North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un fired an ICBM missile with a range that would make it capable of reaching California and of course we care. Millions could be killed or seriously injured by such an attack. But, the good news is, I don’t believe Jong-un is crazy enough to do a first strike as we have missiles that could wipe out his entire country.
We can thank Bill Clinton for this. He gave North Korea 2 nuclear reactors, fuel, and $250 million in cash in exchange for the promise that they would not create a nuclear bomb. How did that work out for us? Now, Joe Biden will allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb. He will do nothing to hinder this. We are somewhat protected since Israel would probably destroy the program before it is completed. How long will it be before every country has nuclear devices?
North Korea said Sunday its latest intercontinental ballistic missile test was meant to further bolster its “fatal” nuclear attack capacity against its rivals, as it threatened additional powerful steps in response to the planned military training between the United States and South Korea.
Saturday’s ICBM test, the North’s first missile test since Jan. 1, signals its leader Kim Jong Un is using his rivals’ drills as a chance to expand his country’s nuclear capability to enhance its leverage in future dealings with the United States. An expert says North Korea may seek to hold regular operational exercises involving its ICBMs.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said its launch of the existing Hwasong-15 ICBM was organized “suddenly” without prior notice at the direct order of leader Kim Jong Un.
Don’t think this is a one-time deal as there is a military exercise with the United States, Japan, South Korea, and other Asian allies. These exercises were announced earlier and that is the excuse Jong-un is using for the firing of the missile.
But, Jong-un has a major problem should a nuclear war breaks out. Their missiles use a liquid fuel propulsion system that cannot be kept in the missiles for any time and so they cannot launch an attack on the spur of the moment and they do not have many Hwasong-15s laying around. The reality is that they do not really pose much of a threat.
While North Korea has definitely achieved the ability to detonate a nuclear blast, it’s still unclear whether Kim’s military has perfected the ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead sufficiently to mount it on its ICBM. They claim they have, and it’s certainly possible, but that’s a technologically challenging feat. It’s impossible to say with certainty, but it’s believed that Kim has enough fusile material for as many as 60 nuclear warheads and may have already constructed as many as 30.
Just to put this in perspective, we currently have the Russians threatening to deploy a nuke if Ukraine and the west cross any sort of perpetually shifting red line in the sand. China is still running drills very close to Taiwan’s airspace, presenting the possibility of America being dragged into a war there that would also have the potential to go nuclear. And now Kim Jong-un is climbing back into the nuclear saddle again.
Rather than returning to the relative levels of stability that were observed until a few years ago, the world is heading in the other direction. The Chinese are launching incursions right over our turf and nobody can say what Vladimir Putin is likely to do on any given day. How did the situation devolve so quickly? The world seems to be losing its collective mind and it’s happening at an alarming rate. While I hate to say it, we may need to reexamine America’s role as the world’s policeman.
