is north korea all talk?

In the ongoing debate over North Korean nukes and WMD our illustrious leaders appear to be backing on their "intelligence" belief that North Korea currently lacks ICBM's with sufficient range to strike Australia. [Let us take it as read that they have some nuclear weapons and biological and chemical weapons as well].

A couple of years ago the North Koreans tested a long range missile on a trajectory over Japan that splashed down in the north-east pacific ocean. Various internet reports have surfaced that describe a North Korean nose cone being found in Alaska. So, they are well on the way to developing an ICBM.

However we are led to believe they are now attempting to build miniaturised nuclear warheads for inclusion in such an ICBM - possibly as multiple warheads. Thus we are safe for the time being - until they develop these small warheads and longer range versions of their ICBM

Thus it is currently OK to antagonise them by the planned piratical acts against their ships and aircraft since they cannot strike us here in OZ - never mind the poor sods that live in South Korea and Japan .

OZ is safe now because of distance, and we will all be safer in the future if we sign up with George Bush's star wars anti-missile defence shield.

Or are we ??? Has everyone in Canberra forgotten that the North Koreans have a well trained navy with commando squads that operate mini-subs. They also have a large number of freighters capable of moving such craft to within striking range of US and Australian cities. Most of our cities (and many in the US) are on the coast.

If they can snatch Japanese citizens from coastal towns they can deliver dustbin sized packages with timers They may even use flag of convenience ships to disguise the operations - loading nukes off their shores at night from mini-subs.

They are also perfectly capable of moving any big "old tech" nuclear warheads they have to our cities by other clandestine means - a la "5th Protocol" - eg. hidden in sea containers. They could also utilise crude cruise missiles (reportedly tested by the North Koreans last year) or short range rockets fired from modified freighters.

It does not take too much imagination to develop a number of possible scenarios that end with North Korean retaliation directly upon our shores. We would not take such arrogant illegal behaviour against our interests and I doubt that they will either.

Fools such as Downer and Co need to forget US style high tech missile delivery systems and US (vested interest) intelligence reports and start thinking for Australia and Australians rather than US Neocons and their financial masters.

Provoking a tiger snake with a stick is almost guaranteed to get you bitten. A safer course of action will be to talk to the hermit kingdom and give them the safe space non-aggression pact they seek. Kicking a psycho is going to get an unpredictable but assuredly insane response. We lived with Russian and Chinese nukes for years and we still do. But these countries tend to act rationally - North Korea is a very different proposition. Reduce their paranoia and feed them carrots rather than raising big sticks.

Can we expect to see sanity prevail ??? I suspect not if the covert intention is to start a world war to initiate a consumption economy and consolidate your power in the face of a rapidly deteriorating world economy and an increasingly hostile population of very unwilling non believers with a rising demand for your own blood.