With Defense Secretary James Mattis reiterated today that the US goal is “diplomacy” with North Korea, the effort appears to be heading as far away from diplomacy as humanly possible. Indeed, Mattis confirmed recent discussions with his South Korean counterpart centered on the possibility of the US using tactical nukes against North Korea.
Mattis said it was important for the sake of open dialogue with allies to discuss issues like unleashing tactical nuclear weapons on their neighbor to the north. He did not elaborate on the US position, though South Korea’s President Moon has ruled out hosting US nuclear arms.
That issue appears to be divisive in South Korea, with Defense Minister Song Young-moo advocating such a move, and suggestions that he was the one that brought the issue up to Mattis in the first place. The US held nuclear arms in South Korea through 1991, withdrawing them at the end of the Cold War.
Strategic Command chief Gen. John Hyten rejected the idea of even calling the weapons “tactical,” though that designation refers to them being smaller than “strategic” US nukes. He insisted that there wasn’t a chance the US would bring a nuclear weapon into battle for tactical effect, but only as a strategic retaliation.
Which isn’t the official US position at all. Indeed, US officials have regularly spurned “no first strike” proposals, and have held out the possibility of preemptively nuking other nations. Advocates have argued ruling out such attacks would be seen as a sign of weakness, and hurt US flexibility in starting nuclear wars.
Ah yes, tactical nukes instead of strategic nukes. Small nukes or big nukes. Good to see mad dog being the adult in the room.
Why are we involved in this again?
Hmmmm, Seoul is what, 20 miles from the N. Korean border? And its not beyond thinking that some of those ‘tactical’ nukes might be aimed at the caves and bunkers equiped with N.Korean artillery capable of bombarding Seoul.
So, quick, lets do a quick poll in Washington DC as to whether the issue is ‘devisive’ when it comes to setting off a nuke around the area of Manassas, VA? Because everyone on earth just loves the idea of setting off a few nuclear weapons in the neighborhood where they have to live. I wonder what the birth defect rate in Seoul would look like 10 years after Mad Dog sets off his little toy nukes. And, I’m guessing that promising to move to Seoul right after the war might be devisivie even within the Mad Dog household. You want to take our children WHERE?!?!
35 miles.
The Warrior Monk is a life long bachelor. As Bannon laughed, there is no military option. I think that he mentioned 11,000,000 casualties. Which is not impossible.
The U.S. will officially be considered a rogue nation if these crazies use NUKES tactical or not in an offensive manner. This will open the Pandora box for other nations will use these offensively right away and just call them “tactical”. This is what happens when corrupt tyrants like the regime of DC sees their power slip away. They act out.
I think South Korea might rather negotiate with China ,North Korea and Russia themselves without our help or interference . Rather than have a mad dog nuke their relatives in N Korea .
But no SK leader has had the guts to split with Washington and unilaterally pursue such an option.
Of course that might be political suicide (or even physically fatal) to undermine American attempts to use a Korea conflict to send louder messages to China & Russia or set more intervention precedents. But such a game would be played with South Korean lives and cities as the currency of conflict. It’s disappointing that no SK Prime Minister has been enough of a statesman or patriot to try sparing the country from being America’s “house money” in it’s gamble with NK.
Advocates have argued ruling out such attacks would be seen as a sign of weakness, and hurt US flexibility in starting nuclear wars.
_________
Boom! Maybe a review of Armageddon flexibility is in order.
The rhetoric from Russia building up following the UN speech. Accusations of America breaking the rules.
I can’t interrupt this. Have the black helicopters guys got Trompe.
Hmm..
Lavrov hints US-Russia ‘Tit-for-tat’ could end
CNBC – 20 hours ago
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 / 8:27 AM / UPDATED 12 HOURS AGO
Russia rebukes Trump over Iran, North Korea, accuses U.S. of missile treaty breach
21 hours ago
Russia’s Lavrov Praises Trump’s U.N. Speech
I think black helicopters went out with Kosovo and flip phones. Welcome to Antiwar. The news reads a little different here.
I’d buy another flip phone, Nokia but not with microsoft. I have a black helicopter that flips his wings each morning as he flies over here, but that enough ….of that tripe.
Yes but what is all this about?
It’s alt-media that I was reading 20 years ago. I’d say that it comes from a rightish libertarian peacenik (sound familiar?) perspective. For instance, I had no idea that the 13 year old Japanese girl that Trump referred to was actually taken 40 years ago. Until I got here.
Or that Rocket man expression describing Kim’ father was used eleven years ago in the Economist. Who does Trump’s research?
Doesn’t matter Trump will insist he invented the term.But if he himself copied it from anywhere it might have been a childhood memory of the title given to Nazi rocket scientists who were appropriated for the American missile program after WW2.
Operation Paperclip. But those were good Nazis. They could build a ballistic missile.
See, head full of useless info.
You’d always want me on your trivia team.
I enjoyed the history lesson of the glorious winners of WW II who had no territorial ambition and brought Pax Everlasting. Except Eastern Europe never got the wonderful democracy memo. And nearly a half century of Cold War and proxy wars.
I think that Trump watched Patton. And maybe kept his collection of Sgt Rock comic books.. er, graphic novels. Also, I don’t seem to be finding many fans at Raw Story.
My fans seem to follow me around and up vote me but rarely write. Oliver Twist wrote today and said he had to walk the dog. Our’s nought, as rain score for the last four days, 7pts, 25pts, 51pts, 12pt. Temp 13o. Silvi does this crouch, oh do I have to go out, its a great act. But as the news has come out some of the stuff as been foul. My stuff on Mediaite still pending???
I have stuff pending for days, weeks. May be Mediaite. They have no moderator at all. There may be an automated delete after a number of flags, but no human ever looks. So you can say anything to anyone that gets past the word block hold.
And I did this morning. I was feeling downright mean and demonstrated the folly if trying to outnasty me.
This present Korea situation might just be a sensational diversion (as it’s been in the past) but we can never dismiss the possibility that this time around is a calculated attempt to choreograph a scenario for the use of “tactical nukes”.
There are surely factions of hawks in the State Department, Pentagon and various Congressional committees who’ve been itching to break the Nuclear Taboo for years. This could be the ideal moment where Kim’s brinkmanship intersects with a US president who is viewed as an extremist in his own right, while also being easily manipulated into giving the authorization.
It will be easy enough to blame it on Trump – accomplishing the lateral benefit of discouraging people to ever again elect a non-politician to a high office. But even if negatively received at first, it will break the taboo and have some desensitizing effect on the next proposed conflict, as well making the demonstration that the US is “willing to go there”.