That's the only positive I see from the Trump presidency.Originally Posted by arsenal
As for the risk to SE Asia, well one look at the map confirms it's quite some distance from DPRK & I don't thing fat Kim will have enough missiles to waste any on Thailand.
I think we all need to revisit the current state of the world. If a nuclear holocaust breaks out, it's due to Trump being an asshole, and not to much due to Kim Jong-Un.
This decades long fight has simply been because we in the West are unaccepting to have North Korea as a nuclear power. Well, the West lost, because NK is now a nuclear power. We can either accept that fact, or push for nuclear war where millions of people die.
This is somewhat ridiculous. North Korea isn't stupid, but they are fighting for their very survival. They have 50,000+ soldiers sitting at their southern border ready to invade given the world, there's a couple carrier groups including submarines with enough of a nuclear payload to destory the entire world sitting just off their shores, and the list goes on.
Back off. NK is not going to invade South Korea as they did in 1953, nor are they going to launch a nuclear attack. They know full well doing so will result in the almost instant destruction of their country, and government. They've been talking total bullshit rhetoric for decades now, but it will never materialize.
If a nuclear holocaust breaks out, then it's due to the actions of the US. It's almost somewhat similar as to how Japan attacked Pearl Harbour back in WWII. That was mainly due to the fact the US put Japan into a corner economically, so they had no choice but to lash out and attack. The same is happening now. I thought we would have learned from history, but apparently not, so fuck it, I guess there's a decent chance we're all going to find out what nuclear fallout feels like. What should be fun.
Actually, Cdnmatt, North Korea has numerous other options available to them, like maybe feeding their people and or growing their domestic economy. North Korea has a force of 5,589,000 and it represents the largest paramilitary force in the world (it also accounts for 25% of the country's population). The South Koreans have 495,000 soldiers and the Americans have 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. You can also add the 54,000 troops stationed in Japan to this total as their primary purpose is to protect Japan from a North Korean attack.
Then next door you also have China and the PLA with 2,285,000 troops. North Korea served a great purpose for China and now serves that same purpose for Russia. North Korea keeps the Americans tied up and forces the American military to constantly reserve resources in case North Korea does something stupid. That always allowed Russia and China to go off and do other things knowing full well that we could only give lip service to stopping them.
So, don't assume that if the Americans pulled out of Asia that North Korea would all of the sudden sit down and join the other country's of the world....
IF nuclear war breaks out don't pin all the blame on the US; save a little for the crazies in North Korea and for their puppet masters, China and Russia.
Moses. Your examples don't take into account availability. If those items were unavailable to buy them both countries could very quickly start building their own.
And the cost of research and development. In pharmaceutical chemistry, it costs several 100 million USD to find a new substance and get it approved as medicine, but once someone has spent that money and found and tested the substance, it can be produced for much less. That's why patents and trade agreements are in place to protect the intellectual property.
And the costs to set up a production line. Let's assume it costs 10 billion USD to set up a production line for nuclear warhead, and then just 100 million USD to produce one. Similar for intercontinental ballistic missile.
Another missile launched over Japan today by Kim Jong Un.
It's strange how familiarity breeds complacency. Some years ago the idea of North Korea firing such weapons over another country would be deemed highly unlikely.
I fear we're getting into a situation of no return.
A local war in Asia will have implications for those of us who are visitors here.
I predict a flight of people from the region and a big drop in tourism if this goes to the next level.
Nobody wants to fly into a region when 2 unstable leaders are going to have a head-to-head there.
"When elephants fight the ants get crushed".
Fat Boy Kim would fit in well on this Forum - a whole lot of posturing and bluff
But we have 2 fat narcissists with big boy toys not on this forum but in the real world.
You've been watching John Oliver's Last Week Tonight it seems.
Mai kow jai.
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