North Korea Conducts 'Successful' Underground Nuclear Test
By Susie Madrak Monday May 25, 2009 1:00pm
And the beat goes on. North Korea once again escalates its nuclear activity:
TOKYO, May 25 -- North Korea exploded a nuclear device Monday morning, which is its second underground test in three years and is part of a pattern of escalating belligerence this year that has included a missile launch and withdrawal from all nuclear negotiations.
The communist state's official Korean Central News Agency described the test as "successful." It occurred at 9:45 a.m. in a northeast part of the country near where the first test was conducted in October 2006, according to reports from the South Korean government.
"The republic has conducted another underground nuclear testing successfully in order to strengthen our defensive nuclear deterrence," the North Korean news agency said.
The explosion produced a 4.7-magnitude tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The previous nuclear test registered 3.58 on the Richter scale.
"We are aware of the reports of a nuclear test by North Korea," a State Department official said late Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the test was not yet confirmed. "We are consulting with our allies. Once we have established the facts, we will have more to say."
The test challenges the Obama administration, which came into office saying it was eager to make progress on the nuclear impasse with North Korea.
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Oh well. The world continues.
Will Cheney/Bush blame for that!!! Bill Clinton , Obama , Pelosi or Hillary...
We know he would never be responsible for letting a nation have nukes like India , Pakistan or other countries which have been sold our military technology..
We have seem that Bush / Cheney always puts his corporate friends first ,, I mean the American citizens first
Korea learned "Have no nukes, get invaded and your people enslaved, raped and killed." (Iraq and Afghanistan have millions of displaced refugees and all kinds of rapes is prevalent)
"Have nukes, and they won't come kill you, even though they have broken international laws and they have repeatedly."
This is no a game. You guys in the cushy US might find it a game but to NK, he really has no choice. He see's what you do and he knows what you plan and how you 'liberate by force'.
Call him crazy but he's right in doing what he is doing. He is surrounded by people who wanna kick his ass and murder his people. How would you react?
Only the good guys are allowed nukes!
Yes. Those who invade nations on false pretenses are the ones to be trusted with nuclear arsenals. I do feel better though knowing Cheney is no were near the button.
The only button I want him near is the one that flushes his prison cell toilet.
Unless somebody throws a potato sack over him and throws him in a plane to Spain that's not going to happen. In this country "A nation of laws" applies only us little people.
Except this time it's different. this time the status quo will get everyone in a stew of trouble in short order. the boil must be lanced or the body is going to get sicker.
"Only the good guys are allowed nukes!" - Loonie
Like Israel??
ya, every nation thinks that they are the good guys, and to a degree every nation is probably right. We don't need any nation getting violent.
The world is full of decent people who are just trying to get on with their lives. Some sociopathic, power-hungry fuck-wipes always have to come along and fuck everything up that they possibly can with big bombs, fast planes, smart missiles and toxic bullets.
How criminal it is to use our precious planet to make this stupid shit.
I agree. We just wanna live our lives, in peace. The end. Same all over the world!!
Well I recommend you set up a country with a set of checks and balances and we...
wait. tried that...
Ok... How about we just go after the rich assholes before they kill us all?
Bush invaded Iraq, a weakened nation that posed little threat. It cost America billions and hundreds of thousands died to fulfill Bush's cowboy, tough guy fantasy.
All the while, North Korea continued it's nuclear bomb program.
Is there anything Bush did that wasn’t a F-UP?!?!?!
He succeeded in destroying much of the middle class.
MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED!
for the Press Corp???
That was another episode of 'Simple answers to simple questions'.
Sure there is. He made his super elite cronies trillions of dollars. They just loved them some Bush.
I wonder if Cheney will show his patriotism and concern for national security by not attacking a sitting president during a time of international crisis.
I've grown very weary of the FOX NEWS posts on here every damn time ya turn around.
Isn't there any other teevee station carrying this "breaking" news?
Seriously, QUIT IT.
Oh, and Lil' Kim, you need to settle down.
Sorry, but I have a hard time taking a guy that looks exactly like his puppet in "Team America" seriously. Grow up nitwit. Feed your people, then play cartoon villain.
They share a common tailor http://www.letslearnlinux.com/suseblog/2008-0...
Difference being the fictitious villain had the good taste to omit the clown buttons.
I've been involved with relief efforts to help starving North Koreans, only to watch the North Korean government block and/or steal humanitarian aid...even from private charities. Meanwhile, this bloated, sick prick dines on the best western food, drinks the finest wines, and watches the latest released from Hollywood, while at the same time his own people are starving.
Sure N. Korea is a mess. Is it the USA's job to invade and "spread democracy"? How about places like Myanmar, and, I'm sure, scores of others?
Not likely. There are no oil men in the White House and even if there were there is no oil in Korea. They're safe.
There are no resources in Korea, period. It's a peninsula of granite. Nothing, nada, zip. They import everything. Their power is human resources.
With all the nifty kitchens being designed in the United States and elsewhere in the world you'd think North Korea would be the number 1 exporter of granite!!!
Cha-ching!!!
There you go.
North Korea is a threat to its neighbors, but does not yet have a nuke capable missile able to hit the US. Let North Korea's traditional enemies (all of whom are nearby) like Japan, China and South Korea deal with Kim.
Obama should use this opportunity to get some decent photo opportunities and sound bites and then let other Asian countries handle the ball.
As I recall North Korea had submitted to UN inspections, sealed its reactors, etc, etc, until GW's go-to boy John "Bull-In-China-Shop" Bolton inflicted his "diplomatic skills" on the situation.
Then Fearless Leader Kim decided it was time to ramp up the confrontation.
Testosterone Wars.
On the other hand, if one is heavily invested in the Military Indutrial Complex this is a great success.
Think of all the Military Contracts to defend against this threat!!
Given the Faux News’ pundits' penchant for using this scenario to invade Iraq – I guess it’s off to N Korea now, eh guys? Smoking gun, mushroom cloud, evil empire…
I’m not privy to just how much fissionable material N Korea has, but if I were to guess, I think they will be able to gather enough to do another test – in about 4 years.
I’m much more concerned about Pakistan.
My hunch is that China is in some way behind N Korea's nuclear belligerence. Of course no one in the US can say that since China owns massive quantities of US debt.
Don't know much about a China link either. It would be nice if China could bootstrap a N Korean economy based on something other than weapons though. Lil' Kim is starving those people one bomb at a time.
I think China was genuinely pissed when they did their last test. They're not stupid. This isn't just some typical political gamesmanship going on here. We're talking about nukes. The North Korean government is seriously dysfunctional. Really. If they decide to use one of these or start arming others nobody knows what will happen. Some Serbian nationalist shoots the Austrian Archduke and WWI kicks off. Millions die. This could easily be worse. There are two big things that keep China from doing all it can to bring down lil' kim, fear of tons of refugees and fear of a united, pro-western Korea with a border touching them. I hope they realize that these problems are starting to look solvable while failing to act against the North Korean government is looking really scary.
Or any other nation, for that matter? What gives some other sovereign nation the right to dictate to North Korea what they can and can't do?
Maybe it's a stupid question. But I don't think so.
An appearance of moral rectitude might sway some of the UN, but dictating terms simply requires superior might, which can be economic, military, social or cultural.
My question is why doesn't the world have it's panties in a bunch over ISRAEL having nuclear weapons plus the missiles to deliver them (most guesses are 150-300)???
Anyone? Anyone???
Take your pick:
1. Jews are a scare resource. Muslims - less so.
2. Various Muslim totalitarian regimes prefer having an external enemy they can focus their citizen's dissatisfaction on, rather than having the citizenry push for greater democracy.
3. The pro-Isreal lobby has been very effective and has amassed considerable political capital in most western democracies.
4. Western Europeans still have residual guilt left over from the holocaust, which discourages taking an anti-Isreal position.
5. Most of the rest of the world has little interest in resolving intractable Middle Eastern disputes so long as OPEC keeps selling them oil.
Isreal is a democracy. North Korea is a paranoid, insular dictatorship with a cult of the personality and led by a tyrant who is content to kill (actively or passively) millions so long as his creature comforts are provided for.
There is no reason to suppose that Isreal will be less responsible with its limited nuclear arsenal than France, Russia or the UK would be with their arsenals and there is good reason to believe that all of these countries would be more responsible than President Palin.
Democracies are just as scary as any other form of government... sometimes more so. Getting a majority of the people to think one way is not hard... Getting a majority of the voting populace to think one way is even easier.
If the palestinians had their own country and were a democracy, would you want them to have Nukes? Haven't palestinians voted in "terrorist" organizations to power?
Official US Civil Defense Film (YouTube):
Survival Under Atomic Attack 1950
My family had a rudimentary fallout shelter. And my elementary school practiced evacuations - volunteer parents drove to the school, we loaded into their cars and were driven away from the populated area.
Don't forget to cover your eyes and hit the curb when the big one goes off.
That in case of a nuclear war all you need to do to survive is to dig a hole with a shovel and get in it.
Remember the book by Robert Scheer, "With Enough Shovels"?
I actually thought it was a brilliant idea! That way, after all the dust settled, we'd all already be in our graves! Right?
That in case of a nuclear war all you need to do to survive is to dig a hole with a shovel and get in it.
Remember the book by Robert Scheer, "With Enough Shovels"?
I actually thought it was a brilliant idea! That way, after all the dust settled, we'd all already be in our graves! Right?
The world just needs a child psychologist to help negotiate with Little Kim.
If it wasn't for the fricking BuschCo cartel kim wouldn't be messing with war machines in the first place.
If we can rid the world of all the Bushies we can live in a safer world again!
They come off of a production line deep within the MIC.
And the Military Industrial Complex has been an integral part of the US economy since at least World War One, when GW's great grandfather ran the Small Arms Procurement Office under Wilson.
In fact it probably goes back much farther. After all it was the small arms merchants who made big profits "civilizing the West" and, before that, arming both sides during the American Civil War.
Supplying armaments to the various world powers has always been a lucrative business. And being in a position to start a war AND sell the weapons to fight it has always been the most lucrative way to do business.
I support all efforts to end the culture of war in this country.
Two more wars, two more wars!!!
Come on, join in everybody!
Two more wars, two more wars!!!
They are part of the Axis of Evil, after all.
but North Korean men are VERY UNHEALTHY LOOKING.
We are so bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan we can't open up a 3td front in North Korea to address this growing international and national threat. Just another way Bush, Cheney and the GOP have kept us "safe".
To understand the gravity of the situation and the complexity of the threat we face, you should hear Kim Jong Il say it himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0hk9vaqWUg&eurl=
What I noticed about this FoxNews segment is that they had a correspondent quote Obama rather than show Obama speaking. I believe Fox doesn't want to show Obama in any position of strength, like showing him aggresively defending America.
FoxNews is truly an enemy of reality, and therefore a threat to us all.
You said it man!
"I'm so ronery..."
"Why is everybody so fucking stupid?"
LOL
Hopefully Obama didn't forget Bush's Two Pillars of Foreign Policy.
1) Ignore Asians.
2) Bomb Arabs.
www.progressnotcongress.org
Well if I had two subs with 24 of these aboard cruising 100 miles of my coastline, I guess I'd be building my own too.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WyWBWWFrhaU/SLQYnK9...
We know North Korea has nukes.
We have always known they have nukes.
Why should I give a flying fuck whether they explode them under their own soil?
Please explain this to me.
Reichwing Americans don't want anyone to challenge their hegemony in the world. They fear this small country will make nukes a commodity on the world market and nothing would challenge their imperialism more than that.
but who determines "responsible countries" that can tap into nuclear capability
who won the race to acquire nukes get to set the rules for everyone else. Do you know nothing about international relations? (snark, for those who are sarcasm impaired).
The North Koreans have made great progress since the Bush administration exposed and broke up the A.Q. Khan network. I wonder if the tagline to the intelligence failures of the Bush administration will include some revelation that the A.Q. Khan network was set up to provide nuclear disinformation to rogue states and to monitor their nuclear activities.
find the U.S. acting as the world's police unwanted and distasteful, in the case of North Korea it warrants great concern. You don't give emotionally disturbed children a box matches and a can of gasoline to play with. Which I feel describes North Korea. Kim Jong Il is as about as wacked-out as one could ask for. As much as I'd like to think he is just an adolescent who is making big booms to get attention, the fact remains that these are nukes he's making the big booms with. The bigger the booms and the farther the missiles fly, is the more this regime has mastered the genie. A regime that has no respect for human life and starves it's population as a matter of course and executes the ones they can't control on a daily basis. So the question needs to be asked. How far will this psychologically disturbed individual go to get the attention from the world he craves? China which is the only country other than South Korea that trades with them is also beginning to grow concerned. Iran who doesn't even have the bomb, gets more press than North Korea.
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