The Challenges Facing US-North Korea Peace Talks
To most it may appear that the United States holds an upper hand at the Trump-Kim Jong Un summit: a huge nuclear arsenal versus a few bombs and limited delivery capacity. However, if the U.S. aims to completely denuclearize and defang North Korea it faces a tremendous problem of scale, states Jane M. Orient, M.D., president of Physicians for Civil Defense.
“The amount of fissile material needed for a bomb can be concealed in something the size of a baseball, and a number of baseballs could be hidden in North Korea. But it is impossible to hide New York City or Washington, D.C.”
We have only a minimal shield against incoming missiles; no robust nationwide radiation monitoring network; shelters only for key government officials, billionaires, and a few self-reliant citizens; no protection for the electric grid; and appalling ignorance of measures that could save millions of lives, Dr. Orient noted.
People in Guam, Hawaii, and Japan would likely sleep better if North Korea stops launching ballistic missiles in their direction, she added. “But you don’t need a missile to deliver a bomb. A suitcase might work.” In fact, a suitcase might be the idea way for a regime like North Korea to attack with the use of a dirty bomb. The United States has a fairly sophisticated anti-ballistic missile weapon system, which was very successful in protecting Israel from foreign adversaries during the Gulf War. With a suitcase, all the North Korean regime has to do is get it to its location and set it off. With such an approach they could do substantial damage and might be able to cover its tracks when blame is assigned. That is an impossibility with a ballistic missile.
“It would be great to end the Korean War. But the best possible outcome of the summit won’t change the fact that Americans are completely unprepared for a nuclear attack by any of the nuclear-armed forces in the world.”
With a suitcase, all the North Korean regime has to do is get it to its location and set it off. With such an approach they could do substantial damage and might be able to cover its tracks when blame is assigned.
We have only a minimal shield against incoming missiles; no robust nationwide radiation monitoring network; shelters only for key government officials, billionaires, and a few self-reliant citizens; no protection for the electric grid; and appalling ignorance of measures that could save millions of lives, Dr. Orient noted.
“Impoverished, oppressed North Koreans may be better prepared than Americans from a civil defense standpoint.”
