North Korean Military Capability, Analyzed

STRONG LIKE BULL

North Korea is the short, belligerent drunkest guy at the party: makes a lot of noise but not really a threat as long as you keep him where you can see him. 

The article below digs into the North Korean rhetoric vs. the facts of their military capability. What could have been dry and boring is actually quite interesting. It's sufficiently funny that the author has to remind us, several times, that we're reading about the possible deaths of real people (about 80,000 if North Korea decides to attack Seoul and do as much damage as possible instead of wage a protracted, strategic war). The economic costs would be much higher, since the war would destabilize the region and displace many millions in a densely populated area. In terms of actual lives lost the bulk of the damage would be done in the first week. After that North Korea wouldn't have any heavy weapons left. But they would have something to eat after the UN clowns showed up. So that's something.

Read the whole thing for the details. It's fascinating.

http://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-special-reports/mind-the-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality/

The good news is that your US Military Industrial complex isn't going to let this not-really-a-challenge go unchallenged. They are spending another billion dollars on a missile defense system that almost, sort of works (kind of). From Military Times:

The missile defense system was first fielded by the administration of President George W. Bush in late 2004. It has a spotty test record and has never been used in actual combat. In addition to the 26 interceptors at Greely, the system includes four interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

So that's a comfort. Hey, it's only money.