The Constitution of Japan hasnt changed.. the "interpretation" has.. They basically arent allowed offensive weaponary.. So, for example, before they had F-15s, they used the F-4 as their mainstay (and still use a limited number). The F-4 (for you non military orientated folks, the F-4 is the big 2 seat fighter you see in Vietnam war clips). The F-4 is a multirole fighter, used for bombing and air to air combat..but Japan's F-4s werent equipped with the bombing avionics, nor were they equipped with in-flight refueling equipment. By the time the 80s came around and Japan got F-15s.. the F-15s were fully equipped. Still, they arent allowed over seas deployments. It was a HUGE deal when a few hundred Japanese personnel deployed to Iraq, and they werent allowed to carry their weapons.

Japan now spends about 1% of its spending on the military..but because of its size, it has the 2nd or 3rd largest budget (Chinas spending is fairly opaque). BUT Japan doesnt get much bang for its buck.. it builds most of its own stuff, but in small numbers so unit price is high, and to attract quality people their salaries are high. Japans semi-copy of the F-16, the F-2, probably cost it double to build itself. Overall though, Japan along with Britain are probably the only countries that could fight along side with the US..they are fully equipped for fighting at night, their navy has AEGIS destroyers, etc.

As a side note, in a parallel to the 1940s Japan has "ghost" capability.. what I mean is they have potential to increase some of their power relatively quickly. For example, their newest "helicopter carriers" are obviously capable of acting as carriers for VSTOL aircraft like the Harrier or the F-35, as they have a "through deck" (though they lack a "ski jump").

If a naval battle broke out today, and Japan were on the defensive..it would thoroughly trash China. It has ultra quiet conventional subs, the aforementioned AEGIS destroyers, etc. In an air war it would come down to training and no one has insight there. Japans "army" is very well equipped but very small. Anyone invading Japan would suffer, but Japan has no power projection and (in keeping with its current constitution) could not hope to invade anyone.

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“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give them a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”

Why do they continue to directly threaten the US, Isn't S.Korea and Japan their enemies also. Considering their nukes can barely reach Hawaii and not US Land, They dont have to get a rocket that goes halfway accross the earth when Japan and S. Korea are right there.

Best part about this though is that China told N.Korea to cut their shit so at the end of the day the US won today's battle.

They cant threaten to nuke S. Korea..its one country, one people..divided by 2 states. There's not a lot of point in threatening Japan, and Japan isnt the leader. The US is.

Not sure youre right about the US winning because of what China said. China has limited leverage, and while they expressed displeasure they also showed they wont do anything about the nuke test..no tangible reactions like sanctions, aid cut, etc.

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“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give them a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”

I wish we would just go ahead and take that country [moreso their leaders] out.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

China greatly values N. Korea as a buffer..they dont want to share a border with a firm US ally, which would happen if N. Korea collapsed and joined S. Korea under S. Koreas leadership.

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“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give them a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”

they also released this propaganda video of the united states (and Obama) burning to the ground!!!!

at 00:52 you can see obama being burned in the most God awful video edition you will ever see.
P.S. if you've played elder scrolls (Video game) mute the video.





they are also threatening s.korea with nukes to
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/north-korean-video-shows-an-obama-in-flames/

Just skimmed so maybe I missed it but I don't see them threatening to use nukes on South Korea in that article.

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“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give them a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”

2013 Inauguration ball...

Edit just to add. What's KimJung Tinyfingers know that Alicia Keys doesn't already?

I see. I wouldnt take that as a threat to use nukes, but rather to be defeated. Obviously it can be read either way. Officially however, the stance of the North is that the S. Korean govt is basically a puppet of the US and that the people of Korea should be unified. That guy is a bit off the reservation in his rhetoric. Unless they are signalling a change, but I doubt that they can. In any case, its all just sabre rattling..the new president has absolutely no cred so he has to be a tough guy right now, having put his rivals out to pasture.

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“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give them a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”

That was..... disturbing

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Member formally known as AC59

Its okay. Dennis Rodman is going over to straighten out the situation.

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Not sure if anyone can help the N. Koreans after watching the Vice/Nat Geo documentaries on them. These people are brainwashed, as soon as they seen Dennis holding a basketball, Kim will create propaganda video and tell his entire people he invented basketball, then the american imperialist stole his idea.

We should take out their nuclear facilities while we still have the chance.

China and Russia wont let that happen.

We should kill all humans before they have a chance to harm another.

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RIP ROAD WOES 12/2/2012

Because taking out a nuclear facility is the same thing as eradication of a species And there are ways of taking them out without loss of life, does STUXNET ring a bell?

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2013 AAR: Chris Harper

Stuxnet slowed down a program, it didn't eliminate it. North Korea is way past that stage. They already have nukes.
In any case, while Russia is no longer an ally of North Korea China has their back.. If for no other reason than they don't want a US aligned united Korea on their border. There's very little that can be done if a country really wants nukes and is willing to sacrifice to get them.

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“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give them a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.”

why dont they want a US ally on their border? Isn't China and US allies? Why does China still has US?

I really hope you are being sarcastic here...

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2013 AAR: Chris Harper