Recently, our government released to the press that North Korea has nuclear weapons. They have at most two of the deadly devices, but it is enough to make a big deal about it. Remember, the United States only had two atomic bombs when it attacked Japan, and two finished the job real quick. But, how worried should we be? Are we going to wake up to mushroom clouds over Hawaii or California any time soon? Or is it just smoke, a defense mechanism?
Good old George W. will likely use North Korea's nuclear program as an excuse to attempt a "regime change" as he is trying to do with Iraq. I wish they would stop using "regime change" and call it what it is: "setting up a puppet U.S. government." Don't get me wrong, I think the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein at the reigns in Iraq, but I think we have to let this take its course internally, not by action on our own part. If we ousted Saddam, who would take his place? A U.S. lackey who would be disrespected and probably out of office pretty quick, leading to an unstable government and the need for U.S. forces to remain in Iraq for decades to come. Anyway, back to the issue at hand.
In North Korea, we are talking about a nation with which we have a longstanding animosity. Not just 10 years like Iraq, we've been a little sour since the Korean War 50 or so years ago. We still have a large deployment of troops in South Korea just so North Korea won't dominate the peninsula. George W. even included them in his "Axis of Evil" speech along with Iraq and Iran. Worth mentioning is the fact that Iran and North Korea were reaching out to us to resolve our differences at the time Bush made his comments. The situation took a decidedly downward turn after his speech.
In short, the United States would absolutely love to dethrone the communist regime in North Korea. It's one of those nations we wanted gone but never quite got the job done. Now, with the increased state of panic in this nation, Bush may be able to squeak through action against North Korea. Do I think he will? No. But it's a possibility. He's getting support against Iraq, and they have no way of attacking us, nor is there any proof they are developing methods to do so. So, a confirmed nuclear power that is on bad terms with our government could be the next target. But will North Korea attack us?
The short answer to that question is no. Now comes the long answer. North Korea has weapons that can reach the coast of California. They have two nuclear weapons, enough to kill hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and cause fallout for miles around. So, should we be expecting Los Angeles to be reduced to dust (not that I would really mind)? No, because it makes absolutely no sense at all for North Korea to attack the continental United States. You might be asking why. Or you could just be wondering when I'm going to get to the point.
North Korea has nothing to gain via such an attack. Militarily speaking, they would be unable to follow up the nuclear attack with any sort of concentrated ground attack. Their ships would never make it all the way across the ocean free of attack from our navy, and a naval battle would be staggeringly in our favor. They would be unable to conquer or topple our government. But, that would never happen anyway. North Korea, while strong, is not even close to being considered a challenger to the United States' dominance in the world. They would bring about their own destruction with an attack.
Politically speaking, it would be suicide. Most nations would ally against any nation willing to use nuclear weapons to prevent further use. If the current regime somehow survived this debacle, they would be shunned and weakened incredibly. They would be worse off than Iraq ever was under sanctions. No leader in their right or crazed mind would self-destruct in such a manner for no reason.
So why do they even have the weapons? One word: security. When a nation acquires nuclear weapons, anyone wishing to attack that nation has to take twenty steps back. If the United States invaded North Korea, it would no longer be a war of ground, air and sea. The North Koreans could annihilate our forces with the push of a button or perhaps decimate South Korea as a retaliatory strike. Without the threat of a nuclear response, the prospects of a war are much better than they are now. When a North Korean official made it clear to the United States they possessed these weapons, he said (roughly translated), "Your president called us a member of the axis of evil ... Your troops are deployed on the Korean Peninsula ... Of course, we have a nuclear program." This is not a threat; this is a statement that says "We are worried about what you are planning, so now we've got something for you to think about."
North Korea is of no real concern to our government. We should still be working to patch up relations with them even in these trying times. For that matter, Iraq is not a real threat, either. Iraq is a ploy to gain votes. The only real threat in the world is al-Qaida. We've moved on to Iraq without eliminating the clearest and most dangerous threat to U.S. citizens and all nations of the world. If the recent attack in Bali is in fact an al-Qaida operation, it shows they haven't disappeared and aren't likely to. North Korea should not be the next Iraq, no matter what capabilities they have.
