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Why You Should be Concerned About These Latest Satellite Photos Out of North Korea

Dec. 28, 2012 7:54am Liz Klimas

SEOUL, South Korea (TheBlaze/AP) — The world’s eye was turned recently toward North Korea after it successfully launched a satellite into orbit. It was soon reported to be malfunctioning or dead, but hinted at the country’s continued efforts to create an intercontinental ballistic missile. Now satellite photos reveal that flood damage has been repaired at North Korea’s nuclear test facility and the country could conduct a quick atomic explosion if it chose, though water streaming out of a test tunnel may cause problems.

Washington and others are bracing for the possibility that if punished for the successful long-range rocket launch on Dec. 12 that the U.N. considers a cover for a banned ballistic missile test, North Korea’s next step might be its third nuclear test.

Satellite Images Show North Korea Has Repaired Suspected Nuclear Test Facility

This satellite image taken Nov. 19, 2012 by DigitalGlobe and annotated and distributed by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, shows the entrance area of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility in North Korea, where experts suspect Pyongyang will conduct its next detonation. (Photo: AP/DigitalGlobe via 38 North

The 38 North Analysis says the road is dark where movement has melted the snow, and the traffic appears limited to the bypass road, the tunnel entrance and the two southern area support buildings. The analysis says the North may be able to trigger a detonation in as little as two weeks, once a political decision is made to move forward. (Photo: AP/DigitalGlobe via 38 North)

Rocket and nuclear tests unnerve Washington and its allies because each new success puts North Korean scientists another step closer to perfecting a nuclear warhead small enough to put on a missile that could hit the mainland United States.

Another nuclear test, which North Korea’s Foreign Ministry hinted at on the day of the rocket launch, would fit a pattern. Pyongyang conducted its first and second atomic explosions, in 2006 and 2009, weeks after receiving U.N. Security Council condemnation and sanctions for similar long-range rocket launches.

North Korea is thought to have enough plutonium for a handful of crude atomic bombs, and unveiled a uranium enrichment facility in 2010, but it must continue to conduct tests to master the miniaturization technology crucial for a true nuclear weapons program.

This undated photo provided by South Korean Defense Ministry shows debris of a rocket which North Korea launched on Dec. 12, 2012, on a South Korean navy vessel during the navy’s retrieve operation in the Yellow Sea. (Photo: AP/South Korea Defense Ministry)

“With an additional nuclear test, North Korea could advance their ability to eventually deploy a nuclear weapon on a long-range missile,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the nongovernment Arms Control Association.

Analysts caution that only so much can be determined from satellite imagery, and it’s very difficult to fully discern North Korea’s plans. This is especially true for nuclear test preparations, which are often done deep within a mountain. North Korea, for instance, took many by surprise when it launched its rocket this month only several days after announcing technical problems.

Although there’s no sign of an imminent nuclear test, U.S. and South Korean officials worry that Pyongyang could conduct one at any time.

Analysis of GeoEye and Digital Globe satellite photos from Dec. 13 and earlier, provided to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website for the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said scientists are “determined to maintain a state of readiness” at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility after repairing flood damage.

The nuclear speculation comes as South Korea’s conservative president-elect, Park Geun-hye, prepares to take office in February, and as young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marks his one-year anniversary as supreme commander.

Kim has consolidated power since taking over after his father, Kim Jong Il, died Dec. 17, 2011, and the rocket launch is seen as a major internal political and popular boost for the 20-something leader.

Some analysts, however, question whether Kim will risk international, and especially Chinese, wrath and sure sanctions by quickly conducting a nuclear test.

The election of Park in South Korea and Barack Obama’s re-election to a second term as U.S. president could “prompt North Korea to try more diplomacy than military options,” said Chang Yong-seok, an analyst at the Institute for Peace Affairs, a private think tank in Seoul. “I think we’ll see North Korea more focused on economic revival than on nuclear testing next year.”

The 38 North analysis said the North “may be able to trigger a detonation in as little as two weeks, once a political decision is made to move forward.” But the report by Jack Liu, Nick Hansen and Jeffrey Lewis also said it was unclear whether water seepage from a tunnel entrance at the site was under control. Water could hurt a nuclear device and the sensors needed to monitor a test.

The analysis also identified what it called a previously unidentified structure that could be meant to protect sensitive equipment from bad weather.

“We don’t have a crystal ball that will tell us when the North will conduct its third nuclear test,” said Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official and now editor of 38 North. “But events over the next few months, such as the U.N. reaction to Pyongyang’s missile test and the North’s unfolding policy toward the new South Korean government, may at least provide us with some clues.”

Another unknown is how China, the North’s only major ally, would respond to calls for tighter sanctions. Washington views more pressure from Beijing as pivotal if diplomatic pressure is going to force change in Pyongyang.

Even if Beijing signs on to U.N. punishment if the North conducts a test, there may be less hurt for Pyongyang than Washington wants.

The impact of tougher sanctions would be “a drop in the bucket compared with the tidal wave of China-North Korean trade” that has risen sharply since 2008, even as inter-Korean trade has remained flat, said John Park, a Korea expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Trade figures show North Korea’s deepening dependence on China. Pyongyang’s trade with Beijing surged more than 60 percent last year, reaching $5.63 billion, according to South Korea’s Statistics Korea. China accounted for 70 percent of North Korea’s annual trade in 2011, up from 57 percent in 2010.

North Korea’s 2006 nuclear test had an estimated explosive yield of 1 kiloton. The Los Alamos National Laboratory estimated in 2011 that the North’s test on May 25, 2009, which followed U.N. condemnation of an April long-range rocket launch, had a minimum yield of 5.7 kilotons. The atomic bomb that hit Nagasaki at the end of World War II was about 21 kilotons.

Both North Korean tests used plutonium for fissile material. Without at least one more successful plutonium test, it’s unlikely that Pyongyang could have confidence in a miniaturized plutonium design, according to an August paper by Frank Pabian of Los Alamos and Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University.

North Korea’s small plutonium stockpile is sufficient for four to eight bombs, they wrote, but it may be willing to sacrifice some if it can augment information from the previous tests. Pabian and Hecker predicted that Pyongyang may simultaneously test both plutonium and highly enriched uranium devices.

A uranium test would worry the international community even more, as it would confirm that North Korea, which would need months to restart its shuttered plutonium reactor, has an alternative source of fissile material based on uranium enrichment. North Korea unveiled a previously secret uranium enrichment plant in November 2010.

“Whether and when North Korea conducts another nuclear test will depend on how high a political cost Pyongyang is willing to bear,” Pabian and Hecker wrote.

Another test would also undermine Pyongyang’s assertion that its long-range rocket launches are for a peaceful space program and not what outsiders see as the development of ballistic missiles that could eventually deliver nuclear weapons.

On the same day as this month’s rocket launch, an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told state media that a hostile U.S. response to a failed launch in April of this year had forced Pyongyang “to re-examine the nuclear issue as a whole.”

The statement was a clear threat to detonate a nuclear device ahead of any U.N. Security Council action, said Baek Seung-joo, an analyst at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.

—

Pennington reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Sam Kim contributed from Seoul.

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Comments (112)

CenterLineStripe
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:33pm
Do most of you realize that using what you think are clever plays on Obama’s name (Obummer, Kim Jong Obama, Gaybama, Dear Leader, Dumbo) make you look like children. No matter how much your comments might make sense, once I read something like that…you just lost all credibility. Doesn’t help that right after that you’ll usually bring up a CRAZY conspiracy theory about him taking our guns, not reliquishing the office, his birth place, or make some racist remark that you don’t seem to realize is racist. Which is why the Right lost the election. GROW UP and maybe you’ll win the next time around.
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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:46pm
  0bama
  
  Report this comment
- Fubared
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:54pm
  Enjoy those fence splinters.
  
  Report this comment
- conservativealien
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:08pm
  If it bothers you so much, why are you even here reading it?
  Why don’t you use your energy somewhere else instead of lecturing people here?
  It’s not just name calling. It’s showing the frustration and anger through those names. Who the heck are you to tell people that they shouldn’t do so only because if bugs you so much? You guys have no problem name calling us but when it comes to your dear president, it’s all of sudden childish? By the way, we did grow up. That’s why DIDN’T vote for O. We thought grown up individuals should take responsibility for their own life and actions and we thought we should respect the Constitutions and individual freedom/right. We didn’t want to be freeloaders on other people’s back. That’s why we DIDN’T vote for O. We might have a chance next time around? You mean “IF” there’s next time around, right?
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:11pm
  CenterLineStripe
  
  What do you do with a guy who say “You get nothing I get that for free”?
  
  Well you try to vote him out. You oppose such a sociopath at every turn. And if people blow off some steam, well people have been known to do that since the dawn of time.
  
  What is your way? Never blow off steam. Only vote & if you lose obey obey obey?
  
  Report this comment
- Blitz
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:29pm
  Are you paid to attempt to sway people? I think you are and you are about to get fired for not being very good at your job, fyi.
  
  Report this comment
- pitboss711
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:40pm
  If you don’t like the program, use the “off” button and shut up.
  
  Report this comment
- ejelectric
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:51pm
  Well said @CONSERVATIVEALIEN
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:53pm
  CenterLineStripe
  
  The Federation of American Scientist thought this report was important to archive. Maybe you should read it.
  
  North Korea: Chronology of Provocations, 1950 – 2003
  http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL30004.pdf
  
  Heck, North Koreans are even abducting people from China, Lebanon & Netherlands.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:56pm
  Center Line Stripe
  
  “12/1969 — North Korean agents hijacked a South Korean airliner YS-11 to
  Wonsan en route from Kangnung to Seoul with 51 persons aboard; in
  February 1970. 39 of the crew and passengers were released. As of
  January 2001, the remaining 12 were still detained in North Korea,”
  
  http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL30004.pdf
  
  Report this comment
- Desertlakesflying
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 5:11pm
  Obama taking guns is a conspiracy theory? Wow, MSNBC really will cover up anything. Don’t you know the Bill Barry is in full support of bans all semi automatic weapons? Don’t you know that there is a provision in the bill to ban guns at will and start confiscation is Barry and his radical extremist supporters like you deem it necessary? how about you take your willful ignorance elsewhere. The Daily KOS will be happy to have your ignorance. Oh, and calling him Barry…that was the name he was born with.
  
  Report this comment
- txs_sxs
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 6:34pm
  Didn’t the democratic left call Mitt Romney “Mittens” (and probably a whole lot more less flattering names) during the election? Seems to me your comment is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
  
  Report this comment
- muffythetuffy
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:07pm
  I HOPE THEIR ICBM HAS ENOUGH RANGE TO HIT FRISCO AND LOS ANGLES.
  
  Frisco needs a good nuking badly.
  
  Report this comment
- QuincySmith
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:17pm
  Buh bye, centerlinestripe. Can’t help it if oblama doesn’t take responsibility for anything (how many times did he vote present). While I have no use for john mccain, I voted for him over oblama. That name, oblama, is very effective: it identifies him and his tactics. Sooo, while its been fun knowing you, I hate to see you go.
  
  Report this comment
- FFTyranny
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:53pm
  Oh Bamer!
  
  You mad lib?
  
  Report this comment
- matt_c
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:52pm
  I call him Obamaphone.
  
  Report this comment
- americathebankrupt
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:06am
  Centerlinestripe,Thats the brown stripe in my underwear.
  
  Report this comment
- Libertarian
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 3:26am
  @CenterLineStripe,
  
  While I agree with your premise – using absurd names is counterproductive in getting a message across. I can’t help but notice your use of the word “racist” as though you understand its definition.
  
  Racism in its general form is defined as believing a race is inferior to ones’ own. This word, like the ones you accuse others of using are equally out of context and counterproductive. Perhaps you have seen prejudice, ignorance or bigotry – certainly you have NEVER seen a racist remark on this forum because it appears you do not understand the meaning of the word. In my opinion, as seen by how you used it in context.
  
  Republicans lost the election because America has passed the precipice of those wanting and using government entitlements and those that want government out of the way. Government dependents have won and the pendulum will probably not swing back the other way. Kudos to you socialists.
  
  Business is equally culpable – to play on the business playing field many have compromised their integrity and accepted gov. cheese in one form or another. Sure they may call it an exemption, redistribution, benefit or subsidy – business goes along to get along. Farming is the highest subsidized industry in America for Gods sake. Farming used to be a Republican talking point.
  
  Only when philosophers become politicians or politicians govern from philosophy America will move out of the dark of Socialism.
  
  Report this comment
- chucksue351
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 7:30am
  just remember the ears are off the table
  
  Report this comment
- RedeemedWench
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 8:42am
  Centerlinestripe—Personally, I don’t buy into the Rep/Dem paradigm anymore. I think most of them are completely corrupt, evil and those who try, wind up falling on their face or are blackmailed. The ones who do gather a following against what those truly in power want, well, they usually end up dying mysteriously or by “suicide.”
  
  And I don’t think Obama is the one truly in power. His handler, Valerie Jarrett’s bosses are. I think he is nothing more than an incompetent puppet. How’s that for CRAZY conspiracy? Or does that make me a racist as well?
  
  Report this comment
- flrick
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 9:36am
  Oh, I’m SURE you never called George Bush any names. Go away centerlinefruit. You’re the one who looks childish now. Besides, we call odipshit names out of our pure disrespect for the man. I can’t respect somebody who hasn’t even come close to earning respect.
  
  Report this comment
- Anadara
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 10:01am
  A skunk by any other name….
  
  BTW. We are all on the road to dystopia. If you “like” the trip, you’ll love the destination.
  
  Report this comment
- Lgbpop
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 11:41am
  Do you honestly think anyone cares about what you think? Especially when the first thing out of your mouth is criticism of what others think? That’s why rational people have nothing but contempt for liberals – especially when you inevitably find some reason to use the word “racist.” You’re so quick to judge yet so loath to think.
  
  Report this comment
- actt2
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 12:23pm
  Hey Centerlinestripe……..It’s a really fortunate thing for most that your opinion about credibility doesn’t mean squat, huh? THE COMMUNIST! How’s that for an appropriate synonym for the president? Now THAT’s credible.
  
  Report this comment
- thequeenbee
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 1:44pm
  Ahhhh yes, he does want to take our guns away, He is at least a Marxist if not a communist,photos of him with ‘The New Party’ exist) Van Jones, communist, Richard Trumpka, and a whole slew of them in his administration as well as congress. Do some research.) the birth certificate has been proved as faked, and he is setting himself up for a third term. Interesting how areas in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan reported 140% turnout for obama, 115% turnout for obama and 100% of wards voting for obama. Doesn’t that strike you as a bit odd? And last but not least can’t you come up with anything besides ‘racist’. That is such crap and most people are sick of it. It’s not racist to not like a leader who is tearing down the fabric of our country. Just as you say people lose credibility when they call him names, I say you lose it in spades when all you can pull is the racist card. And yes I did say spades.
  
  Report this comment
- okdavidson
  Posted on December 29, 2012 at 4:00pm
  I usually consider conspiracy theories to not be backed by facts. That’s why they are theories. Obama wants to implement stricter gun laws and possibly out law “semi auto weapons”… Fact!
  You are a POOP-HEAD!
  
  Report this comment
- F.O.S. DIAPERHEAD
  Posted on December 30, 2012 at 2:24pm
  What you talkin bout Centerline?
  
  Report this comment
- Starkadder
  Posted on December 30, 2012 at 4:35pm
  You forgot my personal favorite.
  
  Chairman Obamao
  
  Report this comment
- Lord_Frostwind
  Posted on December 30, 2012 at 8:18pm
  I’d laugh at you Center if you didn’t sound so pathetic. Someone who goes out ripping on conservatives as being a bunch of crazy people shouting at the streets, then cries like the Brittney Fan over us making fun of Obama’s name is a very sad excuse for a hypocrite.
  
  But please, tell me how bad of a person I am, I laugh at you and feed on your tears because I am just that kind of guy.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 12:55pm
  @conservativealien, wasn’t lecturing just voicing my opinion. Who the heck am I? Nobody important, kinda like you. I wasn’t telling people what to do, just stating that they sound childish. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be another time around. Oh and you proved my point.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 12:57pm
  @TSX_SXS, ya they did call Mitt Romney “Mittens.” I believe they also called him R-Money and Daddy Worbucks. Im sure there were others, but those were the ones I heard quite often.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 12:58pm
  @FFTyranny, LOL that one is actually funny. Not to many of those here.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 12:59pm
  @Libertarian, you the man…no really. Calm, collected, concise thoughts are few and far between. Sorry if I used racist wrong.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:00pm
  @FLRick, Sure maybe I did call W. a few names, but I never got demeaning or disparaging. Heck, I seemed to think enough of W. to vote for him twice. Was even ecstatic when his admin let the AR weapon ban expire.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:03pm
  @LGBPOP, I’ll tell you what. There is at least YOU and anyone else that took the time to respond to me, that care what I think. Gnaw on that one. Oh and never said I was a liberal, just pointing out how childish some people on here are. NOT everyone, only a select few.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:06pm
  @OKDavidson, I have heard about his wanting to ban all semi-auto guns. BAD IDEA…However, they have said that anything already owned by people will be grandfathered in and not subject to the new restrictions. Like preban weapons in the 90s and early 00s. Prebans were still on sale but came at a premium at the shop I worked at back then.
  
  Report this comment
- CenterLineStripe
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:09pm
  @Lord_Frostwind, I wasn’t talking about all Conservatives. I know quite a few that are fair, reasonable and don’t think compromise is a DIRTY word. Just the childish ones, that eat their own when people don’t think like they do. Kinda like some of the people that responded to me….not all of them mind you. Oh and most proved my point.
  
  Report this comment
- 1389AD
  Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:48pm
  Oh, a concern troll.
  
  How nice.
  
  Report this comment
no1hd
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:28pm
Blow the place off the face of the map, leave no signs of there ever being anything there. Then we can do Iran, if they still want to play – bet they don’t.

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- 4xeverything
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 3:54pm
  I thought this story was going to be about unicorns.
  
  Report this comment
Brainmuffin
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:06pm
More fear mongering from the Lizard overlords.
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- Fubared
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:31pm
  No joke-they can only vaporize parts of Cali. We should be fine and who cares about illegals and Hollywood anyway. Damn dreary fear mongerers.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:35pm
  So North Korea did not invade South Korea in the 1950s.
  
  North Korea did not kidnap 2 dozen or so Japanese.
  
  “North Korean abductions of Japanese citizen”
  “there may have been hundreds of victims,[3] symbolized by the case of Susumu Fujita[”
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_abductions_of_Japanese_citizens
  
  North Korea has not attacked South Korean & American service personal in numerous border incidents.
  
  “List of border incidents involving North Korea”
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_border_incidents_involving_North_Korea
  
  North Korea has no famine.
  
  BrainMuffin
  I agree with some of the stuff you say 10%-30% (?), but you are out there, Twilight Style.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Icke
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:43pm
  BrainMuffin,
  I read your last 10 posts. I conclude you are no troll. You are out there but you are no troll. What to say.
  I remember the news stories on the abductions of Japanese citizens by the North Korean government. So I did a web search & one of the places I look is Wikipedia.
  The reading there is heartbreaking. Are you saying it did not happen? Or do you have an alternate explanation that fits. That is more like Occam’s razor than a Rube Goldberg explanation?
  
  So this story is fear mongering & yet North Korea has a track record that is remembered by those who can remember decades.
  
  “North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens”
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_abductions_of_Japanese_citizens
  
  Report this comment
- Jim S
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:48pm
  ..be afraid 24/7…fiscal cliff, Iran,N.Korea…Muslims…we are the strongest nation on earth and scared to death…I bet Costa Ricans aren’t afraid all the time…I bet they love their family and friends, enjoy a hot meal and cold beer…any chance we could enjoy our lives and not be a constant state of war?..do you really believe Iran and/or N Korea are suicidal ?..IF they could attack the US…how would they stop the land, air and sea retaliation ?…they could not AND they know they could not…but you think they would anyway..cause they all want to die…so be afraid….I’ll pass….
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:53pm
  Jim S
  
  The fear eases when effective counter measure have been taken. The debt does not scare me at 16 trillion if they would but balance the budget. All I see is a game of chicken with Obama being the main culprit. The same goes for foreign affairs.
  
  Report this comment
- jhrusky
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:56pm
  @ fubared
  
  “No joke-they can only vaporize parts of Cali. We should be fine and who cares about illegals and Hollywood anyway.”
  
  Many of us care about all people. That said, let’s say they ‘vaporize parts of Cali’. How do you prevent the radioactive cloud then from being carried east by the jet stream and depositing cancer-causing material across Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico and more?
  
  Report this comment
- Fubared
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:58pm
  Since when did mere knowledge equate to fear? 0 and crew appear to not give a rat’s ass about much unless it is about more revenue or an arab spring, and I haven’t had to take psychotropics yet. Fear is an individual issue, like being fat or skinny or willfully ignorant. Have at it, no skin off my Richard.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:49pm
  JHRusky
  
  Being a little flippant here, but what has California done for us in the last generation beside give us problems? And a few potassium iodide tablets would go a long way to mitigating the effects of radiation fallout.
  Certainly Senators Feinstein & boxers will be written about as powerful senators in the future but not as statesmen or stateswomen. No all California does nowadays is hamstrings us & show us the way in tho debt.
  
  Report this comment
- Fubared
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 3:38pm
  Rusky
  Perhaps my intended asinine retort didn’t convey the whole enchilada of nonchalance I actually intended. There are various species of butterflies and spotted geckos in Cali I do care deeply for; have them on my coffee mug, northface jacket, and license plate so that those near me can see and feel my care.
  Um, I was sort of being a smart ass to bran muffin as it appears I should start my day looking for items to care about as an individual, from complete and utter strangers-was pretty lost up until the bran muffin post. Now, I am found?
  
  Report this comment
- navydoc2008
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:50pm
  @Fubard and walkabout
  Please remember when you’re contemplating who is expendable or not that many of us are stationed in CA and other places that you may not care about. We are most likely to be the direct targets of any nuclear assault by any renegade country. I would hope you wouldn’t take that so lightly.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:24pm
  navydoc2008
  
  Your still there? The libs couldn’t wait to move the military out of the Bay Area? But then again San Diego is red.
  
  Maybe if North Korea threatened we could hastily redeploy service members & dependents to Japan or Britain or anywhere else.
  
  Never can tell when the North Koreans might steal, be given or invent on their won decoys & the ability MIRV. I mean the Syrian got the Scud replacement, 9K720 Iskander. It has the ability to avoid anti-ballistic missiles to some extent. Smug a$$ politicians & their followers might learn that an Aegis system is great, but it is not everything. Star Wars if implemented could give them a better chance than AEGIS & Patriots alone. What to expect of blue state politicians & voters? Not much
  
  Report this comment
- jhrusky
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:09pm
  @ walkabout
  
  California as a state hasn’t done much to help the rest of the states, but that means not giving a rat’s behind about the good people that live there? Not everyone living there are evil, nor progressives. Some are hard-working people. That was why I posted as I did.
  
  As to potassium iodide tablets going a long way — well, to protect your thyroid, perhaps. However, that doesn’t help squat with the radiation that douses the foodstuffs, water, and your skin, let alone what you may breath in.
  
  Report this comment
Walkabout
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:04pm
Encinom. Monicne, MajasDad, SendtheMeteors, Glenda, & other trolls are unconcerned.

They think Bill Clinton’s handling of the North Koreans was wonderful. After all the North Koreans did not hurt us (at least that can be proven & perception rules). Never mind that they made progress in missile technology, nuclear bomb tech & shared it with the Iranians. And they continue to threaten.

Never mind that Syria received 24 hypersonic missiles systems from Russia. Any bets that at least one of these systems will end up in Tehran & be further proliferated to Pakistan & North Korea?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K720_Iskander

Debka says that these are nuclear capable. I guess that depends if you can miniaturise your nukes.

http://www.debka.com/article/22625/Assad’s-deadly-agenda-First-chemicals-next-Iskander-9K720

Madeline Albright solved all our problems when she presented Kim Jong IL with a basketball autographed by Michael Jordan. Wasn’t that sweet! :)

Democrats ambassadors are just soooo smart!

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- thx1138v2
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:15pm
  Where do you think N.Korea got the long range missile guidance technology? China. Where did China get it? U.S. It’s an interesting story. The decision making process for exporting high tech products was moved from the Commerce Department to the State Department to get it done during the Clinton administration – 1998. Who is Secretary of State now? Leon Panetta, our current Secretary of Defense, was the Clinton Chief of Staff. It is inconceivable that he did not facilitate it. Gary Locke, our current Ambassador to China, was a Democratic campaign contribution bundler back then. Wonder how the Chinese got the plans for the F-22? In the diplomatic pouch would be my guess.
  
  The Blaze seems to be blocking links now so copy and paste the below to the address in your browser.
  http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1998/june98/psrjune98.html
  
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- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:43pm
  thx1138v2
  Knew that … knew that ….knew that .. then you got down Leon Panetta. I knew he was in the Clinton administration but forgot how. If I was prone to loosing my appetite, that would have done it.
  Can you believe that Leon Pannetta spent time as an intel officer for 2 years? I would like to see the write up for his commendation medal.
  
  I did not know about Gary Locke. He is more than a bundler. He was a 2 term governor of the State of Washington. He is also appears to be “no mean” lawyer. “After leaving office, Locke joined the Seattle office of international law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP”. I cannot say that isn’t more about clout or connections. But apparently he has practiced law more so than the usual suspects in Washington D.C. I can’t say that bundling is wrong. All parties do it. But like most people should people be given an ambassador ship because they bundle? I say no. However Locke has been on the radar of the Democrat party since 1996 & the more so when he gave a state of the Union speech in 2003. He speaks fluent Chinese, has practiced international law & was Commerce Secretary before being ambassador. I see & have heard of no dirt on him.
  The one thing that makes me queasy is that he was in Commerce department & is no Ambassador to China. By itself that is nothing. but after the Clinton era & Panetta that makes one wonder.
  
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simpletony
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:04pm
Idiots and madmen have totally screwed up our country. Let’s take it back.

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haytanimore
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:03pm
so north korea is making a nuclear icbm and we’re cutting the military by 500 billion dollars

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- gyro
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:44pm
  yes
  
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- Lord_Frostwind
  Posted on December 30, 2012 at 8:12pm
  Yeah, that can’t possibly go wrong can it? Especially when there are so many forces stationed out in the pacific region.
  
  And once again, wouldn’t it be nice if we had built the Star Wars system and didn’t have to worry about all the crazy jerks in the world getting ICBMs? For everyone who wants to get rid of nuclear weapons, about the only slim chance you have is making something that renders them obsolete, a shield to beat the sword.
  
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RoDogg
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:55pm
hog wash …… they’re just testing to sell to the brotherhood.

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- rawmilker
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 7:17pm
  Yes and I’ll be our money that flobama gives them [Egypt] to purchase it.
  
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Balthazor
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:53pm
Sure would be nice if we had a president and congress that were more concerned about nuclear weapons in the hands of North Korea than they are about firearms in the hands of Americans.

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ozchambers
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:50pm
‘The election of Park in South Korea and Barack Obama’s re-election to a second term as U.S. president could “prompt North Korea to try more diplomacy than military options,” said Chang Yong-seok, an analyst at the Institute for Peace Affairs, a private think tank in Seoul. “I think we’ll see North Korea more focused on economic revival than on nuclear testing next year.”’

So the great minds in this thinktard…believe liberal, leftist leaders who respond to military threats through the impotent machinations of diplomacy will encourage our enemies to cease their weaponisation programs??

Everybody knows that you make hay while the sun shines.

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:40pm
I’m not a rocket scientist, but I heard a rumor that if N. Korea (or a nation that could make it look like North Korea) detonated a device at the right altitude in relation to the factories of China, they would all stop working? Common sense would say China should invade N. Korea and put a stop to that? Don’t worry, be happy?

I’m still waiting for the satellite photos to confirm that nobody in Philadelphia voted for Mitt Romney? I’m still waiting for the reporters, the news paper articles? How many people in Philadelphia did you call today?

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sbenard
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:24pm
First there was Kim Jong Il.
Then we got Kim Jong Un.
And now, we have Kim Jong Obama!

As they say, birds of a feather…

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Brotherinarms
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:12pm
51% takers 49% producers, Obama wonderland!!!!

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RodT82721
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:53am
And we should remember just who to thank for these folks having the technology required to put their weapons into orbit. Just in case you forgot, it was our ever lovable rascal, the adorable leech, Bubba Clinton.
Remember he was looking for donations for his election campaign, and turned to the Chi Coms for a new source of cash. That great mind, Al Gore, standing outside the Buddhist Temple where the folks that had all taken a vow of poverty, handed him shopping bags of cash. (Al, our elected VP, said that there were no controlling authorities.)

Before the campaign, the Chi Coms couldn’t get a rocket into orbit, after supplying the Clinton campaign with large amounts of cash, they could.
I’m as sure it was all a coincident, as Bubba really didn’t have sex with that woman. (His young intern.)
We get who we vote for.

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schroeder123
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:41am
Our Commander and Chief, wakes up , smiles in the mirror, god I’m good looking,

How can I screw up the USA today ? North Korea? naw, How about Gun Control.

Think I’ll go golfing. instead……

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Gatekeeper
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:30am
The “steam” in the pictures isn’t even steam. It is an iced over pond.

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- ozchambers
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:53pm
  I must’ve missed the reference to steam. I did however, see a stream mentioned.
  
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fgarvin
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:55am
With Dumbo still busy driving American into the ground over the next four years, NK will have plenty of time to make enough bombs to totally scorch SK. Oh well, bye SK ! The only thing I’ll miss is that Korean women make great prostitutes. But I think we have enough in CA to last us for a while.

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- TCATATTACK
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:09pm
  You are brain dead!
  
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2dogs
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:47am
If they nuked California, Would it really be such a loss ?

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- fgarvin
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:56am
  Absolutely not, CA is a blue state. America or United Texas can still use the land for parking or storage units. UT would be a better country without the people there.
  
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Blazen420
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:35am
Sorry, I’m more afraid of my own Government.

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- dwf1
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:44am
  “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
  
  The quote came from a man responsible for the deaths of 620,000 Americans. I refuse to key his name but I do believe he is correct.
  
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- ChiefGeorge
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:05am
  Don’t worry! Our own Dear Leader would never allow their weapons to get off the launch pad.
  
  Well….maybe he wouldn’t. Darn it, why do I have this doubt in the first place?
  
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kettererbg
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:23am
In case anyone missed this, that so called “satellite” that NK put up is still orbiting earth. That means that they have intercontinental capability. Now, they just have to make a re-entry vehicle that can survive re-entry with a nuclear package on board. I guess it is going to take millions to perish before something is done. And then there is always Iran.

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- Vigilantwingnut
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:50am
  It’s actually worse than that, it means they have EMP delivery capability. Wasn’t it “interesting” how Iran’s recent missile tests “failed” when it exploded at “high altitude” but Iran called it a success.
  
  It was.
  
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- woodyee
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 11:03am
  Vigilant nailed it.
  
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- smv803
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 12:23pm
  Hopefully their math and calculations are wrong and nuke Tehran instead.
  
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- Walkabout
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 1:51pm
  Vigilantwingnut
  
  9K720 Iskander
  
  “Warhead :HE fragmentation, submunition, penetration, fuel-air explosive, EMP”
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskander_missile
  
  Russia sent 24 of these missile systems to Syria. Syria & Iran are allies. You do the math, which I trust you will.
  
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- gyro
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:45pm
  woodyee is corect
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:48am
So a nuclear test can occur at any time? It will send Obama into fits of delight as another communist nation advances on the road to nuclear domination while he disarms the United States.

Obama will do nothing against North Korea, other than blame the United States people (and not his admin), send useless ‘strongly worded’ notes of protest, and more useless sanctions.

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- DougHuffman
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:03am
  So Obummer is not going to effect their inevitable nuclear ‘accident’? Oh darn.
  
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- environmentalandawake
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 2:12pm
  ;)) Yep
  
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Psychosis
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:29am
They can only reach california

glass half empty ……………Glass half full

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- OldSurfRat
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:45am
  Good Point!
  
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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:49am
  Or Hawaii, and if a nuke went off over American territory, how long do you think it would take for Obama to declare marital law and seize absolute power?
  
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- woodyee
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:01am
  Wow, how bad must it be, when you read a comment like SnowLeopards, and rather than consider the NorK threat, you instead consider the validity of his point?
  
  Hoohaa…
  
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NoMoMrNiceGuy
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:23am
Enough is enough – Let it all collapse already – the waiting is killing me. Let’s just collapse it all and rebuild – weed out the weak and let the strong rebuild !

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- kadster01
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 9:17am
  Are you that convinced you’re one of the strong?
  
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- Nancys Red Diaper Doper Babies
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:54am
  “Are you that convinced you’re one of the strong?”
  
  I’m confident enough that I’d be willing to take my chances.
  
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DougHuffman
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:14am
I thought I read elsewhere that the Norks were having flooding problems at their test site. That will screw up their seismology physics, if not the triggering. How do you say in Nork? “She’s gonna blow!”

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woodyee
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:13am
Never fear!

Gaybama is okay with NK nukes, and if he’s okay with it, so is the media, and if the media is okay with it, so is Obama-phone Lady, and if SHE’S okay with it, what have you got to fear?

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cloudsofwar
Posted on December 28, 2012 at 8:12am
NK who cares? we have commies right here in the white house and congress destroying our country.

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- FISH_BONE
  Posted on December 28, 2012 at 10:51am
  And 51% of the country supporting them and cheering them on.
  
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