Threat from the DPRK (North Korea)

[Mikebert]

(09-26-2017, 07:40 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: You actually believe that? 

No, but what I thought is irrelevant.

The point is eliminating WMDs was used as the pretext.  And nuclear weapons were included in that category of weapon.  Biological weapons are in many ways just as fearsome as fission weapons and we had more concern about them. Chemical weapons were stressed because we knew they had once been there and the Bush administration was certain that some were still left because Saddam acted like there were.  Thus, when they invaded surely they would find some and that would prove that their war was justified after all.

There was much discussion in 2002 about whether or not America should invade Iraq to eliminate this threat.  If your argument that we can eliminate the WMD threat NK poses to our allies by "strikes" then the same threat Iraq posed to our allies could have been eliminated by "strikes" also. Curiously nobody opposed to the war pointed this "fact" out.

But then the idea is ludicrous.  After all we flew more than 100,000 sorties against Iraq in the 12 years preceding the 2003 invasion as part of the "no fly" policy. Don't you think that if it were possible to take out Iraq's nuclear and biological WMD programs from the air, were would have directed some of those 100,000 sorties to do just that?

And if it was accepted as obvious in the 1990's and in 2003 that taking down an enemy's nuke and bioweapon programs using air strikes was not really possible why are you now asserting that it is?

Quote:chemical weapon production facilities are far easier to hide than nuclear weapon production facilities

This is really only true for facilities for the production of fissile material. The actual weapons can be assembled elsewhere in facilities that are not distinguishable from any other kind of manufacturing/industrial facility. Same is true of chemical or biological weapons. 

Furthermore, WMDs can be placed on shorter range missiles that employ mobile launchers, which would remain hidden (and not "strike-able") until their location is revealed by a launch.

So what would your "strike" accomplish?  Well you could blow up their nuclear reactors and known R&D facilities, taking out their ability to make more fissile material and killing some of NK's scientists. You would leave in place facilities that could make nuclear weapons out of existing stockpiles of fissile material and possibly bioweapons (weaponized anthrax is not that hard to make). More importantly you would initiate a hot war while leaving their existing weapons intact. Then what?