David Silenus
North Korea Nukes: It’s Not About Hitting the US, Stupid
In his torrent of New Year’s tweets, Donald Trump included a verbal blast at the televised New Year’s Day message of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un,
who once again threatened that his country was on the verge of developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear strike against the US.
As usual, Trump took the bait, and bit hard, saying that such a development “won’t happen !!!” —
a typically bellicose rejoinder that leaves unstated how, exactly, Trump intends to STOP such a thing from happening,
an ambiguity that understandably worried several experts on both North Korea and nuclear weapons generally,
who asked if Trump was planning to stop Pyongyang by force from developing those capabilities.
Regardless, both Trump and the bevy of appalled experts are missing the main point about North Korea nukes —
the danger is NOT from whether they can hit the US …
but how likely a situation can develop where they are used against US ALLIES IN ASIA — specifically South Korea or Japan …
THIS is the real danger from North Korea to the US …
because ANY such use of nukes would raise the possibility of a US response, especially from a President Trump …
And since the ONLY possible rein on Kim Jong-un is China, one has to wonder if Trump has the slightest inkling
his constant anti-China provocations could make the use of NK nukes in East Asia very far from “unthinkable” —
which therefore raises the spectre of a US nuclear strike near the Chinese mainland as a distinctly real possibility …
Despite the efforts of the last three American presidents, North Korea has continued advancing as a nuclear state. Can Donald Trump rein in the rogue state any better?
Source: Nuclear experts to Trump: More than tweets needed to stop North Korea – LA Times