Brink of Crisis

Is North Korea on a collision course with the U.S.?

Transcript:

The US and South Korea have launched their annual military exercises and North Korea has launched it’s annual condemnation and threats.  But this year they’re also launching a long-range missile – the Taepodong 2 – that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and could reach America’s west coast. They’ve also cut the emergency hotline with South Korea and warned civilian aircraft in the Sea of Japan. North Korea has always been a combination of bluster and brinksmanship, but is there a real crisis brewing this time?

Maybe. In part North Korea’s testing President Obama in hopes of grabbing some economic and diplomatic concessions in future negotiations, especially since the new South Korean government cut off their aid last year. North Korea’s also hoping this time their long-range missile test launch will work.  They tried it in 2006, but it fizzled, to their great embarrassment.

The situation could heat up to a crisis, but War?  Unlikely. North Korea doesn’t have the wherewithal to invade the South, and they probably don’t want to pick a fight with us.  We won’t provoke a fight since we won’t shoot down their missile test, even though it is a treaty violation. They can’t afford to alienate China, which supplies North Korea’s economic lifeline.  The last thing China needs right now is a conflict on its border and the hordes of refugees it would create.

What North Korea wants isn’t war, but the political power that comes from being a nuclear power.

North Korea’s greatest threat may not be its nuclear arsenal, but the nuclear program it exports – especially to Iran. They’ve aided the nuclear program before – with their nuclear reactor, their missile and satellite programs – so Iran is now on the threshold of having nuclear weapons.

It seems that with our national security, once again all roads point to Tehran.

That’s DEFCON-3 by KT and I’m KT McFarland