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[Owlbread]

Rebellion against the god king is unlikely.

Are you quite sure about that?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13853213
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gFu4naVzC3wuruVj77h0so_jqH_A
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MB25Dg01.html
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/07/uk-korea-north-idUKBRE8B607820121207
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1993/aug/23/northkorea
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=7394

The North Korean government was utterly shitting itself in 2011/2012. They may have even had riots in the far north of the country along the Chinese border. The people are at least posing a serious threat to the regime - why else would they make such big shows of cracking down on dissidents? Even the simple idea that there are "dissidents" in the North is huge.

There was even a guy about a year or two ago who put up a sign on a bridge outside a town in the country saying that Kim Jong-il was a mass murderer and a dictator and that the people of the North should rise up against him - now basically every refugee coming out of the country has heard of him. And they're impressed.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I can honestly see China sending troops in and annexing the region as a new province if the North Korean shit hits the Self Reliant fan. This might be the least objectionable soultion to all parties - no NATO/US combatants lives lost, and China placated by not having lost face.

Not happening. With Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macou, and to a much lesser extent Tibet, China had some level of reasoning behind claiming them to be part of China. Not North Korea. Nobody thinks the Koreans are Chinese or belong in China. Most Chinese people would probably be offended at that assertion, actually. China trying to take NK would be such a bold-faced powergrab that not even they could spin it.

Hell, China probably wouldn't take North Korea even if it was full of Chinese people. NK is and will continue to be a nightmare when it comes to food supply and economic viability.

[Sheb]

Frankly, given the speed the chinese develloped at, I wouldn't be surprised to see them turn NK into a ne Schenzen if they wanted.

[shadenight123]

I wonder. Since the Cold war and its nukes is now out of question because of self assured destruction, when are they going to start menacing each other with biological warfare?
By now the only way to cut down the population of a country is to resort to that, since I highly doubt anything less would be a bargaining tool of 'let's keep things cool around here, alright?'

[Karnewarrior]

I wonder. Since the Cold war and its nukes is now out of question because of self assured destruction, when are they going to start menacing each other with biological warfare?
By now the only way to cut down the population of a country is to resort to that, since I highly doubt anything less would be a bargaining tool of 'let's keep things cool around here, alright?'

IIRC Biological warfare is illegal by the geneva convention. Using a biological weapon would wreck your reputation so bad you could concievably find yourself at war with literally every other nation on the planet. Conceivably. not to mention U.N Sactions so bad it could drive thirteen U.S'es into poverty.

Self assured destruction would be less assured with neuclear weapons.

[SalmonGod]

Not that the geneva convention isn't shit on regularly by certain entities powerful enough to get away with it or divert liability, even though everybody knows it anyway.

[Karnewarrior]

It will at least stop the most obvious cases, like mass bombings. Plus bioweapons are somewhat harder to cover up than, say torturing POWs. And they're a double edged sword and can infect your people...

Essentially, bioweapondry is not allowed and only the most insane will likely ever use them with any real punch. The superpowers probably won't; they can just swarm the enemy. Or bomb them conventionally. Or any other way to kill someone. I don't see bioweapons being a big part of any future conflict. Probably something else. Nukes still work pretty well as WMDs and should continue to do so for at least another five decades or so.

[misko27]

Bio-weapons have NEVER been used. Listen Salmon, it's not a question of government morals, it's a quesiotn of politics. And the politics say, "FUCK NO".
 
The only reason Nukes haven't been used since is the Nuclear Taboo. No one has EvER uses modern Bio-WMDS, so the Taboo is absolutely massive. Regardless of whther a government is, willing to, it's not going to unless things change dramatically.Nukes are, as of right now, the super punch. The Below-the-belt. The Pulling a switch blade in a school playground fight. Bio-weapons are the same thing, but with the added draw-back of. The only ones they could have a use for, would be, far too damaging.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Like nukes, using bioweapons is not very wise due to the lack of control. They can easily come back around to bite you.

[Sheb]

Actually, the Japanese used plague on the Chinese during WWII.

[andrea]

and in middle ages, it wasn't uncommon to use catapults to deliver infected corpses to enemy towns.

edit: well, I am not sure how common it is. but it was used.

[FearfulJesuit]

Given the way epidemics would spread, however, over airways, you'd have to be really, really stupid to use very potent biological weapons. I could see someone weaponizing Spanish Flu or similar, maybe, but not the really, really scary stuff.

[Sheb]

What's scary stuff for you? Spanish flu killed tens of millions across the world. It's hard for a disease to be more scary.

[Owlbread]

I think if I was in Assad's position and considering what options I could take, I would only consider using biological weaponry against the rebels/interventionist forces if I wanted to commit suicide. That would be my big "fuck you", because I know I'd never ever come out of that again. All legitimacy would be lost.

[alway]

I think if I was in Assad's position and considering what options I could take, I would only consider using biological weaponry against the rebels/interventionist forces if I wanted to commit suicide. That would be my big "fuck you", because I know I'd never ever come out of that again. All legitimacy would be lost.

Legitimacy was lost a while ago; it's more an issue of every developed nation in the world coming in to shut that shit down. Using bio-weapons on a population likely to become refugees, simple in pragmatic terms, is just about as bad as sending it directly to every neighboring country. It isn't fuck the rebels, it's fuck the world.