North Korea Conducts Nuclear Weapons Test

[This is a pen]

[Mulboyne]

I think that's what you do when you are trying to negotiate with someone rather than back them into a corner and have them accelerate their nuclear programme.

[This is a pen]

I think that's what you do when you are trying to negotiate with someone rather than back them into a corner and have them accelerate their nuclear programme.

I bet you did not think that when Rumsfeld was shaking hands with Saddam back in the 80's, or did you?

[Mulboyne]

Remind me again what Rumsfeld was negotiating?

[This is a pen]

Remind me again what Rumsfeld was negotiating?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the circumstances are always different, I am sure you think Rummy was wrong cause he was helping them fight Iran, while Albright was right cause she was......uh..... giving away nuclear secrets?:rolleyes:

[GomiGirl]

So another nemisis to the west has made another move in the never ending chess game of International Politics.. So yes, lets shoot first and ask questions later as that has always worked so well in the past. We need to rid the world of all these terrible dictators.

[Charles]

Russia: NKorea test greater than reported

ArmsControlWonk: It was a DUD.

New estimates:

...a couple hundred tons (not kilotons)... A plutonium device should produce a yield in the range of the 20 kilotons, like the one we dropped on Nagasaki. No one has ever dudded their first test of a simple fission device. North Korean nuclear scientists are now officially the worst ever.

Hell, they could have dropped a couple hundred tons of TNT down a hole, set it off and claimed it was a nuke. Wasn't there a huge accidental explosion of ammonium nitrate in North Korea a couple years ago that was in the several-hundred-ton range? I vaguely recall reading about a railyard that was a shipping hub for fertilizer, it blew up and took out the whole town. That wouldn't even have been close to the largest conventional explosion ever, the Texas City Disaster, when a ship full of ammonium nitrate blew up, the blast was estimated at between 2 and 4 kilotons.

[Greji]

ArmsControlWonk: It was a DUD.
Hell, they could have dropped a couple hundred tons of TNT down a hole, set it off and claimed it was a nuke.

The Washington times and some other people are seeing it the same as Charles's call:

".....U.S. intelligence agencies say, based on preliminary indications, that North Korea did not produce its first nuclear blast yesterday.
U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that seismic readings show that the conventional high explosives used to create a chain reaction in a plutonium-based device went off, but that the blast's readings were shy of a typical nuclear detonation.
"We're still evaluating the data, and as more data comes in, we hope to develop a clearer picture," said one official familiar with intelligence reports.
"There was a seismic event that registered about 4 on the Richter scale, but it still isn't clear if it was a nuclear test. You can get that kind of seismic reading from high explosives." ...." article at....

[GuyJean]

ArmsControlWonk: It was a DUD.

Cool. We can go back to antagonizing then ignoring them..

Why don't SK and Japan just admit they have nukes?..

GJ

[Mulboyne]

I wa watching CNN yesterday when a British anchor was interviewing one of Abe's aides a couple of hours after the detonation. The aide was adamant that the first step was to confirm that a nuclear test had been carried out. The anchor got frustrated by this. I can understand that he wanted to know what Japan's plans were in the event of of a successful test but he seemed to see the aide's response as particularly obtuse and kept trying to put him on the spot by saying that it was clear that confirmation was only moments away. I might not have noticed his rush to judgement but I'd just seen a spokesman on the BBC point out that the early seismic reports could just as easily have been caused by conventional weapons. If that turns out to be the case then the CNN anchor was guilty of very poor reporting.

[GuyJean]

If that turns out to be the case then the CNN anchor was guilty of very poor reporting.

There are very few 'journalists' in the media today]really[/i] influence the NK nutbag..

Hopefully, Rice has passed freshman level International Relations and is now studying for her sophomore mid-terms..

Foreign Policy 101
with Secretary-Doctor-Professor Condoleezza Rice
http://www.whitehouse.org/initiatives/foreign-policy/index.asp

..Lesson #3: The leader of a country whose people look like Chineses (and speak in a similar-sounding gobbledy-gook) possesses an arsenal of long-range ballistic missiles, equipped with nuclear warheads, that are pointed at the U.S. and ready for launch at a moment's notice.

DO: Summarily ignore the deranged and aggressive tyrant for over half a decade. When he threatens to level an American city in a nuclear inferno, respond with milquetoast language and vague assurances that such a catastrophic attack "would be taken with utmost seriousness."

DO: Entangle American troops in an intractable quagmire in the aforementioned mustachioed leader's country, allowing said Chinese-looking leader to expand his nuclear weapons program unchecked. This will enable America to avoid ever setting the unimaginably foolish precedent of provoking an unwinnable war in Southeast Asia.

DO NOT: Assemble a bona fide multinational coalition to delicately yet firmly negotiate a nonproliferation treaty using a combination of carrots and sticks. Everyone knows that real diplomacy is for pussies.

GJ

[Jack]

I liked how Bush in his statement is backtracking so much that he basically conceded that North Korea can have nukes. He said the U.S. will not tollerate any nation to supply knowhow to rogue states like Iran and Syria. Translation: Have your nukes but don't sell them to anyone or else we will get angry.

North Korea knows that no one can do anything about it so it keeps humiliating the U.S. and others.

[Tsuru]

http://www.whitehouse.org

Brilliant site!

[mr. sparkle]

Japan detects a second nuclear blast. Guess that first one was just a warm-up.

[Captain Japan]

Japan may not want to go nuclear but it's no technical hurdle: analysts
Japan Times

Japan will not respond to North Korea's nuclear test by developing its own atomic weapons, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday, although analysts said the nation has the technology to quickly pursue such a path.

Abe told an audience at Waseda University in May 2002 that it was not a violation of the Constitution for Japan to possess atomic bombs.

However, in Abe's declaration during a question-and-answer period at a House of Representatives Budget Committee, he referred to Japan's three nonnuclear principles of, according to the Foreign Ministry, "not possessing,not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan."

"I would like to clearly state that there will be no change regarding the three nonnuclear principles," Abe said.

Experts were quick to point out that Japan does possess the knowledge and resources to go nuclear should it decide to....more...

[mr. sparkle]

Japan detects a second nuclear blast. Guess that first one was just a warm-up.

Psych! It was a small earthquake. Nothing to raise up the antennae about. Damn CNN.

[Taro Toporific]

by Artemii Lebedev--A Trip To North Korea (Photo Documentary)

The "MachineGunLady.jpg" was fun but check out this babe!:love2:

[FG Lurker]

Many of these photos are just so unbelievable...

"The autor is Artemii Lebedev, one of the leading web-designers in Russia. He recently went on a trip to DPRK. I'll translate his comments briefly."

A Trip To North Korea (Photo Documentary)

Rob, thanks for sharing that. Incredible photos and text.

[nullpointer]

As yet unsubstantiated rumour in the FX markets that a north Korean official in Beijing stated that sanctions will be construed as an act of war against DPRK.

[cstaylor]

As yet unsubstantiated rumour in the FX markets that a north Korean official in Beijing stated that sanctions will be construed as an act of war against DPRK.

They always say that. I think its time for China to put up or shut up.

[Pokemon-Master]

Kim Dae-jung Blames US for Nuke Crisis
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200610/kt2006101117362710230.htm

South Korean president refuses Abe's request for joint condemnation of North Korea
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20061011p2a00m0na004000c.html
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun talked about his views on the history of Japan's wartime atrocities for 40 minutes during talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Seoul on Monday, forcing them to abandon a joint statement, entourage sources said.
Roh refused Abe's request to issue a joint statement condemning North Korea for its alleged nuclear test, according to the sources. The South Korean leader then talked for 40 minutes about his views on the history of Japan's atrocities during World War II and visits by Japanese politicians to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.

[Pokemon-Master]

Radioactivity indicated from North Korea nuclear test
http://www.alaskareport.com/z44440.htm

[Charles]

As yet unsubstantiated rumour in the FX markets that a north Korean official in Beijing stated that sanctions will be construed as an act of war against DPRK.

It's not a rumor, I just watched video of the NK ambassador stating this on the floor of the UN, via CNN.

North Korean ambassador to the United Nations Pak Gil Yon said Pyongyang "totally rejects the unjustifiable resolution."
"If the United States increases pressure upon [North Korea] persistently, [it] will continue to take physical countermeasures considering it as a declaration of war," Pak, said.
After Pak spoke, he walked out of the chamber.

[Pokemon-Master]

US most responsible for North's nuclear test: SKorean survey
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/US_most_responsible_for_North_s_nuclear_test_20061016.php
SEOUL: The United States is more responsible than North Korea itself for Pyongyang's nuclear test, according to a South Korean poll

[Greji]

US most responsible for North's nuclear test: SKorean survey
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/US_most_responsible_for_North_s_nuclear_test_20061016.php
SEOUL: The United States is more responsible than North Korea itself for Pyongyang's nuclear test, according to a South Korean poll

:mad:

Well, I suppose the US should pull out their troops so that South Korea can return to their strong deterrent defense postue of 1950.

Since the Korean War (properly, the UN Police action) has not ended, it is only at armistice, the US Forces Korea also represent the UN Command. This means if NK attacks the South, they have violated their armistice with the UN and will be subject to counterattack by the UN Forces as before. Although this is primarily the US, it would still include the previous signatory UN member countries to the armistice from the UN.

I don't think Kim wants that, but you never know about that dingaling.

[Pokemon-Master]

Report: North Korea Tests Nuclear Weapon

North Korea Says Nuclear Test Successful

Defiant North Korea preparing second nuclear test - intelligence reports
http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/recent.fullStory&sp=l53711

[American Oyaji]

Lil Kim is such an butthead.
Short, pompadour wearing, napoleon complex having, short run looking, sawed off, squat, piece of emaciated bat guano!

We should have attacked him instead of Iraq

[GomiGirl]

Lil Kim is such an butthead.
Short, pompadour wearing, napoleon complex having, short run looking, sawed off, squat, piece of emaciated bat guano!

We should have attacked him instead of Iraq

Definately!! We should always use a hairstyle and body shape of the leader as the reason to attack a country....

Everybody hated Saddam Hussein cos he had a moustache and was evil looking. Well his country was attacked and look how well that turned out!!

Some people think that George W Bush's eyes are too close together.. should they use this as a valid reason to attack the US?

[Blah Pete]

Definately!! We should always use a hairstyle and body shape of the leader as the reason to attack a country....

OK, so we, like attack, hold 'em down and give him a proper haircut. Throw him on a stair stepper for a few days and cut off his whiskey. Parachute in a few designers from Italy and make him some custom threads. Pack up and go home and everyone lives happily ever after.

[Greji]

give him a proper haircut

Judging by what I see of his haircut Pete, we may not have to invade to handle that part. He may be able to just mail it to us to have it cut and we can cut it and send it right back.