jacksdad wrote: Damn - how did they get my PIN?

Officials Confirm North Korea Launched ICBM, Say U.S. ‘Prepared To Defend Ourselves’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/north-korea-missile_us_595aeea2e4b05c37bb7fdb9b?6pc&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

"

But will these sanctions stop North Korea from building and testing missiles and nuclear devices?

"The answer is no," Sun said. "The belief that sanctions are going to bring North Korea to its knees have been proven to be false assumptions."

According to Sun, during economically lean times, it's the North Korean people who suffer. Pyongyang has prioritized its military and will most likely fund its weapons programs above all else.

Additionally, John Park, the director of the Korea Working Group at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/805840.html" rel="nofollow - told South Korea's Hankyoreh that North Korea had billions stockpiled from years of a trade surplus. He projects that the regime could survive for years even under these strict sanctions.

comment: So to the tune of "you did a good thing" being pumped to the media, we still may be on the verge of World War III and a launch on South Korea's Seoul.

I see most politician's seem to do these little dances and wait for applause after pumping to them media how cool it was what they did. I am not convinced.

Yet North Korea won't win a military conflict with the U.S. and the allies.

Most important, China wants Pyongyang’s economy kept from imploding. It accounts for around 90% of its exports. It’s the DPRK’s key ally.

Beijing and Russia oppose its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. They want these issues handled diplomatically – most of all non-militarily, the main reason they went along with sanctions to preserve a measure of stability on the Korean peninsula.

China’s UN envoy Liu Jieyi explained new sanctions aim to prevent chaos and conflict on the Korean peninsula, why his government supported them.

According to Liu, unanimously passed SC Res. 2371 has three components:

1. New sanctions against Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

2. No intention to harm DPRK activities not prohibited by the resolution – including economic activities and cooperation, food and economic assistance.

3. A call for resuming six-party diplomacy, a commitment to resolving contentious issues peacefully and taking steps to deescalate Korean peninsula tensions.

China and Russia seek an “integrated,” realistic and feasible resolution to Korean peninsula issues. They want provocative US THAAD missile systems in South Korea withdrawn, undermining regional strategic balance and threatening their national security.

Increased US regional militarization is polar opposite what’s needed to resolve contentious issues.

Report: North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/08/politics/north-korea-missile-ready-nuclear-weapons/index.html

Satoeri wrote: keep in mind that NK has THOUSANDS of artillery pieces dug in along the border some say they are as many as 15,000 they can level Seoul in a  matter of hours we could eventually destroy all those gun  emplacements but by that time Seoul would be gone and so would hundreds of thousands of people

Are they really crazy or are they just pretending to be crazy so we don't mess with them. That's the question.

The Hwasong-14, which was tested twice last month, is believed to be capable of transmitting a roughly 500-kilogram warhead with the capacity to produce an explosion equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT, comparable to the so-called "Little Man" atomic bomb that was dropped by the U.S. Air Force on Hiroshima, killing over 75,000 people at the end of World War Two. Pollack said a modern version of such a warhead, considered low-yield by today's standards, has the potential to kill hundreds of thousands of people.

To quantify the deadly effects of a nuclear strike, nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein developed the aptly named https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/" rel="nofollow - NukeMap , which allows users to calculate various nuclear scenarios, including preset coordinates of major cities around the world and different types of weapons of various yields. For example, a direct strike with a 15 kiloton nuclear warhead on Newsweek's office in downtown Manhattan would kill an estimated 174,640 people and injure 291,630 more. An attack on downtown Los Angeles produces over 100,000 fatalities and a nuclear strike on the Capitol Building in Washington takes out about 77,490 people. These numbers account for only one warhead, and not multiple strikes, which some experts say would be more likely.

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/" rel="nofollow - https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Wellerstein, who is an assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology and runs the http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/about-me/" rel="nofollow - Nuclear Secrecy Blog , told Newsweek that analysts typically factor in two key elements when calculating the devastation of a nuclear warhead: explosive power and accuracy. While the previous figures were gathered using a 15 kiloton, he said North Korea may have detonated devices twice as powerful as that and that more powerful ones may be on the way. With such a warhead, even a relatively low-accuracy ICBM could "take a chunk out of Los Angeles pretty easily" and "put the hurt on it in a way that would still be unprecedented for America's own experiences."

North Korea's notoriously secretive nature makes it difficult to know just where Kim would strike if he chose to do so, but Pollack points to a 2013 photograph in which the leader may have let slip important state secrets. Using enhanced imagery, researchers were able to examine a war map spotted in a picture of Kim and his military brass and discover what they believed to be https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/north-korea-targets/?utm_term=.9e3be93c524f" rel="nofollow - four marked U.S. targets , including those in or near Louisiana, California, Washington and Hawaii.

Pollack identified the likely destinations for North Korea's missiles, according to the map, as Lousiana's Barksdale Air Force Base, the Pacific Fleet's home port in San Diego, the Pentagon in Virginia and, finally, what's likely Pearl Harbor. The Hawaiian naval base served as the target for an Imperial Japanese attack that killed about 2,400 soldiers and facilitated the U.S.'s entry into World War Two in 1941.

As for the capabilities of the U.S.'s anti-ICBM systems to defend the country from such a historic assault, Pollack says he has "grave doubts about its ability to do its job." Schilling http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-new-missile-nuke-us-kim-jong-un-stronger-632972" rel="nofollow - told Newsweek last month that "U.S. missile defenses under ideal circumstances work about 50 percent of the time," noting that the sudden launching of multiple, unknown ICBM's would be much more unpredictable than the usual test conditions. The Pentagon itself expressed concerns about the system's viability last month, with spokesperson Jeff Davis admitting it had experienced "mixed results."

comment: What is the most disturbing is how close we are to some type of actually military action. Given the military strength of the U.S. and the desire "to make a point to North Korea and the World" this is likely to not be a surgical strike but will result in many civilian casualties.

Still, and Kim Jong-un has reason to be worried, the most effective action would be regime change - taking him out of power - before many people die.

Our nuclear defenses are not 100% effective and the tests have only been for the most part taking down a single projectile as opposed to dozens fired at once. In this event, it is likely than one would get through if not more.

Neither Russia nor China has stated they would back us (the U.S) if this resulted in actual nuclear launch and detonation. The would be no way to limit fatalities and if Seoul goes down it is likely that other flashpoints around the world will escalate.

China still does not want to see a regime change in North Korea which was stated days ago, once more. It is their safety zone against the massive U.S. presence on their doorstep and South Korea.

There is a limit to the "if you don't stop, we are going to hurt you bad" rhetoric from both sides.

None of the mainstream media at this point has much credibility on anything.

Medclinician - The Real News CWN - Global Independent Media - GIM.

Someone Flipped Trump’s Hair With Kim Jong Un’s, And It’s Absolutely Unnerving

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-hair_us_598d2510e4b0909642960d20?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/malcolm-turnbull" rel="nofollow - Malcolm Turnbull has made it plain that Australia will be involved in any conflict in the event North Korea attacks the United States.

The prime minister told 3AW on Friday morning “if there is an attack on the US, the Anzus treaty would be invoked” and Australia would come to the aid of the United States.

He said the form of Australia’s engagement would be determined in consultation with allies. “In terms of defence, we are joined at the hip,” Turnbull said.