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North Korean Missile Raised To Firing Position, Says US Official
An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from CNN: "North Korea has raised at least one missile into its upright firing position, feeding concerns that a launch is imminent, a U.S. official told CNN Thursday. This comes as the world continued to keep watch for a possible missile launch by the secretive government, and a day before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to arrive in the region. In the latest daily tough talk from the North, a government agency is quoted by the state-run media as saying that 'war can break out any moment.'"
Sounds like a perfect excuse for a preemptive strike
'nuff said.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
News for Nerds. Missiles and "Wargames"-like situations fit the bill for me.
UID nearly 3 million... you're probably mistaken. "News for nerds, stuff that matters". Take a look at the history of the site. It's been around for a long time and covered a lot of ground.
SIGSEGV caught, terminating
wait... not that kind of sig.
I believe this would fall under the "stuff that matters" part of the slogan.
Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally wo
While this may not be tech-related, it's good to have this kind of news up on everyone's radar, just in case (no pun intended).
shit or get off the pot.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
It's "stuff that matters".
Slashdot is news for nerds. Nerds care about just about anything remotely tech or science related as well as any major news story like this even if not tech related.
Its actually not much different than a normal news site except for most of the "celebrity" gossip and reality TV crap is filtered out - unless it has some technology tie-in.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
"Bombs over Pyongyang" does have kind of a nice ring to it...
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Last year my friends and I started a "North Korea bombing someone" pool, given they did it every five years or so... And I got week of anniversary of North Korea for $30....
I really don't want anything to happen though, that would be the most guilt ridden six hundred bucks I've ever received.
And where do you think many computer components are made? I'll give you a hint: it goes by the initials ROK, and happens to still technically be in a state of war with North Korea.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The missile OS is linux.
Here's the paragraphs further down the page - "After the raising of the missile Wednesday, it was not clear to U.S. officials why the North Korean government did not proceed with the firing. The U.S. official cautioned that the raising of the missile could have been just a trial run to ensure the equipment works or an effort to "mess" with the United States and the allies that are watching for a launch at any time." This happened yesterday. If it was important there would have been at least 1 big explosion by now.
Or am I mistaken?
Where do you think a large amount of your computer/television... components come from?
Yeah that would be South Korea
Huh? A few days ago? The Korean War was never resolved; they've just been in a temporary ceasefire since the fifties.
Is mostly ignore them, set up a bunch of anti-missile systems. Have the missile successfully shot down over NK territory before it even enters S. Korea.
Then sell lots of anti-missile systems to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world.
Five days ago North Korea was moving their missiles and they're only now getting them in firing position? How long does it take to ready a missile? Seems like the US had patriot missiles halfway across the world in South Korea in less time than it's taken the North thus far.
You're mistaken. I'm glad to have cleared that up for you.
Gentlemen! Please...!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
China has been growing in economic and military influence, and seems to want to be taken seriously. If that is the case, this is their moment. They could put an end to this nonsense in a minute. They need to understand that it would be in their own national interest to smack this puppy on the snout, fast and sharp. If they just let it fester, and it leads to armed conflict, they will lose face.
There are just so many ways that this can go wrong...
misses the Pacific Ocean.
James Bond will step in any minute to save us... any minute now...
Isn't it awesome that we have entire news stories telling us we're on the precipice of war - without one single person quoted? CNN doesn't even bother to include a tag like "quoted on condition of anonymity" anymore - they just take their directions from the White House press office and fill in "official" wherever it would have made sense to have a real person substantiating a dubious claim.
Gentlemen! Please...!
You cant fight in here! This is the War Room!
Whenever a player quits EVE to go play WoW, the Average IQ of both games increase.
What a bunch of seoulless, warmongering scum.
Just knowing that someone is watching my missile move into an upright position would be enough to piss me off.
"News for nerds" is just a slogan, it doesn't really mean anything.
Think of it like a good newspaper. Techy stuff, plus only the most important of the most important world news.
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
Or am I mistaken?
A North Korean missile launch would alter the world's political, economic, and military landscape beyond recognition. But I would expect it to be a very intense, very dangerous, environment for the nerd and the geek.
ten-year, $3 trillion invasion, you mean.
But we can't pay for social services! In our own country at least.
More likely Windows CE.
sig: sauer
And where do you think many computer components are made?
*cough*
That's where they're designed. They're made just over the border where the labour is really cheap. At least they were intil NK closed the business park to the south last week.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
If Kim had a shotgun and behaved like this in L.A., LAPD would have plugged him about 40 times by now.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
All of our stuff is made in areas that NoKo could realistically harm. Good tablets and phones come out of SoKo. Good cameras are made in Japan. Just about everything else is made in China. It'll matter when you can't get a new phone.
Actually they have, or had, an armistice since 1953. An armistice is actually a cessation of hostilities for the purpose of agreeing to a lasting peace. Cease fires, often confused with armistices, are usually the first steps in bringing around an armistice. The main difference between the two is that a cease fire does not have to include the intention of peace talks where as an armistice does. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice
Whenever a player quits EVE to go play WoW, the Average IQ of both games increase.
Which is different in what way exactly from how the past two administrations dealt with NK?
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Shouldn't it read: North Korean Missile Raised to Failing Position, Says US Official
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
I wonder how many more "ok for real this time..." the NK has left in them. Not sure what Kim and Co. are expecting the rest of the world to do. They are really only two possible outcomes: one is to put everything away and try and work out the sanction problems, two, pull the trigger and be decimated.
Either way, NK has changed itself forever, they just don't realize it yet. There's no way they are going back to their "old ways' after this.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
mod up, I love peter Sellers references.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Yes but an armistice is not the end of a war, it opens up a venue for peace talks. The armistice is over in cse you hadn't heard. But semantics aside the war has never been over.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
Bring on the ABL and take it out.
Likewise, we should launch our minuteman III next day.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
a Russian form of dos
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
should distract the entire populace of NK thoroughly and destabilize the regime. Particularly, if we included enough Dove chocolates. Man, I love those things.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
China needs to give North Korea the spanking they so dearly need and tell them to start playing nice with others in the neighborhood.
I also find it hilarious that the US went after Iraq for supposed WMD that never existed, but when North Korea actually has and flaunts them the US does nothing. I guess its just easier to bomb the shit out of an impotent nation then one that can actually raise their missiles.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Look... they just figured out how to use the hydraulics to raise the missile. Everyone is giving them WAY too much credit. lol
So if this missile strikes, or is believed to strike the US or one of our allies before being intercepted, does this constitute an act of war? If North Korea indicates the original trajectory was not intended to strike the US or one of our allies, but an unfortunate flaw diverted the course, do we still retaliate?
Yes nuke the bastards. The south is in dire need of more parking space.
Oh sorry this is slashdot not the comments section on CNN...I get confused sometimes.
(same AC you responded to).
"Nation building"??? "Nation building"???????
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
If by that you mean "giving shittons of money to Haliburton and Blackwater and the like", then yah. Otherwise, no, not so much.
I must say that I much preferred Kim Jong-un when he was doing Gangnam Style.
And some of the really weird shit, like the theft of a million pounds of maple syrup.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
.
.
Swiss Delegate: Ah, Mr. Abootman. It's the global world summit leaders. We want to talk to you about the strike.
Stephen Abootman: You... You do? You wanna negotiate?!
French Delegate: No, we were just wondering if, when you're all dead, we can use Newfoundland for a new global theme park.
[Mr. Abootman drops the phone and begins to weep. He walks away with his hands over his eyes]
Kyle: [picks up the phone] Hello? Will you just give this guy something, please?!
Swiss Delegate: Excuse me?
Kyle: [Mr. Abootman leans on the door, crying] He just doesn't wanna look like an idiot, so he wants everyone to think the strike was for something. Ehjust, just give him anything!
French Delegate: Well, we could give Canada some small consolation pirize
Kyle: If they give you something small, will you end the strike?
Stephen Abootman: Well they... act like they're giving Canada a lot so everyone thinks I did a good job?
Kyle: Can you act like you're giving him a lot?
Swiss Delegate: Well, why not?
[Canada, moments later. Mr. Abootman steps outside to the podium and makes an announcement]
Stephen Abootman: We have won! [no one reacts: they're all too tired to]
Lumberjack: Well how much did we got?
Stephen Abootman: Well, we uh, we didn't get everything that we wanted, but... we nogotiated hard and... we got these... [holds up some coupons] coupons to Bennigan's! And... [holds up a bag of sweets] free bubblegum... for every Canadian. [his aide steps forward and claps really fast. Other Canadians begin to clap their hands] These coupons entitle every Canadian to a free meal at Bennigan's. With the purchase of a meal at equal or greater value, of course.
Aide 1: We did it! [aide 2 steps forward and claps really fast. Other Canadians begin to clap their hands]
Stephen Abootman: My friends. This is the greatest victory in Canadian history. [headlines follow: The Canuck Reporter has "Canada Wins The Strike." Canadiety has "Strike over! Canada Victorious!." Canada Today has "Strike Victory Party Set For Next Week."] [http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season12/E1204script.htm]
In what experts are calling "the ultimate cry for attention", North Korea leader Kim Jung-Un blew himself up with his own nucleur weapons today. In an ironic twist, the missiles homed in on the largest Korean target available. Upon hearing this news Mrs. Un, who had been ordered to love Kim Jung with all of her heart, celebrated by feeding her people.
And probably release a shitload of Higgs Bosons in the process. Or something.
This needs to be handled with a great deal of delicacy.
I believe I'd tend to put half the subs there, and open all the nuke doors, and lets the news coverage speak for itself. Other words are not needed.
Its hard to shell the SK Capital if your army has been turned to glass.
We`re all equal
If it remains erect for more then 4 hours.
Knowing Kim Jong Un, it'll be over in seconds.
Have gnu, will travel.
If it remains upright for more than 4 hours, we'd better call Kim Jong Un's doctor. Hopefully he didn't disconnect -all- of the phone lines to the U.S./allies.
It's simpler than that. We understand very little about the internal dynamics of the North Korean government, but you can be fairly sure of one thing: Kim does not have the option of picking up the phone and asking the US or anyone else for a quiet chat. He's riding a tiger, and he has to ride the line between being killed by one of his people and starting a war where he'll be killed by one of ours. As for our response, it's the best way to manage it. NK would not take kindly to a short sharp shock and they have the manpower to be a bloody nuisance - fighting them would be Japan 1945, not Iraq 2003.
[FUCK BETA]
A Kim Jong Hard-Un? :D
Not my joke Robbaz does a bit on it on his Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1AD2LWAc9Q
5. Our Obsession with Iran - They share a border with Israel
Iran shares a border with Isreal? Is this from the new Iranian "Google maps" we just heard about?
I woinder if someone can lob a pack of malware at NK's missile silos and shut them down not unlike the israeli stuxnet attack on iran's centrifuges.
It does seem to be a bloodless way of defusing things.
It never was a war. The term used was "police action" if I remember my history correctly. No declaration in Congress, which was the beginning of the new normal where the President has usurped war powers. That appears to be the way Congress prefers, so half of them can point fingers of blame for either the result of the conflict if it goes badly, or at the war power usurpation if it goes well. The other half then either blame the finger-pointers as unpatriotic, or bask in the success.
Can't lose. Watch those campaign contributions roll in! Aka, "PROFIT!" in /. meme-speak.
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
One drone, one Hellfire missile -> no more Nork missile on launch pad.
Deny everything. Drone? What drone? Oh, that crazy Kim he sees drones everywhere. Crummy Nork missile just blew up on the pad, right.
Nudge nudge wink wink saynomore.
Presumably meant to be funny, and I did chuckle, but MacArthur did indeed want to go on and topple the Chinese government. In 1950 it had been only a year and change since the Communists had routed the Nationalists, so their hold was still somewhat tenuous. That was what got him sacked.
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
According to CNN they lowered the missile again not much later. What can I say? Some folks just can't keep it up.
Seriously, though. The missiles they're tinkering with are using a less volitile fuel that doesn't have to be used right after fueling, so they could be messing around with this thing for days before the oxidizer they're using ruins their new toy.
See? There's a nerdy side to every news story.
===== Murphy's Law is recursive. =====
Isn't that their strategy of choice, historically speaking, anyway?
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Even Russia's old gear is more modern than the vast majority of North Korea's gear. North Korea's best fighter is the MiG-29, of which they have 40, it's a downgraded export model at that. The Russians by comparison have more than 200 MiG-29 fighters, many of which have been or are being upgraded with modern hardware. In total the Russians have almost 700 fighters and interceptors, all of which are superior to anything the North Koreans have. On top of this they have close to 150 bombers (mostly Tu-22M bombers but a healthy complement of strategic bombers as well (Tu-95 and Tu-160)).
If North Korea did strike Russia I suspect the Russians would quickly establish air superiority and use their bomber fleet to flatten any North Korean attempts at advancing or defending. Not to mention that while Russia has no problem finding fuel for its aircraft, tanks and other vehicles the North Koreans have a lot of their much-feared artillery placed in the southern parts of the country, with Russian air superiority and barely any fuel I doubt they'd be able to execute any major troop movements.
On top of this are geographical considerations, the land border between North Korea and Russia is something like 20 km long and in order to move troops trough it you pretty much have to have air superiority, in my opinion it would be nearly impossible for North Korea to mount any kind of advance through the narrow corridor north to Vladivostok. In fact, I think it is likely that the Russians would be able to push the North Koreans back beyond the border pretty quickly once they establish air superiority, they can effectively hinder nearly all troop movements by the North Koreans and just use air power to minimize resistance since the North Koreans have nothing worth mentioning to counter the Russians with (unless we're counting their aging MiG-21, F-5, F-6 and F-7 fighters which make up 400+ of their 500 or so fighters, not to mention that a very large portion of their air force is grounded due to poor maintenance (for some plane types I believe it's more than 50% of the planes which are estimated to be completely useless, not that an F-5 with nothing but a cannon is very useful anyway these days)).
Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
On the contrary: the US has allowed NK to have nuclear weapons precisely because it does take NK's army seriously, since it is actually capable of inflicting damage on something we care about (i.e., Seoul).
In contrast, Iran can't do shit so there's no downside to the US taking a hard line.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Anyone else expecting the launch to end with the rocket tip opening up with a giant clown flag that says "Kaboom!!!!!!!!!!!!" With multiple exclamation marks because they wanted a really big boom.
My bad, make that:
5. Our Obsession with Iran - They are close enough to Israel to be a threat.
I suck at geography (shoot, I looked at a map and still got it wrong).
BlameBillCosby.com
This is NK's way of giving us the finger.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I'm pretty sure the Koreans will agree there was a war regardless of how we phrased our participation (we participated as part of a UN action). Not everything is about the U.S. :) I completely agree on your point about authorization, though. If there's a shooting war there damn well should be some sort of Congressional authorization. Anything else relegates the Constitution to nothing more than a musty piece of toilet paper.
The other thing that confuses the hell out of me is that we are so bent on preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons yet, NK has been working on this since the beginning of the Bush (duh-bya) terms and we have YET to take them very seriously. We are sort of taking them seriously but it's still nothing like what we do with Iran.
Iran is a threat to Israel, and the Israel lobby has a massive amount of influence in DC.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
It was a war to the Koreans. They're the ones that count in this scenario, after all. Whether the US declared war or not is irrelevant to the fact that it was a war.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
And here I thought it was because he was a shitty general bucking for political office who was rude to the sitting POTUS.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
Look at a map!
South Korea would make a lovely island with an amazing view of the new seafront. It would even glow at night. Very romantic.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
that's what we should done in Iraq, let them busy themselves rebuilding. instead we continued to destroy things to make contractors rich. one things for sure, stupid idea to think "we'll impose democracy at gunpoint". that same mentality is why afghanistan such a failure, now we're negotiating with Taliban groups.
What, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Look them up on google maps. Mad Max is a lie. The desolation, destruction and utter lack of humanity is just ordinary everyday Australia.
And you wouldn't need to nuke all of NK, just the capitol, kill the leadership and it is over. Koreans aren't muslims fanatics (Iraq/Afghanistan) or fighting the Xth foreign invader (Vietnam) they are closer to Germany and then the population in the concentration camps.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Why am I reminded of Star Wreck 4½? Can't remember the exact quote, but...
"Alert the enemies, that we're about to warm up the twinkler banks... soon."
"Alert the enemies, that we're about to warm up the twinkler banks... now."
(Several hours later)
"All right, if you want it. So be it. We will not make any more warnings. All light balls and twinkler banks... feuer."
(The ensuing fight consists mostly of dodging maneuvers of "turn right very slowly" variety)
From what I have read, Truman was willing to endure quite a bit of rudeness from MacArthur, but the general's talk of attacking China was threatening to split the coalition, and he had to dump the guy.
Perscriptio in manibus tabellariorum est.
How about...a nice game of chess?
Unless someone panics and pops open a small can of instant sunshine. Then someone else, who doesn't want to look like a wuss, chucks a few catering size ones in random directions.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
There's always the possibility that the missile crew, being under orders to be ready to launch, was just doing a routine systems checkout.
During the Cuban missile crisis, US experts thought that the USSR was "sending a message". The missile sites in Cuba were easy to spot because they were laid out exactly the same way as in the USSR. Decades later, on the 40th anniversary of the crisis, there was a get-together of some of the major players from all sides. Someone asked about the layout of the sites. The Russian officer who'd been responsible for the layout said "No, we just did it that way because that was what it said to do in the field manual." Everyone in the room with military experience nodded in agreement.
CNN would like to apologize for the mistranslation. The article should have read "North Korean penis raised to firing position". As a further addendum to this story a North Korean Communist staffer was heard to say "So sorry, Un; we can try again later". The staffer was killed and later imprisoned.
The party's over
5. Our Obsession with Iran - They share a border with Israel, there is no other reason.
*Cough*
Iran was the intended recipient of the message expressed in the Afghanistan/Iraq squeeze. None of the above states shares a border with Israel, but Afghanistan and Iraq share borders with Iran.
roman_mir's back.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Sounds like a perfect reason for an orbital laser platform....
I've only seen very little coverage of this, but it would not be very hard for NK to launch a modified nuke to detonate high in the atmosphere causing an EMP pulse to take out the electronics of most of the south, and a good part of Japan and China.
Now you might be thinking that this would be bad for NK as well, but you think about it, it would level the playing field in the short term considerably. Yes, the U.S. could still fly bombers from across the ocean and maybe to sorties from carriers (if they aren't affected by the EMP blast).
In the meantime a couple of million NK troops with basic gear could flood across the border while U.S. and South Korean forces would be left to their basic non-electronic gear.
Kim Jong Un: No, you idiots, I said we need to have a missile ERECTION! ERECTION! We should vote on what to do with them!
You seem well informed!
I question, though, how usable Russia's air force would be. I'm sure they have a couple of bomber wings and a fighter wing that are operational, but I'd be surprised if they could fly even half their fighter and interceptor fleet on less than 24 hours notice. I'd question all aspects of their readiness, from pilots, ground crew, ATC, equipment state of repair, etc.
Even if they could operate a usable air fleet, they would have to fly all their missions out of Vladivostok which PRK could make difficult by taking out landing strips and runways (Kamikaze-style if necessary) and I would imagine that even PRK's brain trust has thought about what might be necessary to significantly degrade Vladivostok as a base of operations.
If Russia can't fly out of Vladivostok they are in trouble in maintaining air superiority -- they would never get overflight rights from China and they don't have the in-air refueling capability to fly out of places further West in Siberia, even if they could manage to get ground facilities in cold war era, run-down airbases up and running. Chavarobsk to Pyongyang is 2000 km and it only gets worse from there.
Without air superiority, the Russians options get a lot worse from there. Even though the PRK is largely a paper tiger, I would imagine the Red Army would be in for a slugfest trying to take on the PRK on their home turf.
...gets an erection from.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
Heavy, man ... that's heavy ...
char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
Won't somebody PLEASE think of the smartphones?!?!
When does this happen in the movie?
It's simply time to overthrow the place. America is excellent at destabilizing govts. Whatever happens afterward can be South Korea's concern. They fire that missle, we should strike them viciously and reduce the entire country to nothing.
That's one 'friggin' rocket controlled by a whack job.
By the way, I read all over the news that NK can't hit the US - while Alaska is within striking distance. Still goes to show that Alaska isn't considered a part of the US. NK could strike the Aleutians before an interceptor could intervene.
Remember the Squeaky Axis of Evil gets the Grease.
Or greased.
Or Greece
(Of course, with the current state of their economy, what Squeaky Axis of Evil would want them?)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
By and large, the U.S. doesn't believe what they say. But the public threats and provocations may help convince the North Koreans (who mostly get their news from official sources, or not at all) that the regime is powerful and active, and its enemies are dangerous.
At the end, she's going.. "will you cum already? I'm late for work!'
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
May be contain license with their computer lol
Love my money
Or am I mistaken?
Obvious Troll is obvious. There's always one of you pricks ready to wail "this isn't news for nerds!" and it has long since become a tiresome, unimaginative and uninteresting troll.
As of this post, 250+ comments says this is news for nerds. Complaint, meet reality.
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?
No, I didn't want to write a big long response to every point since this is not a formal debate. I thought it would be more cooperative to first let other people discuss the other issues with the post.
So far no posts really responded to you, so I guess nobody gave a shit.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Well, the Russian Air Force definitely doesn't have the same readiness that the US Air Force has but AFAIK they should still be able to keep several Il-78 tankers in the air which should be plenty to give their strategic bombers protection (officially they have something like 15 - 20 tankers and even considering the poor shape that parts of the Russian military is in at least half of those should be operational). As for the strategic bombers themselves, both the Tu-95 and the Tu-160 have an operational range in excess of 10,000 km without refueling. I suspect they'd still hurry up and ferry aircraft eastward (if they haven't already started doing so just in case, one of the reasons the conflict in Georgia in 2008 went the way it did was because the Russians had a considerable number of troops ready not far from the border).
Then there's the matter of ground-based AA sites, most of North Korea's AA is around Pyongyang, the DMZ and the area just north of the DMZ, what they've got in the north of the country is little more than a token force and the combat readiness of a their equipment seems to be a lot worse than it is for Russia. There's also the fuel and ammunition issue that I mentioned, waging a long-range air war would definitely be costly for the Russians but they could do it, the North Koreans on the other would quickly run out of fuel with small chances of getting more. Combine this with the fact that a large part of the North Korean fleet is made up of planes so old they are just barely capable of carrying air-to-air missiles and I just find it hard to believe they'd stand much of a chance of doing serious damage before Russia strikes back. Admittedly North Korea does have a few S-300-derived SAM launchers but Russia has close to a thousand S-300 launchers as well as a few S-400-equipped battalions, including one stationed near Vladivostok.
I don't doubt that in terms of lost aircraft and soldiers a war with North Korea could easily be more costly for Russia than for the US but I suspect if it did happen the Russians could still do a lot of damage quickly. There's also the political side of things, if it did happen Russia would probably like to occupy a decent-sized chunk of North Korea before the international community intervenes in any way to avoid having a US ally right on their doorstep (I doubt the international community would side with North Korea but from Russia's perspective it'd be better to at least already have their own "peacekeepers" controlling North Hamgyong rather than UN/US forces within spitting distance of the current border).
Of course, I'm just speculating but I just don't see North Korea standing a chance against any of their neighbors in a all-out conventional conflict, were it not for the ROK being a US ally that would probably be their best shot, Russia and China are both capable of hitting them way too hard if North Korea tries anything though I doubt either one really wants to get involved in a war with North Korea precisely because it would be the kind of war that's less about precision strikes and more about taking out large amount of troops, equipment and infrastructure. To be honest I think the risk of a war on the Korean peninsula turning into another Iraq or Vietnam is slim, they have no strong allies like Vietnam and culturally and politically the situation in Iraq was completely different (North Korea's neighbors are a lot more stable than the Iraq and any power vacuum in a conquered North Korea could be dealt with more like Germany post-WWII, a de-juchefication similar to the sometimes overly pragmatic de-nazification of Germany would probably be the way to go).
Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
That's not Florida silly! That is XANTH
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
NK has no oil.
Casteism
not all that secretive if one can find out in short order about a single missile being raised into firing position...
For example, sending comrades to forced labor camps (where 40% die of malnutrition) if they participated in organized gatherings to mourn the death of Kim Jong Il, but "didn't cry and didn't seem genuine." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/north-korea-punish-mourners-insincere-kim-jong-il_n_1204377.html
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Bombing civilians and calling it cost of doing business?
Apparently you've never sat through a class on the Law of Armed Conflict. Intentionally targeting civilians is forbidden. When a military target is bombed and civilians casualties are accidentally incurred, military professionals call it "collateral damage" (your screed is the first place I've heard it called "cost of doing business"). Many resources are expended in order to minimize collateral damage: teams of lawyers have to approve every target, then very expensive smart bombs are dispatched.
The "Greatest Generation" didn't do any of that -- to the contrary, residential neighborhoods in Dresden and Tokyo were intentionally targeted with incendiary bombs, and civilian casualties were the goal. Does that make the current generation "Greater than the Greatest"?
US may not be quite as beligerant as NK
Are you saying that NK's teams of lawyers may not be quite as concerned about sparing civilians as the US teams; or that NK's smart bombs may not be quite as good as US smart bombs about using low yields to take out military targets while sparing nearby civilian structures?
Or maybe you and the folks who modded you up are just speaking out of the anti-American chips on your shoulders.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
There is basically no scenario in which North Korea can start a war and "win".
Nobody is worried about a scenario in which NK wins. Everybody is worried about a scenario in which both sides lose (lots of lives). There are are plenty of plausible scenarios like that.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
Over 60 years ago... When was they last time the US has openly threatened another nation with nuclear warfare?
Our policies are dynamic and evolving, not and are not as static and entrenched as you are trying to imply. Let us hope the US foreign policy isn't identical to the same policy we used during a massive desperate war on two fronts.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This is indeed correct for bunkers. However the problem is not bunkers. It's artillery in firing positions in the open.
Conventional explosives are far weaker then nuclear weapons at striking against open positions due to much smaller shockwave caused. They can sometimes match a general purpose tactical nuclear weapon when it comes to bunker busting due to using a specially shaped penetrator warhead. It again cannot match a nuke designed for penetration.
Essentially nuclear weapons are significantly better then conventional weapons at causing destruction through explosive expansion simply due to laws of physics.