Cold War Part II?

If you haven't heard what has been going on in North Korea, then you apparently have been hiding under a rock (which still won't do you any good if there is nuclear war). On Monday (Sunday night our time), Kim Jong Il tested his nuclear warheads underground in North Korea. They were not that powerful, only causing an earthquake that registered a 3.6 on the Richter scale and it was only estimated to have the power of 550 tons of TNT.

Upon hearing of it, almost every country has criticized North Korea and Il for performing these tests. President Bush is trying to work with the UN Security Council to create sanctions on North Korea because of these tests. Ironically, fellow Communist state China is condemning these acts. However, they are just worried about the fallout of people who will immigrate to China for safety if North Korea does end up going to war.

After hearing of all of this, I am reminded of the Cold War when the United States was in an arms race with the Soviet Union. Images of children practicing air raid drills in schools popped into my head. Is this something that the people of my generation will have to deal with? It may. Will World War III break out because of all of this, amidst the Battle on Terror? It may.

The more that I think about it, the scarier it gets because there is nothing that we can do to protect ourselves from a nuclear attack. There really isn't. We can dig a hole in the ground and surround ourselves with concrete, until the area clears, but is it even reasonable to put people in the ground like that and have them survive like that? I know that I would go stir crazy after a day or two. I go stir crazy sitting in an office building for 8 hours a day.

If World War III occurs, will there be mass callups like there was with the preceding global wars? Will the nation actually stand behind the President if we were actually to go to war with North Korea?

These are all questions that we will possibly facing if anything else major develops with this situation. It may not be soon, but it also may not be that far away. It will just depend on how Kim Jong Il pushes the issue of nuclear testing and he resists the controls that will be placed on him for his actions.

In this instance, can we look upon history for help? I am not sure. We can see what happens when 2 countries compromise (with the help of a change in government), but with this situation, I don't think so.