Pyongyang: We'll put a torch to New York By Shane Green, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo March 8 2003 North Korea would launch a ballistic missile attack on the United States if Washington made a pre-emptive strike against the communist state's nuclear facility, the man described as Pyongyang's "unofficial spokesman" claimed yesterday. Kim Myong-chol, who has links to the Stalinist regime, told reporters in Tokyo that a US strike on the nuclear facility at Yongbyon "means nuclear war". "If American forces carry out a pre-emptive strike on the Yongbyon facility, North Korea will immediately target, carry the war to the US mainland," he said, adding that New York, Washington and Chicago would be "aflame". A pre-emptive strike on Yongbyon is one of the strategic options in the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program. The US has deployed 24 long-range bombers to the Pacific base of Guam capable of launching such a strike. Mr Kim, who has written a text studied by North Korean military leaders, predicted North Korea would restart its reprocessing plant to make weapons-grade plutonium this month. A nuclear weapon would be produced by the end of next month, with another five by the end of the year, he said. This was on top of a suspected nuclear arsenal of 100 weapons. The ultimate aim of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, was the "neutralisation of the American factor" in the region, Mr Kim said. This would be achieved by striking a non-aggression pact with the US or becoming an "official" nuclear power, thereby making the US nuclear umbrella in the region irrelevant. "Both ways, Kim Jong-il is a winner," Mr Kim said. "By the end of the year, I predict Bush will be in Pyongyang suing for peace," Mr Kim said. While his comments are extreme, they match the heated and belligerent rhetoric of North Korea, which has previously warned of nuclear war and turning the cities of its enemies into a "sea of ashes". The Bush Administration yesterday made renewed calls on China and other countries in the region to help broker a solution to the crisis. In his live televised press conference, Mr Bush said North Korea's nuclear program was a regional issue. "I say 'regional' because there's a lot of countries that have got a direct stake into whether or not North Korea has nuclear weapons," Mr Bush said. "We've got a stake as to whether North Korea has nuclear weapons. China clearly has a stake as to whether or not North Korea has a nuclear weapon." The Bush Administration is pushing for multilateral talks with North Korea but the communist state wants direct talks with Washington. In the meantime, diplomatic activity is continuing behind the scenes. "We have a number of diplomatic initiatives under way - some of them very, very quietly under way - to see if we cannot get a multilateral dialogue started," the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, told a US Senate Committee. Yesterday the US also flagged the possible withdrawal of its 37,000 troops from South Korea, part of the rethink of a deployment in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said the US was consulting with South Korea and he suspected "we'll end up making some adjustments there". "Whether the forces come home or whether they will move further south of the [Korean] peninsula or whether to some neighbouring area are the kinds of things that are being sorted out," he said at a "town hall" meeting in Germany.
It is like this: In a bar full of people, we stood up and said...HEY, that guy is an A$$hole, and then the guy stood up and continued to prove that he was an A$$hole. North Korea is on the brink of falling....and that is really bad, as desperate people use desperate measures. DD
It was interesting that in the article the # of nuclear weapons was put at about 100. Apparently that was what this guy said. Let's hope he's blowin' smoke.
North Korea is doing what most countries with nukes will do when threatened directly or indirectly...claim they will use nukes as a part of their defense. They are trying to deter US action. This is nothing new.
If you build up a big enough post count you suddenly get respect . We need a policy of containment on the Chinese post count around here.
Are there any people out there still AGAINST ballastic missle defense? Yes. #1 - There's not much evidence that it would actually work. #2 - It won't be ready for years. #3 - It's a big waste of money which our government has a lack of right now. If we had unlimited resources, great - go for it. However, we don't, so it's a question of where to put limited funds. Those billions of dollars can much better be used elsewhere than a pie-in-the-sky hope-it-might-work program.
Major, Have you seen the newest Laser defense systems that will shoot down artillery shells in mid flight? A similar setup is being worked on for missile defense. I think it is a great idea..... DD
Major: It will be ready in limited form inside of 3 years. There are few technical hurdles left, and most of the more recent tests (including live-fire tests) have been successful. I personally used to be staunchly against it, arguing that it would start a regional arms race, and that the money was needed for other more vital programs, but I have come to realize that A) the arms race has already begun without us and will only continue, and B) that most of the vital programs I had feared would be cancelled have already been budgeted for. Also, it sure would be nice to knock a few North Korean ballistic missiles down (if you really want to save California, that is). What a bargaining tool that would be! BTW, the Taepo Dong II missile cannot reach the continental US. The only way they could get New York or Washington would be to bring it in by boat, and we could intercept that alot easier than we could a missile. Chicago is completely safe. And they have from 1 to 5 warheads, not over 100. This guy Myong-chol is just blowing smoke out pof his ass.
Ah, I can see it now... Trader_Jorge: "Strike against my country, and I'll specifcally nuke every touchy-feely left-wing nut who actually wants to help the homeless. CASE CLOSED." nomar: "Litter my country with pro-Harry Potter propaganda, and I'll go all Tolkien on your asses. America is no match for my band of fighting Uruk-Hai."
They are a bit more wild with their claims though. Even during the Cold War the Soviets never seriously wanted to get involved in a nuclear war because they knew the consequences of it. I am afraid Kim does want a nuclear war and would not be afraid to launch a nuke.
They didn't mention west coast cities like San Francisco, LA, or Seattle. Sounds like an exaggerated bluff. But I wouldn't dismiss them off either. If we don't put them down now diplomatically, after the Iraqi war, they're going to escalate the saber rattling.
It's on the front of Popular Science, 747's equipped with lasers. It's very interesting. http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviation/article/0,12543,424266,00.html
Yep, that's the good ol' American 'can do' attitude for ya. We'll never have a workable system if we don't fund the research. To say that its impossible to develop such a system is silly. Its like those who said we couldn't put a man in space, or those who said the world was flat. And considering the impact of such a system, or the lack thereof, I think its worth the money. North Korea is the perfect example why. A looney leader (and no one disputes this) who has absolute control, long range ballistic missles, and nukes. Ugh! If we had such a system Junior could have a nice cup of shut the **** up.
I also saw that on the discovery channel. Pretty cool stuff, but it is still experimental and in early stages of testing.
