General Question

MrGrimm888's avatar

Is some type of armed conflict between the US, and North Korea, inevitable?

Asked by MrGrimm888 (19541points) August 9th, 2017

I am seeing more news, or propaganda, about North Korea every day.
The last thing I want is for the situation to escalate.
I’m afraid for the poor civilian population of North Korea.
I’m afraid for the South Koreans, who will face the brunt of a North Korean war.

I read an analysis today, that predicted that a million people could die within the first 3–4 days of a war…

I’m mostly afraid that our leaders are not afraid of a military option…

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79 Answers

Tropical_Willie's avatar

The North Koreans a taught from their first day the USA is the Satan and will come and kill them all. Of course most are two meals shy of starvation. North Korea may try something and Trump wants to move the eyes from the Russian investigation.

Zaku's avatar

No. NK is an isolated nutjob country that doesn’t want war. If the USA attacks NK, it would seem to be for insane political reasons.

However, given the I don’t know what is really going on behind the superficial level we get twisted glimpses of, I don’t know what will happen. Clearly world politics is not really a matter of countries and world leaders any more – that’s the story we get to keep us distracted. I don’t know what the actual agendas of the people behind multinational corporate power are, nor the real thinking of the Russians or the Chinese, or even NK or the US idiocracy.

ARE_you_kidding_me's avatar

Only if they pull something that warrants a response.

PullMyFinger's avatar

Hey, Bush drew-up the template by invading Iraq in 2003 for NO legitimate reason at all. This unnecessarily killed 4,500 U.S. military personnel and (some estimates say) as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians. Yet he is somehow still reelected in 2004, and to this day, many people “would like to have a beer with him….”

So yeah, fasten your seat belts, because these days almost anything is possible, and anything goes….

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Yes. It would last a week. Then would take 8 years to never to clean up.

kritiper's avatar

If North Korea attacks the US, yes.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@kritiper I agree with you. One doesn’t poke a big dog in the world with a stick without expecting to get bit and bit hard.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Both sides are run by similar personalities. I fear this could be what pushes the conflict to the breaking point….

I just don’t see Kim, or Trump, being rational. In the past, the US had usually had a cooler head in office…

Bush’s Iraq war was largely because of Dick Cheney’s manipulation. Not because Bush Jr. was a warmonger.

PullMyFinger's avatar

@MrGrimm888 Oh, I see…..So if I murder someone because my next-door neighbor Chuck tricked me into doing it…..I’ll just tell the cops to go arrest him….

MrGrimm888's avatar

And. Keep in mind, Trump’s approval ratings would likely rise, in the event of a war.

You think Trump cares about his image? He’s the most insecure person I’ve ever seen…

I’m afraid all this NK news is setting up America for war.
They have to convince the civilian population that war is necessary. I noticed the same crap before Iraq, and Afghanistan…

It seems like the media is flooded with propaganda, and then the bombs drop…

janbb's avatar

I don’t think it’s inevitable but it sure is a scary possibility with these two in charge.

funkdaddy's avatar

I think the thing to watch for is if China signals they wouldn’t defend North Korea, then it becomes a real possibility for the US/Trump to start an offensive. Otherwise it takes an attack from North Korea to start things.

Russia and the US hated each other for practically an entire generation and never really warred, but had several proxies. (almost) No one wants to fight with China, especially in their back yard.

If China says they’re hands-off, well…

rojo's avatar

Not inevitable but likely.

Trump needs a way to galvanize the US to come together behind him. The media is already sounding the war drums because war means business will boom for them. The M-I-C needs a new front to keep arms and fear flowing.

Korea is used to spouting off their bullshit to rational minds. What they don’t seem to understand is that the guy in the WH today does not fit into that category. He can go off half cocked and get a lot of people killed without batting an eye.

Sad to say but our only hope lies with the ability of China to defuse tensions and we are fortunate that they do not want a shooting war in their back yard. But, they also don’t want a unified Korea under western influence either. So, there ya go. Back to square one.

kritiper's avatar

This is an excellent example of gunplay. Everybody is talking, threatening, but nobody has pulled a gun yet. The first person who does will have to be taken seriously. Will they shoot? Will they shoot to kill? Or will the other side? The stakes are high!

Lightlyseared's avatar

Yes. Both countries are run by idiots who will never back down.

piranha's avatar

No, I don’t think war is inevitable quite yet. If only cooler heads prevail. I am counting on China and South Korea, because they have the most vested interest in not seeing North Korea turned into a nuclear disaster.

It is perfectly understandable from Kim’s point of view that he wants the capability to do damage to the US; after all he has seen what the US does to inconvenient dictators who don’t have that kind of threat to hold over them. And he has seen that the same thing doesn’t happen to countries that do hold that sort of threat.

But he also knows what would happen if he actually attacked first. I see no clear evidence that he is deluded enough to think he could win in that case, notwithstanding what he says to impress his own people. His power lies solely in the plausible threat of harm, not in initiating actual harm. Trump doesn’t even have to threaten retaliation with anything more than a stern, calm warning; it is obvious from how the US has always acted. Attack first, and the US will bring its considerably forces to bear on you, and that will be the end of your cushy regime even if you personally have a safe shelter. He has Japan as a near-by example. I wish we knew more about him. How much is he aware of the cost? How much does he swallow his own bullshit? Hard to say.

And of course Trump doesn’t do “calm”. Trump does only hyperbole and bombast—in that he and Kim are a lot alike. And it’s that which worries me. Giant egos are fragile, and might escalate into action if they can’t save face. So here I am, counting on Kim of all people to keep his head, because as long as Trump has Twitter where his own cool and collected people can’t stop him from agitating, who knows what he will set off. I am no longer sure whether the built-in checks and balances are good enough to deal with a President who has so little impulse control and such a thin skin.

It’s not a reassuring feeling.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Apparently, NK has said they will attack Guam, “by mid August. ” In response to Trump’s recent remarks.

I have seen dozens of threats by NK. But none have stated a time table.

Trump and Kim are playing chicken. Who cares less about their country? ...

flutherother's avatar

Some type of conflict between Trump and Kim Jong-un is inevitable given the recent rhetoric. They should fight it out between them man to man. Trump has a size and weight advantage but Jong-un has youth on his side. They should televise it.

Yellowdog's avatar

I think war is unlikely, but at least, I think, Kim Jong Un probably knows his country CAN become a raging inferno if he fires one missile into Guam, S Korea, or at any part of the U.S.A.

The fact that the U.S.A. can and will win in a conflict is the only deterrent needed. Even with a madman in charge.

The trickier part is that North Korea must be permanently and completely divested of its nuclear arsenal. Maybe time to dissolve NK altogether and reunite the peninsula

JLeslie's avatar

No, but the antics going on right now aren’t funny.

LuckyGuy's avatar

The odds are low that it will happen, but they are not zero.
The Economist has an excellent article detailing How a nuclear war in Korea could start, and how it might end.
They even posit a date, March 2019.

Our has the character flaws characteristics of being unpredictable, self centered, arrogant, thin skinned and easily goaded. An insignificant Hollywood actress can make a comment about him and he will rant with tweets for days. NK knows this and is forcing him to bluster “It will never happen” and then proving him wrong again and again.

(I am repositioning some of my 401k as insurance in case it does.)

rojo's avatar

@LuckyGuy extremely plausible scenario and as could be predicted a bad situation goes from bad to worse very quickly.

Ah well, at least we can be assured that God is on our side in this little dust up.

rojo's avatar

Remember back in Feb of 2016 when Trump suggested that he would order China to assassinate Kim Jung-Un?

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Regime change is only a small part of the problem in NK .

Conversely, regime change in America would fix a lot…

rojo's avatar

Interesting take from Wang Dong, associate professor of international studies at the elite Peking University. He said China that had tried hard to prevent the situation from getting out of control. He also said Trump’s domestic problems could play into the current crisis, (emphasis mine) referring to the U.S. investigation into possible Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election.

As Wang put it: “When facing increasingly difficult domestic problems, Trump might have an increasing incentive to do something. Maybe he initially would want a limited military conflict,”

LuckyGuy's avatar

@rojo “Trump consulted with his spiritual advisor Pastor Robert Jeffress” and he said ” the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary – including war – to stop evil,”
Funny,,,, That’s what a large portion of the world is calling us.

janbb's avatar

If Trump thinks a war with North Korea will unify the country, he is even more demented than I fear.

Pachy's avatar

Not inevitable but probaby more likely than previously now with NK’s rapidly advancing arms caoabilities. Trump’s ill-informed, combative rhetoric certainly doesn’t help.

Jaxk's avatar

There’s a lot at stake here. Kim has threatened to nuke Guam. Trump’s response was really the only language Kim understands. China is watching, Russia is watching, and Iran is watching. Neither China nor Russia want a shooting war in Korea. Iran is merely watching to see what works. If Kim believes that he can get away with a ‘First Strike’, he will. If however, he believes that retaliation will be swift and complete, he likely to rethink that strategy. If China believes retaliation will be swift they will pressure N.Korea to rethink it as well.

None of our diplomatic efforts have had any effect over the past 30 years. There’s no reason to believe that they will suddenly work now. Trump is unlikely to take any preemptive action unless A first strike from N.Korea has happened or is imminent and provable. Kim. I’m not so sure.

kritiper's avatar

” In a statement late Wednesday, the North Korean military dismissed Trump’s fire-and-fury warning as a “load of nonsense” and said only “absolute force” would work on someone so “bereft of reason.” ” -from an article by Peter Baker and Gardiner Harris of the New York Times.
If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black!

rojo's avatar

” In a statement late Wednesday, the American military dismissed Kin Jung-Un’s fire-and-fury warning as a “load of nonsense” and said only “absolute force” would work on someone so “bereft of reason.”

Does this make any less sense?

Note, this is not real. I took the above statement and changed the major players. NO ONE ACTUALLY SAID THIS

rojo's avatar

Trump just told NK to be “very, very nervous”. Evidently he thinks he is in a remake of Pulp Fiction or something.

Pachy's avatar

Any minute I expect Trump will update his boast about being able to shoot somebody and not lose voters to being able to start a nuclear war and get re-elected.

PullMyFinger's avatar

I think that as Commander in Chief, Trump should be required to personally ‘walk point’, leading any armed invasion into North Korea…..heel spurs, or no heel spurs.

(Donald Jr., and Eric, and this Kushner twit must serve as ‘tunnel rats’......)

funkdaddy's avatar

@PullMyFinger – I think you’re underestimating the team. It’s called situational awareness, and obviously they have it.

ETA: ~

PullMyFinger's avatar

Oh, my…..looks like little Donnie Jr kilt hisself a water buffalo !!
And Kushie looks damn fearsome in those shades and flak vest.

(I stand corrected, and ain’t so skeered no more…)

DominicY's avatar

No, I don’t think it’s inevitable, but I also recognize that diplomatic efforts with them have had only mild delaying effects at best, and it all seems to just be putting off the inevitable. I don’t think NK will ever truly want war with the United States, because as irrational as Kim may seem, he knows war with the U.S. means the end of his nation and himself. Of course a part of me would love to see a “regime change” there, would love to see the Kim family destroyed and NK become a “normal nation”. But that won’t happen without immense costs.

Yellowdog's avatar

If we had a more “diplomatic’ commander-in-chief, there would probably be at least one if not several nukes fired into the U.S. before we responded. Awareness of the damage and fallout are evidently beyond the grasp of several on this board.

Several on this board also don’t seem to grasp that Kim Jung Un is the aggressor and wants to see you and the population around you suffer and die. Some of you hate the Commander in Chief so strongly and obsessively that you hope he has met his match and are mocking him. Newsflash: Kim Jung Un is the enemy. He has threatened YOU. Trump is the one on YOUR side and is not ‘leading from behind’ to defend the world from nuclear holocaust.

Our military has several options and will act before that can happen

flutherother's avatar

@Yellowdog If we act first wouldn’t that make us the aggressor?

Yellowdog's avatar

I know we can disable their military through cyber warfare.

But the U.S. including Trump has never threatened to act first.

If anyone acts first, it will be Kim Jung Un. He thinks himself a deity (truthfully) as do his people, 180.000 in prison camps and none of the population with outside communication——and has always gotten everything he wants, with no consequences. From a psychological standpoint, he probably sees no reason this would be any different.

All world aggressors see the U.S. and other diplomatic nations as weak and slow to act, Even someone as quick to anger and unpredictable as Trump, the rest of the world expects the U.S. to sit by while they take a few swaths – and when we DO strike back, take as little action as possible and keep ourselves vulnerable in an effort at keeping peace,

Either way. North Korea needs to have no access to nuclear weapons, . China and the U.S. need to either re-unite Korea as one nation, or China needs to take North Korea as its own. North Korea needs no dictator but I don’t think if it became a part of China anyone would be worse off. A re-united Korean peninsula would be best, however.

MrGrimm888's avatar

@Yellowdog . “Trump is on YOUR side?!” LMAO!......

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Ya Trump is on @Yellowdog side.

~ ~ ~ ~Yellowdog’s net worth is 14 Billion dollars.~ ~ ~ That’s how Trump decides which people are on “his side”
or KKK or neo-Nazis or white supremacist.

PullMyFinger's avatar

Just like always, Trump is on Trump’s side. Always has been, always will be.

Ask anyone in New York, who has had to watch him up close for his entire adult life (during the past 50 years).

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

@Yellowdog LOL. The US has never acted first? Open a history book, boy.

Troops were sent into the Florida Territory more than once to remove the people of the Seminole Nation to the Oklahoma Territory, resulting in the First and Second Seminole Wars. We acted first.

In 1845, after Mexico refused an offer by President Polk to buy the northern Mexican territory of Texas, Polk sent in American troops to occupy it and were soon attacked by defending Mexican troops, resulting in the Mexican American War.

After a boiler in the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, the US invaded Cuba and the Phillipines resulting in the Spanish American War. US Navy documents have been found in recent years dated previous to the invasions describing a report to the president that the Maine was not the result of a terrorist action by the Spanish or Cuban rebels. A boiler simply blew up. The president knew it and the Navy knew it.

CIA assassination ops targeting heads of state from 1945 to present were all preemptive acts of war. If someone would have done that us, we would have atomized their country.

The bombing of Libya.
The invasion of Grenada.
The invasion of Panama.
The invasion of Somalia.
All of them were preemptive acts of war on the part of the United States.

The Iraq War was the result of a lie about Sadam possessing WMDs. We acted first.

The Afghan War was about getting one guy. And we are still there long after he is dead. We acted first.

PullMyFinger's avatar

Not to forget the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Incident’ in 1964. This was the phony-baloney (‘false radar’ signals…which the U.S. Govt knew) attack on U.S. warships . This gave the Johnson Administration the excuse it needed to escalate military action against North Vietnam, and nobody needs to be told where that led during the following 10 years.

Yeah, we “acted first” then too….and lost far more military personnel (for no valid reason at all) during the Vietnam War than all of the above combined….

MrGrimm888's avatar

I’m also confused by how we could “disable their military using cyber warfare.” Most of North Korea’s military hardware is 30+ years old. The worst damage during an all out war would be done by artillery fire raining down in South Korea. For that, you just need a paper map. Really, I suppose they could just point them at South Korea and kill thousands….

rojo's avatar

@Espiritus_Corvus You neglected to mention our involvement in the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Iran and the re-installation of Shah as puppet dictator. An action mainly orchestrated by the CIA in response to the new governments refusal to bow down to Western oil companies and the threat of nationalization of the Iranian oil industry.
There is a pretty good chance that we would not be in the situation that we are now with Iran had we let democracy take its course.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Democracy is a pipe dream. It never works right. There’s too much corruption, and greed. The elite use it as an excuse for acceleration of their agenda. There is not a current model of democracy that is not affected by the weaknesses/greed/selfishness of men…

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

^^LOL. Thank you Alex Jones.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^That’s a low blow crow…

Yellowdog's avatar

Espiritus_Corvus You scored five “Great Answer” points for bashing something I never said,

The U,S, has done MANY preemptive strikes, The statement I made is clearly in response to the North Korean threat—which I was responding to and is the topic of this thread,

The U.S. has not threatened to strike first—but I will reiterate, many of you don’t seem to get that Kim Jung Un has made the threat and is taking action. Trump only declared extreme retribution if Kim Jung Un carries out his threat. Trump has not threatened NK unless Kim Jung Un commits the act of war. Trump is defending YOU from an aggressor who wants your immanent destruction as a part of an ego trip.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Do you truly believe that Trump has reduced the danger that the US faces? In what possible way has he reduced the number of our enemies, or haters?

The truth is that Trump and Kim are very similar people. And both of them would serve their people best by knowing when to shut up…

Yellowdog's avatar

The reality of extreme retribution kept us safe during the Cold War. And the Soviets weren’t even coming after us.

The NK threat started in 1994, when then-President Bill Clinton gave BILLIONS to NK in order to not build a nuclear arsenal. It was “A great day for America”

For 23 years, we were supposedly monitoring the situation but NK continued to develop its nuclear arsenal with the money we gave them. The Nuclear Warheads were first known by President Obama in 2013 but nothing was done. Obama had no problem disarming Poland’s missile defense system from Russia (he thought it would offend Russians to insinuate that the Poles needed it) or the fact that S. Korea and Japan had no nukes. This is why we have the eminent threat we have today.

The reality of assured annihilation from the U.S. president may be what saves your town (more likely someone else’s) from a nuclear strike from Kim Jung Un. So yes, I’d say you are safer. Even if Kim Jung Un DOES carry out his threat, action will be swift and you will probably be protected,

Knowing when to shut up makes us safer? He was already firing missiles and making threats—and has the ability to deliver. Ever see what radiation sickness will do to your teeth and gums? A bomb’s fury ripping through you with 300 mph winds and matter-melting heat?

Well, rest assured, Kim Jung Un might be considering that the same he wishes for YOU could happen to him if he carries out his plans.

Has Trump reduced the number of our enemies? Probably not. But I do not see the hate and disdain for Trump on the world stage as in our nation’s own hysterical masses. Much has been accomplished with foreign leaders including China, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, Isis is almost a memory of eight months ago. MJ-13 gangs (“immigrants”) are out of our country and our economy is vastly improving. I assume I get the same news you get, and I don’t see disdain and disgust from world leaders except Germany.

Obama didn’t fare as well as many believe—even Israel was stabbed in the back numerous times, and we lost the trust in the Middle East as Obama gave 150 BILLION to Iran in similar fashion to Bill Clinton and NK in 1994. Hillary gave Uranium One and 20 percent of our nation’s uranium to Russia and did nothing about North Korea even though its nuclear capabilities were known as early as 2013.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Mutually assured destruction has been a fact if dealing with the US since before Kim was born. So, nope, wrong there.

You DON’T see the hate , or disdain for Trump on the world stage? Then what are you looking at?

What could you even be talking about with Poland, and China? Trump is essentially in a trade war with China, and they have done nothing, really, as far as helping with North Korea as Trump has asked.

Isreal? They’re still making settlements, and still are in a quagmire with the Palestinians.

Saudi Arabia? Just a couple days ago, they called Ivanka a “half wit.” Does that sound like they respect Trump’s administration?

ISIS is almost a memory? Tell that to the people fighting them. ANY progress can’t remotely be tied to Trump….

And the most ridiculous claim, What you call MJ-13, wrong there too, is THRIVING here in the US. And the fact that you seem to indicate that all immigrants are MS-13 speaks volumes to your astounding ignorance. The Mexican mafia is going nowhere soon. I can’t imagine what news source is telling you otherwise.

Our economy, and the current stock market surge are not the same thing.

You must be getting your news from Trump’s ego fluffer. The only news he actually listens to, or doesn’t consider “fake.”

Totally, ridiculously, wrong…..

Tropical_Willie's avatar

I agree with @MrGrimm888 Trump only follows Breitbart, Fox News and Daily Storm.

PullMyFinger's avatar

That’s where he “hears some things”.....

MrGrimm888's avatar

Trump has some goon bring him “good” news about him twice a day. Sometimes, it’s just pictures of him looking masculine. But he won’t take daily intelligence agency briefings….

I wager Kim has a similar situation. Someone bringing him flattering news a couple times a day. Got to keep that ego stroked…

They’re two peas in a pod.

rojo's avatar

@Yellowdog

The biggest frustration to me is that you do not see how similar Kim and Trump are! They have almost identical egos, mannerisms, attitudes and, yes, taste in hair styles. And therein lies the danger. What I see Kim doing; I see Trump doing. You may too but you praise Trump for doing them while vilifying Kim for the same actions.

MrGrimm888's avatar

Yup. They’re like two stupid, yappy little dogs barking at each other through a fence. Neither of course would have the courage to bite, if the fence weren’t there.

janbb's avatar

@MrGrimm888 Let’s hope!

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Hope in one flipper, and poop in the other flipper. See which one fills up faster…~

Yellowdog's avatar

Evidently what Trump did has worked, At least NK has backed down for now, seeing what he;s up against. But China should be given credit as well. Without China at the reigns, Kim Jung Un will go back to firing missiles once our military is no longer on standby.

Trump’s America and China now must disassemble what resulted from Bill Clinton’s “Great Day for America” in 1994 and gave unknown billions of dollars—Aliens from the pitiless stars won’t save us so we must disassemble NK’s arsenal to keep us free from contamination of nuclear fallout, Skin turning to slime and bodies fused together are not pretty, As for thr existence of North Korea as a country, Let’s all now pray we don’t get fooled again, and that it all goes into that good night.

rojo's avatar

You could just as easily, and just as validly, say that having achieved their aim of garnering the worlds attention have, once again, gone back into their dormant stage, as they always do, awaiting the next flare up IN SPITE OF THE BELLICOSE AND MALEVOLENT THREATS FROM THE PLOTUS OF THE UNITED STATES

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Oh yeah. If Obama were in office? Ha! “Feckless coward, lets North Korea get away with threats.”....

rojo's avatar

A little article from Pew Research published 1 August 2017 entitled Globally, more people see U.S. power and influence as a major threat, I think this article shows that not all is candy and roses with Trump at the helm. Perhaps there is a difference between respect and fear.

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

According to the Pentagon, at 5pm EDT today (Monday)/6am Tokyo time on Tuesday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan, into Japanese airspace and over Japan itself, then crashed into the Pacific Ocean 1,200 km off the coast of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. .

“The missile was fired just before 6 a.m. in Japan. The launch set off warnings in the northern part of the country urging people to seek shelter.”

“Minutes after the missile was launched, residents in northern Japan received a text message urging them to seek shelter in a strong structure or a basement. ‘We were awoken by sirens and messages from the government telling us to take cover,’”

“Television and radio broadcasters broke into their regular programming with a “J-Alert” warning citizens of the missile launch. Bullet train services were temporarily halted and warnings went out over loudspeakers in towns in Hokkaido”

”“I was woken by the missile alert on my cellphone,” said Ayaka Nishijima, 41, an office worker from Morioka, the capital of Iwate prefecture, 300 km (180 miles) south of Cape Erimo.

“I didn’t feel prepared at all. Even if we get these alerts there’s nowhere to run. It’s not like we have a basement or bomb shelter, all we can do is get away from the window,” she told Reuters by text message.”

CBS Report

OANN/Rueters

BBC

Asia Times

Japan Today/Japanese News Agency

Korea Times

North Korean State News Agency

Trump’s Twitter Account Silent.

(People’s Republic of) China Digital Times Nada.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^Well. That’s like a shot across the bow. I wouldn’t be happy if I were Japan…

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

They’re not. But everybody is playing it cool so far.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^That’s good. Cooler heads prevail. I doubt Trump would show similar restraint, in their shoes…

That being said. How long can such things continue on this course?

I know that there are annual military drills coming up soon. The US, SK, and Japan (if I recall correctly. ) Maybe Kim is rattling sabres early this year…

MrGrimm888's avatar

They made this huge leap in missile technology recently. I think some other country is helping them.

I know,well read, that NK got caught trying to ship chemical weapons ingredients to Syria twice recently. Maybe something is afoot…

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

We have moved two aircraft carrier strike groups into the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan since June and put two more from the West Coast out into the Pacific. That’s four carrier groups out of eleven active which leaves parts of the Indian Ocean uncovered and our defenses in areas south of the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz weakened. Potential choke points. China has recently put naval bases capable of maintaining carrier strike groups at Djibouti (Red Sea choke point) and Gwanda, Afghanistan (Hormuz choke point) and parked a brand new aircraft carrier for the first time in the Med at Syria.

Russia has been busy the last three years beefing up their navy in the Arctic.

MrGrimm888's avatar

^To secure peace, is to prepare for war…

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

A lesson everyone learned in 1939.

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

Correction:

Three Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) are deployed to the North Korean arena:

CSG 5, Flagship USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), permanently deployed with the US 7th Fleet, based at Tokyo, Japan

CSG 11, Flagship USS Nimitz (CVN 68), temporarily assigned to the 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific.

CSG 1, Flagship, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), temporarily assigned to the 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific.

“In late May 2017, the US Navy announced that CSG-11 would be deployed to the western Pacific Ocean, joining Carrier Strike Group 1 (USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)) and Carrier Strike Group 5 (USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)), amidst Trump administration concerns over North Korea. Following the collision that damaged the destroyer USS Fitzgerald, its place within the strike group was taken up by the Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha which was on deployment in the western Pacific after a request by US authorities,”

MrGrimm888's avatar

South Korea has been talking tough. They simulated bombing Kim’s palace. They apparently have a plan to assassinate Kim, and have over 1,000 preselected targets.

Something’s got to give.

Espiritus_Corvus's avatar

^^Yes, but this has been going on between both sides since 1953.

South Korean intelligence services has had plans for the assassination of the North Korean leader and certain DPRK military leaders since the end of the Korean War and vice-versa. Both countries’ security agencies continuously train for the opportunity. Over the decades, each country has kidnapped, incarcerated and outright assassinated—both in-country and in other countries—the other’s military and political leaders, important political refugees, scientists and even popular actors.

We just haven’t heard about these events because the US media considers it has low interest in the domestic market. How many minutes of foreign news have you been getting since Trump became a candidate for president. It’s Trump Media, 24/7/365 now. Unless there is a major disaster like the one presently in Texas, how much national news are you getting? Rarely does the US news media report on anything outside of Washington DC anymore.

This assassination talk is Just more saber rattling.

MrGrimm888's avatar

I hope you’re right.

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