screwing them. Part of the response, and of conniving the public into submission, is making threats: some are mere words ('invade us, and we'll hand you your tail in a sling, see our citizen militias?' or 'we'll make your cities a sea of fire, o infidel!'; ... whatever ...). Others try to make their threats real. Kim Il is in the latter camp. The cry of the terminally insecure and pathetic.

The rhetoric from N. Korea is consistently that the US is about to launch an invasion, any day; Kim Il may honestly believe that, insanity and paranoia may run in his family. N. Korea always insists on unilateral talks with the US, because the US is the bogeyman, the real force, the occupier. S. Korea is a primitive, backwards puppet, and will eventually be absorbed by the real representative of the poor, oppressed, Korean nation. Bleah.

You heard the same thing in the '20s and '30s from the USSR, and still from the Chinese, interspersed with "We're #1."

[Sadie5]

15. Might as well admit it

The anti christ they have been predicting for so long is finally here. He just lacks a brain.

[Igel]

24. There's just one?

They all lack brains.

But so many to choose from.

[On the Road]

16. Mutuall Assured Destruction

OK, not destruction of the whole US. But if they can level Seattle the US has a much different decision to make on an invasion.

Saddam had no particular plans to bomb the US, either, even with the sanctions. But if he had had the bomb and a ballistic missle -- no way would Bush have invaded.

[tritsofme]

19. MADD requires a rational adversary

Like the USSR, DPRK and its leadership is not rational.

[Selatius]

22. Kim is power mad like Stalin was, not suicidal.

That's just my opinion. If he was suicidal, Kim would push the red button, but I don't think he wants to die.

[On the Road]

27. Well, North Korea is the One That Wants to Assure

that destruction will be mutual in case of a US attack.

As far as being rational goes, why do say they're not rational? They're certainly hostile. Their economic policies haven't helped the country. But developing a nuclear warhead and a ballistic missle seems to be the most pragmatic thing they could have done to prevent an invasion.

[The Straight Story]

17. Why would the soviets?

I grew up in part of the cold war era. They thought we wanted to nuke them, and we thought they wanted to nuke us.

North Korea may well want to make a name for itself, and who better to fight than with the big dog on the block - the US. Who else would they want to nuke? Probably not South Korea, as they might someday like it back.

But this all leads, to me anyway, to a much more larger and troubling issue.

Alliances. China, NK, USSR and perhaps others. We could take any one of them on a good day without nukes, though china would be damned messy. But allied together they could do some serious damage.

Now how does this play out? Well...we go back to the fundies and armageddon. And oil too. Those countries find a bigger need for oil, are told they would get it dirt cheap - if they toast Israel off the map and give it back. We are in Iraq, maybe soon Iran, and Afghanistan. So the ME explodes. And it would be damned ugly.

NK would have it's bit part, makes us keep an eye on one more direction for incoming. The east versus the west - age old thing that may only get worse. They don't want our land, it is our people and military/govt that stand in their way of doing the things they want to do.

They are as imperialistic as we are. Get the wrong leader in (ala bush) and you can have some damned ugly things blow up.

[unkachuck]

18. maybe the neocons have discovered....

....stability and prosperity in Asia and are hyping this NK missle event as their way of injecting us with fear for their new destablizing war?....you must admit, our old destablizing war is getting kind of rusty....

[blues90]

20. Anything is possible

I have to say that there are some leaders who probably think they would live through it and many probably would down in their shelters . There are no leaders I can think of off hand who care about the mass population of their own section of land and those who choose to stay out of this madness in other countries would get caught in the crossfire and vanish .

Bush has what , some 3,000 members on his staff and then there are the other dictators with their select few . In a irrational mind this may be just enough to keep the parties going . And there will be mutant dying masses out of the direct hit who can serve for a time as slaves .

Wasn't there a movie similar to this ?

[Selatius]

21. North Korea won't hit the west coast if we don't hit North Korea

If the North Koreans are able to launch a nuke or several at west coast cities, then that would make the US government think twice about attacking North Korea. Ever since the Bush Doctrine was born, the implied message automatically became, "Get your nukes, quick! Or you'll be attacked!"

Nuclear weapons, ideally, are a deterrent. They deter aggression by foreign enemies. They keep the peace by making the cost of war so high that the enemy would think twice to attempt an attack.

[Guy Fawkes]

23. "They aren't that crazy." Yes... Yes they are.

North Korea, if I may be so bold, is run by the CRAZIEST man on the planet. In the middle of talks that were going to help unite Korea once and for all, Kim Il Sun backed out to start his nuclear program up again- and started telling Japan that he had kidnapped their citizens. The country is run by a dead man- Kim Jung-Il being made "eternal ruler" when he passed away in 1998. His son is more or less the VP.

So, a country that follows a dead man- not too bad, right? Well, they're indoctrinated from a very early age to worship him as a Gd. They believe he turned back the US almost single-handedly (after we invaded unprovoked, of course). Is NK crazy? Yes. Are they crazy enough to launch nukes at the US? Yes, easily.

[adwon]

26. Not that crazy?

I'd say nuclear retaliation on the part of the US would be slim to none if such an event occurred. China is too close and they would not appreciate fallout on their land. That's just my opinion.

I disagree with North Korea having a 'right to test their missiles.' Or at least with the presumption that the US has no place in telling them to watch their step. We're part of the Pacific neighborhood and, as such, we possess the same rights as any other neighbor in expressing concern. Further, this is the same regime which kidnapped the crew of the USS Pueblo and hacked two of our soldiers to death in 1976 because they were chopping down a tree. If anyone has no leg to stand on when it comes to rights, it is them.

All that being said, Numbnuts and crew will attempt to milk this for all it's worth. It's sad that I have be extremely wary of my own government's pronouncements when it comes to a regime like this, but there you have it. In my opinion, Kim and Numbnuts are equally full of shit.