Boom

Boom:

I've been expecting a DPRK nuclear test for years -- guess it took them this long to get the tech right. There was no doubt they'd test one when they had one to test.

Now that they've got it, what to do with it? Reports suggest it's too big for their missiles, and they can't launch their long-range missiles without obvious preparation anyway. They could, though, sell the design.

Kim Myong Chol, considered by most an unofficial spokesman for the DPRK goverment, says here that the weapons won't be used for bargaining. They'll be used on the Continential US, to turn our cities into infernos.

The DPRK has always been given to bluster on that score. On the other hand, we have no reason to trust them except contempt for their capabilities. That is, it's not that we don't believe they mean us harm -- it's that we don't believe, even now, they have a real capacity.

Still, the ability to sell the weapons is enough. Either we take the DPRK down now, or we commit ourselves to a containment model that means giving China everything it wants from us in the near future. After all, China controls the main border. We need their cooperation to contain the DPRK's nuclear weapons and secrets.

So -- fight or commit to an alliance with China? I guess we'll see soon.