by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
North Korea has been on a fairly steady course of developing a nuclear capability for several years now, a feat it is accomplishing by directing massive amounts of the nation's struggling economy toward the military and a missile program while letting millions of its citizens essentially starve. North Korea is a nation constantly on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, yet it is also an increasing military threat to the rest of the world.
The Obama administration tried to leverage good behavior from North Korea through diplomatic efforts and sanctions, a strategy that worked to some extent and slowed the expansion of their missile program. Those types of measures are viewed as soft by the Trump White House which prefers to practice diplomacy through 140-character insults and threats.
The world has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the threat level from North Korea since Donald Trump took office in January. The North Koreans began lobbing their missiles into the sea and demonstrating an ever-increasing distance range. Trump, ever the showman, responded to this growing threat to world order with what he considered to be a bigger threat - his infamous "fire and fury" comment.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, who is himself a bit like Donald Trump, responded ot Trump's unhinged bluster with a threat of his own to fire a missile at the U.S. Territory of Guam. Japan then entered the verbal fray and noted that it would shoot down any North Korean missile headed toward Guam. It was at that point that Kim Jong Un did his only retreat, modest though it was, by saying North Korea would only shoot a couple of missiles into the sea close to Guam.
Over the past few months we have learned first that North Korea has missiles capable of reaching Alaska and a few points within the continental United States. A few days ago we began hearing that North Korean missiles can now reach any point within the continental United States.
But we don't worry because the United States, like our allies in Japan, has the capability of shooting down North Korean missiles - right? (And, of course, we also have legions of goobers with guns crawling the hills eager to protect us from whatever menace the NRA and the Klan identifies as a threat.)
Yesterday North Korea launched a missile that flew over northern Japan and then landed in the sea. The Japanese failed to shoot down a missile flying over its own homeland and instead implored the people of Japan to "take cover!"
Thankfully, one must suppose, Donald Trump was busy reinventing segregation and dealing with the flooding in Texas.
We live in dangerous times, ones where a pair of ignorant blowhards control the fate of every living thing on the planet. We may cling to hope that Donald Trump will be held in check by the knowledge of what even a few limited nuclear strikes would do to the world economy and ultimately to his personal fortune, but Kim Jong Un has less skin in the game - he has no golden towers to worry about.
Donald bellows "You wouldn't dare!" And Kim does.
Wouldn't this be a wonderful time to have an adult in the White House.
Pa Rock predicts that fallout shelters are going to be making a comeback.
Citizen Journalist
North Korea has been on a fairly steady course of developing a nuclear capability for several years now, a feat it is accomplishing by directing massive amounts of the nation's struggling economy toward the military and a missile program while letting millions of its citizens essentially starve. North Korea is a nation constantly on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, yet it is also an increasing military threat to the rest of the world.
The Obama administration tried to leverage good behavior from North Korea through diplomatic efforts and sanctions, a strategy that worked to some extent and slowed the expansion of their missile program. Those types of measures are viewed as soft by the Trump White House which prefers to practice diplomacy through 140-character insults and threats.
The world has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the threat level from North Korea since Donald Trump took office in January. The North Koreans began lobbing their missiles into the sea and demonstrating an ever-increasing distance range. Trump, ever the showman, responded to this growing threat to world order with what he considered to be a bigger threat - his infamous "fire and fury" comment.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, who is himself a bit like Donald Trump, responded ot Trump's unhinged bluster with a threat of his own to fire a missile at the U.S. Territory of Guam. Japan then entered the verbal fray and noted that it would shoot down any North Korean missile headed toward Guam. It was at that point that Kim Jong Un did his only retreat, modest though it was, by saying North Korea would only shoot a couple of missiles into the sea close to Guam.
Over the past few months we have learned first that North Korea has missiles capable of reaching Alaska and a few points within the continental United States. A few days ago we began hearing that North Korean missiles can now reach any point within the continental United States.
But we don't worry because the United States, like our allies in Japan, has the capability of shooting down North Korean missiles - right? (And, of course, we also have legions of goobers with guns crawling the hills eager to protect us from whatever menace the NRA and the Klan identifies as a threat.)
Yesterday North Korea launched a missile that flew over northern Japan and then landed in the sea. The Japanese failed to shoot down a missile flying over its own homeland and instead implored the people of Japan to "take cover!"
Thankfully, one must suppose, Donald Trump was busy reinventing segregation and dealing with the flooding in Texas.
We live in dangerous times, ones where a pair of ignorant blowhards control the fate of every living thing on the planet. We may cling to hope that Donald Trump will be held in check by the knowledge of what even a few limited nuclear strikes would do to the world economy and ultimately to his personal fortune, but Kim Jong Un has less skin in the game - he has no golden towers to worry about.
Donald bellows "You wouldn't dare!" And Kim does.
Wouldn't this be a wonderful time to have an adult in the White House.
Pa Rock predicts that fallout shelters are going to be making a comeback.
2 comments:
Meanwhile in South Korea Sungwoo Lee, better known on Twitter as @Koreanfan_KC, notifies us that it is peaceful and calm in his wife's hometown & "without N.KOR missile threat." Godspeed Sungwoo Lee.
It's not so much a question of "would Kim dare" but of "would America dare."
Suppose, for example, that Kim wiped out Guam. Would America pull the nuclear trigger? Or launch any sort of attack at all on the North?
It seems to me that Kim has us over a barrel. If attacked (whether with nukes or conventionally) he could obviously obliterate both Japan and South Korea. There is no rational response to such an action.
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