Open Thread: Should We Give S. Korea Its Own Nuclear Arsenal?
By NB Staff | November 23, 2010 | 10:28
That's the latest from Charles Krauthammer, who, in light of skirmishes between North and South yesterday and today, thinks we need to build up SK's nuclear arsenal in order to get the Chinese to reign in the Norks - which they are fully capable of doing, Krauthammer believes.
Allahpundit has more on the idea here. What do you think? Reagan-esque shrewdness, or bullheaded folly?
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Some good news...
Submitted by Rukus on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:36am.
The monster pleaded. He won't be back on the streets ever again thankfully!
Rukus, never say never.
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:50am.
Rukus, never say never. There is the possibility that this monster can get out. There have been cases like this where the guy was released because of some idiot down the line determined the man was wronged.
I do no think so
Submitted by octavioj on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:39am.
And I did not think this is what Dr. Krauthammer proposed. He proposed to station tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, not that the South Koreans control those weapons. The US till has thousands of military personnel in South Korea. Until they are moved out of the peninsula those US troops would still control those weapons.
Bull headed folly.
Submitted by Red Jeep on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:40am.
If we give nukes to anybody it should be by dropping them on a country from several thousand feet in the air.
I think if I was a bomber
Submitted by Ruths husband Ben on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:53am.
I think if I was a bomber pilot I would not think several thousand feet was far enough to drop a nuke from! 50 thousand feet maybe, but I would want a fast exit even then.
Kill two birds with one stone
Submitted by TheHistorian on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:53am.
Put nukes in SK and at the same time tell Russia that this is our START arsenal reduction contribution. Sounds like Maxine would approve!
Dennis Prager
i would think we can
Submitted by TruthMonger on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:45am.
i would think we can establish a US military base their instead - with warheads - we don't need to be giving warheads away to other countries do we?
the base should be financed with considerable sk funding btw
Congratulations Jimmy Carter!
I think a more impressive
Submitted by Ruths husband Ben on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:48am.
I think a more impressive response could be made by having Obama refuse to bow to the North Korean Ambassador. That'll show 'em!
Ill-conceived idea. If we
Submitted by ninerdog on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:53am.
Ill-conceived idea. If we just look at troop strength and arms the south is in danger of being overrun in the first few hours of an open conflict. The USA would be hard pressed to keep the nukes out of NK’s hands. This alone would make it a bad idea. Next we must look at distance and topography. None of either sides entire country is out of artillery range of the other. Every military base and all command and control facilities are known to each other. It would take the North less than a week to find out where the nukes were. It would also give the north a reason to invade. They would want those weapons. I am sure you could get a lot for them on the open market or keep them for yourself. Therefore putting them there would be a bad idea.
Dougie
Submitted by Jimbo on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 4:52pm.
Just ask Douglas MacAurthur.
Leon says "By the way, I'm not afraid of fat people, I'm repulsed"
Truth Monger Says - "Both are religions [Christianity & Islam], yes - with the same percentage of terrorists."
Image him returning to the
Submitted by ninerdog on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 5:18pm.
Image him returning to the Philippines facing one of his own nukes. Would have been an entirely different kind of war after that. We would have had to wipe out the entire island chain and everyone there just to be sure it was not used on us.
Agree. Sheer lunacy. We
Submitted by stratman on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 5:01pm.
Agree. Sheer lunacy.
We should never give anyone or any country a nuke unless it's via the "business" end. All nukes remain under American control at all times. No exceptions. With our submarine capability, not to mention our other AIr/Water/Land nuclear delivery systems, there is no reason to house a nuke on South Korean soil.
Yes and Taiwan, too
Submitted by V the K on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:57am.
South Korea should have nukes. Taiwan should have nukes, and frankly, the US should have a lot more nukes. Compared with the cost of deploying hundreds of thousands of troops, planes, and ships for years on end, nukes are cheap.
For that matter, we can and should recapitalize our military. We don't need to develop new aircraft. The development costs of the F-22 and the F-35 are sunk, and the per unit build cost is relatively low. And we could make it even lower by making the bulk of those aircraft... 80%... with much less of the fancy expensive electronic systems that are only needed against relatively sophisticated adversaries. The remaining 20% would be elite aircraft for use against complex air defense systems. his would lower the cost of recapitalization by billions.
I tend to agree, however I
Submitted by Ken Shepherd on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:35am.
I tend to agree, however I think it's a policy option that has little support from either side of the aisle in Congress.
Our unwillingness to proliferate the nuclear deterrant to our allies in the Pacific Rim has ensured our long-term commitment of conventional resources there and has disincentivized South Korea from acting rationally in its own self-defense.
Far too often the South Korean government has been dovish towards North Korea and wildly optimistic about reunification when we all know the Korean peninsula can never be successfully reunited unless one of the regimes falls, namely the bankrupt (morally, politically and financially) North Korean regime.
If South Korea has a tactical nuclear arsenal that it can use as a deterrant that it can deploy with or without our blessing, it instantly becomes a stronger partner in its negotiations with North Korea.
The problem with giving tactical nukes to South Korea is China would have a hissy fit and could insist they'd have the right to give tactical nukes to North Korea in retaliation.
It's a schizophrenic thing
Submitted by Blonde on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 5:34pm.
Another thing to consider re: North & South (equal, side by side, like Vietnam, eh?...yeah, sarcasm dialed up).
The possibility for a massive refuge situation. South Korea isn't capable of handling that kind of influx if they create a destablized North via warfare.
I believe our best hope in the region may lie with Japan. (Did Obama bow to the Japanese yet?) We're not going to get any help at all from the Chinese, IMO, they're behind alot of this sabre rattling. It's in their interests to see us fail, and I have no faith whatsoever in Obama ever doing the right thing.
I'm truly glad a couple of our fellow NB'ers are no longer stationed in Korea.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 138 (and Counting)
Why not? Obama is dying to get rid of our nukes anyway.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:00am.
Just bolt on some Hyundai nameplates, sign the paperwork and ship em over.
Then Porky Sr. and Jr. can play a REAL game of Risk®.
Obama will just send in Madeleine Albright
Submitted by IgnatzJFahrquar on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:07am.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3GPc_yMCE&mode=related&search=
An oldy but goody
Wait a minute!
Submitted by Newsbubba on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:36am.
I just heard an administration official say that NK having nukes was not a problem! Why are we so concerned?
People, we are getting to a fork in the road soon (2012) but maybe not soon enough with this rat bastard Fascist SOB in charge. As that great philosopher, Yogi Berra, said, "When you get to a fork in the road, take it."
If this keeps up, we may have RBFSOB declare a "national emergency" and cancel the elections. This could be a great first step!
I, personally, am going to take the fork whether He likes it or not. How can ANYBODY look at what this RBFSOB is doing and say that Sarah Palin can't be president? Hell, Homer Simpson could handle foreign affairs better than B. Hussein Obama! At least he wouldn't bow to every tin pot dictator on the planet.
At least he wouldn't bow to
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:44am.
At least he wouldn't bow to every tin pot dictator on the planet.No, just Muslim Kings (a la Saudi) and Emperors (a la Japan). Come to think of it, who else did he bow to?
-Jon
China's Premier,
Submitted by UpNorth on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 11:50am.
assorted mid level bureaucrats? The mayor of Tampa, Florida? And he jokes about diverting AF1 to drop in to Venezuela to see Hugo? Seriously, this guy masquerading as our president is mentally ill.
We already knew that
Submitted by Blonde on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 12:30pm.
For quite some time. It appears to be leaking out in the MsM. Slow little dribs and drabs, but they can't keep this fact bottled up forever.
Obama is certifiable.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 138 (and Counting)
FCC to make power grab
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 12:16pm.
H/T to cajun2, figured it should be put here as well. As she said, all NB should read this.
http://biggovernment.com/smotley/2010/11/23/its-official-the-fcc-will-vo...
How will this affect us overall?
-Jon
Give Back the Nobel
Submitted by Gothampc on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 12:32pm.
Weren't we promised that if Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize that all war would cease and everyone would join hands and sing "Kum Ba Yah?"
Taliban Leader in Secrect Talks was an Imposter!
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 1:08pm.
Just imagine how the MSM would have had a field day for months on end concerning the incompetence of the Bush Administration if this had occured while Bush was President.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
Obama probably feels some
Submitted by stratman on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 5:17pm.
Obama probably feels some admiration for the guy.
Well Im off to practice my
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 6:24pm.
Well Im off to practice my Pakistani. Who was resposible for vetting this guy?
It's time for Dave's smoked turkey recipe again
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:27pm.
I tried to paste it here directly, but the formatting got all boogered up, so I popped it into my blog.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
-Dave
I say we give our arsenal to the Norks
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 10:53pm.
...in the form of (from their perspective) incoming projectiles.
-Dave