North Korea tests a nuke

[mckitterick]

Just after 11:30am this morning (North Korea time), N. Korean officials informed China that they were about to test a nuclear weapon underground. Seismic tests affirm that something along the size of the Hiroshima bomb was indeed tested. This is the first nuke test the world has seen since 1998 when Pakistan and India tested theirs. Experts fear a nuclear arms race in the region, perhaps the rest of the world, because if a Third-World - and unpredictable - country like North Korea has nukes, everyone should have some.

Aren't you glad that we've invested all our military into Iraq, which is an "imminent threat"?

Interesting side-note: The new head of the UN is a South Korean.

The world just got scarier.

Chris

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

How is North Korea "unpredictable"? Or is this a definition of "unpredictable" that translates as "hunkers down and hopes the world will ignore it"?

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

No, the world is not scarier. Nukes are just another big bargaining card for that Kid-N-Play hair'd creep. The only scenario that really makes it scary are the odds that they can sell it to someone else, and that it would have the dual benefit of making them some money, as well as being able to destabilize the world while taking attention away from North Korea. Kim Jong Il is not entirely in touch with reality, but I am certain that he knows if NK directly detonated such a device against another nation, there would be absolutely nothing they could do to deter invasion, occupation, and utter dissolution of their nation state. And KJI is so into entitlement, I doubt he'd be willing to give up his dancing girls and feasts.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

That's why I mean the world just got scarier, that and the coming nuclear arms race. Especially if added sanctions make them more desperate for money. KJI has no scruples about what he does, and we have absolutely no intelligence officers in N. Korea.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

It's unpredictable in that I believe N. Korea (that is, the lunatic Kim Jong Il) would do whatever it takes to try to prevent its downfall and to keep KJI in power. Sell nukes to the enemies of his enemies in order to raise money? Why not! Give away nukes to those who promise to use them against his enemies in case they threaten his regime's survival? Sure!

I do not trust a madman with a Big Brother complex, especially not one in charge of an entire country. That's what I mean by unpredictable.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but it isn't N. Korea that has sold arms to insane regimes across the world. Our troops in Afghanistan are mostly fighting people armed with US and UK fire arms. Legacy of when tthe Taliban and other warlords were considered our waldoes against the Communist bloc.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

That too!

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

Well, again, I think KJI will also know that the bombs could be traced back to him, should he choose that route, and would be rolled over in less time than it took for us to go to countries that actually had nothing to do with other terrorist acts (cough)iraq(/cough). Considering the difficulty of producing not just the materials, but the manufacturing of a bomb, my limited understanding tells me that the explosion signature would be enough to identify the supplier of the bomb. And you /know/ if there is one thing Washington would love to have, it's a stationary target for 2nd generation warfare that can be clearly linked to any attack on US assets.