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North Korea threatens no one. Yet Trump’s rage for war makes the unthinkable increasingly possible. What’s ongoing in America is similar to what preceded US aggression on Iraq in 2003 – both nations and their leadership demonized, unfounded threats alleged.
Trump’s National Security Strategy said North Korea could use nuclear weapons against America. It also claimed it’s “pursuing chemical and biological weapons which could also be delivered by missile.”
These accusations are utter nonsense. Yet they continue, escalating tensions, maybe heading toward a point of no return.
Russia’s ambassador to China Andrei Denisov expressed concern, saying we’re “witnessing…negative escalation as (America and the DPRK) continue to descend the stair.”
Responding to each other in harsh terms “means taking another step down…the lowest point yet…(T)he situation is…alarming (and) unpredictable.”
The only solution is diplomacy, he stressed, not forthcoming because Trump rejects it. Can Russia and China save the region from catastrophic war, likely to be nuclear if launched?
Their best efforts so far failed. US rage for confrontation undermined them. The situation is extraordinarily dangerous. The threat of war between two nuclear powers should terrify everyone.
Chinese government advisor Shi Yinhong said
“(c)onditions on the peninsula now make for the biggest risk of a war in decades,” adding:
“North Korea is a time bomb. We can only delay the explosion, hoping that by delaying it, a time will come to remove the detonator.”
Former Nanjing Military Region deputy commander Wang Hongguang warned war could happen any time.
“Northeast China should mobilize (its) defenses,” he stressed.
Days earlier, the northern Chinese Jilin Daily published a full-page article on what to do in case of a nuclear attack – expressing concern about possible imminent war.
On Wednesday, London’s Telegraph headlined “Exclusive: US making plans for ‘bloody nose’ military attack on North Korea,” saying:
“The White House has ‘dramatically’ stepped up preparation for a military solution in recent months…”
Options include destroying DPRK launch sites and stockpiles of weapons. The Telegraph cited and quoted two former US officials “familiar with current thinking,” along with a current member of Trump’s administration.
“The Pentagon is trying to find options that would allow them to punch the North Koreans in the nose, get their attention and show that we’re serious,” a former unnamed US official said.
According to the Telegraph, US and UK officials believe the Trump administration is more willing to consider military options…than widely assumed.”
“(S)enior British diplomats fear America has already begun a ‘step by step’ military build-up in the region that could escalate,” the paper said.
After meeting with US National Security Advisor HR McMaster recently, one unnamed UK official left believing the Trump administration rejects diplomacy.
“(M)ilitary action is very much an option” on the table, he said.
Former GW Bush defense strategy director Kori Schake said
“(t)he (Trump) White House very strongly believes that either North Korea will agree to give up its nuclear weapons or we will launch a preventative attack to destroy them,” adding:
“I would put the odds of them actually carrying that out at three in 10. Other policy experts say it is four in ten.”
Trump and McMaster increasingly favor the military option, said the Telegraph. Defense Secretary Mattis and Secretary of State Tillerson argued against it.
Will the Trump administration attack North Korea? Things seem heading incrementally in this direction.
Waging war on the country would be madness, endangering the entire region.
Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the CRG, Correspondent of Global Research based in Chicago.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home – Stephen Lendman). Contact at [email protected].
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
