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IMO he is getting tons of results. He is making it clear to the world that North Korea matters, and has to be paid attention to. He is shoring up the military in his own country. He is positioning himself for whatever future actions he wants to take.
This is playing to Korean and Chinese populism given Imperial Japan's conquest and brutality, and possibly also to Japanese pacifism (ironically enough) in a bid to get them to pressure the US to reduce the tensions.
Yeah I think Japan is over the pacifism thing. And I don't think they'll be asking the US to do anything but back them up if NK does something stupid.
I just view this whole scenario as so precedent setting with jUnior. I think if we back down we're going to have decades of trouble from him. He seems very reckless.
I disagree. If NK had a successful attack on Japan, the bulk of the response will come from the US.
There's no way that regime is able to change that much and survive.
China is managing the process. NK clearly isn't China and China still has a long way to go, but NK can open their country to more trade, more business, and reduce tensions with the south and still survive IMO.
Well since Japans military is so small, at our bidding, of course it would. What I was saying is Japan wouldn't be calling for restraint. They'd be calling for heads.
I disagree with this. Japan isn't uniform about policy as a nation any more than we are, and they are as a general matter in no hurry to have a major military (and potential nuclear, especially given their history) conflict right on their doorstep just as they're cleaning up a civilian nuclear disaster.
Just speculating on what the national mood in Japan is this morning.
Shall we assume away our cultural, historical, military and political differences with Japan when answering this?
I am going to do that, but also replace Cuba with Mozambique and the US with Borneo. Borneo would complain to the UN.
You mean like forcing a nuclear armed power into war on a peninsula occupied by our close ally and 30k+ of our troops, in a hugely important economic region occupied by important trading partners and other allies as well as rivals, one of whom (China) might even be provoked to lend direct military support to NK if we struck first?
Thanks for answering T. I asked because I got into a conversation before i posted in here with a blowhard who just wants to bomb everyone. Im no expert but i at least know the basics and we shouldnt and wouldnt do it so i asked to get more reasons. I tried conveying some of these points but there's no reasoning with them. His comparison was gaddafi, saying he shut up after we bombed his house and killed half his family which I argued was it because of the disco bombing not a first strike. Then I brought up China and he said #### them, we'll just threaten to pull out our sweatshops and corporate money makers (ie McDonald's, etc) and they'll let us do what we want.
Knowing I couldn't get through to this blockhead I finally relented and agreed to fire up some cruise missiles and start the party. Then he bought me a shot. 
They've been quiet because they know we are in a foul mood and not really feeling like dealing with them. If nothing else countries have learned not to screw with us much right after something like Boston as we have a tendency to want to blow some #### up and if that #### belongs to someone that annoys us all the better.
That's a good first shot to fire.Thanks for answering T. I asked because I got into a conversation before i posted in here with a blowhard who just wants to bomb everyone. Im no expert but i at least know the basics and we shouldnt and wouldnt do it so i asked to get more reasons. I tried conveying some of these points but there's no reasoning with them. His comparison was gaddafi, saying he shut up after we bombed his house and killed half his family which I argued was it because of the disco bombing not a first strike. Then I brought up China and he said #### them, we'll just threaten to pull out our sweatshops and corporate money makers (ie McDonald's, etc) and they'll let us do what we want.
We'll agree to disagree as to playing like a fiddle. Check out some feedback from folks that have managed to escape the country and they might have a different view.
Up until recently they rattled and the world jumped. The big dogs live in opulent luxury. So the people are starved pretty sure the family couldn't care less and in fact it helps them maintain control.
The poorer-than-dirt regime is still in power, and now with a nuclear weapons program, right?
Meanwhile...
The conclusion seems kind of obvious to me.... if push comes to shove between the U.S. and North Korea, unless China feels their sovereignty is being threatened, it doesn't look like they're going to be in a big hurry to side with DPRK over the U.S.
North Korea is basically a big slave labor camp for the Chinese. It's simultaneously a major security concern on its border, a major international embarassment, and a big cause for communist nationalists.johnnycakes said:
