Why a U.S. Military Strike against N.Korea would be disastrous

[Sundance508]

'Has North Korea just developed an H-bomb for its missiles? They say they have and to deny it would be reckless...time and again we have seen the analysts wrong about the N. Korean military potential.

Yet...............Using nuclear weapons against North Korea is a terrible idea. More than 70 years after the first and only use of nuclear weapons in combat, it seems odd to have to put this in writing, but the past several weeks of heightened tensions with North Korea have made it a necessity.


As the crisis on the Korean peninsula deepens, voices calling for military action to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme have grown stronger and bolder. Last week, Kevin James, a research fellow from the London School of Economics, went a step further, writing that the administration should “nuke North Korea now: it’s the only option”. His argument is based on the assumption that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is an irrational actor, and that nuclear deterrence is a not an option.

This ignores a fundamental reality. The United States has been in a deterrence relationship with North Korea for decades.'

'Since the suspension of the Korean war in 1953, North Korea has held Seoul, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis, and home to roughly 25 million people, hostage. Pyongyang has thousands of artillery pieces trained on the South Korean capital, a mere 40km south of the border with North Korea. Shells fired from those batteries can reach their targets in roughly 45 seconds. That puts close to 35,000 US troops and 100,000 American civilians directly in harm’s way should a major conflict break out on the Korean peninsula.


To make matters worse, North Korea possesses one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world, and can deploy these toxins on an array of artillery shells and missiles. All of South Korea, Japan, and the vast majority of US military assets in the region are well within the range of these weapons. Within minutes of a US military strike, hundreds of these weapons would be launched at both civilian and military targets, inflicting devastating casualties, and causing significant delays in the arrival of American reinforcements to the Korean peninsula.

Thus realists understand there will be no U.S. military action against N. Korea....it is just bluster designed to eventually get a sit down with the N. Korean leader to negotiate some sort of arrangement....meaning we will have to live with a nuclear armed N. Korea. That is reality.'

Our only real hope of protection from N. Korea is to perfect a anti-missile system which may be years away.

In the meantime we should develp the best possible strike plan for N. Korea just in case they go absolutely nuts and launch an attack against the U.S. We must be prepared for the devastation that such an event would cause...definitely in S. Korea and Japan but very likely for our West Coast particuarly and perhaps the entire nation....we have entered a very dangerous era for America...people need to understand that and civil defense measures must be enacted like never before.
US military strike against North Korea would be disastrous

 

[Bleipriester]

And they just launched a nuke. Time to find a political solution for the region.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Democrats are so invested in a nuclear attack on the United States that any defensive move would push them over the edge into being a North Korean hand within our country.

 

[leftwinger]

They might get off some shots. But there would be massive attack on any site firing and eliminated by SK USA and others. MOAB would rain down on those hills. They crazy little boy must know they could not survive any sort of first strike?

 

[theHawk]

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

 

[Bleipriester]

They might get off some shots. But there would be massive attack on any site firing and eliminated by SK USA and others. MOAB would rain down on those hills. They crazy little boy must know they could not survive any sort of first strike?

The strike will be that massive that there will be no response from the ground. The Americans will be defeated in a matter of hours. This is the estimation of the US Army, whether nukes will be used or not.

 

[Sundance508]

They might get off some shots. But there would be massive attack on any site firing and eliminated by SK USA and others. MOAB would rain down on those hills. They crazy little boy must know they could not survive any sort of first strike?

S. Korea may or may not react to a N. Korean strike...they are fundamentally divided to the point of being peacniks...aka peace at any price....there are no others as you claim. The U.S. is in this mess alone and China is of no help...believing and most likely correctly that the hands of the U.S. are tied...that any sort of military conflict would bring unbearable costs to America.

 

[PredFan]

'Has North Korea just developed an H-bomb for its missiles? They say they have and to deny it would be reckless...time and again we have seen the analysts wrong about the N. Korean military potential.

Yet...............Using nuclear weapons against North Korea is a terrible idea. More than 70 years after the first and only use of nuclear weapons in combat, it seems odd to have to put this in writing, but the past several weeks of heightened tensions with North Korea have made it a necessity.


As the crisis on the Korean peninsula deepens, voices calling for military action to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme have grown stronger and bolder. Last week, Kevin James, a research fellow from the London School of Economics, went a step further, writing that the administration should “nuke North Korea now: it’s the only option”. His argument is based on the assumption that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is an irrational actor, and that nuclear deterrence is a not an option.

This ignores a fundamental reality. The United States has been in a deterrence relationship with North Korea for decades.'

'Since the suspension of the Korean war in 1953, North Korea has held Seoul, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis, and home to roughly 25 million people, hostage. Pyongyang has thousands of artillery pieces trained on the South Korean capital, a mere 40km south of the border with North Korea. Shells fired from those batteries can reach their targets in roughly 45 seconds. That puts close to 35,000 US troops and 100,000 American civilians directly in harm’s way should a major conflict break out on the Korean peninsula.


To make matters worse, North Korea possesses one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world, and can deploy these toxins on an array of artillery shells and missiles. All of South Korea, Japan, and the vast majority of US military assets in the region are well within the range of these weapons. Within minutes of a US military strike, hundreds of these weapons would be launched at both civilian and military targets, inflicting devastating casualties, and causing significant delays in the arrival of American reinforcements to the Korean peninsula.

Thus realists understand there will be no U.S. military action against N. Korea....it is just bluster designed to eventually get a sit down with the N. Korean leader to negotiate some sort of arrangement....meaning we will have to live with a nuclear armed N. Korea. That is reality.'

Our only real hope of protection from N. Korea is to perfect a anti-missile system which may be years away.

In the meantime we should develp the best possible strike plan for N. Korea just in case they go absolutely nuts and launch an attack against the U.S. We must be prepared for the devastation that such an event would cause...definitely in S. Korea and Japan but very likely for our West Coast particuarly and perhaps the entire nation....we have entered a very dangerous era for America...people need to understand that and civil defense measures must be enacted like never before.
US military strike against North Korea would be disastrous

This is t our first rodeo with ICBMs, nukes, and threats of total destruction. We dealt with it in the 50s and since.

We already have the capability to knock his play toys right out of the sky. The fat kid is a rank amateur in this game and is no threat to us.

 

[leftwinger]

^^^please link US Army statement.

NK has 50 year old artillery hidden in the hills. Many may blow themselves up? Wherever they fire would be eliminated quickly I would bet. Worst case NK Capitol is nuked day 1. Maybe that should be his final ultimatum? He don't care about his citizens neither do I. He launch anything let SK take out Pyongyang. That should get his attention.

 

[August West]

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

I won`t disagree but if was an easy thing to do we would have done it already. We blew up Iraq just for fun but we knew they had no way to defend themselves. This is much different.

 

[OldLady]

they just launched a nuke.
You got a link on that?

 

[Sundance508]

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

'Has North Korea just developed an H-bomb for its missiles? They say they have and to deny it would be reckless...time and again we have seen the analysts wrong about the N. Korean military potential.

Yet...............Using nuclear weapons against North Korea is a terrible idea. More than 70 years after the first and only use of nuclear weapons in combat, it seems odd to have to put this in writing, but the past several weeks of heightened tensions with North Korea have made it a necessity.


As the crisis on the Korean peninsula deepens, voices calling for military action to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme have grown stronger and bolder. Last week, Kevin James, a research fellow from the London School of Economics, went a step further, writing that the administration should “nuke North Korea now: it’s the only option”. His argument is based on the assumption that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is an irrational actor, and that nuclear deterrence is a not an option.

This ignores a fundamental reality. The United States has been in a deterrence relationship with North Korea for decades.'

'Since the suspension of the Korean war in 1953, North Korea has held Seoul, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis, and home to roughly 25 million people, hostage. Pyongyang has thousands of artillery pieces trained on the South Korean capital, a mere 40km south of the border with North Korea. Shells fired from those batteries can reach their targets in roughly 45 seconds. That puts close to 35,000 US troops and 100,000 American civilians directly in harm’s way should a major conflict break out on the Korean peninsula.


To make matters worse, North Korea possesses one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world, and can deploy these toxins on an array of artillery shells and missiles. All of South Korea, Japan, and the vast majority of US military assets in the region are well within the range of these weapons. Within minutes of a US military strike, hundreds of these weapons would be launched at both civilian and military targets, inflicting devastating casualties, and causing significant delays in the arrival of American reinforcements to the Korean peninsula.

Thus realists understand there will be no U.S. military action against N. Korea....it is just bluster designed to eventually get a sit down with the N. Korean leader to negotiate some sort of arrangement....meaning we will have to live with a nuclear armed N. Korea. That is reality.'

Our only real hope of protection from N. Korea is to perfect a anti-missile system which may be years away.

In the meantime we should develp the best possible strike plan for N. Korea just in case they go absolutely nuts and launch an attack against the U.S. We must be prepared for the devastation that such an event would cause...definitely in S. Korea and Japan but very likely for our West Coast particuarly and perhaps the entire nation....we have entered a very dangerous era for America...people need to understand that and civil defense measures must be enacted like never before.
US military strike against North Korea would be disastrous

This is t our first rodeo with ICBMs, nukes, and threats of total destruction. We dealt with it in the 50s and since.

We already have the capability to knock his play toys right out of the sky. The fat kid is a rank amateur in this game and is no threat to us.

Wrong at every level...the cold war pales in comparison to the N. Korean threat...as in we do not know how rational their leadership is. We do not have an effective anti-missile missile system....we could knock down some but no gurantee at all that we have any sort of capability to prevent a nuclear armed N. Korean missle hitting somewhere in America. You have made the first mistake in warfare...underestimating the enemy.

 

[jwoodie]

We need to make NK China's problem, and fast. Massive trade and financial sanctions, a virtual blockade of NK ports, and the specter of 10,000,000 refugees coming into China. The pain the U.S. would feel from these moves is nothing compared with NK becoming the nuclear arms dealer to the world.

 

[Sundance508]

they just launched a nuke.
You got a link on that?

They did not launch a nuke....they detonated a new Hydrogen Bomb...very powerful...caused a 6.3 earthquake felt in China and S. Korea.

 

[Sundance508]

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

I won`t disagree but if was an easy thing to do we would have done it already. We blew up Iraq just for fun but we knew they had no way to defend themselves. This is much different.

Exactly...we have no good options and China so far is basically unwilling to help us. Negotiations with N. Korea are a waste of time...our only real hope would be to somehow persuade China to help us with N. Korea....so far they have essentially refused and not likely to budge from that....because they want us out of their sphere of influence and they see N. Korea helping in that regards.

 

[iceberg]

they just launched a nuke.
You got a link on that?

yea, it's a tough problem to be sure. but it doesn't help with people making stuff up as we go, does it?

testing one underground isn't the same as launching one.

 

[leftwinger]

They might get off some shots. But there would be massive attack on any site firing and eliminated by SK USA and others. MOAB would rain down on those hills. They crazy little boy must know they could not survive any sort of first strike?

S. Korea may or may not react to a N. Korean strike...they are fundamentally divided to the point of being peacniks...aka peace at any price....there are no others as you claim. The U.S. is in this mess alone and China is of no help...believing and most likely correctly that the hands of the U.S. are tied...that any sort of military conflict would bring unbearable costs to America.

SK will not sit there and absorb artillery strikes. They also have ready responses. Seoul center is about 40min dive below river border in traffic They will not allow bombs to rain down and do nothing? They are a very smart population. 50 yrs for them also to ready. the older SK still despise NK. Let SK handle it. Why do we have to lead everything?

 

[jwoodie]

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

'Has North Korea just developed an H-bomb for its missiles? They say they have and to deny it would be reckless...time and again we have seen the analysts wrong about the N. Korean military potential.

Yet...............Using nuclear weapons against North Korea is a terrible idea. More than 70 years after the first and only use of nuclear weapons in combat, it seems odd to have to put this in writing, but the past several weeks of heightened tensions with North Korea have made it a necessity.


As the crisis on the Korean peninsula deepens, voices calling for military action to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme have grown stronger and bolder. Last week, Kevin James, a research fellow from the London School of Economics, went a step further, writing that the administration should “nuke North Korea now: it’s the only option”. His argument is based on the assumption that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is an irrational actor, and that nuclear deterrence is a not an option.

This ignores a fundamental reality. The United States has been in a deterrence relationship with North Korea for decades.'

'Since the suspension of the Korean war in 1953, North Korea has held Seoul, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis, and home to roughly 25 million people, hostage. Pyongyang has thousands of artillery pieces trained on the South Korean capital, a mere 40km south of the border with North Korea. Shells fired from those batteries can reach their targets in roughly 45 seconds. That puts close to 35,000 US troops and 100,000 American civilians directly in harm’s way should a major conflict break out on the Korean peninsula.


To make matters worse, North Korea possesses one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world, and can deploy these toxins on an array of artillery shells and missiles. All of South Korea, Japan, and the vast majority of US military assets in the region are well within the range of these weapons. Within minutes of a US military strike, hundreds of these weapons would be launched at both civilian and military targets, inflicting devastating casualties, and causing significant delays in the arrival of American reinforcements to the Korean peninsula.

Thus realists understand there will be no U.S. military action against N. Korea....it is just bluster designed to eventually get a sit down with the N. Korean leader to negotiate some sort of arrangement....meaning we will have to live with a nuclear armed N. Korea. That is reality.'

Our only real hope of protection from N. Korea is to perfect a anti-missile system which may be years away.

In the meantime we should develp the best possible strike plan for N. Korea just in case they go absolutely nuts and launch an attack against the U.S. We must be prepared for the devastation that such an event would cause...definitely in S. Korea and Japan but very likely for our West Coast particuarly and perhaps the entire nation....we have entered a very dangerous era for America...people need to understand that and civil defense measures must be enacted like never before.
US military strike against North Korea would be disastrous

This is t our first rodeo with ICBMs, nukes, and threats of total destruction. We dealt with it in the 50s and since.

We already have the capability to knock his play toys right out of the sky. The fat kid is a rank amateur in this game and is no threat to us.

Un

Wrong at every level...the cold war pales in comparison to the N. Korean threat...as in we do not know how rational their leadership is. We do not have an effective anti-missile missile system....we could knock down some but no gurantee at all that we have any sort of capability to prevent a nuclear armed N. Korean missle hitting somewhere in America. You have made the first mistake in warfare...underestimating the enemy.

Your thesis is a hodge-podge of contradictory statements wrapped up in tired maxims. The NK thrreat grows every day, yet you condone a wait-and-see posture? Nk may or may not currently have the capability of a nuclear strike on an American city, but they most certainly will in the near future. As for ABM systems, there value does not rely on 100% effectiveness. Rather, it adds uncertainty to the effects of a first strike against us, combined with the certain knowledge of devastating retaliation.

Kim Jong Un is not insane in a clinical sense; he is merely propping up his authoritarian regime by poking a stick at the big U.S. bear. He will continue doing so (a la Hussein) until he is put down. The real question is whether his generals are willing to go down in flames along side hiem. Unfortunately, history suggests that they are.

 

[OldLady]

Yes, let's keep,doing nothing substantial and let them get to the point where they can stockpile ICBMs with nukes on all of them.

Kim boi-king is a lunatic, you cannot reason with him. Taking him out is the only way.

'Has North Korea just developed an H-bomb for its missiles? They say they have and to deny it would be reckless...time and again we have seen the analysts wrong about the N. Korean military potential.

Yet...............Using nuclear weapons against North Korea is a terrible idea. More than 70 years after the first and only use of nuclear weapons in combat, it seems odd to have to put this in writing, but the past several weeks of heightened tensions with North Korea have made it a necessity.


As the crisis on the Korean peninsula deepens, voices calling for military action to halt North Korea’s nuclear programme have grown stronger and bolder. Last week, Kevin James, a research fellow from the London School of Economics, went a step further, writing that the administration should “nuke North Korea now: it’s the only option”. His argument is based on the assumption that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is an irrational actor, and that nuclear deterrence is a not an option.

This ignores a fundamental reality. The United States has been in a deterrence relationship with North Korea for decades.'

'Since the suspension of the Korean war in 1953, North Korea has held Seoul, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis, and home to roughly 25 million people, hostage. Pyongyang has thousands of artillery pieces trained on the South Korean capital, a mere 40km south of the border with North Korea. Shells fired from those batteries can reach their targets in roughly 45 seconds. That puts close to 35,000 US troops and 100,000 American civilians directly in harm’s way should a major conflict break out on the Korean peninsula.


To make matters worse, North Korea possesses one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world, and can deploy these toxins on an array of artillery shells and missiles. All of South Korea, Japan, and the vast majority of US military assets in the region are well within the range of these weapons. Within minutes of a US military strike, hundreds of these weapons would be launched at both civilian and military targets, inflicting devastating casualties, and causing significant delays in the arrival of American reinforcements to the Korean peninsula.

Thus realists understand there will be no U.S. military action against N. Korea....it is just bluster designed to eventually get a sit down with the N. Korean leader to negotiate some sort of arrangement....meaning we will have to live with a nuclear armed N. Korea. That is reality.'

Our only real hope of protection from N. Korea is to perfect a anti-missile system which may be years away.

In the meantime we should develp the best possible strike plan for N. Korea just in case they go absolutely nuts and launch an attack against the U.S. We must be prepared for the devastation that such an event would cause...definitely in S. Korea and Japan but very likely for our West Coast particuarly and perhaps the entire nation....we have entered a very dangerous era for America...people need to understand that and civil defense measures must be enacted like never before.
US military strike against North Korea would be disastrous

This is t our first rodeo with ICBMs, nukes, and threats of total destruction. We dealt with it in the 50s and since.

We already have the capability to knock his play toys right out of the sky. The fat kid is a rank amateur in this game and is no threat to us.

Un

Wrong at every level...the cold war pales in comparison to the N. Korean threat...as in we do not know how rational their leadership is. We do not have an effective anti-missile missile system....we could knock down some but no gurantee at all that we have any sort of capability to prevent a nuclear armed N. Korean missle hitting somewhere in America. You have made the first mistake in warfare...underestimating the enemy.

Your thesis is a hodge-podge of contradictory statements wrapped up in tired maxims. The NK thrreat grows every day, yet you condone a wait-and-see posture? Nk may or may not currently have the capability of a nuclear strike on an American city, but they most certainly will in the near future. As for ABM systems, there value does not rely on 100% effectiveness. Rather, it adds uncertainty to the effects of a first strike against us, combined with the certain knowledge of devastating retaliation.

Kim Jong Un is not insane in a clinical sense; he is merely propping up his authoritarian regime by poking a stick at the big U.S. bear. He will continue doing so (a la Hussein) until he is put down. The real question is whether his generals are willing to go down in flames along side hiem. Unfortunately, history suggests that they are.

I have heard that this is Kim's way of negotiating. He is going to force the big three to the table and finally force them to admit that he IS a nuclear power. He knows no one is going to whack him over the head for his "testing" because he's got too much fire power. He wants recognition and respect as one of the big boys and he will probably get it. There is no other choice. If China or Russia agrees to take NK under their nuclear umbrella, they might be persuaded into a deal similar to the Iran deal, but the reality stands. NK is a nuclear power, everyone knows it and it's time we dealt with it. Kim will keep firing missiles and improving his nuclear capability until that happens.
We don't have a leg to stand on, striking them pre-emptively.

 

[jwoodie]

I have heard that this is Kim's way of negotiating. He is going to force the big three to the table and finally force them to admit that he IS a nuclear power. He knows no one is going to whack him over the head for his "testing" because he's got too much fire power. He wants recognition and respect as one of the big boys and he will probably get it. There is no other choice. If China or Russia agrees to take NK under their nuclear umbrella, they might be persuaded into a deal similar to the Iran deal, but the reality stands. NK is a nuclear power, everyone knows it and it's time we dealt with it. Kim will keep firing missiles and improving his nuclear capability until that happens.
We don't have a leg to stand on, striking them pre-emptively.

And Iran next, and then Cuba and Qater and...? What a wonderful world that will be.