If the U.S. pre-emptively attacks North Korea, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and other places in Asia might get blasted in retaliation, but America will have knocked out North Korea's nuclear capability. Right?
Wrong – at least in the opinion of a U.S. senior intelligence consultant who worked on a secret study of North Korea's nuclear program for the government and disagrees with widespread intelligence opinion, echoed by the press, that there are no viable options for dealing with North Korea's nuclear threat except negotiations.
Dwight R. Rider, 30 years a targeting specialist for the U.S. with a master's degree from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), says the reason the U.S. intelligence community (I.C.) says negotiation is the only option is that the I.C. rejected the study his group made that identified hidden nuclear facilities and weapons in North Korea and now realizes they don't know where to target. Thus, in their minds, any pre-emptive attack might have only minimal effect on North Korea's capability and leave the rogue state with plenty of retaliation options.
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I think that President Trump is aware of all the options and probably more options than anyone else has thought of. If he negotiates it will be from a position of strength.
ReplyDeleteOf course Kim thinks he has the position of strength.
DeleteI've wondered if during the past few years of virtually unlimited illegal immigrants entering our country, if not a few rogue North Koreans are already here in the Homeland, ready to cause a few events here. Where much of our much needed infrastructure is left unprotected. Could cause as much chaos as a nuclear device detonation, especially if coordinated with others with same intentions.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
DeleteThat's just typical state department blather. If you remove the Kim government, there is no one left to retaliate. In war, killing people still works. It's kind of the whole point. War is for when diplomacy fails, not the other way around.
ReplyDelete--generic
If you remove the Kim government, there is no one left to retaliate.
DeleteAgreed.
It seems like the North Korea at an advantage.
ReplyDeleteA waiting game.
It's not a situation of can kicking.
Currently, all that other nations can do is watch and wait, and have countermeasures ready.
Keep trying to get China to withhold at least some of its support and the nations that buy their natural resources to do the same. Fat chance, I know. :)
DeleteThis will come as a shock to many but negotiation records show that offers have been put forward by North Korea back to the Clinton administration in the 1990s but then rejected by the US as, in return, North Korea asks that the US and South Korea end annual large-scale “warfare exercises” on their borders. The most recent offer 2015:
ReplyDelete“North Korea announces offer to suspend nuclear testing …in exchange for the United States and South Korea calling off annual joint-military exercises slated for spring 2015. The United States rejects the offer.” [Arms Control Association]
These offers rejected US military build-up as of May 2017 in warfare exercises includes the newly installed US anti-missile THAAD system, low flying bombers within minutes’ strike range of North Korea, together with an aircraft carrier battle fleet, including who knows how many nuclear strike submarines, in Korean off-shore waters.
North Korea finds all this US “menace”, as both China and Russia have repeatedly emphasised, hugely threatening (as indeed do the Chinese). And one would think, if it was our own country, terrifying.
Sounds almost preplanned - another 1950-1953 carpet bombing.
Weaver mentioned this the other day and it's a good question why we don't back off some.
DeleteYou should listen to Weaver. He repeats antiwar (Raimondo) without question :)
DeleteAntiwar is generally right in my experience.
The US *needs* to back off. If we're going to attack, then attack. Provoking NK makes no sense.
If China is a threat, then we can stop trading China, cratering its economy (and ours but more damage to them).
I also blindly follow Pat Buchanan and some other paleos like Dr. Trifkovic. I'm generally confident I know what's going on, because I blindly follow the right people on different matters :)
Pat and Ron here.:)
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