North Korean Nuclear Test

[Skulkraken]

I read an article in my local newspaper today in which Kim was apparently quoted as considering the UN's unanimous vote against him to be an act of war, naming a specific set of places that he would launch attacks against in the near future.  The list oddly enough left out South Korea.  The quote named the targets as Japan, Guam, Hawaii, and the US mainland.

I'm a bit surprised that he actually knows about the location of Guam.  Most people think we're somewhere in Africa or Eastern Europe, rather than the Western Pacific.

....I'm not sure whether to be fearful or flattered....

[macksting]

People don't know about our presence in Guam? It's not like it's a secret.

Well, he's supposed to be awfully shrewd and savvy.
Hmm. I wonder what these statements by him are adding up to, then.

[balanus]

As a brazilian, i live in a country wich has never fully participated in a war.
I could say we are a pretty peaceful people around here, at least in relation to our foreign policies..

HECK, Bolivia even put armed soldiers in our oil refineries and took control of them and we just said "ok, lets find a deal wich is good to us both". I think that in a situation like this a country like the U.S would find a good reason to throw a few bombs.

The N.K nuclear test REALLY scares the world, cause the idea of such a gov. having weapons os such mass destructive power is scary indeed.

On another hand, watching the U.S and a bunch of other Nuclear powers adopting a position that THEY DECIDE who can, and who can't make nukes is somewhat weird. It's like a bunch of guys with rocket launchers telling you that you can't carry a pistol around, cause weapons are bad.

sometimes, somethings hust seem awfully wrong. No one should have nukes or weapons of this nature.
Just giving my humble opinion here..

[macksting]

An opinion you're not alone in. Metal Gear Solid has some excellent soliloquies on why nuclear weapons are different from conventional weapons; where other, more conventional weapons can be anti-armor or anti-installation, a weapon of mass destruction is, essentially, an anti-civilian weapon. It is made to fulfill the last resort of blitzkrieg (the standard of war which most countries have fought since WWII), which is, if bombing the factories isn't working, bombing the workers who staff them. This does so on a grand scale.

A nuclear weapon unquestionably, at least in an earth-bound setting, is an anti-civilian weapon, and a nasty one at that. Nobody should have them, much agreed.