[Hoot Gibson]

I don't think they are a threat to US sovereignty, but they are a huge threat to SK and our troops stationed there.

In recent weeks, on the multiple sports boards I peruse, this topic has been hotly discussed, and I have really not said much on the topic, but am astonished by the people who think that we could just bomb them into the stone age and be done with it.

I guess some people lack the understanding of the type of damage 1 million soldiers could do, even if they are not well supplied, or are stuck with 60's era weaponry, those weapons are still very deadly, and in the hands of 1 million soldiers could do unimaginable damage.

Sure, we would have complete air superiority, but it's not like each bomb is going to kill tens of thousands, they won't all be piled together, we would have to drop more bombs than we can afford to make to take out that many people, short of using nukes.

Not to mention the fact that we have zero intelligence capabilities over there for the most part, unless the Chinese help out. Unlike the ME where Israel is great for giving us intel on targets, it would not be the same in NK, and winning battles with minimal casualties depends on quality intel.

My fear is if they are told to act, that will likely spell our end economically, it would require trillions of dollars we don't have to resolve the conflict. On top of that, the worst thing is the amount of American and SK lives that would be lost is just terrifying.

Many fear that if NK does launch an attack, they will unleash hell upon SK and send massive amounts of troops over the border to secure Seoul, and then hold Seoul and it's 10 million citizens hostage to negotiate favorable terms. At that point our bombs would be useless. (It may have been someone on this board that mentioned that, and it was something I had never even considered, but would likely be the smartest play for NK if they decided to do something)

I agree with much of what you said above, Beetle, but I believe that North Korea is a threat to American sovereignty, although the threat is indirect. I just don't see Obama making a timely decision to drop a nuke on NK before hundreds of thousands of NK troops cross the border. Once that happens, dropping a dozen nukes on Pyongyang will not prevent the slaughter of thousands of South Koreans and American troops stationed in the south.

Once the North Koreans spread among their South Korean relatives, nothing short of a large American deployment of ground troops will force them back across the DMZ. In the meantime, Iran would very likely see our entry into a war on the Korean peninsula as a golden opportunity to attack Israel. What would happen at that point is anybody's guess. Under Obama's "leadership," whether we fully honor our commitments to Israel may depend on poll numbers and focus groups.

China, in particular, might decide that it is time to impose its sovereignty over Taiwan and the disputed islands that are claimed by Japan.

We are the closest to World War III that we have been since the last one ended, IMO.