Oct 16
What To Do About North Korea's Nukes
Now that North Korea has officially joined the club of nations that have the atomic bombs, the big question is, "What happens
next?" There are basically only three options for the world community to take: diplomacy, sanctions, or military action.
Diplomatic efforts with North Korea have already been proven fruitless. In the 1980s, for agreeing to freeze its nuclear program, Pyongyang was given two light-water nuclear reactors to generate electricity and, until the reactors were
operational, 500,000 metric tons of oil annually (nearly half its annual needs). The United States taxpayers helped pay for
these lavish gifts.
During the years North Korea was receiving oil and food assistance, it was secretly completing two reactors capable of yielding weapons-grade fuel. When North Korea announced in 2004 that it had nuclear capability, it became clear that Pyongyang had played us for fools.
The reality that this hostile dictatorship had no intention of honoring a treaty banning nuclear weapons should have been discovered decades ago. In 1993, after blocking inspectors from its nuclear facilities, Pyongyang announced its intention to withdraw from the treaty. At that point, we should have considered stronger actions. Unfortunately, our response was more diplomacy in the form of new concessions.
It's doubtful that sanctions will have any influence over North Korea. The nation is ruled by a dictator who doesn't care about the people he controls. In the past decade, over 2 million people have starved to death in North Korea. This great loss of life had no effect on the North Korean war machine.
Some sanctions have been implemented in the wake of the nuclear test. Japan barred all North Korean ships from entering its
ports. South Korea cut off food aid shipments to the North. The UN added some sanctions that ban the import or export of material and equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles.
China has the most leverage over North Korea. China is North Korea's economic lifeline, providing up to 90 percent of its oil
and 80 percent of the consumer goods in a nation so poor that it cannot feed its 23 million people without foreign donations.
But Beijing opposes squeezing the North too hard, apparently afraid that such punishments would lead to the regime's
collapse, unleashing a flood of refugees and eliminating the country's role as a buffer between China and U.S. troops in
South Korea.
The military option presents considerable difficulties in the North Korean context. This nation is desperately poor, but it
maintains a very large military force. In fact, it is the most militarized nation in proportion to population. Military
spending amounts to 22.9 percent of North Korea’s GDP.
One U.S. Defense Department estimate suggested that U.S. and South Korean military forces might suffer 300,000-500,000 casualties within the first 90 days of fighting, in addition to hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties.
In case of North Korean counter-attacks, Seoul, the South Korean capital, lies well within range of North Korean heavy
artillery. Seventy percent of North Korea's army is located within 100 miles of the demilitarized zone, and these units
could fire up to 500,000 artillery rounds per hour against South Korean defenses for several hours. North Korea has between
500 and 600 Scud missiles that could strike targets throughout South Korea with conventional warheads or chemical weapons.
Of course, there is the danger of North Korea using one of its nuclear weapons. In the case of a single nuclear strike, an estimated 200,000 people would die.
Having already gone over the options, it is clear that there is not a whole lot we can do. We are at the point where we can only cope with the consequences of appeasement and hope that things work out for the best.
The domino effect is the greatest danger posed by North Korea having nuclear capability. Once North Korea is able to deploy
missiles that can threaten its neighbors, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan will likely feel compelled to go nuclear to gain a
deterrence against attack.
In less than a week since the North Korea nuclear weapons test, public opinion in the South has turned sharply against its non-nuclear status. A JoongAng newspaper poll found that 65 percent of respondents thought South Korea should develop nuclear weapons to protect itself.
The folks who think they can turn the tide on nuclear proliferation have their work cut out for them. Even if they manage to
contain North Korea, there are always nations like Iran to worry about.
The Bible does not offer much encouragement on the nuclear front. The problem goes beyond a rogue state's desire to have bigger military toys to rattle at its enemies. Man's rebellion against God is the main reason planet Earth is becoming
a more dangerous place.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
-- Todd
Highway 666
Route 666 runs through a portion of the western U.S. The number, however, was recently changed to Rt. 491, when Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico supported efforts to get the number changed because the 666 numerical designation was, he maintained, impairing the economic vitality of the towns along its route.
Politicians of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, states through which the road runs, petitioned the federal agency that handles such things. They argued that the New Testament's association of 666 with Satan was creating hardships on businesses along the route, which had been Rt. 666 for 77 years.
Numerous reports of strange happenings along the highway have been recorded into the lore of phenomena not yet explained, much like reports surrounding the Bermuda Triangle. Route 666, as a matter of fact, has often been called “the Devil’s Highway,” just as the Bermuda Triangle has been termed “the Devil’s Triangle.”
There is now developing another highway that could have satanic implications. The development is much more subtle than the phenomenal aspects supposedly wrapped up in legend and lore of Route 666. It is all being done in the name of humanity and industry. It is thought of as a creation that will advance the human condition, particularly within the western hemisphere. But it will, when in place, have substantial influence on the rest of the world as well.
A superhighway, termed the NAFTA Highway, is proposed to run between Mexico and Canada--through the U.S. It will go a long way toward tying the nations together in an international trading bloc, somewhat like the economic trading arrangement created by the nations of the European Union, and its predecessor agglomerate, the Common Market. An additional –and perhaps even more important--part of the arrangement will be the security it supposedly will provide for the continent.
One article about the proposed superhighway states:
“It is touted as an arrangement to increase security and enhance prosperity through greater cooperation and information sharing…
The program was supposedly launched in March of 2005. The U.S. Department of Commerce describes it as a ‘White House-driven initiative’ and goes on to claim ‘The SPP [Security and Prosperity Partnership] recognizes that our three great nations are bound by a shared belief in freedom, economic opportunity, and strong democratic institutions” (www.amerocurrency.com, Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,The New North American Union, 10/13/06).
Sounds great, doesn’t it? So, what makes this continental unification initiative potentially a devil’s highway even more dangerous than the infamous Route 666 was purported to be?
Those who look at international arrangements and rearrangements through the prism of bible prophecy have long viewed the ten toes of the man-statue Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream/vision (Daniel, chapter 2) as the toes representing 10 nations within the endtime revived Roman Empire. I was of like mind until about a decade ago. It became apparent that the world would likely be divided into economic trading powers, the World Trade Organization (WTO) being the nucleus body to govern, or at least act as catalyst for, the trading bloc powers to organize.
Trading blocs, rather than 10 nations out of Europe, made more prophetic and practical sense, when considering world developments in economic matters, and Revelation 17: 12-13: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
The 10 horns conform with the 10 toes of Daniel, chapter 2, and comport well with the beast seen both by Daniel in the book of Daniel chapter 7, and John in Revelation 13, as it raises out of the sea of people and eventually enslaves the world with economic bondage (Rev. 13:16-18). This 10 toes/horn agglomerate kingdom is the world Babylonian system of economic enslavement that is judged in Revelation, chapter 18.
Could the new superhighway be the beginning of America’s forming –with Canada and Mexico—one of the 10 kingdoms that will give power and authority to the beast –Antichrist, and his devilish regime?
I’m convinced that the process has been underway in earnest for some time, with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) serving as the nucleus around which layer after layer of the North American toe of the 10 trading bloc kingdoms is growing. This generation seems well along the way down Highway 666.
--Terry
