Any hope that the Trump Administration is hacking away from its bellicose footing with North Korea evaporated Monday morning, with Vice President Mike Pence visiting South Korea, and declaring the “era of strategic patience” toward North Korea to have ended, vowing that the US would achieve their “objectives” in North Korea by whatever means are necessary.
This follows weeks of escalating rhetoric, and speculation that the US might unilaterally attack North Korea, with both Russia and China expressing concern that a war could break out on the Korean Peninsula at any moment. Upon arriving on the scene, Pence was quick to reiterate that “all options are on the table.”
At the same time, Pence held out hope for a “peaceable” solution to North Korea, but once again suggested this was something for China to impose on the nation, something President Trump has already admitted that China probably wouldn’t be able to do easily.
Administration officials continue to be keen to present the US as considering all diplomatic and military options against North Korea, but have repeatedly declared diplomacy to have failed, and refused to consider any of the potential deescalation deals brought by China in recent months.
Over the course of the last week, the Trump Administration repeatedly promised to “take care of” North Korea, and amid reports of a potential nuclear test there were even reports that the US was prepared to attack North Korea if they even think North Korea is about to conduct another nuclear weapons test.
North Korean nuclear tests were previously followed by angry condemnations and threats of more sanctions. That’s kept the Korean War, which began in 1950, from ever really ending, as North Korean offers to negotiate a settlement have been spurned by US officials for years.
Attacking North Korea outright would be something else entirely, and with a US carrier strike group speeding toward the Korean Peninsula, other nations like Russia are expressing growing concern that’s a realistic possibility. If it does happen,, the consequences would be calamitous.
North Korea has been very blunt in their responses to the possibility of a potential attack, insisting they would carry out retaliatory nuclear strikes against US bases in the region, particularly those in South Korea. US officials doubted North Korea’s capability of actually carrying out such a move.
But the White House would be trying to call a very dangerous bluff by attacking and just betting North Korea doesn’t have deliverable nuclear warheads yet. To make matters even worse, North Korea is known to have a massive conventional missile arsenal, which would certainly be in play if the US attacks.
Even before North Korea had a nuclear program, that conventional arsenal was widely feared for having the capability of not only inflicting massive damage and casualties on US bases in South Korea, but having the potential to do devastating amounts of damage to densely populated South Korean cities like Seoul.
What’s with the sudden urgency? Are the dumbshits in DC really ready to launch wars against Syria and North Korea at once and at the same time?
Lots of factors in play, and if D.C. does go to war, it’ll by through blind hubris not realizing the point where euphemisms like kinetic action really means war.
The war machine needs to look crazy to intimidate concessions, but as China, Russia and maybe North Korea get over the shock without conceding, act crazier becomes the only other option besides backing down, blind to the reality that these nations are up against the wall and have nothing left to concede but sovereignty.
Dangerous games of chicken distract from domestic political ails as well. A lot of ‘America First’ stuff Trump needs to do in Congress, needs their unity and Deep State unity, and the only way to get that is apparently war. However, that’s the Democratic plan; exchange being nicer to the peasants at home for license to be meaner abroad lost the election. The Republicans using Trumpians won by promising to be nicer to the peasants at home and far less mean abroad, especially against opponents who can fight back.
The North Koreans are years off from being a credible nuclear threat to the U.S., if ever, but that that they could and want to be has the U.S. rattled as well; this is seen as the last chance to shut them down. Ironically, the N.K.s would have never been able to get nukes without the CIA running interference with Pakistan for them. Having gained nuclear deterrence, the N.Ks will never give it up now that it halfways works…
Its also being spun by Trumpists as his way of cleaning up messes others left behind, but it appears moreso to be part of a long-running Deep State plan that’s quickly unravelling. N.K. nukes were supposed to make China a more willing partner in N.K.s demise and a slam dunk pretext for renewed war and concluding it in U.S. favour, but its not working that way so far.
Wesely Clarks’s revelation that the U.S. was to take out 7 nations in 5 years is over ten years behind schedule since 2003. In the meantime the war machine is aging, longstanding opponents are becoming peers, if not superiors, the U.S. dollar is losing potency, and the planet is dying out from underneath everyone.
Mostly, its that staying ahead of opposition awareness and reality and comeuppance is becoming impossible. The U.S. is becoming just another nation, a world power in a multipolar world, not the centre of a unipolar world, and adjusting very badly.
I’m not sure you’re reasoning is correct in the last two paragraphs. China is being threatened and talked down to with very little subtlety. So far they are not pushing back at all despite the fact this concerns their back door. If they agree or even seem to agree to put ANY pressure on NK without extracting recognition and a Cuba-style non-aggression pledge, nobody will ever take them seriously as an ally who has their back.
It was argued that China was not pushing back very well, and its China who’s being put to the test moreso than N.K. as a Eurasian security partner.
As events unfold, China is repeating again and again that the sides must sit down and negotiate. As the panic of war is adjusted to, negotiation continues to be China’s line, despite Trump saying China is working with the U.S. in exchange for not being called currency manipulators. Despite Trump’s tacit threat of economic war, China’s mild line appears to be becoming the hard line.
The last two paras don’t deal with China. In any case, its possible that the media and Trump are misstating China’s position and intentionally portraying China as more compliant than it really is.
This creates public expectation over here, which can result in a greater backlash against China if and when they can accommodate no more, such as denying North Korea oil. Yet China has very little leverage; the pro-China N.K.s were led by Kim Jong-Un’s own uncle, and he was executed by AA gun. N.K. is led by arch nationalist extremists.
Now that Russia is backing China, China will feel more confident about resisting. During the first Korean war, Soviet reluctance to risk nuclear war with the U.S. convinced China to settle for armistice.
How do we PAY for all this bullshit!!!
… For some strange reason one gets the sense, sitting down and negotiating with North Korea and letting bygones be bygones isn’t covered by ‘any means necessary’…
At least Pence is honest about stating its all about U.S. objectives.
Those North Korean mountains are perfect for future wars against China and Russia. Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS, or PGS) requires the U.S. empire of bases, but its compromised without North Korean real estate to base radars, missiles and interceptor systems that would militarily shut down Pacific Eurasia in defense or offense.
The Federation of American Scientists has the Congressional briefing on Prompt Global Strike (PGS, or CPGS). Of interest is the concept of Forward Prompt Global Strike (FPGS) and the importance of forward deployed systems.
The entire future war system paradoxically says it needs to occupy most of the world to conquer the rest of the world in the name of defense. Major and likely deliberate conflation error using peace through war thinking.
FPGS??
Now I understand why they have so much trouble hiding their admiration for Islamists; just as nowhere in the world is too far from Mecca or Jerusalem to be safe from a Jihad movement, nowhere is far enough away to be safe from preventive US/NATO/G7 military action in anticipation of imaginary threats.
Its certainly a very convincing document; if one isn’t sufficiently versed in antiwar sentiment to read between the lines and ID the internal contradictions, it almost seems like a rational defense policy.
Being the strongest military such that it never has to be used, always seems to ignore that it is used anyway because it is so overwhelmingly strong.
We don’t do diplomacy!! We DO BIG STICK WAR and COUPS!!!! Oh and we violate international laws daily since we are exceptional!!!
Yes, think of all elected officals who swore on the Bible to uphold the Constitution and all the Amendments, they all are criminals
The Oaths tend to say ‘protect’ the Constitution, not ‘uphold’ and certainly never to ‘enforce’ it. The actual parchment of the Constitution is very well protected.
The Bible belief system has this forgiveness loophole; some swear God will overlook gaming forgiveness for material gain as long as abusers Believe in return.
Tough for things divine and of the spirit to beat human lawyers on Earth Realm.
Uh… well, practice will make perfect if the planet lasts long enough.
Imaginary enemies ? The postulated reason for 648 missiles in Romania and Poland and on 32 ships is the threat from Iran ! It can´t get any crazier, can it ?
TO DO!!!! We can’t DO Afghanistan,Yemen,Vietnam and we could DO CHINA??????? Bunch of warmongering moronic military addicted freaks!!! We need WAR with Korea why!!!!!!!!! We can test and bomb but they are not allowed by the EXCEPTIONALS!!!!!!
Fascist Police State Amerika!!!! There will be Martial Law coming to Amerika next no doubt about it!!! Next job for the military as the revolts start.
Sounds like Trump plans to pick up where George W left off, toppling the Axis of Evil.
The Domino Theory is the Pentagon’s plan, not in the disinformation they told history students and newspaper readers, but it’s THEIR plan – any and every sovereign state which does not accept vassalhood integration into the New World Order will be assimilated by any means necessary. “all options are on the table” for total planetary control !
I am tired of all the threats to innocent people, and nukes will be the end of time.we should just become self sufficent and stop the chaos
If you’re an American, it’s good that you’re worried. Russia and China haven’t got much to say and that’s going to be more effective with most Americans as opposed to lots of sabre rattling.
Subtle warning coming fro Russia but not much else. Always check out what the enemy is saying! RT is a good place to start!
And if it becomes too unsettling for your stomach, read a little Raimondo for something light and sexy.
What rock did this little murderous fake christian crawl out from under? Imagine all the deaths, suffering, blindness, maiming, madness and more, that will come out of the nuclear bombings and bayonets? North Korea is not a small undeveloped country as Iraq and will not easily allow you to kill and torture its people as you have been accustomed to do in the Fertile Crescent.
Mr. Pence. Imagine how many fetuses you will irradiate? And pay heed to the thirty eight thousand American lives along that border and in the sea.
Don’t worry. The US can’t sneak up on nuclear war with a tactical nuke. To do that the US would have to first negotiate a deal with China and Russia to allow it to happen.
Little nukes are off the table.
In any case, US military action is off the table too. What good is a threat if nobody takes it seriously? And it’s just too unbelievable to think that China hasn’t already told Kim to relax, we’ve got your back!
I would like to believe that, but in every other case where the rhetoric and propaganda blitz has been brought to this level, it has been in preparation to follow through with some sort of military strike (Iraq1, Somalia, Balkans, Iraq 2, Libya).
What makes you so sure that this administration has staked out these hard line positions from which there is almost no honorable retreat if they were not determined to at least attempt backing it up?
I’m pretty sure! First, N.Korea is no threat to the US. If you can accept that then you can think it through from there.
The US interest in S.Korea is only a tactical part of the pivot to Asia and the US wants (needs) S.Korea for a missile site with which to threaten China. Do you think that China isn’t aware of that?
I firmly believe that Russia and China have formed an alliance and have drawn the line on further US aggression. If the US attacks N.Korea then it loses S.Korea.
Pence doing the talking is at least a little more believable than Trump being allowed. Still, it’s a face to be used as a threatening figure head only. The ‘axis of adults’ are in control.
But isn’t Raimondo’s piece a hoot today. It’s a novel mixture of his psychoanalysis of various media characters, mixed in with a liberal dose of pornograply to capture the hearts and minds of his regulars.
It seems like he’s sort of fixated on women’s orgasms (ewwww Justin) or he’s going to quit writing and try out being a shrink?
Pence is only half right.
The era of patience with AMERICA is over.
The clock is ticking on the United States, and soon it will run out.
“Soon” is a term relative to a given time scale. I’m afraid it will not be in any of our lifetimes. I don’t see the resolve out there to stand up to the American Order on a scale that will require re-instituting the Draft.
Until the personal costs of conflicts can be brought directly to families & communities here, there will not be sufficient domestic opposition – let alone action like riots & tax revolts – to moderate decision-makers behavior.
Lets stay patient with America and avoid Godwin’s law/curse…
The last time a great power declared its patience was at end, it did not end well for them, especially when they shot first.