Yes, and it would be really difficult for American Navy Seals, Green Berets, and the CIA to go in there and bust up those nukes before starving North Koreans can roll them out to their missiles. Come on people. If you believe this you probably thought the Taliban were going to takeover the White House too. 
Good article, Malik :k: Thanks for posting.
Sorry if this article has been posted previously:
As the US prepares for war, far away a truly dangerous game is being played out, Suzanne Goldenberg and Jonathan Watts
The Guardian, 5 December 2002
<~~~ Not a political Guru here. Just some thoughts, ponders and questions.
Thoughts.
1) NK is likely testing GBJ.
2) NK likely offended at being called part of the Axis of Evil.
3) NK make be making a play for some foreign aid from the United States and NK is playing its political hand.
Ponders
1) Be rather scary if Iraq and NK were Allied.
Question
1) Anyone here see/read on headline news something on the order of NK wanting to maybe talk a non aggression pact with the United States?
Pondering
1) Kinda makes me recall Germany and Russia..... Hitler/Stalin
1) Anyone ever see/read a PBS Frontline article/interview about Saddam Hussien in his early political career idolizing Stalin?
Thought
1) hmmm, don't like those thoughts of history repeating itself... kinda gives me the creeps.
Common Sense
Certainly China, Japan and other nearby countries must agree with the United States about NK restarting its nuclear program.
Conclusion..
Likely senario is that NK will be recieving additional foreign aid and halting the nuclear program.
Thought
Definately gives an unfair impression towards Iraq when one compares the two. NK is a diplomatic issue... Iraq is under threat of war.
But can we really compare them?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Ali_R: *
I'm more concernec about Israel and US having WMDs since one of the states already proofed it can even Nuke other countries with disrespect.
The other is owned by racist military chefs, so why NK the core issue?
[/QUOTE]
don't forget why US nuked japan at that time-------------
disrespect------ i guess u totally forgot about Pearl Harbor.
South Korea and Japan want to settle the Nuke issue through Diplomatic efforts. It's likely, if you talk from the US prespective, as Bush wants to settle this issue through Diplomatice means as well.
I think Sun Shine Policy from the South Koreans would work. It has in the past when families from both sides met after almost half century in 2000, separated from the Korean war in the early 50s.
South Korea have already began exporting food, medical facilities to North Korea. Their main aim is to Unite Korea, Koreans again.
Think about it.
Source: CBS News.
Since US don't have the balls to take on NK it will pussy foot and play tought in media. Yeah right it can be solved diplomatically sure it will.
This is what the monkey in the white house will say. Our diplomatics efforts have paid of.. LOL..!! NK has agreed to freeze and roll back its UNclear program. LOL...!! Another victory for us just like we had one in the 50s and 60s... LOL...!!
And NK will continue to have its nukes except this time media will mask NKs WMD give it a spin and give US a face saver.
NK has 1M troops fully armed to the teeth 30 minutes from DMZ. 3M reserves and nukes in the basement. Naaaaaa uncle sam u be very careful this is not Iraq you dealing with and you know what 4 footers did to you in the 50s. Play smart play pussy don't commit ground troops diplomacy will work all the way. LOL.. gooooood luck.....
Let us know when you find it out....
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Abdali: *
Since US don't have the balls to take on NK it will pussy foot and play tought in media. Yeah right it can be solved diplomatically sure it will.
This is what the monkey in the white house will say. Our diplomatics efforts have paid of.. LOL..!! NK has agreed to freeze and roll back its UNclear program. LOL...!! Another victory for us just like we had one in the 50s and 60s... LOL...!!
And NK will continue to have its nukes except this time media will mask NKs WMD give it a spin and give US a face saver.
NK has 1M troops fully armed to the teeth 30 minutes from DMZ. 3M reserves and nukes in the basement. Naaaaaa uncle sam u be very careful this is not Iraq you dealing with and you know what 4 footers did to you in the 50s. Play smart play pussy don't commit ground troops diplomacy will work all the way. LOL.. gooooood luck.....
[/QUOTE]
Damn! :D
Let the Demo fun begin. 
Democrats Blast Bush on North Korea Policies
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Washington prepared for talks on the North Korean crisis with South Korean and Japanese envoys, Democrats on Sunday blasted President Bush’s handling of the nuclear confrontation and urged him to open talks with Pyongyang.
Amid an escalating war of words between Washington and Pyongyang, South Korea is sending a top presidential security aide and a separate delegation to Washington this week as part of a broader diplomatic push by Seoul to end the standoff with North Korea.
Democrats, who will be a minority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives when the 108th Congress begins on Tuesday, said Bush’s policy toward North Korea had been an erratic failure leading to the current standoff over its plans to restart a nuclear program.
Several lawmakers urged Bush to reopen a dialogue with Pyongyang, and to seriously consider a compromise being pushed by South Korea in which the United States pledges not to attack North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons program.
“We don’t know what the details of the plan are, but we should welcome South Korea being involved this way, making suggestions,” outgoing Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Instead, the administration, at least half the time, has said we’re not going to have any discussions with North Korea, we’re just simply not going to talk with North Korea. That is wrong,” Levin said.
The Bush administration has said it will not negotiate with Pyongyang, saying it must comply with a 1994 agreement under which it was to mothball its nuclear programs, which could produce weapons, in return for oil shipments.
South Korean officials in Washington on Monday are expected to pitch their compromise intended to quell the crisis that has worsened since Pyongyang in late December expelled atomic energy inspectors who were there under the 1994 deal.
On Sunday, Seoul announced that its presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security, would fly to Washington on Tuesday to discuss the crisis with top U.S. officials.
Levin said reopening talks with North Korea “doesn’t imply concessions,” but means “we’re going to discuss the differences – and they are major – that we have with North Korea, in order to avoid miscalculation, in order that they can hear from us face-to-face what our problems are with their behavior.”
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat who last week announced he will run for president in 2004, said on “ABC This Week” Bush’s policy in North Korea “has been a failure,” and said Washington’s deteriorating relationship with South Korea demands top-level attention.
- HAGEL URGES RENEWED DIALOGUE
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who frequently has found himself at odds with Bush’s foreign policy, also urged a renewed dialogue with North Korea, saying the United States must “get off the high horse here and deal as directly as we need to deal with this.”
Hagel, appearing on CNN’s Late Edition, said the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed on the Korean peninsula are “captive to whatever happens there. Now, that’s one of the reasons the North Korean situation, in my opinion, is far more serious than Iraq.”
While Hagel said the United States “should listen carefully” to the South Korean compromise plan, his fellow Senate Republican, John McCain of Arizona, said the United States must not take the threat of military action against North Korea off the table with a nonaggression commitment.
“We should never abandon the military option when we are facing a direct threat to the United States of America. It is, however, the absolute last, last resort,” McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
He dismissed the South Korean compromise as having "zero effect" because the United States cannot agree to return to the 1994 agreement without changes. He suggested that the United States should clear the way for Japan to have nuclear weapons as a counter-threat to Pyongyang.
Levin said the Bush administration had already been too threatening toward North Korea, citing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s statement that the United States could fight two major regional conflicts, Iraq and North Korea, without adding that war with Pyongyang was not in U.S. plans.
North Korea Warns 'Sanctions Mean a War
SEOUL, January 7 – North Korea today issued a warning of unrestrained war in the event that the United States and its allies impose economic sanctions to force the isolated country to halt work at a nuclear reactor capable of producing atomic weapons.
“Sanctions mean a war,” North Korea declared in a statement released by its official Korean Central News Agency. “The war knows no mercy.”
North Korea also angrily rejected claims that its sales of missiles around the world amount to a threat to peace. “The United States tops the world’s list in producing and selling the weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said.
North Korea’s latest rhetorical assault came a day after the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, offered the country what it characterized as a final chance to allow the return of its inspectors to the reactor site or face the prospect of action from the U.N. Security Council. The Bush administration has suggested that the matter could be best handled by the Security Council, which could impose consequences ranging from economic sanctions to military force.
…
BANG BANG BANG…!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *
Yes, most of that is the case. But I suspect the US knows full well that Iraq does NOT have WMD, hence its unwillingness to share its intelligence with the UN. Thus it an easy target to take out, to further its oil interests, and of course protect the Zionist entity.
But, it knows full well that North Korea DOES have WMD, and hence will not dare strike them militarily in case they get a nuclear response in return. Lets not forget there are some 30,000 US troops in South Korea, and a similar number in Japan, in striking distance of North Korean missiles. So yes, the United States is scared of North Korea.
South Korea on the other hand is taking a decidedly anti-US turn anyway. Only the other week some 50,000 + people were on the streets protesting against the US presence, and they have just elected a President who is more interested in dialogue with the North, than war.
[/QUOTE]
Malik you are so right !! US will think twice before messing with N. Korea. As far as I think, Iraq does not have anything and US knows about it but the big "hoax" is that Iraq has WMD and we will do all to stop Iraq from using it...this all BS. UN = US, Japan and S. Korea are pets of US...who wants to mess with the big bro and wants to get in trouble. Moe.
Why is everyone so sure that Iraq doesn't have weapons of Mass Destruction?
1.) Read that there was forewarning involved in an inspection.
2.) Read that recently the U.N. inspectors began/beginning to use helicopters..but...that Iraqi copters following and monitoring them...and again making accusations of spying.
3.) Perhaps, just perhaps..the U.S. and other countries have records of sales of biological items to Iraq? And inspectors are saying that the report doesn't document that all were destroyed?
On.....N.K. Feeling is..definately brave people in that country. Admiting..I know nothing about the Korean War..cept I know my father-in-law served. And I know some uncles' were stationed there in the 1960's.
Pondering..that might be good that the South and the North may be reunified. Just like the reunification of Germany. But I ponder this because I am thinking of families being separated for so long.. as I can't comment on the politics.. I haven't the understanding or the education.
What my logic tells me is.
1.) NK, Pak, India, Russia, Japan, U.S. and China all have nukes in varying capacities.
2.) I question? Why is it that N.K. is playing the NUKE game? It's dangerous.
3.) Iraq probobly doesn't have nukes...yet..and can one trust Saddam? and if Iraq did? Might be playing the NUKE game just like N.K. only far richer in resources that not only the U.S. thrives on..but the majority of the world.
4.) If the Middle East had NUKES. They might possible be the world power instead of the U.S. Does that frighten anybody? Point is..would you like to live in a free society? Or in a society that dictates your every thought?
Q. If the Middle East had Nukes and were level foes/allies with the U.S. What would life be like? Would a person be allowed Freedom? Or might they have to obey the religious police? And if obeying the regious police and various decree's? Would you consider yourself free? Or trapped?
Or do you think democracy would prevail? Come about? Sinse all would be on a level playing field?
Instead of asking if US is afraid or not, i think we all should be worried about the implications of such a war between US and NK. where would China stand, and then we have Japan. I think we all know what they are capable of. They are a step ahead in technology from rest of the world. If Japan decides to jump into this arms race, will we'll see a re run of 1940s days.
Are we afraid of NK? i think not. but NK sure is formidable foe then Iraq. but in a full out war,i think US can take NK. will take some time because of terrain and stuff. but in my opinion, China will never let US deploy its forces so close to its borders.
I think we shouldn't forget that if it wasn't for the US, half the Europe would be hailing the Nazi party, the other half would would had been under the Soviet flag, and most of the asia would be singing "Land of the Rising Sun".
Its hard to say if Iraq had WMDs or not??? US position against Iraq is more politcally motivated then anything else. Although US doesn't have a direct threat from Iraq, i think we all know the reasons.
First, let me be very clear. The problem with a fight in North Korea is not nukes, nor is it the Chinese. The problem is Scuds and artillery.
The North Koreans have Artillery that is easily located within 50 miles of South Koreas' capital of Seoul. They have so much Korean War and Vietnam era artillery that they could hit Seoul with approximately 500,000 shells in the first hour.
To successfully fight the "Battle of Seoul", the best thing that the South Koreans could do is evacuate the city. A suprise attack is their worst fear. But the real problem lies with cold war Soviet tactics and the violence of the first few hours of exchange. Most of the artillery that the North Koreans use is at the limits of it's range to reach Seoul, and it is not motorized. That means that the gun tubes must be aimed at a very low angle. When tubes are depressed that much it means that the earthen berms that protect the artillery piece are very low, and it leaves the artillery very vunerable. The US and South Korea have extremely good "counterbattery" radar systems that will literally have a shell moving in response to a North Korean firing within minutes. Because the artillery piece is relatively unprotected, there is a good probability that each piece of artillery may only fire one shell into South Korea. But it may take quite a long time to get approval to return fire. If it does take a long time to get approval to return fire, the city of Seoul would suffer enormously. A timed suprise attack with every tube firing at a precise time would temporarily overwhelm the defensive counterbattery capabilities. The sheer mass of the firepower is really North Koreas' strongest military advantage, and is typical cold war doctrine.
Once there is approval to return fire the US and South Korean return fire would be devastating, as much of it is very precise. The first targets are command and control centers. This means that each North Korean gunner will very soon be cut off from his commander. Under typical cold war tactics each commander would be left with orders to keep firing until he runs out of shells or is killed. In most scenarios, it might take 24 hours or more to kill all of the tubes that have fired, particularly if the North Koreans adopt a "shoot and scoot" . Thus even without nukes or WMD the North Koreas could kill a couple of hundred thousand people in Seoul in the first 24 hours. Because no WMD have been used, it would be very hard for the US to respond with Nukes.
After the first 24 hours the US and South Koreans would largely end the defense of Seoul, and would go on attack, and would slice into North Korea to push the DMZ back at least 50 miles. The Bombing runs into North Korea would commence in earnest, and most think that at this point the starving North Koreans with antique equipment would fold. But the first 24 hours would be unbeleivable murderous, even with conventional weapons.
Thus the real "fear" of the North Koreans lies in their unprediactability, in their conventional firepower and it's proximity to Seoul. Because Seoul is so exposed, once the shells start flying, it would be an unbelievable firefight that escallates almost automatically with no opportunity to negociate further. Hundreds of thousands would be killed in hours if the North misjudges and starts hostilities. No matter how good the US technology, the loss of life in Seoul would be horrendous.
Today NK announced it is officially pulling out of NPT. The first nation out of 187... Read all about it on CNN....
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Abdali: *
Today NK announced it is officially pulling out of NPT. The first nation out of 187... Read all about it on CNN....
[/QUOTE]
Yes, and guess how the US is responding this "rogue" nation which is flaunting its WMD ambitions to the world? Its started negotiating with it!
Double standards, hypocrisy, and downright fear...on the US part.
**South and North Korea Agree to Nuclear Talks ** from Yahoo!
North Korea agreed Friday to work with South Korea to peacefully resolve the international standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear programs, as U.S. envoys stepped up diplomatic efforts elsewhere. But after the two Koreas issued a joint statement pledging cooperation, the South Korean government acknowledged that the agreement fell short of commitments it sought from the North during the Cabinet-level talks.
Way to go, NK
Here’s some sound advice for the Americans…
It’s time to leave Korea](http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/5000693.htm)
N,Korea sticking it to US
Surely this is proof,if it were needed,that N.K is trying to blackmail the US.Why else would it not want the UN involved?
They appear to me to be using the US`s preoccupation with Iraq to try to squeeze them for everything they can,pretty sneeky,i say.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/01/27/ukorea.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/01/27/ixportal
North Korea has told the United Nations and the rest of the world that the current nuclear crisis is no business of theirs.
Rodong Shinmun, spokesman for North Korea’s ruling Workers Party, stressed that only the United States has any part to play in resolving the issue. He said: “There is no reason and justification for a third party to meddle.”
The comments were published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), and went on to say that the International Atomic Energy Agency had no part to play, since the countries withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty on January 10. The agency is to meet soon to decide whether North Korea should be refered to the UN Security Council.