North Korea missile test fails
North Korea on Sunday failed to launch another ballistic missile, with the missile apparently exploding immediately upon launch.
This failure once again highlights the fact that North Korea’s communist totalitarian culture, which has made that nation very poor, puts some limit on its ability to build things like intercontinental missiles and nuclear bombs. At the same time, we must never underestimate the ability of madness to achieve irrational things. North Korea continues to be a very dangerous player on the international stage, which is why the Trump administration’s aggressive threats against it have not been protested by China in a strong manner, and instead have prompted that nation to finally apply its own pressure against Pyongyang.
In fact, it appears to me that the only ones with strong misgivings about the Trump administration’s aggressive policy against North Korea’s missile and nuclear program have been leftwing politicians, academics, and journalists here in the U.S.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
North Korea on Sunday failed to launch another ballistic missile, with the missile apparently exploding immediately upon launch.
This failure once again highlights the fact that North Korea’s communist totalitarian culture, which has made that nation very poor, puts some limit on its ability to build things like intercontinental missiles and nuclear bombs. At the same time, we must never underestimate the ability of madness to achieve irrational things. North Korea continues to be a very dangerous player on the international stage, which is why the Trump administration’s aggressive threats against it have not been protested by China in a strong manner, and instead have prompted that nation to finally apply its own pressure against Pyongyang.
In fact, it appears to me that the only ones with strong misgivings about the Trump administration’s aggressive policy against North Korea’s missile and nuclear program have been leftwing politicians, academics, and journalists here in the U.S.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
How do I know that our country is going in the general correct direction?
To a man and woman my “Liberal” friends are all concerned about there being a nuclear war. In their conversations you can see the fear in their eyes. None of them understand anything about what has been going on nor do they understand our military’s capabilities as compared to all other military’s capabilities. Trump is a “moron”, Trump is “stupid”, what are they concerned about? They demand to see Trumps tax returns.
I had one state that the MOAB that was used in Afghanistan cost $1 Trillion dollars! That was later revised after I stated that that was ridiculous to $1 Billion dollars! And then I looked into it, it turns out the entire development costs were $315 Million and they are produced at $170 Thousand dollars per copy. Wait until they find out a cruise missile costs $850 Thousand dollars a copy.
I wrote that I did not know that she was soooo concerned about the costs of things, especially under the Obama reign, and that I was happy to see her Conservative side coming out. And that I thought that she thought that there was endless amounts of “government” money to be spent (she is in non profit). She also in the next breath will state that she is working on a grant and is interested in receiving her next multi hundred thousand dollar “donation” from the likes of the Rockefeller Foundation or similar contributor which she receives from, as she puts it, “that dirty filthy Capitalism”. I then point out that she would be doing nothing if it were not for that “dirty filthy Capitalism” because it has produced all of our good lives. Where in the world does she think it all comes from? The counter intuitive and intellectual dishonesty and just plain inability of these faux Liberals to understand how things actually operate amazes me constantly.
Trump is exercising real power on multiple fronts, including North Korea, that sends a multi leveled concrete message where power has been irresponsibly abandoned in the past. We can have another conversation whether he is abusing that power or not in the interests of properly reorganizing the worlds power structure, but that is another conversation. I strongly suspect that our adversaries are quickly recalculating their operational envelope and aspirations. At least for the next 4 to 8 years that is.
Good stuff, Cotour.
I think that so far, Trump’s actions on the military side are precisely at the level of what’s needed.
However, I worry when I see people in Fox news, etc. very energized, even animated by it all, saying things like “we’ll take out Assad next.”
I think Trump has so far had measured responses, enough to change the calculus of assorted world leaders, thugs, terrorists, etc., which was sorely needed I’m confident he won’t back down, and will respond in kind to future events (such as Assad using gas again).
But I worry that the military action may take on a life of its own; it’s one thing to bomb in response to Assad gassing his own citizens, or to drop a MOAB on ISIS, but it’s a whole different can of worms (barrel of snakes?) to try to overthrow Assad (who or what fills the power vacuum?) or to bring in half a million troops back into Afghanistan. Or to bomb North Korea against the wishes of South Korea.
I never worried about this with Ronald Reagan, even when he joked about bombing Russia; he had a steady hand, but from what I’ve seen, Trump lacks Reagan’s emotional maturity.
I’m curious about whether the rumors are true that Kim’s missile blew up because we hacked into his system. If it’s not true, I see the value in spreading this rumor; that would be some good psy ops, bringing in a good dose of ambiguity. If it is true, I hope Trump has the emotional maturity not to crow about it; I’d rather have the world’s thugs and terrorists uneasy in their calculus because they’re unsure of what’s going on, rather than resolved to get revenge for what they know Trump did. A little ambiguity is a good thing, often leading to hesitation.
I’m most encouraged by China’s response; I think bombing Assad’s airport while having dinner with the Chinese president was perfect timing. This is a great example of the calculus changing in response to not knowing what Trump may do next.
My other concern is that whenever things get really tense and opposing forces come in close proximity, there’s always the potential for a quick clash, brought on by misreading of the situation or panic, that quickly escalates to the point where neither party can back down. To a certain extent, that’s part of the price of the sort of thing I’m glad Trump is doing, and I’ll take that over the world’s thugs knowing that whatever they do, our (now former) president will appease them.
I’m really curious about Trump’s response to North Korea’s missile launch; it appears that there’s some ambiguity about whether or not it violated agreements, where taking too strong an action might turn off the Chinese and other interested parties. I honestly don’t know that an appropriate response would be, and hope that no decisions are made until we can get a good read of the evidence of what actually happened, and have the ability to present that evidence to other interested parties.
Cotour/Garry–
I find myself agreeing with the sentiments of you both, in large measure.
-Good stuff.
Cotour– inform your lefty-friends, we spend (borrow) $4 billion a year on free cell phones. (up from $400 million/year in 2010.)
Personally– I totally gave up on 99% of all network & cable news. They ALL lie, endlessly.
Sebastian Gorka interview with Mark Levin
4-11-17
https://youtu.be/EllFvhuwY6k
(10:42)
You must be no genius to recognize that there was no gas attack ordered by Assad. He has nothing to gain, just the opposite. Also, the Syrian people, which as proposed were exposed to chemicals were not exposed to Sarin, that is matter of fact. Otherwise, they would have behaved very differently. Much of the action is fake. Better let a secular leader Assad ruling as an Islam radical one.
You cannot compare Syria to North Korea. Think about that: North Korean regime is stabilized by the existence of US troops in South Korea and the threat which North Korea has to face, which allow to influence its people in a way that help to sustain the regime. Trump should withdraw US troops from Korea and make a peace treaty to end official war status.
Alex–
personally— don’t care if Assad used gas recently. Just don’t care one micron about any of them, at all— he and his little country deserve to DIE, for a whole host of reasons.
He has to know in his heart, we CAN & WILL, reach and touch him at any second, for any reason whatsoever, with terminal results.
(The only mistake we made with the cruise-missile strike, is we didn’t load them with W-80, variable yield warheads, and fuse the sand.)
There comes a point at which escalation explodes in everyone’s faces. Even if Washington overthrows Assad and KJU, it behooves the policy makers to show restraint and discipline for the sake of those who remain. Really, though, for anyone to advocate the destruction of a people or a nation doesn’t make me optimistic.
The majority, I can hear it now, will echo today’s refrain, “Do unto others before they do unto you”, aka the Bush doctrine of preemptive strikes. Understand this: if either side of a dispute perceives their opponent to embrace this ‘rationale’, it guarantees conflict.
So, given, the day, let me ask – can anyone here explain the point of turning the other cheek? I would say it is to demonstrate that you will not respond in kind, in order to diffuse a situation rather than escalate it. No, it is not just, but it is better than oblivion.
Instead, we’re now told, incessantly, that we must destroy the tyrants and madmen, all the while driving others, including potentially reasonable people, to madness.
Just like, as Alex has pointed out, it is unreasonable to assume that Assad purposefully used chemical weapons on his people. It could happen, but its unlikely. Unless he intended for all of the moral outrage in the world to be brought down upon his head and the justification for a perfectly executed precision cruise missile strike that might accompany such an act. Who knows, but this I do know, those cruise missiles and what they demonstrate send a loud and clear message to the powers in the world. Take heed, we have the technology, and now the willingness and we have the means to do this pretty much where ever and when ever it is deemed appropriate. In the global chess game Assad IMO might serve as a convenient tool to this end.
This is another example of such things IMO:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_TURKEY_REFERENDUM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-16-16-39-16
Erdogon is on an Islamic power accumulation roll, who here believes that any election at this point in Turkey is valid? Who would dare to vote against him at this point?
And the Strategy goes on, on and on. Lets make sure its our American strategy in our own interests and benevolence model that is executed and not someone else’s.
I haven’t looked in depth at Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons, but the footage I saw seemed consistent with nerve agent symptoms. I don’t think it’s safe to say that it was not an intentional attack, but even if it wasn’t intentional on Assad’s part, there are other possibilities for which Trump’s response was appropriate. Just because we don’t consider it reasonable for Assad to attack his own people with chemical weapons, doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t do it. Perhaps he didn’t know it would be publicized.
It’s plausible that, for example, one of Assad’s subordinates initiated the attack, in which case it should still be met with an expression of intolerance, and would have been made possible by Assad’s retention of chemical weapons.
Regardless, once the perception arose that Assad had used chemical weapons (assuming it wasn’t a plant by the Trump administration), I think Trump’s response sent a good message.
By the way, if there was another chemical attack, it probably wouldn’t be simple to launch another attack: I would expect Putin to station Russian troops at potential targets, raising the ante.
It’s not unreasonable at all to assume that Assad used NBC warfare against his own people. We’re looking at this through the eyes of westerners, and westerners (unless I’m missing my guess) who live entirely in first world powers.
It’s par for the course for a dictator (or monarch, fill in your tyrant here) to maintain a large piece of the military for internal peacekeeping, and they’re very likely to behave in a more violent manner towards their own dissenters internally than they would at foreign hostile powers.
Laurie:
“So, given, the day, let me ask – can anyone here explain the point of turning the other cheek? ”
Does not apply in the context of international power chess or politics in general.
Cotour: As you say.
Bob wrote,
“In fact, it appears to me that the only ones with strong misgivings about the Trump administration’s aggressive policy against North Korea’s missile and nuclear program have been leftwing politicians, academics, and journalists here in the U.S.”
living in Massachusetts I am surrounded by people who embrace this mindset. Far too many people let their perception of reality be based on the political opinions found on “The View”. I can’t tell you how many times I have pointed out unreported facts and been sneered at because I “must have gotten that from Limbaugh!”. Occasionally that is the truth, but I receive unpleasant insults when I point out how bad it is that they didn’t get critical information about a subject that excites them so much from any of their preferred (PC) sources.
One other point. It must be assumed, I assume anyway based on how such things are demonstrated to and must operate, that much of what we the general public are told and “know” about these kinds of actions is IMO mostly shaped by various actors and is created to fit a narrative or end goal. Much like the political narratives that are promoted and pushed by our media to support one party or the other.
Never totally believe what is fed to you by the media, whether it be about Syria, North Korea, how and why wars are started, why things blow up etc, etc.
Let us not get bogged down having a conversation that in the end is only in reality a distraction, busy work for the concerned and moral masses, as per design.
I notice that the attention of previous commenters slid, …from North Korea, to Syria. Both in analysis and in Alex’s disinformatzi. This is akin to looking for your lost car keys under the lamppost, because the light is better there.
We know far more about what is happening in Syria than we know about what is happening in North Korea and the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula. However, whatever you may think of Syria, the flashpoint is still in Korea.
The question is still how to remove the Kim Dynasty’s nuclear weapons, …not to solve the Syria-Iran-Russia triangle. Alex’s suggestion, that we go beyond Obama’s cringing, and evacuate US troops entirely from Korea, is opposed by each of the governments of ROK, Japan, and China, ..and the US. It is not going to happen.
Even China wants US troops standing between it and Japan. They know that if Japan starts rearming with nukes, their own safety drops by an order of magnitude. That is the most probable danger in Northeast Asia. Yes, a collapse of the truce on the 38th parallel would be a disaster for both Korea and China. It would be negligible compared to Japan being levered into building nuclear weapons, because its US ally could not be relied upon to stand firm against *any* nuclear threat to Japan.
That is the key sickness in Northeast Asia that has grown worse every year since WW3 ended in 1991. That sickness grew exponentially during the Obama Administration’s 8 years in office. Perhaps Trump has gotten the Military Affairs Committee in Beijing to get the job of curing this particular outbreak of that sickness done, by whatever degree of pressure is needed. Perhaps not.
Kim Jong Un obviously thinks this is the most probable route, and that it involves his personal removal, most likely by a pro-Chinese faction in his military. That is why he had his brother killed publicly, to make that harder, and to make even trying to meet and talk about it more scary.
Next would be a more general assault over the Chinese border by the PLA. It involves 3 things the Politburo fears.
1.) The last time they invaded an ally, through mountains, in 1979, they got a bloody nose from the Vietnamese, when Vietnam had no nukes.
2.) Even a successful invasion would spark a flood of Koreans across the border to shelter with their ethnic Korean Chinese relatives, causing huge disruption and massive costs.
3.) Even a successful invasion of North Korea that was not a financial or humanitarian, or political disaster would still place Chinese on a border with a rich and modern democracy, the ROK, whose exemplum would draw hugely debilitating comparisons with how the PRC is ruled. China has avoided this for 65 years, and that was a large part of the reason for their last intervention in Korea in 1950.
Getting China to pick up any of these options and actually follow through is far from easy.
The US Army has a grand total of 3 brigades, because of Obama gutting the DoD, we could put on a plane tomorrow to reinforce any intervention into North Korea by the ROK. Add in Marines on Okinawa, and that’s it. This means any ground assault from South of the DMZ will be Korean, or it will not happen. An airborne assault, against dispersed nuke sites and launchers is far harder than what we shied away from in Cuba in 1962. It would require days of activity inside North Korea, during which time the PLA might join the party at their own discretion. Messy does not begin to describe it!
An aircraft assault to bomb sites sufficiently that small teams can check them for serviceable nukes afterwards might just barely be possible. It would not be nearly as certain as several days occupation of each site. Once you start this sort of operation, you do *not* want to leave any chance behind of retaliation by nuclear weapons.Any extraction of nuclear weapons from North Korea will collapse the Kim Dynasty itself, and leave China and the ROK with the economic problems they fear, alongside the refugees generated.
All the good options in places like Korea and the ME slowly started going away when the Clinton Administration round-filed the replacement for the ABM Treaty then being negotiated, in January of 1993. It would have replaced the ABM Treaty with a “Global Protection against Limited Strikes” using tech already available, that made small inventories of nuclear-tipped rockets useless to small State rulers. Its rejection by Clinton, to appease the anti-ABM faction of the Democratic Party, also pissed off the “Great Russia” faction in the Kremlin to the point that it started the coalescence of authoritarians around Vladimir Putin.
Trump has been handed this disgusting mess on a platter. I cannot predict what will happen.
Christopher Hitchens
“The Axis of Evil revisited” [2009]
https://youtu.be/Z-rTT8TPcck
(1:00:51)
China does not want a unified Korea aligned with the west on its border. China, like Russia, Iran and the other axis of evil states want trouble for America on as many fronts as possible to keep us distracted and spread thin militarily. China has mildly rebuked Korea before but has not followed up in a substantive or consistent way.
Despite the current appearance, I don’t expect much to change. China will play Trump for as long as they can while they play their long term global chess game. China will always do what’s in its own interest at the expense of all nations.
@Tom Billings and others:
I did not talk about a fast Korean reunification, but I proposed to relief pressure in the pod by accepting North Korea as a valid negotiating partner. At first, give them a peace treaty (after over 60 years war state). Withdraw a part of US troops, strengthen South Korean troops. Make clever moves, avoid war and death of thousands. President candidate Trump promised to end US’ world police role!!! That proposal made us happy. Now, we have to face the reality: He has been reneged on this promise und has become guided by the US military-industrial complex, which may own the real political power in USA. I do not see that Korea at whole is important of US safety. There must be no US troop presence in this region of the world. Trump acts now as a globalist, despite he said “America first”. Now, trump act as stupid Bush and as Killary.
To Syria, you should recognize the facts: 1. USA helped to destroy all governmental chemical weapons in Syria in 2014. 2. In contrast, Assad’s enemies in Syria own chemical weapons (who supplied it?) and have used it already over 50-times 3. All announcements that Assad’s regime has used chemical weapons in last years were proved to be wrong and being US propaganda lies. Michael Savage, who helped by the way, to gain Trump’s presidency, says the right words about Syrian case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuPYwvmyFZc
Garry,
I think China will take care of North Korea on their own. Hopefully by assassinating Kim and replacing him with a puppy who disarms WMD in North Korea and gradually reforms the country. China gets rid of a threat, gains a province, and looks great internationally. The alternative would be that the US nukes North Korea and South Korea occupies it. Trump would send the entire bill for both the war and its peace to China by introducing the 65% import tax he promised, and he would require all friends of the US to do the same, including Japan, Australia, EU. Then China will immediately have 1,000,000,000 unemployed, and since they aren’t at all as indoctrinated as North Koreans, they will change their regime themselves.
Alex,
Assad is a madman, like most people down there. They don’t murder because of any rational reason, but because they are mad and filled with hate. Their failed stone age “culture” knows not of concepts like sin or forgiveness. When an arape gets the opportunity to murder a member of a clan with which his clan has been at war with since 1,000 years, he just can’t stop himself. Just look at the region! And everywhere in the world to where arapes move! The reason Assad lost most of his country and military and income is not because he’s rational. Not more than that he knows that the only way to win respect, and truly become loved by, his citizen is to impress with brutal terror force like war gas.
I understand that US obligation to assist South Korea in case the armistice is broken, is the strongest international obligation the US has. It is a war unfinished. And Trump will be celebrated as the president who finalized Reagan’s victory over communism.
In case of a US-North Korean war, I think that Trump also would declare that the US as of now permanent default on all US bonds in Chinese ownership. Motivated as necessary for paying for the war. The US is so totally dominant world wide, I suppose Americans don’t realize it because this power hasn’t been exercised since Reagan. Main difference now is that Trump won’t be at all generous with US tax monies. China, neighbors and NATO will pay for the war.
@LocalFluff: Be rational and foolish not yourself. Assad is on the way to win the Syrian war. No need to do such a crazy action. Listen to Michael Savage! Assad is also no madman. He is clear thinking man, which tries to control the crazy Moslems. He is an ophthalmologist by profession, owns even blue eyes, but has to take over the ruler job, because is brother died.
@LocalFluff: Michael Savage about North Korea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnjiiK8d1k8
Alex, so what do you think gonna happen with North Korea? As I wrote I think China will take care of it because they know they will be very sorry otherwise. The only rationality I can see with Assad is that his arapes love gas warfare and he had to improve his domestic popularity.
Everyone around Xi Jinping is begging him not to make a decision that instantaneously would delete all of their bank accounts and close all of their industries. Even all out invasion of North Korea is a walk in the park for China. Would be an excellent opportunity to show the world how strong and efficient the Chinese military is.
To my point about the Turkey elections:
1. https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-17/erdogan-follows-slim-referendum-win-with-warnings-to-opponents
2. https://www.yahoo.com/news/erdogan-celebrates-referendum-win-rivals-urge-recount-080231008.html
Turkey had an “election”, Russia has “elections”, China has “elections” (or does it?). America has elections for the most part and each party will do what ever is necessary to either retain power or acquire power, as we have plainly seen in our last highly contentious last election where the real under belly of it all was probably for the first time actually revealed to the general public like never before due to the uncontrollable nature of the new information paradigm, the internet.
Does this make America “better”? Probably to a great degree it does make us better. But in the end, power, even brutal power will be and must be exercised when deemed necessary. And the world because of America, which is not perfect, has a chance to move into the future with hope. As paradoxical and crazy and counter intuitive as that may sound. None of the other governance models offers anything like it. America must push forward its power, benevolence and self interest model in order that there be hope in the world.
Power is never surrendered willingly.
North Korea has a well trained, well equipped army. If you don’t believe me just watch the footage of the last parade!
Remember the scene from “My Cousin Vinny” when Joe Pesci is convincing his nephew to keep him as his attorney? He uses a playing card to demonstrate the case against the nephew. It has height and width and looks solid. but just like the palace the NorKs built at Panmunjom, their military is an impressive facade with no depth.
North Korea has no way to sustain and resupply a major offensive. KJU has fallen for the same mindset that almost ended Stalin (who ,by the way, set up grandpa Kim as Stalin’s hand-picked puppet). If you eliminate any Leader that could pose a personal threat, You will not have any leadership if an actual war starts. KJU doesn’t have the vastness of Siberia to defeat an invading army.
Kind of like a hard chocolate shell covering a scoop of soft vanilla ice cream. Seemingly well armored but soft underneath.
I personally welcome another underground nuclear test. It means that there is that much less fissionable material that could be used for actual combat.
The North Korean problem can be solved with a single bullet.
Cotour,
Erdogan has been major in Istanbul since 1993, prime minister since 2003, president since 2014. The islamist majority of Turks truly loves him since decades. They have very democratically chosen to replace the secular Turkey with an islamic stone age tyranny. Interesting is that, among emigrated Turks, Erdogan won by 64% in Germany, which is the second most Turk populated country in the world with 3 millions of them. While in the US Erdogan got only 20%, according to Der Spiegel. Erdogan won by 51.3% in total.
Islamists obviously prefer to migrate to countries whose population to 80-90% LOVE islamic tyranny and which also never punish any crimes of any kind. Also, “integration” obviously fails most in such muslim-soft Western countries. Further, in Turkey Erdogan got a majority only in the countryside, controlled by islamic terror leaders and overpopulated by the mandatory child rapes of muslim “culture”.
Concerning democracy, Turkey now has the same system of governance as Sweden! All legislative, executive and judicial power totalitarian concentrated to only one agent. Only difference is that in Sweden that agent is parliament, in Turkey it is Erdogan himself (and Turkey maybe has some sorts balance of power in the shape of independent local governments).
PeterF,
China having some infiltrator who can assassinate Kim, followed by a Chinese puppet government would be the best possible outcome. But bullets seem to go the other way from Kim. It might not be easy, and the consequence might be immediate war automatically as soon as he dies. Dr. Strangelove style the isolated teams of guys sitting with the button for launching missiles, a couple of which with nukes, most of the rest only with nerve gas, might have had their heads programmed, their entire lives just like their parents had, to launch the missiles if they hear that Kim has died.
Invading North Korea’s mountainous land, probably the most entrenched country in the world, would become extremely bloody. But the Chinese don’t care about losses, they could do it quickly and efficiently. I read that China has decided to reduce their army by 300,000 men. Invading NK would be a great way to do!
Local:
Who would realistically dare oppose Erdogon? I would say the same of Putin, who would dare realistically oppose Putin?
Its power, or fear of power, over real adversarial politics. I can make a stronger argument that the U.S.A. has real adversarial political contests.
I agree with Frank, it would be foolish to think that China will be on our side. We just have to remember how China and Russia fought against us in the Korean war, and are largely the reason why North Korea exists today. We pushed the North all the way to the Yalu River, then the Chinese crossed the Yalu and pushed us back to the 38th parallel because we were spread too thin in the North and we were cut off from re-inforcements. So we have to be cautious about trusting China too much, and being prepared to fight them if they decide to secretly invade or help the North.
Greg:
China will act in its own self interests. Trump must have, I will assume, offered them some financial flexibility as per his dialing down his opinion on their currency manipulation that he was soooo focused on. China as is Russia are adversaries today and forever, trust them not. Manipulate them and make them understand the extent of Americas power and capabilities to our own self interests, period.
Trump creates threats and the perception that he is willing to act on those threats and then he creates a deal based on that fear and on that leverage. Thats why the Syrian cruise missile strike serves many, many purposes (how the justification for it came about is just a detail). It almost sounds too simple and base, but that it what our adversaries respect and make adjustments for.
When you begin to believe that you have to create all kinds of these sophisticated, intellectual and high level multifaceted justifications for acting or not acting then your adversaries have much more room to maneuver and manipulate YOU.
Cotour,
“Who would realistically dare oppose Erdogon?”
Those who don’t want to be tortured to death. Now they WILL be tortured to death!
Erdogan has been a very popular political leader for 24 years. He won by the same amount, 51.4% in the 2004 presidential election too. In the second most democratic and secular country in the whole MENA region. The result of this referendum is in line with that. Turks love that he is so brutal! This is what almost all arapes want and love. A strong man to perpetuate the eternal war against non-muslims which is their only meaning in life. Just look at the entire arape region today and its history since the colonial powers committed the horrible mistake of leaving the arapes to themselves again.
And a majority in free democratic elections voted for the same kind of stone age islamic tyranny in Algeria, Egypt, Gaza. (I don’t really count Iraq and Afghanistan since they were occupied during election, but also those elected governments have been totally taken over by Iran respectively the talibans now).
And Chinese leaders act in their own best self interest by not having their dollar accounts, all totally controlled by the US government, immediately erased. If China doesn’t clean up their NK mess, the US with allies will, with nuclear war in China’s border, and they will send the entire bill for it, including the reconstruction of NK (using Made in the USA only), to China, by boycotting them and thus shutting down all industry in China. China’s best interest is to demilitarize North Korea one way or another. That is what will happen, or at least be tried, next.
@LocalFluff: Why do you object against strong leaders? What you missed to understand is the following: We (in our countries) need also a strong leader, in order to defear Islamic invasion, otherwise we are lost. Liberal democracies guide us in the ethnic and cultural downfall.
@Alex, you have to defend yourself. No politician will do it for you.
Alex–
Progressive Statism, is what is eating you folks up. (and we aren’t too far behind, I do empathize in part.)
“Your Leaders,” have gone Insane!
One bizarre extreme to the other.
>Be extremely careful of the Strong Guy, who promises to Save You.
(Localfluff has a point, literally & figuratively.)
I wish you could come hang-out in the Midwest United States for a few months!
Wayne: I am quite sure that I would fit into the old, more or less homogenous, white-type, original USA, as may be found today in Midwest or Northwest (Montana). I like these typ of Americans due their pragmatism, straightforwardness and entrepreneurship. I love also my own nation characteristics, which attacked from many enemies. BTW, I defined myself as Libertarian some years ago, but as many, I found this ideology not sufficient to deal with real-life challenges as Islamic invasion or white-race self-hate. As time has flown, I turned my final destiny as ethno-nationalist.
@Alex: I am defending myself already. I am active politically. What about you?
To all: What happened at 15thApril in Berkeley (already called “Battle of Berkeley”) is of higher importance as all this North-Korea theater for future of USA . Sintking ANTIFA (a sort of communists) was defeated by US patriots and Trump supporter!
Oh, I would like those kind of victories also in Europe.
He is the shortest video, which cheers the event! I enjoyed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNNuc1Uleuo#t=15.48227
Alex–
Agree in large measure, it’s amazing what some sort of “media-weight” is given, or withheld, from certain activities, by the Usual Suspect Big Media.
–RUSH calls that type of “reporting” a “media drive-by.”
Thank you for summary of your political bent. Don’t necessarily agree but I think I get it.
Your Leaders are Insane, and they need to stop this mass importation of people. We can’t functionally really absorb the people we have (and turn them into actual “Americans,”) and I am totally convinced your homeland is in danger.
Totally tangential– I find it humorous (some of) the people in Hawaii are in freak-out-mode over North Korea. They don’t want any super-massive-telescopes littering their socialist-utopia, but they think the rest of us care about them hiding under their desks. “Run for your Safe Space,” whoops, ….we are on an Island!”
(with apologies to the real American’s, who happen to live in Hawaii.)
Alex–
You’ll like this– (I like it)
Gavin McInnes:
At Berkeley on Patriots Day, We Took Back the Culture
https://youtu.be/OuCtz6yQ_Xk
(12:04)
@Wayne: VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY! More will follow.
JUDGMENT DAY: “The Death of the Left” Berkeley, Ca 15/04/17
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeEGIXyMqfo
I prefer Spencer’s analysis and speeches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jgyT67fP6k