North Korea claimed
Saturday that it had successfully tested an engine designed for an
inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that would "guarantee" an
eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland. When most countries successfully
test new weapons systems they don’t usually immediately guarantee that those
systems will be used against other nations. In fact, for civilized nations, the
hope is their very existence will make it unnecessary for them ever to be used.
The concept is called deterrence, and it has worked well for millenia. A
government so reckless, bellicose and belligerent as to repeatedly threaten to
use nuclear weapons even while not at war, simply shows itself to be craven,
desperate and comprised of madmen.
This
was only the latest in a series of claims by Pyongang of significant
breakthroughs in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Some outside
experts, believing that the North Korean leadership is attempting to talk up
its achievements ahead of a showcase ruling party congress next month, have
treated a number of these claims with skepticism.
According to the North's “official”
KCNA news agency, this latest ground engine test was ordered and personally
monitored by leader Kim Jong-Un. As soon as Kim flagged off the test, "the
engine spewed out huge flames with deafening boom", KCNA said."The
great success... provided a firm guarantee for mounting another form of nuclear
attack upon the US imperialists and other hostile forces," Kim was quoted
as saying. Now North Korea "can tip new type inter-continental ballistic
rockets with more powerful nuclear warheads and keep any cesspool of evils in
the earth including the US mainland within our striking range", he added.
While
the Hermit Kingdom, under Jong-Un’s sparkling leadership, may be making strides
in its weaponry, it- and the Dear Leader himself- have a long way to go in
terms of credible usage of the English language. If your goal is to intimidate
any given “cesspool of evil in the earth” with your military prowess, it is
likely best if you can communicate that threat without making your would-be
enemy giggle at your semantics.
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