Early this morning, North Korea issued a statement indicating that the UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions and an end to it’s nuclear weapons program was tantamount to a declaration of war. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1161079746602&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home also covered here http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/17/world/main2096678.shtml (with slightly more amusing graphic of Kim Jong-Il).
I honestly have no idea what the next step is going to be, however I will suggest that in the event that shooting actually starts and a clear threat of invasion is made against North Korea, Kim will not hesitate to use whatever nuclear arsenal he has (IMHO against US naval forces in the region). My gut tells me that he isn’t interested in Seoul or even Tokyo. He wants to make a splash by taking out a US target, and given the somewhat questionable performance issues of his current inventory of warhead delivery systems, the closest and easiest targets would be the US Navy carrier battle groups or other forces in the immediate proximity.
Although I understand the horror of what may well happen if nuclear weapons are used, the US cannot be blamed for this. We followed the diplomatic procedure to a T. The Security Council was consulted, a resolution was brought, and it was passed. This is not something that the anti-American crowd can point to as evidence of American imperialism. This is a clear-cut UN matter. Any aggression on the part of North Korea is directed against UN sanctioned forces, not just the US. As such, North Korea becomes the “bad guy” and the blue helmets (or their proxies) become the “good guys.” Outside of the conspiracy theorists, I can’t find a reasonable angle that can be used to villify us. This time, it seems like the world “has our back.”
I hope you are right that if Kim lashes out that the world does have our back, but I am doubtful. A nuclear attack might do it, but I still feel that not long afterward the rest of the world will revert to form.
If this post on QandO is correct, our guys (and everybody else in the area) will have more to worry about than nukes.
Yeah, I don’t see how the anti-Americans could twist this one around. If North Korea nukes a carrier battle group or such in the area, Japan and South Korea are screwed almost as badly as if they got hit.
From the article Anchillea linked to:
Holy crap! That’s bad, bad news for anyone who was thinking of trying to do something non-diplomatic about the North’s nuclear activity. Scary stuff. What does North Korea think they will gain with all this posturing and threatening?
Money. They are hoping to get tribute because it has worked before.
Anchillea?
That means you have been dried first.
Well, I can get pretty salty when there’s something fishy going on, but …
Hmmm, a salty, dried, conservative death beast?
Maybe on Pizza.
Oops, sorry Achillea! That’ll teach me to type from memory without scrolling up to check!
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