Proof of Death
North Korea has announced that it possesses nuclear weapons, which it claims to have built from Plutonium obtained from spent reactor fuel rods. If true, this seriously changes the dynamic in the Far East, and is a major defeat for the Bush Doctrine. If this is true.
Aye, there`s the rub. North Korea has never tested a thermonuclear device; there is simply no way of knowing if an atom bomb will work without conducting tests. It is veeerrrry difficult to conduct those tests without someone figuring out what you are doing. An atomic blast leaves too large of a footprint. The United States used to conduct them underground, and the whole world knew about it anyway. South Africa conducted tests in the South Atlantic (although they denied they were the ones doing it) and we knew exactly what was happening. (Since we couldn`t prove that it was a South African test, they are not officially listed as a nuclear power.) North Korea has never conducted a test.
Which means that either the NPRK 1. Has acquired a supercomputer to conduct a virtual test (very unlikely, but not impossible thanks to Bill Clinton`s political campaign and bargain barn) 2. They have acquired nukes from somewhere else-perhaps they have bought old Soviet nukes or 3. they`re lying to gain leverage.
What we need here is proof of life, or rather, proof of death. If the NPRK has the bomb they need to show the world! We know they are getting close, but we have no reason to believe these liars have actually developed a weapon. It would be easy for them to prove their assertion. We should call their bluff.
If Korea has the bomb, then they are untouchable by conventional means; we will have no regime change as in Iraq. We understand this, and they understand this. Is the timing of this announcement a coincidence? I find that very unlikely. North Korea fears the Bush Doctrine, and is trying to turn world opinion against any exercise of that doctrine. I think we are watching a game of high stakes poker. We shouldn`t panic-we need to call their bluff. We need proof of death. Read the story here.
Aye, there`s the rub. North Korea has never tested a thermonuclear device; there is simply no way of knowing if an atom bomb will work without conducting tests. It is veeerrrry difficult to conduct those tests without someone figuring out what you are doing. An atomic blast leaves too large of a footprint. The United States used to conduct them underground, and the whole world knew about it anyway. South Africa conducted tests in the South Atlantic (although they denied they were the ones doing it) and we knew exactly what was happening. (Since we couldn`t prove that it was a South African test, they are not officially listed as a nuclear power.) North Korea has never conducted a test.
Which means that either the NPRK 1. Has acquired a supercomputer to conduct a virtual test (very unlikely, but not impossible thanks to Bill Clinton`s political campaign and bargain barn) 2. They have acquired nukes from somewhere else-perhaps they have bought old Soviet nukes or 3. they`re lying to gain leverage.
What we need here is proof of life, or rather, proof of death. If the NPRK has the bomb they need to show the world! We know they are getting close, but we have no reason to believe these liars have actually developed a weapon. It would be easy for them to prove their assertion. We should call their bluff.
If Korea has the bomb, then they are untouchable by conventional means; we will have no regime change as in Iraq. We understand this, and they understand this. Is the timing of this announcement a coincidence? I find that very unlikely. North Korea fears the Bush Doctrine, and is trying to turn world opinion against any exercise of that doctrine. I think we are watching a game of high stakes poker. We shouldn`t panic-we need to call their bluff. We need proof of death. Read the story here.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 5:21 AM
2 Comments:
Interesing ideas, Tim. I was listening to Scarborough's radio show today and caught Rowan Scarborough, who writes for the Washington Times. He was saying that North Korea does not test things -- they develop them - and then they use them - that's how we had no idea they had long-range missiles until one sailed over Japan and landed in the ocean. He also said that the U.S. has excellent intelligence on North Korea and that we are pretty certain that they do have a nuke. That being said, they've pulled this sort of bluff before, and were able to get all sorts of bribes from the Clinton administration and Maggie Albright who was more than eager to have her dancing partner back. They are trying the same bluster again. We'll see how the Bush Administration deals with it this time. I'm sure they have some plans in mind.
With North Korea you never know but I hope Bush has a good plan.
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