I'm going to go ahead and note some of the points of the article (N. Korea was one of my research areas in college
).
Cheney, however, told CNN that, while "I appreciate Bill's advice," such an action could worsen the situation.
Indeed it may. Because we have little or no access to intelligence assets inside of DPRK, we don't know with certainty that the site they want to hit is the right one, or whether they have other sites. The Taepodong II missile can reach an arc covering through Baja Mexico up into Canada.
Plus, I think Cheney said it well:
obviously, if you are going to launch strikes at another nation, you better be prepared to not fire just one shot.
China said Thursday all parties should try to reach a peaceful solution to the issue and urged a return to diplomacy.
Excellent!
"The U.S. imperialist warmongers have been intensifying military provocations against" the North, the country's official Korean Central News Agency said, according to AP.
"The ceaseless illegal intrusion of the planes has created a grave danger of military conflict in the air above the region."
Does this not remind you of
1984? We're just checking up on them, not doing anything, and we're warmongering, imperialist, and provoking them.
Plus, I would like to see DPRK try to launch an aerial attack on our planes. GFG.
Washington has repeatedly refused to hold direct talks with North Korea, saying any discussions should involve the nation's neighbors.
I believe this is the correct way to work. The last talks we had established the Agreed Framework... which failed. DPRK - especially Kim Jong-Il - wants to posture to the US. He can get away with being belligerant if there are no witnesses. Direct talks are a very quick way to making demands and threats.
The talks have stalled after Pyongyang refused to return, angry over an American crackdown on its alleged illicit financial activity.
Turn off the spin machine! It was
drug trafficking!North Korea has sometimes engaged in surprise behavior to attract international attention when it felt it was being ignored, and it might feel slighted over Washington's current focus on resolving the nuclear issue with Iran
.
True, but I've never seen it said so bluntly. LOL.
Officials said the Pentagon could try to use its missile defense system to shoot down the North Korean missile. The military has nine interceptor missiles based in Alaska and two in California.
That's good to know, but it's also scary that it may come to that. The anti-ICBM missile sites are not necessarily ready, and one of the technical achievements of the Taepodong II is that it's highly maneuverable and equipped to deal with countermeasures.
South Korea's current unification minister, Lee Jong-seok, said humanitarian aid Seoul supplies to the North, such as rice and fertilizer, could be affected if a missile is tested
...so the masses of people will starve to death, like in any communist country, while the elites keep living it up with their fine aged brandy and seven course meals (did you know that Kim Jong-Il told Madeline Allbright that he was a connoseiur of brandy and wines?).
"Some say our missile test launch is a violation of the moratorium, but this is not true,"
That sounds like this guy:
"I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad."
(
source)
/Sigh.
Fine! It's an interesting coincidence.
Iraq? Oil. Status? Invaded.
Afghanistan? Oil. Status? Invaded.
N. Korea? No oil. Status? Not invaded.
I think those are the only three on the table for this administration, but I could be wrong.
Since you insist on pursuing this, I should point out that we've already invaded N. Korea once. We just haven't gotten around to getting back yet.
We can't invade every country in the world simultaneously, especially when liberal presidents cut our defense budget (ahem, Slick Willy). We'll get around to it!
