North Korea puts spotlight on the U.S.

North Korea makes a surprising move the other day when they fired 4 to 7 missiles toward Japan and the U.S. only to have them fail and fall into the Sea of Japan.

This is significant because it puts all the pressure in the world on the U.S. mainly because we are the so-called freedom fighters trying to make the world a safer place but as soon as the real bad guys make a move, we do nothing.

What is the message being sent to the world now other then the United States isn't as tough or aggresive then people thought we were, especially after we went into Iraq looking for WMD's that were never really there. And when we actually have some lunatic over in North Korea shooting off missiles we don't even blink an eye and then say Diplomacy is the best option.

It just makes Kim jung il look somewhat intelligent with what he has achieved and that being the vulnerability of the U.S. and the world for that matter.

 

The only thing this shows to the world Kim Jung looks like he's trying to make his country the most hated in the world. North Korea is a much, much more tricky thing to deal with diplomatically then Iraq or even Iran, it's a nation run by a nut job with a huge army that hates the United States, has missiles that can go long range, does not care at all what the world thinks of it, and any Korea conflict has the potential(and almost certainly would) draw in South Korea, Japan, China and possibly Russia and more.

 

It is about time for WW3

 

I'll just post the response I gave to another thread on the topic:

North Koreas weapons program is a huge concern.

Not to the US so much. Their first missile that could reach shores of the US failed, they'd have to drop their nuclear weapons by plane, and our missile defense could likely shoot down the North Korean's Missile.

But that doesn't mean the fact that a dangerous isolated dictator who's very unpredictable should be encouraged to continue his program by any means, and more importanly, it is a danger to our allies Japan, who's airspace was violated by a missile, and more importantly, South Korea, who would be the clear loser in any sort of conflict with North Korea because of massive refugee outflows, and the fairly likely event of a North Korean strike on South Korea. North Korea has many many missiles pointed at Seoul.

A war in the Korean peninsula just isn't an option. Theres no way to commit a surgical strike and the civilian casulties would be unaceptable, with the likely event of biological and nuclear weapons used aginst South Korea.

There are few diplomatic options left either. North Korea is already very isolated, and cutting them off anymore would just result in many many civilian starvations, and might lead to North Korea lashing out irrationally at South Korea. Starving a country out isn't an option.

We've got to give aid to North Korea, and at the same time give them the impression of a strong united world opposed to it's militantism, and the US can't be threatened into conceding.

We've got to give them aid because A: Starving a country to get your way is a war crime. and B: It has been tried several times, in many places, and has never worked.

The closet it's come to working is leaving a weak military that institues mob rule and kills many many people through starvation.

China which is also a security council member, won't let North Korea fall apart and institue harsh sanctions, and in this sense, I think China's very right.

Our only option with North Korea is to give them aid, food, steel, and agriculture supplies.

To do this without looking weak, I suggest we hold secret meeting with the Russians and Chinese and persuade them to help us back a harsh resolution which demands an immediate end to North Koreans missile and threatens sanctions by all UN members, mention the types of santions to be imposed by China but doesn't implement them immediatly.

In the mean time we come up with a deal with huge perks in energy and food aid and agricultural development. We discuss this in secret with the Chinese and other close allies, which will be our way to get them to sign the harsh UN resolution.

After we've made the Koreans nervous for a few weeks, we propose the deal to them. They would be likely to accept, no Koreans would starve, and no war.

This would be played off as a win by the North Koreans, but the leadership would also realise increasing militantism isn't acceptable.

We can come out of this with everyone winning if we play our cards right.

 

someone just needs to take that little guy out... there is no reasoning with him. Plus, he reminds me of that funny/stupid movie by those SouthPark guys... hahaha

 

Again, there is no military solution in North Korea that is acceptable.

IE The prince, a precise strike aginst a leader can be very effective in a fragmented society.

But in a largely monolitic culture with generations of leader reverence cut into them, a precise strike on Kim Jong Il would just lead to a war.

The loser in a war with North Korea would be South Korea, an ally who we can't allow to be nuked by the North's generals in the event of a precise strike. The civilian casulties of any sort of military option on North Korea are horrific.

 

You people don't understand the message this delivered to the world though. There is a bigger picture to those missile tests then beats the eye. The message it delivers is that any country willing to stand up for itself and its rights can and will do so without a retaliation from the U.S. or the United Nations.

At first you can say to yourself its alright because North Korea is a small nation and can be dealt with but you can also look at it from the perspective that the U.S. is human and will backdown if threatened.

Just imagine what Iran was thinking when there was no swift action or retaliation from neighboring countries. They were probably a little bit surprised and relieved in a way which isn't the type of message you want to send to an enemy.

 

The only retaliation we have are:

1: Economic sanction to further starve them out. Thats clearly inhumane, we'll just accelerate in their militantism, and China won't let them fall apart. They don't have enough trade or enough democracy for this to matter at all, and since their almost completly isolated to being with, not much the UN can do.

2. War. Not an option as described above.

Of course we need to find a way to appease North Korea when starvation or War are the only other alternatives. The US isn't threatened here, the stability of Southeast Asia is threatened, and it's not acceptable so we need to find the best solution.

Trying to find a diplomatic solution when War or trying to starve the country out are the only option isn't weakness, it's common sense.

 

Of course military action wouldn't be wise in this situation but the world almost expected the U.S. to do something. After what we did in Afghanistan and Iraq it would only make sense that the U.S. had made a move even if it was right or wrong. Thats all I am saying is the message that was delivered to the world isn't a very good one.

 

Have you conducted opinion polls? Foreign public opinion should be a low priority in determining foreign policy. If ''the world'' wanted the US to go in guns blazing then this ''the world'' doesn't understand Southeast Asian politics at all.

 

And yet again you miss my point.

 

Your point was pretty simplistic.

And I asked you if you had done any reasearch into world opinions on this, and how important global opinions were in our trying to defuse a political crisis in Southeast Asia.

Sotuheast Asian opinion on this is fairly important, although our main goal should be trying to difuse the situation.

 

Newsflash: NK is not in Southeast Asia.

 

Well it's more Eastern Asia, although that doesn't detract from the point.
If that's the only thing you can pick apart from my posts you might as well retire litle guy.

 

I'd also point out that thus far, the only solution to this crisis you've come up thus far with is to twiddle our thumbs.

 

Ludoi, this just in China and Russia aren't putting sanctions on North Korea. Japan is the only neighboring country willing to put harsh sanctions on N. Korea. We all know that there are already enough sanctions on North Korea and that is why their nation is starving for food but what form of diplomacy are we to use with N. Korea if its own neighboring countries don't care. That is the situation right now.

 

Japan already has sanctions on North Korea.

 

Ok I understand what you are saying. We all know every country and there mothers already have sanctions on North Korea. I was just saying that if its own neighboring countries aren't going to do anything or the U.N. for that matter then we have a situation similiar to Hitlers Germany, in a way. They are taunting the world with weapons that they shouldn't even have and yet they are getting away with it and getting stronger as the days go on. Diplomacy is failing and our options are disappearing quickly.

 

North Korea is not a threat. They never have and never will be a threat. Kin Jong Ill is doing this out of desperation, for POLITICAL reasons, not MILITARY reasons, and you can be sure the neocons will do everything to hype what's going on in order to get the sheeple behind invading that country, too.

It's always about fear. ALWAYS!

Stop being psychologically manipulated my friends! The only ones you have to fear is your own goddamned government. If they can murder 3,000+ innocent people in cold blood, as they did on 9/11, why should I believe their talk is for anything other than to instill more fear in the public. Trust me, the fascists in the White House and Pentagon WOULD love North Korea to attack us, because it would only provide them the pretext to do what they've wanted to do for years. That's why they have been provoking North Korea and other countries. When you provoke a country, you have to expect this sort of thing from someone like Kim Jong Ill, who is desperate and knows his time is limited.

 

I just heard Bush on the radio a few minutes ago talking about this. He was talking about how we needed to be patient, how we had to get all our partners together for a diplomatic solution, that real diplomacy takes time. Hell, he almost sounded civlized. I was shocked. He must be in some strange mood today.