[gallo]

Quote by: weasel I confess I have mixed feelings about this article and the whole North Korea situation in general. On one hand, I'm appalled by the kind of utterly selfish behavior displayed by a leader of a country who should be sharing the wealth he so lavishly bathes in. Notice any similarities to Saddam Hussein?

Certainly do. I also see striking similarities to historical figures in Europe, who lived in luxury while their people starved. Just read the history of christian Europe and you will find many examples.

Quote by: weasel I therefore feel that a joint strike force against North Korea would be completely justified both for the sake of North Korean (NK) citizens who don't have lobster flown in to their homes and citizens around the world who are threatened by NK's nuclear ambitions.

Well good for you. Why don't we throw a whole generation into wars on foreign soil. We are already losing control in Iraq with mounting troop losses every month. The same is true of Afghanistan, simply because we didn't stay the course and eliminate the terrorists there. We abandoned a legitimate campaign against terrorists in Afghanistan to over throw the government in a country that had no terrorism and didn't support external terrorists. Why did we do it? Because we wanted to eliminate some non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

Quote by: weasel On the other hand, I sure as hell wouldn't like to see another Iraq despite the fact that we had every right to go in there and defend the safety of America.

But Iraq wasn't a threat to America. Weren't you paying attention? There was Iran with a powerful military and an active nuclear development program, and North Korea with a very powerful military and a more active nuclear development program, and Iraq with an ineffective military and no nuclear program of any kind. Which country did we invade? Duh.

And what moron couldn't see that the result of the overthrow of the government of Iraq would be a civil war? We just helped it along and now we are throwing our young into the fray to be slaughtered once again. Just like my brothers and I were thrown into a civil war in SE Asia for no apparent reason.

But even though you sabre rattlers think that we can just go in and kick ass, that won't be the case. That's why dubya wants to pursue diplomatic means. A military response would mean reinstatement of the draft (my brothers and I are too old - been there and done that - and my elder son is pushing the maximum draft age and would be direct commission in the JAG Corps at field grade. My younger son is an NCO in the Army, now in non-combat MOS, still undergoing rehabilitation from surgery to replace lost bone and ligament damage to his ankle.

Seriously, weasel. Have you ever been in the military and actually served in combat? I went to college with men who had scars and were missing body parts from combat in Korea. I couldn't even begin to name my friends who didn't return from VN.

Gosh! Let's just show those nasty North Koreans what war is about!

Bottom line is, we ain't got the balls because we are spread too thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, where we are taking excessive casualties because 1) we didn't stay the course, and 2) we are caught in a civil war that we created.

Quote by: weasel I also suspect the reason why dear old Kimmy won't like the sanctions is because it'll disrupte his constant influx of cognac and Mercedes-Benz cars.

Nonsense. He has a stock of Cognac that is more expensive than you could even dream of and his Mercedes will last for years.

Quote by: weasel Needless to say I'll be interested to learn what kind of "punishments" the UN will come up with.

If China, South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. stop all trade, then many more people will starve. The government of North Korea will go on, as will the army. They are the ones who have food and clothes. What kind of "punishments" do you actually think any nation is about to inflict. I mean, even Bush isn't so stupid as to believe that war is going to resolve the issue. Oh! Wait. He did thing that war in Iraq was going to solve some imaginary issues. Isn't it great to be involved in another civil war?

Quote by: weasel You're comments are appreciated.

I'm sure.