NORTH KOREA

[SnakeTom]

Any thoughts on what the US should do about the current situation.

I really do not know what the proper course is. We certainly do not want to get involved in another war but we are dealing with a bandit nation. Sanctions have not worked. They break negotiated agreements all the time. They attack our allied nation in So Korea without warning or thought about innocent lives & are in the process of developing nuclear weapons. How far can we let this continue without fighting back with force ???

Tom K

 

[shu09]

We shouldn't do anything. If we get the idea that we have to be the world's police man out of our minds we will be much better off.

If we're going to do anything, naval and air support along with covert action to try to force regime change would be the best course of action. NO GROUND TROOPS.

I do think people are making much too big of a deal about this. They shelled a disputed island. So what? It's not like they dropped a nuke on Seoul, in which case we'd bombard them and they'd be finished. North Korea may appear crazy but they're not dumb. They know what'll happen if the US gets involved.
This post was edited on 11/24 11:20 PM by shu09

 

[SnakeTom]

I agree we should not be the world's policemen nor should we send ground troops into North Korea. But the situation is much more serious than you make it out to be. Forgetting the threat to So Korea for the moment if their nuclear program continues this is the type of nation that would export this technology to terrorist clients which is certainly a risk to the US as well as many other nations. There just may come a time when air strikes into No Korea may become necessary for our own security.

Tom K

 

[SPK145]

Originally posted by shu09:
We shouldn't do anything. If we get the idea that we have to be the world's police man out of our minds we will be much better off.
This post was edited on 11/24 11:20 PM by shu09

There it is.

Past U.S, actions were stupid, fruitless, and naive. Why are we defending a very rich country like South Korea? If we had left them alone, they would have built up their military to a point where North Korea would be a joke to them.

If, and this is a big if, we have great intelligence on where their nukes are, and we can reasonably strike them, I'd support air strikes on them as I would against Iran. But these are very limited and targeted strikes.

 

[SHUMAN]

I think the key is getting China to be more forceful with NK. They are the regional superpower and they should step up and try to resolve peacefully. Although their trump card is cutting off the food supplies and then they would need to deal with NK refugees coming across the border in huge numbers. Tough situation all around but we cannot be drawn into a NK-US standoff. I was hoping Kim Jong-Un would be different than his father (and I suppose he still may be after his father is no longer around) but disappointing to see same hostile posture to date. Apparently, Kim Jong-Un is a big basketball and Michael Jordan fan and he went to boarding school in Switzerland. You would think some of that Swiss neutrality would have rubbed off on him. Maybe we can send an envoy of Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson and Jimmy Carter to square things out.
Interesting article by Charles Krauthammer today on related topic. I find myself agreeing with him more often than not. See link.

krauthammer

 

[cernjSHU]

North Korea is really the epitome of what was wrong with the Bush Administration and I got into heated debates over this. When the reason to go into Iraq was because they had nuclear weapons, I argued that the UN inspectors did not find anything. Why would we go and invade Iraq? By that logic, we should invade North Korea because they admitted back in 2002 that they were trying to build a nuclear weapons.

Hypocrisy in our foreign relations has hurt this country so much. Now, that there is a legitimate nuclear threat from North Korea, we are powerless to do anything about it because we are bogged down. We now have to beg China to stop N Korea. We have no power in this conflict even though it poses more of a security risk than Iraq ever could pose.

 

[SnakeTom]

Originally posted by cernjSHU:
North Korea is really the epitome of what was wrong with the Bush Administration and I got into heated debates over this. When the reason to go into Iraq was because they had nuclear weapons, I argued that the UN inspectors did not find anything. Why would we go and invade Iraq? By that logic, we should invade North Korea because they admitted back in 2002 that they were trying to build a nuclear weapons.

Hypocrisy in our foreign relations has hurt this country so much. Now, that there is a legitimate nuclear threat from North Korea, we are powerless to do anything about it because we are bogged down. We now have to beg China to stop N Korea. We have no power in this conflict even though it poses more of a security risk than Iraq ever could pose.

I absolutely agree.

Tom K

 

[SPK145]

Originally posted by cernjSHU:
North Korea is really the epitome of what was wrong with the Bush Administration

True but it goes back further than Bush. Have we forgotten the ridiculous treaty signed with North Korea by the Clinton Administration/Bill Richardson that North Korea was breaking while they were signing? And where did North Korea get much of their nuclear knowledge from?

 

[Section112]

North Korea is a bad situation all around. And right now we are in the thick of it unfortunately due to our promises and relationship with South Korea. This could be real trouble for us and I don't think we should be a part of it at all. Iraq was a huge blunder and this one could be catastrophic. Let's hope cooler heads prevail.