Comment by Cal Hobbs

October 10, 2006 @ 11:49 pm

Interesting update.

We need these world leaders to do something more than make bold statements.

It seems that China is in the best position to actually do something to bring NK under control.

Kim Jung Il should not be allowed to extort the world with his threats and tests.

Comment by ken

October 11, 2006 @ 12:12 am

I think they’re looking at projected casualty figures, especially for Seoul, and rightfully so:

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has frightful numbers

From the Center for Nonproliferation Studies: “Given the high risks and limited ability of military strikes to destroy North Korean nuclear capabilities, it is easy to see why Bush administration officials, like the Clinton administration officials before them, have decided that military means are an unattractive way to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.”

From Physicians for Social Responsibility

Another report from the Objectivist Center

The Atlantic Online projects 100,000 dead in Seoul with days of a DPRK attack

Comment by DeOrio

October 11, 2006 @ 3:53 am

On the US side, Mr. Hobbs, I fear our political leaders have really begun to believe their own rhetoric. Every time someone fails to do what the US tells them to do, a disturbingly large segment of the American populace calls for an ass kicking. Nevermind the fact that there is no precedent for ass-kicking working. Reacting with force is what means insurgents are winning in Iraq, the US lost in Vietnam, and the US has been unable to decisively handle, much less win a prolonged military engagement since WWII.
Kim Jong Il should not be able to extort the world, but as long as we think we are inerrantly good and that our case in invariably right, as long as we refuse to engage in any kind of reflection on policy, he’s going to either be able to use threats to get what he wants or lure his enemies into self-destructive conflicts.