COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, August 11, 2017

North Korea: Appeasement brought us to where we are today - Now what? Two Views.

A solution to N. Korea crisis

Pat Buchanan looks at 'the risks and rewards of the American Imperium'

NUCLEAR WAR-FEAR

“When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight,” Samuel Johnson observed, “it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

And the prospect of a future where Kim Jong-un can put a nuclear weapon on a U.S. city is going to cause this nation to reassess the risks and rewards of the American Imperium.

First, some history. 
“Why should Americans be first to die in any second Korean war?” this writer asked in 1999 in “A Republic, Not an Empire.”

“With twice the population of the North and 20 times its economic power, South Korea … is capable of manning its own defense. American troops on the DMZ should be replaced by South Koreans.”

This was denounced as neo-isolationism. And, in 2002, George W. Bush declared the U.S. “will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.” 

Bluster and bluff. In 2006, Pyongyang called and raised and tested an atom bomb. Now Kim Jong-un is close to an ICBM. 

Our options? 
As Kim believes the ability to hit America with a nuclear weapon is the only certain way he has of deterring us from killing his regime and him, he will not be talked out of his ICBM. Nor, short of an embargo-blockade by China, will sanctions keep him from his goal, to which he inches closer with each missile test.
As for the “military option,” U.S. strikes on Kim’s missile sites could cause him to unleash his artillery on Seoul, 35 miles south. In the first week of a second Korean war, scores of thousands could be dead. 

If North Korea’s artillery opened up, says Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the U.S. would be forced to use tactical atomic weapons to stop the carnage. Kim could then give the suicidal order to launch his nukes. 

A third option is to accept and live with a North Korean ICBM, as we have lived for decades with the vast nuclear arsenals of Russia and China.

Now, assume the best: We get through this crisis without a war, and Kim agrees to stop testing ICBMs and nuclear warheads. 

Does anyone believe that, given his youth, his determination to drive us off the peninsula and his belief that only an ICBM can deter us, this deal will last and he will abandon his nuclear program? 

Given concessions, Kim might suspend missile and nuclear tests. But again, we deceive ourselves if we believe he will give up the idea of acquiring the one weapon that might ensure regime survival.

Hence, assuming this crisis is resolved, what does the future of U.S.-North Korean relations look like?

To answer that question, consider the past.

  • In 1968, North Korea hijacked the USS Pueblo on the high seas and interned its crew. LBJ did nothing. In April 1969, North Korea shot down an EC-121, 100 miles of its coast, killing the crew. Nixon did nothing. 
  • Under Jimmy Carter, North Koreans ax-murdered U.S. soldiers at Panmunjom. We defiantly cut down a nearby tree.
  • Among the atrocities the North has perpetrated are plots to assassinate President Park Chung-hee in the 1960s and ’70s, the Rangoon bombing that wiped out much of the cabinet of Chun Doo-hwan in 1983, and the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858, killing all on board in 1987. 
  • And Kim Jong-un has murdered his uncle and brother.

If the past is prologue, and it has proven to be, the future holds this. A renewal of ICBM tests until a missile is perfected. Occasional atrocities creating crises between the U.S. and North Korea. America being repeatedly dragged to the brink of a war we do not want to fight. 


As Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Sunday, such a war would be “catastrophic. … A conflict in North Korea … would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes.”

When the lesson sinks in that a war on the peninsula would be a catastrophe, and a growing arsenal of North Korean ICBMs targeted on America is intolerable, the question must arise:
Why not move U.S. forces off the peninsula, let South Korean troops replace them, sell Seoul all the modern weapons it needs, and let Seoul build its own nuclear arsenal to deter the North? 

Remove any incentive for Kim to attack us, except to invite his own suicide. And tell China: Halt Kim’s ICBM program, or we will help South Korea and Japan become nuclear powers like Britain and France.

Given the rising risk of our war guarantees, from the eastern Baltic to the Korean DMZ – and the paltry rewards of the American Imperium – we are being bled from Libya to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen – a true America First foreign policy is going to become increasingly attractive.

Kim’s credible threat to one day be able to nuke a U.S. city is going to concentrate American minds wonderfully.


57 comments:

  1. I don't know what to do for certain except not do to whatever General rat'ass recommends.

    We all recall how that worked out the last time.

    When we think of this problem we should keep in mind that the Nork nuclear weapon/missile programs are joined at the hip with the Iranian nuclear weapon/missile programs. The two are basically one

    If not nipped in the bud it will get worse.

    Cheer !

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  2. One General's view
    August 11, 2017
    Ret. Gen. McInerney: Be ready to nuke NK
    By Peter Barry Chowka

    China is the real power behind the "animal" it has bred – North Korea – in the view of retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas G. McInerney. And if necessary, the United States should be prepared to use nuclear weapons to neutralize the threat North Korea represents to the United States.

    With the crisis situation involving North Korea leading the news on Thursday, one of the more interesting, provocative, and sobering analyses I heard was offered by Gen. McInerney, who retired in 1994 after a distinguished 35-year career in the military that began after he graduated from West Point in 1959. During the Vietnam War, McInerney flew over 400 combat missions and then served in a variety of high-level command positions around the world. In recent years, he has been a contributor to Fox News, and he appears often in the media. On September 6, 2016, along with 88 other retired U.S. generals and admirals, McInerney endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency.


    On Thursday, August 10, McInerney appeared on Sean Hannity's radio program and gave his opinions on the North Korea situation. The transcription of Hannity's Q&A with McInerney is my best effort based on the program's audio podcast that went online after the show aired.

    SEAN HANNITY: All these years of appeasement haven't borne any fruit, have they?

    GEN. McINERNEY: No they haven't, Sean. This is President Trump's Cuban Missile Crisis. Because it's a balance of power that the Chinese have been breeding and growing the North Koreans to do this, just as the Russians have been working with Iran. Iran and North Korea are nuclear proxies for both Russia and China. What does that mean? Let's say that they [North Korea] have 50 or 60 nuclear warheads. And they get 50 missiles in the ground which the Obama administration would have said they could do and we just use the strategy of Mutual Assured Destruction. Let's say they fire off 50 of them, we knock out 40, and ten of 'em hit U.S. cities. And we destroy North Korea. What do you think the Russians and the Chinese are going to do?

    [Post attack] Our economy is in shambles. We're a mess after ten nukes hit us. The Russians and Chinese are sitting there smiling because we paid to arm both Iran and North Korea with nuclear weapons. This is insane! And we finally have a president that is coming to grips with it. The American public or media does not want to admit that it is a balance of power shift. It is his [President Trump's] Cuban Missile Crisis. He's going to have to stand up and we're going to have to do a number of things to make this change and be successful. One of them is to recall the Congress today. Get them back and make them pass the FY 18 defense bill because we cannot continue our build up on continuing resolutions. We have to form a Pacific Area Treaty Organization, just like NATO, to contain not only North Korea but to contain China. China is the problem. They are breeding this animal that we have in North Korea.


    Gen. Thomas G. McInerney, Ret.

    HANNITY: Is there any good option, General?

    McINERNEY: Yes.

    HANNITY: What is it?

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    1. McINERNEY: Go back on nuclear alert at Guam with B2s and B-52s. Negotiate with South Korea and put our theater of nuclear forces back on alert in South Korea as they had when I was at Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Intelligence for Pacific Air Forces. Increase our THAAD [Theater High Altitude Area Defense] force structure in South Korea. Build up our Air Force and Naval and Marine Corps forces in the region and declare any missile launches from North Korea are hostile because of what Kim Jong-un said about attacking Guam, and we will hit them as a target before they get airborne. He must be sure that we will no longer tolerate that he launch any more missiles because of his declaration that he will hit Guam and we don’t know where they’re going to go until they’ve been in the air for awhile.

      So we have no choice. And by the way, if one artillery round comes out of North Korea on to Seoul, he [Kim Jong-un] gets our full nuclear retaliatory capability. Make sure he understands that. That artillery is no longer valid, because when we retaliate we’re going to retaliate with nuclear weapons.

      HANNITY: Am I right that millions could potentially die here?

      McINERNEY: Yeah, but they will be mostly North Koreans.

      HANNITY: What about the South Koreans, what about the Japanese, what about nuclear fallout making its way to China?

      McINERNEY: You can contain that.

      HANNITY: How can you contain nuclear fallout? How do you do that?

      McINERNEY: You contain it with air bursts and the size of the weapons. Look [at the nuclear] weapons we dropped on Japan – and we were in there weeks later. I’m not saying it’s not going to be a problem, but it’s a problem that we can handle compared to nuclear weapons hitting U.S. cities. This president has been left with zero options in my opinion. And the fact is that unless he starts taking these actions and except for recalling Congress and creating PATO – the Pacific Area Treaty Organization – I would do it all in secret. The Russians and Chinese will pick it up with their satellites.



      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/ret_gen_mcinerney_be_ready_to_nuke_nk.html#ixzz4pTU6K5

      Delete
    2. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/ret_gen_mcinerney_be_ready_to_nuke_nk.html

      Delete
  3. Trump states that if NORK keeps making threats they'll be answered with "Fire and Fury like the world has never seen before" and Deuce, ever the man to carry Trumps water, thinks this is a good move because all the past POTUS's approaches have got us to this point. Have I summarized your position correctly Deuce?

    This, I think, is wrong headed. The past actions of the USA have contributed to where we are now. On the plus side, no hot war has occurred since the Armistice. On the negative, the NORK's have developed their weapons and delivery systems despite such actions. We are where we are. Trump's statement responding to the NORK's threats is problematic in that he has painted himself into a corner. If the NORK's make another threat, which they are likely to do, and Trump fails to respond as he has stated he will, then he looks weak - like Obama's 'red-line' to Syria. If he responds as he says he will then many will die - either at the hands of the USA as they Nuke Korea, or, if they don't totally obliterate them, then the NORK's have the capability to rain death down upon South Korea.

    Not only did Trump not walk back his statement he doubled down on it. If NORK call his bluff what will Trump do? Either option that he has brought into play is bad. Trump is a fool, but, at least he is Deuce's fool.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. What do you think of Buchanan's idea?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Buchanan piece above is similar to what Obama was doing - trying to insist that the NORK's negotiate with the 'Six Parties' as opposed to directly with the US. However the NORK's keep insisting that the negotiations be with the USA alone. Buchanan takes it a step further and suggests the US should simply 'stand-down' - the NORK's would be happy with that but our allies, the South Koreans, wouldn't.

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    4. Given that we've come this far supporting the South Koreans I don't think the USA should abandon them.

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    5. He's saying let them have nukes.

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    6. It appears they have them already.

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    7. and Trump's idea selling out American workers by letting China off the hook for trade infractions in return their 'help' on the NORK issue is stupid.

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    8. He's talking about letting S. Korea and Japan having Nukes.

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    9. So they can nuke it out themselves? That sounds like fun. I don't think it would be helpful with the NORK problem.

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    10. I would like to. Another thing that has bugged me about the current crisis is the US demand that NORK stop development and middle testing before the US will meet. Our end goal is to achieve those two items but it is a precondition for negotiation - that suggest the US doesn't want a deal.

      Delete
    11. Don't You, don't you dare test those middles!

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    12. Re- getting US out of it...really? If they should nuke it out do you thing the winds would spare Hawaii the fallout? The US mainland? Heck, Chernoble melted down and warnings went out to stay inside when rains fell in the US.

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    13. MAD

      They ain't gonna do it.

      ...and air burst nukes are hundreds of times cleaner than Chernoble.

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  4. Candidate to be first female Navy SEAL officer quits after a week:

    What an outrage!

    Change the standard.

    Ask Google.

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/candidate-to-be-first-female-navy-seal-officer-quits-after-a-week-report/article/2631205

    ReplyDelete


  5. As an unruly boy, Trump was suddenly sent away by his father to attend a military school renowned for its harsh discipline. (As he told me, it was the kind of place where the grown men in uniforms "smacked you around.") At the academy, Trump adopted a barking World War II veteran named Theodore Dobias as a substitute father. As Dobias once recalled for me, Trump was "the most manipulative" boy he ever encountered and through his wheedling and pleasing, got everything he wanted. Before he was finished, Trump was marching down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, sun glistening off the brass of his uniform, at the head of the corps marching in the Columbus Day parade.

    Although young Trump escaped serving through a series of academic and medical deferments, the President was so enamored of the military style that 50 years later, he would speak lovingly to me of Brasso polish and spit-shined shoes.

    As Kelly takes charge, he doesn't need to show up in a uniform bedecked with medals to keep the President's admiration and support.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/01/opinions/trump-military-men-kelly-opinion-dantonio/?iid=ob_article_footer_expansion

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  6. The Nation has concluded that there wasn’t a hack of the Democrat National Committee computer network, the servers.

    There was no hack. It was a leak.

    Hard science now demonstrates it was a leak—a download executed locally with a memory key or a similarly portable data-storage device. In short, it was an inside job by someone with access to the DNC's system."

    orensicator’s first decisive findings, made public in the paper dated July 9, concerned the volume of the supposedly hacked material and what is called the transfer rate—the time a remote hack would require. The metadata established several facts in this regard with granular precision:
    On the evening of July 5, 2016, 1,976 megabytes of data were downloaded from the DNC’s server.

    The operation took 87 seconds. This yields a transfer rate of 22.7 megabytes per second.

    These statistics are matters of record and essential to disproving the hack theory.
    No Internet service provider, such as a hacker would have had to use in mid-2016, was capable of downloading data at this speed.

    Compounding this contradiction, Guccifer claimed to have run his hack from Romania, which, for numerous reasons technically called delivery overheads, would slow down the speed of a hack even further from maximum achievable speeds.

    Time stamps in the metadata indicate the download occurred somewhere on the East Coast of the United States—not Russia, Romania, or anywhere else outside the EDT zone.

    https://www.thenation.com/article/a-new-report-raises-big-questions-about-last-years-dnc-hack/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Limbaugh caller talked to wife and daughters in South Korea:

    They said there is no coverage of the Kim "Threat" there.

    Koreans, like me, think lil Kim is living the good life and doesn't want it to stop.

    Caller thinks we should have Japan and South Korea nuke up to contain China.

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  8. Deuce's man Trump has our ass - right? Trust King Trumps wisdom Ohrah!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Negotiations are, at this point, a waste of time as they have been shown to be in the past.

    The only thing that might work is China stops ALL imports/exports to N. Korea and the rest of the world does the same.

    Put up a sea blockade too.

    One man's current opinion.

    An internal coup might work but tough to pull off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kim threatens to rally the troops and the civilians around him, lil Kim.

      Kim's got girls, booze, generals, porn and etc.

      What's not to like?

      33 years down and 47 to go, as long as he's taking his Lipitor.

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    2. I guess we could just vaporize all of Pyongyang when we know he's home and see what comes of that.

      I am open to suggestions.

      Maybe we could turn one of his girls and give him payback for poisoning Uncle ?

      There is poetry in that.

      I am open to all suggestions.

      Maybe we could infiltrate The Quirk into The Court of Kim.

      When the pressure gets high, Quirk always gets better.

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    3. Quirk could offer up Miss Demeanor, Felony, Da Da LaBoeuf and some of the others to Kim, gaining access. Then the old knife in the spinal cord.....

      Delete
    4. coitus interruptus quirkus - you can find the technique described in the Urban Dictionary - it involves sacrificing one of your girlfriends for a higher goal, for the good of mankind....

      Delete
  10. There's always the wishful thinking option -

    August 11, 2017
    Let North Korea implode
    By James Arlandson

    First, let's cover the "fire and fury" comment. The pendulum swings. We had eight years of soft-spoken and out-of-his-depth Mr. Obama. People were frustrated with him. Then they elected outspoken Mr. Trump. He's the anti-Obama. It's hard to find an American president who can strike the perfect balance between tough and gentle talk. If we can't seem to find a president with the perfect pitch and tone to please everyone, then I'd rather have tough talk than not believable intellectual ramblings, complete with "uhs" and gazing out over the horizon, as Mr. Obama did.

    Only Reagan seemed to manage the right balance between tough talk and careful calculations, though his critics on the left called him a cowboy. Of course, they were wrong. Consider his response against terrorism.


    He bombed Libyan targets after the North African rogue regime forced terrorism on the world. Here is a two-item timeline in 1986.

    5 Apr: A bomb explodes in a discotheque frequented by US servicemen in W. Germany. One American sergeant is killed and 60 Americans are injured. Three terrorist groups claim credit. US officials blame Libya.

    14-15 Apr: US planes strike Libya at 7:00 P.M Eastern Standard Time. The planes, some of which flew from Britain (and France would not allow aircraft to use its air space), and bombed Tripoli, including what is believed to be Col. Qadaffi’s home and headquarters. President addresses nation and says evidence was found that implicates Libya in discotheque bombing.

    Reagan explained his decision with calm and firmness of purpose and resolve.

    Then, on December 21, 1988, a suitcase filled with explosives detonated and downed New York-bound Pan Am Flight 103, killing 259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground over Lockerbie, Scotland. In response, on January 4, 1989, Reagan okayed the shooting down of Libyan fighters over international waters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These U.S. military actions in 1986 and early 1989 came only after Libya initiated violence. It is a sad fact that people may have to die if North Korea hits a city with a stray missile. But it is a bad idea for the U.S. to launch a pre-emptive strike under current circumstances. (It's a great idea to do so if North Korea does cause deaths with its juvenile missile program.) In the meantime, we have to hope Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), or missile defense, will act as a deterrent or shoot down a stray missile and save lives.

      As things stand now, we will just have to wait for North Korea to implode, economically, as we observed with the Soviet Union and then East Germany, which reunited with West Germany. Even though Khrushchev's shoe-pounding portrayed the Soviet premier as a lunatic, neither he nor his successors used nuclear weapons. We have to trust that Kim Jong-un will be equally cautious, even though he is as lunatic as Khrushchev.

      But will North Korea implode? On August 5, the U.N. Security Council voted to toughen its sanctions on North Korea:

      The Security Council today further strengthened its sanctions regime against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, condemning in the strongest terms that country’s ballistic missile launches and reaffirming its decision that Pyongyang shall abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

      Unanimously adopting resolution 2371 (2017) under Article 41, Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the 15-nation Council decided that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea shall not supply, sell or transfer coal, iron, iron ore, seafood, lead and lead ore to other countries.

      Expressing concern that Democratic People’s Republic of Korea nationals working abroad were generating foreign export earnings to support the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, it also decided that all Member States shall not increase the total number of work authorizations for such persons in their jurisdictions, unless approved by the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006).



      North Korea is an isolated military state. It shall implode someday soon, especially when (or if) China follows the U.N. resolution and does not prop up its client state. Until then, we will have to hope a missile doesn't go astray (and if it does, we can trust that we or our allies can shoot it down). And we will have to work hard to find political solutions before disaster strikes.

      cartoon by Mike Harris

      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/let_north_korea_implode.html

      Wishful thinking has, after all, gotten us this far :(

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    2. Miracle only 11 killed on the ground:

      http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2016/2/11/97d9692691a64aa59e6c8b3dd33a8bb7_18.jpg

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    3. Convicted terrorist of downed Pan Am Flight 103 is released after 8 years

      http://www.streetgangs.com/billboard/viewtopic.php?t=46002#p8712441

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  11. TRUMP MILITARY OPTION: VENEZUELA
    I N V A S I O N ?....DRUDGE HEADLINES


    The fat is beginning to fry.

    I'll catch hell here but I think it's a good idea.

    Get a 'go' vote out of the OAS first.

    Make it as multinational as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Of course our asshole muzzie Congress out of Minnesota blames it all on The Donald -

    Keith Ellison: ‘Kim Jong Un…Is Acting More Responsible Than’ Trump
    JOHN SEXTONPosted at 8:41 pm on August 11, 201

    Keith Ellison was on a panel at Netroots Nation in Atlanta today. The man who came very close to being the Chair of the DNC told his audience that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been acting more responsibly than President Trump.

    SEE ALSO: Breaking: Judge tosses lawsuit against Swift

    “North Korea is a serious thing,” Ellison said. He continued, “You have this guy making bellicose threats against somebody else who has very little to lose over there.


    TRENDING:
    NYT: Swift cross-examination even more disastrous than first thought
    “Kim Jong Un, the world always thought he was not a responsible leader, well he’s acting more responsible than this guy is.”



    This is hogwash to put it mildly. Trump’s “fire and fury” remark certainly wasn’t the kind of mild saber-rattling we’re used to hearing, but the North Korean regime makes far worse threats against the U.S. on a regular basis and has been for years. Recall North Korea’s recent response to UN sanctions last week:.....


    http://hotair.com/archives/2017/08/11/keith-ellison-kim-jong-un-acting-responsible-trump/

    Swedes worldwide these days are competing well for the dumbest fuckers on earth....

    ....if only I had been watered down to a greater degree....It's tough fighting it out 50/50 as I am doomed to do...

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's time to infiltrate Quirk into North Korea - it's the only true fail safe way to put an end to all this uncertainty -

    China To Kim: You’re On Your Own, Pal
    ED MORRISSEYPosted at 8:41 am on August 11, 2017

    Did China just give Donald Trump a green light to retaliate if North Korea launches missiles at US soil? The Global Times, which has acted as the unofficial mouthpiece of Beijing, warned Pyongyang that any US response to an attack on its forces or soil would not be met with any resistance from China. The editorial also adds a big caveat to that green light, however:

    SEE ALSO: Keith Ellison: ‘Kim Jong Un…is acting more responsible than’ Trump

    China won’t come to North Korea’s help if it launches missiles threatening U.S. soil and there is retaliation, a state-owned newspaper warned on Friday, but it would intervene if Washington strikes first.

    The Global Times newspaper is not an official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, but in this case its editorial probably does reflect government policy and can be considered “semiofficial,” experts said. …

    In an editorial, The Global Times said China should make it clear to both sides: “when their actions jeopardize China’s interests, China will respond with a firm hand.”

    “China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral,” it added. “If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.”
    China is warning both sides here, but not equally. It’s helpful to read the whole editorial, in which the Global Times equates the threatened Hwasong-12 missile launches with the recent stealth bomber overflights of South Korea, and specifically calls out the US for its plans to conduct “pre-emptive strikes” with those bombers. China’s warning both sides to stop:


    TRENDING:
    NYT: Swift cross-examination even more disastrous than first thought
    The US and North Korea have both ramped up their threatening rhetoric. The Pentagon has prepared plans for B-1B strategic bombers to make preemptive strikes on North Korea’s missile sites. US Secretary of Defense James Mattis issued an ultimatum to North Korea on Wednesday to “cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and destruction of its people.” …

    In the near future, it would be highly sensitive if US B-1B fighter jets fly over the Korean Peninsula or North Korea launches missiles in the direction of Guam. Both sides would upgrade their alert to the highest level. The uncertainty in the Korean Peninsula is growing.
    China’s attempting a nuanced balancing act here in an attempt to stave off a war, which it sees coming from “reckless … miscalculations,” and which neither side really wants. This threatens both sides with severe consequences, depending on which one makes the most reckless miscalculation. If the US strikes first against North Korea, China will line up with Kim, which means a pre-emptive war immediately becomes a wider conflict. A war on that scale could pull in Russia too, which has a short shared border with North Korea, although that seems unlikely. If North Korea attacks first and we use it as a pretext to destroy the Kim regime, China will also come in on Kim’s side. However, if the US merely retaliates in kind, China will sit it out, and almost certainly Russia will as well.

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    1. Right now, the biggest threat is the Hwasong-12 launches threatened for later this month. China seems especially keen to pressure Kim into backing down on that, as the threat to American soil is so obvious that it begs for retaliation. In that sense, China’s message today is aimed more at Kim Jong-un than Donald Trump — or perhaps more aimed at the North Korean military, who will bear the brunt of US retaliation. It could be a subtle hint to Kim’s generals that perhaps it’s time for a change after three generations of hereditary leadership.

      It also answers another question raised by the Associated Press. Late last night, they asked whether the US should try to shoot down the four missiles if Kim’s nutty enough to launch them:

      A failed intercept would likely embolden the North to move ahead even faster. It could also have a chilling psychological impact on allies like Japan and South Korea, which might seek to build up their own nuclear forces independently of Washington. Rival powers China and Russia, meanwhile, might see the exposed weakness as an opportunity to push forward more assertive policies of their own.

      Even if it were successful, a policy of shooting down missiles would undoubtedly raise tensions, and put an uncomfortable squeeze on American allies on the front lines.

      Worst of all, if American intentions aren’t clear, an attempt to intercept a missile might be misinterpreted by Pyongyang — or Beijing or Moscow — and escalate into a real shooting war.
      China’s making it pretty clear that they don’t care. As far as the risk of failed intercepts, the US-produced Iron Dome in Israel seems to do pretty well [see update], and our THAAD and SM-3 systems have a good field test record as well. Finally, we build these systems to defend against missiles fired at US soil, so … remind us why we should stand down when they actually come at American military bases again?

      Final thought: Did the Global Times editorial prompt this tweet?

      Follow
      Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
      Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!
      4:29 AM - Aug 11, 2017
      51,965 51,965 Replies 52,917 52,917 Retweets 149,458 149,458 likes
      Twitter Ads info and privacy
      Update: Iron Dome and Patriot aren’t truly relevant, as both are designed to deal with short-range, non-ballistic missiles rather than re-entry vehicles on intermediate ballistic missiles like the Hwasong-12. Also meant to include THAAD on that same list. Thanks to Carleton for the feedback, who also notes the SM-3 is in short supply.

      http://hotair.com/archives/2017/08/11/china-kim-youre-pal/

      Delete
  14. The Donald wrote me a note today, asking for my input on all these matters.

    I wrote back telling him what to do under all circumstances, so, if he follows my advice, all should be well.

    I told him to definitely play the Quirk Card at some point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Donald J. Trump Aug 10, 2017 This message has been read I’m listening

      I gave The Donald an earful.

      Keep an eye on your e-mail at all times, Quirk. You will be hearing from The Donald. He is open to your ideas.

      Delete
  15. I like The Donald. He moves outside the National Security Counsel, and gets advice directly from the best and the brightest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I told him to check in with Doug first though.

      If he gets contradicting advice from Doug and Quirk I told him to go with Doug's advice.

      Delete
    2. Also told The Donald to delete anything from Ash.

      The Donald said "Will do, thanks"

      Delete
  16. Just in from The Donald:

    That Ash is a puppydog. I've deleted his account.

    D.

    ReplyDelete
  17. August 11, 2017
    Ret. Gen. McInerney: Be ready to nuke NK
    By Peter Barry Chowka

    China is the real power behind the "animal" it has bred – North Korea – in the view of retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas G. McInerney. And if necessary, the United States should be prepared to use nuclear weapons to neutralize the threat North Korea represents to the United States.

    With the crisis situation involving North Korea leading the news on Thursday, one of the more interesting, provocative, and sobering analyses I heard was offered by Gen. McInerney, who retired in 1994 after a distinguished 35-year career in the military that began after he graduated from West Point in 1959. During the Vietnam War, McInerney flew over 400 combat missions and then served in a variety of high-level command positions around the world. In recent years, he has been a contributor to Fox News, and he appears often in the media. On September 6, 2016, along with 88 other retired U.S. generals and admirals, McInerney endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency.


    On Thursday, August 10, McInerney appeared on Sean Hannity's radio program and gave his opinions on the North Korea situation. The transcription of Hannity's Q&A with McInerney is my best effort based on the program's audio podcast that went online after the show aired.....


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/ret_gen_mcinerney_be_ready_to_nuke_nk.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alabama GOP Senate (Trafalgar): Moore 35, Strange 23, Brooks 20, Pittman 6

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2017/senate/al/alabama_senate_special_election_republican_primary-6220.html

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kim is psychotic -




    Breaking. North Korean Missiles On The Move And A Showdown Is Nearing On Guam
    Posted at 3:07 pm on August 11, 2017 by streiff



    Guam is shaping up to be the focal point of the slowly intensifying crisis with North Korea. The major airfield on Guam, Andersen AFB is a hub for flying B-1B bombers to South Korea. Twice North Korea has threatened to strike Guam, most recently yesterday, because of the B1-B flights.
    ....

    .....And it seems like some North Korea missiles are in the process of being moved.....

    ....Japan has moved its Patriot missiles to attempt an interception, or so it seems, during the boost phase of any launch.....


    ....If North Korea does launch missiles towards Guam, the situation becomes extremely dangerous. A boost phase interception is not going to make the North Koreans happy. And US authorities will have a very short window of time, the time of flight is only 18-minutes, in which to decide if this is Kim making a statement or if the missiles contain nuclear warheads and this is a first strike.

    http://www.redstate.com/streiff/2017/08/11/showdown-nearing-guam/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Time to ask Quirk and Ash what exactly we should do.

    They will know.

    ReplyDelete
  21. If Kim shoot missiles towards Guam I don't see how we have any options left.

    ReplyDelete
  22. PRESIDENT'S APPROVAL BACK UP TO 45%... .DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
  23. August 11, 2017
    Report: China will remain neutral if Kim attacks Guam
    By Rick Moran

    An important state-run newspaper in China ran an editorial hinting that the Chinese would not back North Korea if the latter launched missiles at Guam.

    The Chinese daily, Global Times, often reflects the thinking of top Chinese leadership.



    Time:

    China should remain neutral if North Korea launches an attack that threatens the United States, a Chinese state-run newspaper said on Friday, sounding a warning for Pyongyang over its plans to fire missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

    The comments from the influential Global Times came after U.S. President Donald Trump stepped up his rhetoric against North Korea again on Thursday, saying his earlier threat to unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it launched an attack may not have been tough enough.

    China, North Korea's most important ally and trading partner, has reiterated calls for calm during the current crisis. Beijing has expressed frustration with both Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and with behaviour from South Korea and the United States, such as military drills, that it sees as escalating tensions.

    "China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral," the Global Times, which is widely read but does not represent government policy, said in an editorial.

    "If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so," it said.

    North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said on Thursday its army would complete plans in mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near Guam.

    Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was not going to get away with his "horrific" comments and disrespecting America.

    This is an unusual move by the Chinese, who are rarely so explicit in telegraphing their response to events in the region. It will certainly make Kim think twice about launching his missiles if the Chinese will not back his play.

    But the explicit warning to Trump against regime change should also be heeded. The Chinese crave regional stability, and regime change in North Korea would drastically affect their economy. There would also be the potential for hundreds of thousands of refugees to stream into China over their border with North Korea.

    The question then, for Trump and his advisers, is, would military action cause more problems than it would solve? China has signaled that taking out North Korean missiles and nukes in response to an attack by Kim would be acceptable as long as the attack were limited in scope and duration and didn't result in a regime change that would place an unfriendly government in power. This doesn't guarantee that Kim won't go off the deep end and launch nuclear missiles at the U.S. and our allies. But it certainly puts Kim on notice that his wild rhetoric about attacking the U.S. will result in disaster for him and his country if he tries to put his words into actions.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/report_china_will_remain_neutral_if_kim_attacks_guam.html

    ReplyDelete
  24. Replies
    1. Especially Guam, which has a Republican Governor.

      Delete
  25. Deuce's man Trump has our ass - right? Trust King Trumps wisdom Ohrah!

    ReplyDelete