North Korea and it's Nukes. A little knowledge can be deadly

[BrendaQG]

I am sure you have all read and heard the stories of how poor and oppressed the people of North Korea are. In particular I am talking about stories that mention how when viewed from space at nite most of north Korea is dark and the lights go out after 9 PM. You have heard that they put the lights out because they do not have enough electricity....

So what do we do to ease that burden? First we tell the north that they cannot build their own nuclear power stations. Because they could also be used in a weapons program. In return for political reforms that would destroy their govt, we offered them something called a "light water reactor". The media misleadingly reported that those were "reactors that could not be used for producing nuclear weapons. :roll: WRONG. Such a reactor could be modified to create heavy water as well as nuclear energy it would be trivial to do so.

The media has also given the impression that the very knowledge needed to construct a nuclear device is a big secret. :roll: WRONG. Every undergraduate physicist will learn the physics that lie behind the bomb. More than one textbook has questions that if answered correctly illuminate those secrets. Such knowledge is available to any who want it bad enough to devote their life to learning it.

In fact we should assume that any and every country on earth with the ability to build a nuclear power station also has at least a few atom bombs.

My point in this post is not to scare anybody. I just want to inform you all that this is a false crisis. Nothing has really changed. Don't buy into the hype that North Korea has became a huge threat to us. Well one thing has changed. Now if we just invade North Korea there will be consequences and repercussions. But why would we want to do that?

[White_Male_Canada]

You could not be more wrong:

Report to the US House of Representatives, Prediction as of November 1999:


"Through the provision of two light water reactors [LWRs] under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the United States, through KEDO, will provide North Korea with the capacity to produce annually enough fissile material for nearly 100 nuclear bombs, should the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [DPRK] decide to violate the Nonproliferation Treaty [NPT]." "If the 1994 Agreed Framework is implemented and two LWRs are eventually built and operated in North Korea, the reactors could produce close to 500 kilograms of plutonium in spent reactor fuel each year; enough for nearly 100 bombs annually if North Korea decides to break its obligations and reprocess the material."

"Although the 1994 Agreed Framework was essentially aimed at eliminating North Korea's ability to make nuclear weapons, there is significant evidence that nuclear weapons development is continuing, including its efforts to acquire uranium enrichment technologies and its nuclear-related high explosive tests."

"In an astonishing reversal of nine previous U.S. administrations, the Clinton-Gore administration, in 1994, committed not only to provide foreign aid for North Korea, but to earmark that aid primarily for the construction of nuclear reactors worth up to $6 billion."

[guyone]

Er...they are exploding nuclear bombs. That's why the Chinese are freezing their assets. As a matter of fact we gave them the technology to build nuclear reactors and they took the technology and made nuclear weapons. North Korea's people still live in the dark.

[Quinn]

Here's a report prepared for Congress detailing North Korean actions from 1950 to 2003:

www.fas.org/man/crs/RL30004.pdf

If you take the time to read it, you will get a picture of just what this regime is capable of and how incredibly aggressive its foreign policy actually is (sending commando teams to assassinate South Korea's president, etc.).

If you take the time to do research on the makeup of North Korea's military and how it is deployed, you will see that they are a real threat to South Korea and Japan – and that's just taking into account its conventional capability. If you look at Pyongyang's biological and chemical capabilities – and how it's standard operating procedure for the military to use these weapons in any conflict – that's another problem altogether.

One last thing, North Korea's nuclear technology, like Pakistan's nuclear technology, has its origins in China.

From my perspective, both Clinton and Bush have completely dropped the ball in dealing with Pyongyang.

-Quinn

[White_Male_Canada]

One last thing, North Korea's nuclear technology, like Pakistan's nuclear technology, has its origins in China.

From my perspective, both Clinton and Bush have completely dropped the ball in dealing with Pyongyang.

-Quinn

Stooges in North Korea don`t sneeze without asking China first. It`s a sock puppet used by the Chinese to tweak the west`s nose.

Allowing western manufacturing to prop up the Chinese economy,in retrospect , seems to have been designed for a moment just like this. Warn China to move on it`s sock puppet or suffer economic consequences.Westerners would tolerate higher prices if the cost were a collapse not only of North Korea,but the much larger problem looming on the horizon,China.

[Foreskin]

Well the way I see it, George Bush ignored the problem and concentrated on OIL. Now we have a nuclear ready enemy at our striking distance door! And worse a fucking dictator who is a bully.

Irresponsible doesn't start to describe the situation on the part of the US government.

Now instead of 9 11 we have the possiblity of mass destruction right here in the heart of USA.

That asshole!

[White_Male_Canada]

Well the way I see it, George Bush ignored the problem and concentrated on OIL. Now we have a nuclear ready enemy at our striking distance door! And worse a fucking dictator who is a bully.

Irresponsible doesn't start to describe the situation on the part of the US government.

Now instead of 9 11 we have the possiblity of mass destruction right here in the heart of USA.

That asshole!

Full of hate and bile now? Wait until November,you`re going to go beserk.

The DNC will fail.

Now,Clinton gave north korea 6 billion dollars, 2 nukes,enough spent rods to build 100 bombs with zero inspections required.That obviously did not work,the north began working on nukes immediately.Even Albright admitted they (clintonistas) got fooled.

Unknown to you because of the dominant media`s non-reporting is that this administration has gone after north korea in economic ways.Their use of foreign banks is being squeezed and are being choked off. Direct aid is being diminished.N.korea makes cash by selling drugs,conterfeiting US dollars,and selling missiles.

If Bush wiped north korea off the map the radical left like yourself would go nuts.If Bush gave N.Korea even more nukes you`d go crazy.

The answer lies with China , who own north korea,lock stock and barrell.

[BrendaQG]

So what do we do to ease that burden? First we tell the north that they cannot build their own nuclear power stations. Because they could also be used in a weapons program. In return for political reforms that would destroy their govt, we offered them something called a "light water reactor". The media misleadingly reported that those were "reactors that could not be used for producing nuclear weapons. :roll: WRONG. Such a reactor could be modified to create heavy water as well as nuclear energy it would be trivial to do so.

The media has also given the impression that the very knowledge needed to construct a nuclear device is a big secret. :roll: WRONG. Every undergraduate physicist will learn the physics that lie behind the bomb. More than one textbook has questions that if answered correctly illuminate those secrets. Such knowledge is available to any who want it bad enough to devote their life to learning it.


What I said did not contradict what you have reported. The media mistakenly that news sources reported that a light water reactors could not build nuclear weapons. What they sort of did was what I did and oversimplified things.

"light water" is the water that comes out of the tap. H20

"Heavy Water" is D20 or T20. D=Deuterium and T=Tritium. They are heavy isotopes of hydrogen used int the Hydrogen Bomb. That is the one that gives you a Megaton yield. The Atomic bomb only gives you a "small" kiloton yield. So no worries. NOT

But the fact is we have nothing to fear because the reason Kim wants the bomb is to keep us away. Just demonstrating the capability to do that would be enough to cow us . History has shown that. Why do you think we do not attack Pakistan where Bin Laden actually is? (Not that I am in favor of that. I like Pakistani's.)

[specialk]

The answer lies with China , who own north korea,lock stock and barrell.

The Chinese hold so much American debt they own us lock stock and barrel too. So, if we piss them off they will make us "pay for it". Hit us in the wallet.

[Quinn]

But the fact is we have nothing to fear because the reason Kim wants the bomb is to keep us away.

I agree that this is part of the equation, but only part of it. The North Korean government does believe – and not without justification – that it could overrun South Korea before we could get enough reinforcements in country. While South Korea's army is one of the largest and best trained in the world, the North's is considerably larger and better trained (though not better equipped). The only part of the equation that worries the North is drawing a full-scale conventional response from Washington by causing large US casualties in the initial attack.

Most analysts believe this is why the North has wanted a normalization of relations with the US for so long – which would, of course, entail the withdrawal of US troops from the Korean Peninsula and lay the groundwork for a conventional attack. Successive presidential administrations have recognized this, which is why they have refused any sort of normalization with Pyongyang (including giving those security assurances Kim wants).

Now that Pyongyang has a nuclear capability, they could conceivably launch a full-scale conventional offensive, telling Washington that if the US intervenes in the conventional course of things, we risk a nuclear exchange. They know that no president would trade LA for Seoul.

The North remains committed to to reunifying the peninsula under Pyongyang’s control through military means. If you doubt it, do the research on how Pyongyang’s military is deployed: entirely for offense. If you read the Congressional Report that I posted, you will see empirical evidence of their aggressive intentions. The DPRK is a state whose tyranny is easily on par with the Stalin’s Soviet Union or Hitler’s Germany.

-Quinn

P.S. Note. The Petagon takes this possible scearnio seriously enough that it has recently pulled back many of its troops from the Korean DMZ.

[BrendaQG]

true that and those last missle test of theirs. They launced two that coul nuke the south. two that could nuke japan. an two that could nuke us.

More likely they would use one to hit us with an Electromagnetic Pulse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse) . Such an attack would disable all of the west coast electronics and electrical system. It would be so disruptive your car might not start. Potentially It could render all the fierarms there unuseable even. That's whe we have to fear. By the time we repaired the damage Kim would be in Pusan having a victory party.

Or mabey the South Koreans can fight better and would win. Who' knows?

[Quinn]

Nice analysis of the situation, Brenda, particularly the missile launch pattern. It's a very sticky situation, no matter how we slice it. It's unfortunate that the current presidential administration squandered so much of our political and economic capital in Iraq, where it wasn't needed. Despite their often blustery presentation, the North Koreans are very canny and can smell the blood in the water.

-Quinn