North Korea missile launches - so what?

Earlier this week, North Korea performed tests of
its missile systems, launching a total of 7
missiles, including the first test launch of the
Taepodong II missile. All the missiles fell
harmlessly into the sea. The Taepodong II missile
failed and blew up shortly after launch.

Immediately after these launches, various nations
expressed “shock” and “outrage” at this
“provocation.” Proposals were made as to the best
way to deal with this “crisis” and “threat.”

I really don't understand what the fuss is all
about.

North Korea has a rather small stockpile of
missiles. They have approximately 600 Scud
missiles, with a range up to 500 kilometers. The
Rodong missile has a range of 1500 kilometers, and
North Korea has about 200 of these. In 1998, they
fired a Taepodong I missile, supposedly to launch
a satellite into orbit, but the satellite was
never detected in orbit and is believed to have
been destroyed when the third stage failed. It is
believed that the Taepodong I missile program has
been abandoned. And now North Korea has test
fired one Taepodong II missile, which failed
shortly after launch.

North Korea is believed to have possibly as many
as 7 nuclear weapons, however, they have never
tested one, and the device they are believed to
have weighs about 10 times more than the Taepodong
II could deliver at its maximum range.

So, in total, North Korea has maybe 800 missiles,
and up to 7 nuclear weapons, but no missile system
capable of delivering those nuclear weapons.

Let's see what the U.S. has. The Federation of
American Scientists (FAS) lists on its website 28
different varieties of air-launched missiles, 21
varieties of ground-launched missiles, 11
varieties of ship-launched missiles, and 7
varieties of submarine-launched missiles. Total
quantities of each of these missile types is
generally classified, but here's some examples:
Of air-launched missiles, there are at least 2400
AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missiles; at
least 600 AGM-130A missiles; at least 19,000
AGM-88 HARM missiles have been built; 35,000
AGM-65 Maverick missiles; 13,400 FIM-92A Stingers.

Of ground-launched missiles, the U.S. has 800 M39
TACMS and 50,000 M-47 Dragons.

Of ship-launched missiles, the U.S. has
constructed 438 ASROCs; at least 4,100 BGM-109
Tomahawks; 6,000 AGM-84 Harpoon SLAMs; 1,600
RIM-116 RAMs.

In addition, the U.S. has approximately 10,000
nuclear weapons, of which 5,000 are launch-ready.
The U.S. has conducted 1,030 tests of nuclear
weapons, and an additional 24 joint tests with
Great Britian. The U.S. nuclear stockpile
includes 529 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
capable of delivering 1,490 nuclear warheads, 360
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles capable of
delivering 2,736 nuclear warheads, and 77 bombers
capable of delivering 1,456 nuclear warheads.

So, why is it that North Korea, having maybe 800
missiles, mostly of relatively short range, and
maybe as many as 7 nuclear devices that have never
been tested and may not even work, with no
capability to deliver their nuclear devices, is
such a threat, but the United States' hundreds of
thousands of missiles and ten thousand nuclear
warheads is not a threat? Is it because we're the
good guys and they're the bad guys? Our hundreds
of thousands of missiles and ten thousand nuclear
weapons are only for peaceful or defensive
purposes, while their 800 missiles and 7 nuclear
weapons are going to destroy the world?

This is crazy, people. When we start reducing our
stockpile of missiles and nuclear weapons, when we
stop spending as much on our military as the
entire rest of the world combined, then we can
start talking about what the other nations have
got. Until then, we're the biggest hypocrites the
world has ever known. North Korea isn't the
problem. The rest of us are.

Oh, one more thing: how can the seven nuclear
weapons that North Korea has but can't deliver be
a bigger deal than the 11 nuclear weapons the U.S.
has lost and never recovered? I'm serious; they
were in bombers that went down, or submarines that
sunk, and so on. Then there's the 50 or so that
the Soviet Union lost.....