Sequoioideae

The Pirate Bay ‘Moves’ to North Korea (Updated) | TorrentFreak

I can't tell you how much I wished this was true.

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Funnel From Another Lover

God Is My Solar System

LoathsomePete

I would really hope that the process for launching a nuclear weapon is a little more sophisticated than just merely pressing one button.

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101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

Unknown Soldier

I believe it's two buttons that need to be pressed at the same time.

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Power Metal

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GuitarBizarre

They're not going to nuke them - It would kill thousands if not millions of innocent people, completely cripple all international relations with at least 4 of the largest economies in the world, (China, South Korea, Russia, Japan) all of whom are members of G-20, and on top of that it would strain american relations with all other countries even further if they were shown to be willing to use nuclear weapons in modern warfare.

People really need to get over this idea that nukes are a practical weapon of war - They aren't. To even begin justifying their use requires someone willing to accept not only massive loss of life, but also massive loss of civilian life, on top of massive, almost irredeemable damage to the environment for hundreds or thousands of miles. Also people don't really understand how incredibly destructive these weapons really are.

Consider that the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion sent radioactive material high enough into the atmosphere that it travelled as far west as the UK. That explosion was, according to wikipedia, equivalent to 10 tons of TNT, or releasing 40GJ of energy. Its explosive radius was likely not more than a hundred meters. Almost all of the damage caused by Chernobyl was due to the massive amounts of radioctive products released.

In comparison, nuclear bombs are relatively "clean" but their destructive potential is completely insane.

Consider after Chernobyl that that the bomb used on Hiroshima released energy equivalent to 16kilotons of TNT - 67TJ - 1675 times larger an explosion than Chernobyl.

The "Fat Man" bomb used over Nagasaki on the other hand, yielded 88TJ of explosive energy.

These bombs decimated entire cities instantly. The fallout from their use continues to this day. While the areas were not intensely irradiated and returns to the area were possible after only 3 months, residual effects continue to this day, with radiation-related health problems still present 70 years later.

Now compare these early atomic weapons with what is now possible in an atomic weapon - The Tsar Bomba.

The Tsar Bomba was the largest nuclear device ever tested anywhere on earth. Its energy output was 240000TJ. Thats 3582 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb, which is itself 1675 times more destructive than 10 tons of TNT.

It was originally designed to be TWICE that powerful, but the yield was REDUCED to prevent it from contaminating huge areas with radioactivity, and also destroying the plane that dropped it.

That means that by "Nukes" you potentially mean "Bombs 599,985,000 times more powerful than 1 ton of TNT.". In terms of weapons in ACTUAL READINESS owned by the US military (Excluding any remaining classified), the most powerful is the B83 Nuclear Bomb, which is a "mere" 75 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb (So, equivalent to 12,562,500 tons of TNT). Unfortunately for everyone ever, the US apparently stockpiled 650 of these things.

Dropping nukes on anyone, anywhere, is simply not in any way a justifiable action, excepting if the alternative is complete, utter, and total annihilation. The fact North Korea is so desperate to develop these weapons should already have given you a clue as to how utterly, utterly insane it is to want to use them.

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Circe

I can't see North Korea ever acting on their threats because for all their claims of world revolution or whatever ridiculous dogma they're holding on to they're ultimately a collective of a small amount of people determined to hold onto the absolute power and affluence they've gained over their country, nothing more. This kind of absolute bull is nothing more than propaganda, or maybe attempts to try and scare the world into going easier on them so that the population can be oppressed more efficiently.

hip hop bunny hop

It is really too bad such neocon jibberish such as the underlined is still being reproduced today. Military interventions should only take place when a nation's vital strategic interests are at risk. The United States has no such interest in the Korean peninsula, or throughout East Asia for that matter.

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Have mercy on the poor.

wiggums

You forgot the secret handshake.

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PoorOldPo

That's the optimistic view.

Anything could happen. World War 3 could start for all we know. Lets hope nothing actually transpires. Sadly enough though, I fear World War 3 will happen at some stage during this century.

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Hitch

Well, the US always has had a military presence in the South (Korea) and apart from the aircrafts already mentioned, there have also been a few warships moved in place to presumably....say hi and have no interest I suppose. Now, if the North really does attack, it's their shortcut to a swift end (doesn't mean the ensuing conflict won't be ghastly and horrible). Which leaves us with...when are they going to give up? Their downfall in any case seems like it is destined for an hideous conflict. Any delusions of this regime running its course should be shelved. And North Korea isn't some pseudo "we are the oppressed against the US" political case. They may have some grounds if they hadn't subjected their population to misery and tyranny, let alone the shameless propaganda. I'd be glad to be proven wrong - where there's some magical renouncement of their nuclear weapons program and lifting of the massive restrictions placed on the population, but the elements required for such a change seems to be missing.

Now, I wasn't really making a case for military intervention, but more for a resolve to not back down after their empty little threats. By 'getting rid of them' meant to be ready to intervene, if they do decide to commit suicide.

Guybrush

The North Koreans idea of their ruler, that Kim is some infallible divinity, is of course based on a lie and so much of their society is based on a lie. I've wondered to what degree these lies and illusions affect foreign politics and their will to war. To a large degree, it seems, but could they think of Kim as so infallible that losing a war is not a possibility? For many regular, civil North Koreans, I believe that may be the case, but for generals and so, I personally doubt it goes that far. Still, I find the question interesting.

If there is a war and North Korea is beat with Kim removed from rule, it will be interesting to see how North Korean society can adapt in the aftermath.

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