North Korea completes H-bomb underground test
North Korea today completed its sixth underground nuclear bomb test, with a blast strong enough to suggest that this was an hydrogen bomb.
They also claimed that this bomb is small enough to mount on the ICBM they tested twice in July.
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North Korea today completed its sixth underground nuclear bomb test, with a blast strong enough to suggest that this was an hydrogen bomb.
They also claimed that this bomb is small enough to mount on the ICBM they tested twice in July.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The solution ‘of course’ is to wait until their bombs are too powerful to test. That’ll stop them!
Military Effects Studies
“Operation Castle” – 1954
https://youtu.be/Ti9xmuW6QiM
(38:50)
Although I’m sure the media will find some way to blame Trump for this, responsibility lies at the feet of the past three presidents who took the easy way out and left the mess for others to deal with when the situation got really bad.
Ultimately the blame lies with NK. They set their own course and would not be swayed by anyone, and it isn’t like past Presidents didn’t try.
The problem is that past presidents didn’t ‘do’
In situations like this – nuclear weapons – there is no ‘try’ only ‘do’
Will our children be around to ask us “What was nuclear war like?” The genie is out of the bottle.
I experience little joy in posting this. In my judgment however, North Korea’s latest demonstration is THE “game changer.”
Goggle, “Starfish Prime.” It will take you to a number of articles describing one, of a series of test begun in the late fifties, to better understand the effects of nuclear explosions.
I won’t go into the details except to say that it involved a W-49 “compact” THERMO-nuclear device (compact at the time of less than 2 feet in diameter, 5 – 6 feet long, weighing less than 1 ton), producing an explosive yield of ~1.5 megatons.
A properly designed similar weapon of even less yield (thermo-nuclear – which apparently NK now had demonstrated the capability), detonated several hundred miles ABOVE Kansas, would destroy virtually the entire electrical grid of our country. Further, Its replacement would take YEARS – not weeks or months.
Barring some sort of diplomatic “breakthrough, it would seem some sort of devastating pre-emptive military Fusillade is now likely being considered.
IMO its going to have to first be REAL and hard sanctions visited on China, they just are not willing or able to deliver on the required country strangling sanctions that make a difference. It may come down to to hell with the economic repercussions and the Chinese protestations. And keep in mind that the entire worlds economy is tenuous and something like a real and all out military move against N. Korea will without doubt set off world wide destabilization. (It will however send a stark message to Iran)
I am in total agreement with you and must wonder what Un’s strategy ultimately is. It appears that he “knows” that the trigger will never be pulled on a full blown attack. But I think that may at this point come into question because of the level of what appears to be real threat that he has manifested. I have heard some of the war game results though and there appears to be severe casualties that will be visited upon all involved, including our 28,000 troops.
Maybe Un will in the end be correct? But it appears that he has to go, his level of game play threatens many.
I remain confident that one day lil’ Kim will slip on a bar of Chinese soap in the shower, and fall on an ice pick – a natural death – in the future.
He is bad for “business”.
I sometimes wonder if this is all part of some devious Chinese plan to effectively eliminate the US while maintaining plausible deniability. If we collapse, the rest of the world falls into a mega-depression, including China. But, if China were to already be falling into a depression and at risk of major civil unrest why not take the rest of the world with them through North Korea and attempt to come out on top during all the chaos? They try to pretend they have lost control of Kim, when really he is do exactly what they want.
No matter what happens with the US mainland, we have a fleet of nuclear subs scattered around the world to retaliate, so North Korea gets obliterated under any scenario. Kim has to know this. Maybe we should make sure the Chinese know we will ultimately hold them responsible for anything North Korea does since it is their client state and when they had opportunities to stop Kim they didn’t.