Starving for Attention

A North Korean ship suspected of trafficking illegal arms bound for Myanmar, also known as Burma, is right now being trailed off China’s coast by a U.S. Navy destroyer. Its believed the United States is considering whether to inspect the ship to enforce a recent United Nations Security Council resolution on North Korea’s trade in banned weapons. North Korea stated this week that it would consider such a move an act of war; if the United States attempts to do so they will “wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all.”

Serious fighting words — enough to worry peace-loving folk like Tonic readers — but such saber rattling from the Kim Jong-il regime is nothing new. There is talk now that the country may also have the capability to hit Hawaii. But its more likely this is once more a case of a lot of bark and little bite.

North Korea can barely feed its people and keep its economy functioning. The more desperate their situation grows at home, the more they cling to their best hope of holding on to power: the threat of nuclear weapons. In an interview with Reuters early this month, two veteran analysts of North Korea, Peter Hayes and Scott Bruce of the California-based Nautilus Institute, said the North Koreans see themselves as being able to confront the United States from a new position of strength because of the “significant explosions” achieved at their May 25 nuclear tests.

But in reality, the North Koreans do not yet have the technology needed to make a successful nuclear attack, and particularly unlikely is a long-range attack on the United States. "Unless they buy some other country's design and materials, North Korea will not be able to integrate a miniaturized nuclear warhead with an operationally effective long range missile system for another ten to fifteen years," the analysts told Reuters.

One positive effect of the present North Korean conflict, however, is new material for late night talk shows and one of my personal favorites, The Daily Show. See below:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Welcome to the Jong-il www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran