North Korea's got the Bomb!

[infamous]

Even though the prospect of North Korea having the bomb is of great concern to the west, history will judge us poorly if we take our eyes off Iran. The world is presently split into at least three great influencing powers. The first being the west made up primarily of the western European nations and America. The second being the Communist and former Socialist nations which include Russia, China, and a host of smaller satelite countries. The third being the Muslim nations lead in greater part by Iran. If Iran succeeds in driving the Allies from Iraq, she will soon dominate the region effectively uniting the whole of the muslim world. Why the Russians and Chinese don't seem to understand this is beyond me. Because Russia and China are both Secular societies, they stand much to lose if the Muslim movement becomes a dominant force in their region of the world. Imagine Iran united with:

Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Northern Africa, Pakistan, parts of Southern Russia, and most of Turkey. Ofcourse Afghanistan will also fall to the detriment of all their citizenry which have been looking forward to their new found freedoms. So the question of whether North Korea has the bomb or not is of secondary concern to me. Iran is the 'clear and present danger'........................Infy

[C1ay]

North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity

 

lefthttp://hypography.com/gallery/files/9/9/8/korea_night_thumb.jpg[/img]As the world grapples with how to rein in the "axis of evil" state which this week conducted a nuclear test, this spectacular satellite photo unveiled yesterday by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld shows in stark detail the haves and have-nots of the Korean peninsula.

 

The regime in the north is so short of electricity that the whole country is switched off at 9 p.m. - apart from the capital of Pyongyang where dictator Kim Jong-il and his cohorts live in relative luxury. But even there, lighting is drastically reduced.

 

More at the Daily Mail....

 

Maybe we should just drop color leaflets on them showing what the rest of the world looks like at night. Sooner or later the people of NK should be able to figure out where their problem is.....

[Edella]

If Iran succeeds in driving the Allies from Iraq, she will soon dominate the region effectively uniting the whole of the Muslim world... Imagine Iran united with:Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Northern Africa, Pakistan, parts of Southern Russia, and most of Turkey.Iran is the 'clear and present danger'........................Infy

I agree Iran is a "clear and present danger,but I can't see them uniting the whole Muslim world,at least not in the near future. Iran is about 90% Shia,yet Shia Muslims comprise only 10% to 15% of the world's Muslims.

 

 

I'm sure you see where I'm going with this: The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation.Add to this current problems in Iraq between the Shia and Sunni and I don't see the Muslim world uniting any time soon, even to fight a common enemy.In my opinion,North Korea is more of an immediate threat.

[Turtle]

On the issue of whether the blast was nuclear or not the worm has turned, or if you prefer the developing story has further developments.

26 minutes ago

 

WASHINGTON - An air sampling taken after North Korea's claimed nuclear test detected radioactive debris consistent with an atomic explosion, Bush administration and congressional officials said Friday night. They said no final determination had been made about the nature of last weekend's mystery-shrouded blast....

 

 

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2006/10/13/498635.html

 

I also just watched Anderson Cooper show a video which was smuggled out of N. Korea showing a public execution of 3 "criminals" whose crime was having contact with the outside. In a rural setting, the towns folk were ordered out - children as well - to hear the propoganda and witness the executions. Who ya gonna call?:Alien:

[Boerseun]

Who ya gonna call?:omg:

Kimbusters!!!

[Boerseun]

North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity

Don't have to slag them - they've still got the bomb...

 

*KABOOM!!!*

[Boerseun]

...and now the idiot said that the UN's sanctions is a "Declaration of War".

 

What did this twit expect? He was warned for years on end that his pursuing nuclear arms would result in sanctions. So he went ahead and did it in any case. So they imposed sanctions. And now he's all mad about it, calling it a "Declaration of War". He knew what was gonna happen, and he did it in any case. So, Kim Jong Il should be personally culpable if anything at all happens now...

 

Personally, I think he's just a sad and crazy egotist with a new toy, and he's trying to see how far he can push it. But his pushing and prodding of international patience will cause his neighbours to really consider investing in nukes as well.

 

He's ronery. Velly velly ronery.

 

What's gonna happen now?

[Mercedes Benzene]

What's gonna happen now?

 

That's what I'm wondering. Does anyone think this will move towards a full-blown war.

It better not. I've had enough of my tax money wasted already. :)

[Jay-qu]

well you can be assured that if you guys do we wont be all that far behind.. Johnnie is Bush's *****, we will follow you anywhere..

[C1ay]

Does anyone think this will move towards a full-blown war.

There's nothing there to fight and Kim Jong couldn't mobilize his troops to attack anyone on their own turf. His only ally, China, has turned her back on him. I don't really see him as a genuine threat to anyone as long as he can't ship weapons to bad people. Keep him isolated and bombard his people with the propoganda that their own hardship is all his fault. Sooner or later they will starve or overthrow him.

[alexander]

last monday US scientists confirmed that it was a nuclear charge. Over the weekend the resolutions were unanimously voted on. NK has declared that resolutions are a declaration of war, and today us intelligence, based on satellite images is speculating a second blast... UN dont want war cuz its smart, NK wants war cuz it thinks UN is weak and wont impose anything on them, because they are a nuclear state, and yet even their closest ally, China voted for sanctions, so now they are going to figure out how to economically choke the NK nuclear program... and things may very well escalade to war if DRNK continues keeping up this idiocy (excuse my language).

[Boerseun]

What I can't fathom after the last couple of days, is what the heck is this guy trying to achieve? Is he trying to hold the world to ransom in order to prop up his silly dictatorship? What can be his motivation for this? Obviously, he can't have any imperialist dreams, so this can only be to prop up his regime...

 

Any other possibilities?

[InfiniteNow]

Like sex in an advertisement, you do what you can to draw attention. After that, it's all profit. He's the monkey throwing feces in the cage right now, but we're all watching him intently so it's working.

[Freddy]

With US standing around the world at an all-time low and the US military spread out in Iraq and Afganistan Kim likely figured this was the most opportune time to test his first nuke. Kim wants the peninsula to be reunited with the North calling the shots. Never gonna happen as the US would use its nukes on Kim and company. Kim blames the US for the results of the Korean War. Kim will likely sell nuclear materials and other bomb making materials to terrorists. Why would he do that? Kim needs cash and these WMD materials would provide it. Kim knows the US is the likely target of any terrorist nuke. Kim would be licking his chops if any US city was destroyed. It is really simple. He hates US! If I were calling the shots Kim would be taken out.

[CraigD]

What I can't fathom after the last couple of days, is what the heck is this guy trying to achieve?

I’m far removed these days from any information about the personal motivations involved in recent developments in the Koreas, but have long suspected that the following “generic motivation” for small states to have a modest nuclear capability plays a strong role in it, and other countries with nuclear ambitions:

 

From the example of the Iraq war, small nations are worried that, with its tremendous air and battlefield superiority, the US, and to a lesser extent the UK and other major military powers, can militarily “project its will” at little ultimate cost to itself. Whether this is true or not is less important than the perception of these states that it is.

 

It’s nearly a given that for a small state to successfully resist a US invasion, it must cause popular support for the war to deteriorate very quickly. As the various political factions in the US Executive and Legislature cannot politically afford to defy the will of a large majority of the American People, such loss of support would result in a prompt withdraw of US forces.

 

I believe there is a widespread perception that such a collapse of support could be caused by inflicting sudden, dramatic casualties – tens of thousands - on a US expeditionary force. One or a few tactical nuclear weapons are capable of inflicting such loses.

[InfiniteNow]

So, what's new over in the North K with lil' Kim these days? Been relatively quiet on the news front. Is it calm before a storm or genuine lack of issues?

[Boerseun]

So, what's new over in the North K with lil' Kim these days? Been relatively quiet on the news front. Is it calm before a storm or genuine lack of issues?

Can't really say! I guess he's a threat, but the world is currently turning a blind eye Kimwards, seeing as there's too many other burning issues, and one more will be one more too many. So, if you look away, the problem disappears, kinda. But apart from that, what, exactly, can the rest of the world do?