Reply to: North Korea has ratified a nuclear retaliation

[Troll]

Not really.

You need a decent target or it's a waste of time.

There weren't any in the early 50s.

So you would see no value in having a nuke cannon firing W9 shells when the Chinese battalions swarmed across at Unsan ?

[istvan]

The Japs have diplomatic relations with every country in the world , except for one, NK.
They were the colonial masters of NK till 1945 and they have had a lot of problems since then, but nothing that would be enough to spark a war. The Japs have been in the ascendancy diplomatically in the region and they have been busy slamming NK, again, not good for relations, but not a show stopper.
What would tip the balance would be the Japanese shifting from a defence force military to a conventional one (one with an aggressive potential) , this would terrify the NK (it wouldnt make the Chinese too happy either).
NK has four close neighbours, SK,China, Russia and Japan, but the real target is the US. imho

No matter what North Korea does, they are doomed, people starving, hopeless, masses are kept in trance. The short fat guy knows this, so he needs to keep the masses under this trance by coming up with ever more crazy witch-hunts. So he is going to try to do "it", but that is when an accident happens and a crying nation once more will look up to another new leader, perhaps less crazy. Let's hope so.

By the way, it does not matter what he does to the US, he will lose. He might hurt the heals of an elephant, but he cannot win, hi is a cockroach in comparison. And by the way, we all complain about US being the world police. Just for the record, there was one always in history and there will always be one who dominates (Djingis Khan, Crusades, Ottomans, Romans, colonization, EU, Global Warming - some with more success then the others). Which country would you pick next: China, Russia, Israel, India, Albania?

If it were up to me I would pick Tuvalu.

[EternalOptimist]

Strikes me that the country most at risk here is Japan. Close enough to be bombarded and long time ally of the enemy.

Phil

The Japs have diplomatic relations with every country in the world , except for one, NK.
They were the colonial masters of NK till 1945 and they have had a lot of problems since then, but nothing that would be enough to spark a war. The Japs have been in the ascendancy diplomatically in the region and they have been busy slamming NK, again, not good for relations, but not a show stopper.
What would tip the balance would be the Japanese shifting from a defence force military to a conventional one (one with an aggressive potential) , this would terrify the NK (it wouldnt make the Chinese too happy either).
NK has four close neighbours, SK,China, Russia and Japan, but the real target is the US. imho

[PhilKing]

North Korea

Strikes me that the country most at risk here is Japan. Close enough to be bombarded and long time ally of the enemy.

Phil

[lilelvis2000]

go long on Dogs and hedge your baco-foil

What? Are there no bomb-shelter-under-your-house building companies? we are so doomed!

[Cliphead]

NK with nukes and a launch capability? Getting one into orbit as some sources have speculated about? They're more likely to hit Pyongyang as anywhere else and the nuke might not even light up.

Lots of press pish and US scaremongering, shades of Blair saying in parliament the Iraq had WMD and Iraqi missiles could reach UK in thirty minutes, who the fck bought that one that had any knowledge about these things, goverment scientific advisors?

First rocket launches then goodbye NK whether it be massive retaliation or dropped support by their 'allies'. Nothing more than a crude attempt at gaining some leverage against the current sanctions that are surely hurting.

[barrydidit]

A small nuclear war might be just the thing to restart the global economy.

Quite right - no point saving for a tomorrow that might never come. Spend up, young man!

There would certainly be an irony to the last Stalinist state turning out to be the answer to the stalled capitalist model though..

[doodab]

A small nuclear war might be just the thing to restart the global economy.

[NickFitz]

Although for all we know, the letter might say, "sorry chaps, we don't really have any nukes - your missiles are blanks - we just figured we the deterrent factor would be enough - we needed the cash to bail out the banks".

FTFY.

[Alf W]

[stek]

Good find, but it wouldn't just be the UK. It would be everywhere in a roughly 1000 mile radius of the North Sea, which covers most of Europe and possibly as far as Western Russia (*)

(*) edit: Well perhaps not Russia, if it was the Russkies who set it off in that film!

But in Threads it was Sheffield, so swings and roundabouts.....

[centurian]

Nor is it independent. Trident cannot be launched without the express permission of the US who also hold the launch codes.

Bollocks - we can't maintain an independent nuclear deterrent for any period of time, as the missiles need to be regularly serviced (in the US). But once the boats go out to sea - the captain can launch, in theory without any direct instruction, given each Vanguard class sub has a hand written letter from the PM to be opened in case the UK government is wiped out

Although for all we know, the letter might say, "sorry chaps, we don't really have any nukes - your missiles are blanks - we just figured we the deterrent factor would be enough - we needed the cash to spend on benefits".

[OwlHoot]

The [North] Koreans are attempting to provoke a US led invasion so that their country can be saved without the ruling elite losing face.

Or perhaps the US have decided to stop bankrolling the blackmailing rogues, and now expect China to play a bigger part as they're right next door (and claim Korea), and are flush with cash. But as a result the North Koreans are throwing their toys out of their pram.

But OTOH, would the US really want the Chinese closer to South Korea, or increasing their influence on North and South generally?

[OwlHoot]

This is the place for a review of the attack sequence in "Threads", the 1984 nuclear war film.
It covers the EMP damage caused by the first soviet nuclear weapon exploded high over the north sea, whose EMP pulse wipes out the electrical infrastructure of the whole of the UK.
It is rather disturbing, even today..

Good find, but it wouldn't just be the UK. It would be everywhere in a roughly 1000 mile radius of the North Sea, which covers most of Europe and possibly as far as Western Russia (*)

(*) edit: Well perhaps not Russia, if it was the Russkies who set it off in that film!

[Troll]

Nor is it independent. Trident cannot be launched without the express permission of the US who also hold the launch codes.

You have a link for that?

Command and control
The Prime Minister's command bunker is located beneath the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, London

Only the Prime Minister or a designated survivor can order the missiles to be fired. These orders would likely be issued from the Pindar command bunker under Whitehall in central London. From there the order would be relayed to the CTF 345 operations room at the Northwood Headquarters facility in Hertfordshire, the only facility allowed to communicate with the Vanguard commander on patrol.

Two personnel are required to authenticate each stage of the process before launching, with the submarine commander only able to activate the firing trigger after two safes have been opened with keys held by the ship's executive and weapons engineering officers.

At the end of the Cold War, the US Navy installed devices to prevent rogue commanders persuading their crews to launch unauthorised nuclear attacks. These devices prevent an attack until a launch code had been sent by the Chiefs of Staff on behalf of the President. The UK took a decision not to install equivalent devices onto Vanguard on the grounds that an aggressor might be able to eliminate the British chain of command before a launch order had been sent