Much discussion lately of the likelihood of North Korea having mated a nuclear warhead to a missile. Most commentators seem to think that the presumed lack of that level of sophistication provides the world with a measure of safety. I don’t want to rain in anybody’s parade, but let me remind those folks that the only nuclear explosives used in war were clunky things delivered by propeller-driven aircraft with a cruising speed (according to a Boeing web site) of 220 mph.

The North Koreans cannot defeat the US with their nuclear arsenal and, from news accounts, would most likely never be able to do so. We need to examine how they might define a victory with only one detonation.

The problem we need to keep de-focused on is: What are all of the possible configurations for a North Korean nuclear explosive and how many different ways are there to deliver them to the US or other targets? The concentration on missile delivery of a sophisticated warhead is dangerous and (I hope) limited to the media.