North Korea Develops Miniaturized Nuclear Warhead, Crossing Trump's Red Line.

[Skroe]

US doesn't need to project that much power though given the number of basis worldwide. China is no where as close.

https://www.opednews.com/articles/Ba...51126-403.html

No one would like to close bases more than the Pentagon. They estimate they are 25% over requirement when it comes to real estate and facilities. But that would save about $5-10 billion per year. Not a lot of money. They've been arguing for base closures, particularly in the US, for a decade. They've been denied by US lawmakers and foreign governments (that are the hosts of foreign ones and pay many of the costs). The exception is in the Pacific-region, where they are reactivating World War II era bases on far-flung islands to distribute forces to defend against a Pearl Harbor style attack. That will come at the expense of post-Cold War "superbases".

But bases aren't at issue. Or ships. Or fighters. It's personnel costs. It's people. It's how maddening expensive human beings are.

If the US wants to spend less on defense, it needs to pay its troops less and / or push down health care costs. The latter is unarguable, but the former is already far too low, and the US Military is training personnel only to lose them to Contractors who pay far more after 4 years. Furthermore the overall force is too small. The US Army in particular needs another 200,000 troops. The US Air Force has a severe pilot shortage.

We need to spend more on defense. A lot more. And it's not going to be on new weapons or technologies. It's going to be for people. One of the most cynical and sick things the United States of America has done in the last 40 years is extend troop deployments to 12 months, and have troops do 3, 4, 5 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, because lawmakers were married to the idea of a 490,000 to 560,000 man Army, rather than the more than 700,000 man active duty force the wars actually required according to independent assessments. All to save money.

The US needs to start fighting its wars and managing its power right, or not do it at all. But it's sick and cynical to ask military leaders to figure out how to do something that requires 30-40% more people than they have, and operate in a budget that is probably 25% smaller than it should be for what they're asked to do. We must either fully resource them to do what we ask, or we don't ask them to do it. This "have our cake and eat it too" nonsense has produced disaster after disaster.

[CostinR]

So Japan and South Korea both told North Korea that they better not fire missiles over Japan targeting Guam or there will be hell to pay.

[Cerilis]

While an OP ED piece technically, this article contains an issue I hadn't seen come up before: the idea of NK attacking Japan by blowing a nuke 30km overhead, slamming the country with an EMP blast. Now, it goes on further to say NK detonates EMP satelites above the US, destroying the country -- which I find farfetched -- but the idea of EMP at "close" range has some merit. For one, your missile doesn't have to hit anything. For two, it probably is harder to intercept on its way to detonation. For three, the blast radius is a hell of a lot larger, hitting more people. And for four, Japan without electronics is useless for a US staging ground.

I have no idea how realistic such a strategy is for NK, but it's a facet I hadn't heard until today. Might be worth a read.

What a horrific scenario.

[Symphonic]

What a horrific scenario.

Horrific, but we're talking about North Korea, who can't get missiles past the sea that surrounds them.

[Deleted]

Horrific, but we're talking about North Korea, who can't get missiles past the sea that surrounds them.

They aim at the sea near Japan to try and wake up Godzilla so he destroys them.

As for the EMP scenario you people have been playing too much homefront.

[Skroe]

They aim at the sea near Japan to try and wake up Godzilla so he destroys them.

As for the EMP scenario you people have been playing too much homefront.

Hardly. Security Experts and planners have been discussing the EMP threat for years.
http://www.heritage.org/homeland-sec...ty-catastrophe
http://www.slate.com/articles/techno...ower_grid.html
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs...the-emp-threat

Over the last 15 years large amounts of US (and by extension Japanese) critical infrastructure has seen analog versions replaced with digital versions that incorporate modern(ish) computers and processors.

The smaller transistors on processors get, the more susceptible they come to charged particles. In fact, over the last 20 years error correction in computing has gone through something of a renaissance because higher density drive platters and ever smaller transistors have even made modern computing technology vulnerable to background cosmic radiation. Yes. A computer error could be as much as a random proton from a supernova 5000 light years away hitting a Hard drive.

This is why, for example, the most used CPU designs for space travel are often PowerPC chips from the early-2000s. Because radiation hardened variants have been developed and the technology (and money) isn't there to harden the newest chips. And these chips cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

Modern equipment will simply not function in an environment with a large number of charged particles or things like high powered microwaves.


Our dependence on modern technology that works in ideal conditions is a critical vulnerability. But I mean, you entire posting strategy consists of digging the deepest ditch you can and shoving your head in it, so I'm not surprised you think it's something abstract. It's quite simple really though. Charged particle source + modern technology = no more radios, no more modern cars, no more first responders.

[Deleted]

Hardly. Security Experts and planners have been discussing the EMP threat for years.
http://www.heritage.org/homeland-sec...ty-catastrophe
http://www.slate.com/articles/techno...ower_grid.html
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs...the-emp-threat

Over the last 15 years large amounts of US (and by extension Japanese) critical infrastructure has seen analog versions replaced with digital versions that incorporate modern(ish) computers and processors.

The smaller transistors on processors get, the more susceptible they come to charged particles. In fact, over the last 20 years error correction in computing has gone through something of a renaissance because higher density drive platters and ever smaller transistors have even made modern computing technology vulnerable to background cosmic radiation. Yes. A computer error could be as much as a random proton from a supernova 5000 light years away hitting a Hard drive.

This is why, for example, the most used CPU designs for space travel are often PowerPC chips from the early-2000s. Because radiation hardened variants have been developed and the technology (and money) isn't there to harden the newest chips. And these chips cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

Modern equipment will simply not function in an environment with a large number of charged particles or things like high powered microwaves.


Our dependence on modern technology that works in ideal conditions is a critical vulnerability. But I mean, you entire posting strategy consists of digging the deepest ditch you can and shoving your head in it, so I'm not surprised you think it's something abstract. It's quite simple really though. Charged particle source + modern technology = no more radios, no more modern cars, no more first responders.

I meant in the sense that NK are actually going to attack anyone...

But hey good dig at the end there at least you got that in.

[Skroe]

I meant in the sense that NK are actually going to attack anyone...

But hey good dig at the end there at least you got that in.

No. Nice try. You were talking in the context of a EMP attack because it's kind of out there compared to using a missile or a bomb to blow something up.

But then again, so were boxcutters and airplanes. Donald Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns" sermon remains as relevant as ever. The "out of the box" threats are every bit worth our attention.

After all, who thought that Cyber Pearl harbor would be Russia hacking the 2016 election? Most figured it would be a cyber attack on Wall Street, NORAD or the NYC Power grid by North Korea or Criminals.

[Deleted]

No. Nice try. You were talking in the context of a EMP attack because it's kind of out there compared to using a missile or a bomb to blow something up.

But then again, so were boxcutters and airplanes. Donald Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns" sermon remains as relevant as ever. The "out of the box" threats are every bit worth our attention.

After all, who thought that Cyber Pearl harbor would be Russia hacking the 2016 election? Most figured it would be a cyber attack on Wall Street, NORAD or the NYC Power grid by North Korea or Criminals.

No.(its so out there its a video game..) As you can see in my posting position throughout this thread I think any attack by NK is pure fantasy. So nice try. I know you like fantasy, tell me again how Sy Hersh is a kremlin mouthpiece. Your detachment from reality and constant parroting of establishment positions mixed with attacks on anyone who shows a sign of dissent is sad. Its takes you 500 words to say nothing, in an attempt to score points as opposed to discuss anything. Boring.

[DarkTZeratul]

(its so out there its a video game..)

And deliberately crashing planes into the World Trade Center was so out there it was an episode of the Lone Gunmen.

[Shadowferal]

Taking NK far too seriously.
They need to be ignored like the whiny little punk of a nation that it is, instead of being treated as some world class level threat...
NK isn't China or Russia And it damn sure as hell should never be thought of as on equal footing.

[Breccia]

Taking NK far too seriously.
They need to be ignored

And yet, Trump has his tiny fingers on the phone, and here we are.

[Dmitro]

Lol ok, destroying NK without a ground war, we have a real Napoleon here folks.

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I'm sorry his approval rating will never go above 40%, I truly am, maybe if he got off of Soros' payroll with Killary to arrest her for the mass killings and child sex ring spirit cooking.

if he does well and US does well also yet his approval is lower than 50% ,then something is wrong with the amount partisans in our country.

Quite sad.

[NYC17]

if he does well and US does well also yet his approval is lower than 50% ,then something is wrong with the amount partisans in our country.

Quite sad.

Incorrect.

1.) He won't do well so this is a moot point

2.) He is distrusted and disliked by the majority of his own people. That's his fault, nobody else's.

[Dangg]

Hillary is a warmonger and at least Trump wants peace

[sarahtasher]

Again folks, there is no threat toward your Internet manhood-the US army (in which you probably don't serve) would certainly crush North Korea (or at least I hope so, considering that depending on the way you count, the US spend between 100 and 150 times more than North Korea).

But it's not because you could that you should, especially considering that North Korea will likely be a much tougher nut to crack than Irak or Syria. Not, again, that the North Koreans would win, but they are certainly able to kill a few thousands American soldiers.

It's also cute to see the usual internet tough guys who are completely incapable of imagining that countries don't exist to be bombed to submission by Americans when the President is grouchy on the morning. I fail to see why it's ''stoopid'' for North Koreans to have nuclear weapons, considering that the resident keyboard warriors advocate nuking them or bombing to ''free'' them from Kim (presumably killing ten times more than the entire Kim dynasty, but hey..)

[Poopymonster]

Hillary is a warmonger and at least Trump wants peace

and like magic....

1/3 If that evil woman, if she'd have won the election we'd have war. War weeks, months, years ago. Many years. Decades even.

2/3 Not even Andrew Jackson, great guy, problem solver, not even Andrew Jackson could have stopped that crooked Hillary, that

3/3 horrible woman, from getting us into a war with North Korea centuries ago. SAD!

[Deletedaccount1]

Hillary is a warmonger and at least Trump wants peace

Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Donald shall free me.

[Deleted]

Hillary is a warmonger and at least Trump wants peace

Na, they're both warmongers.