Posted on 12/04/2017 7:03:04 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Have you noticed a recurring answer coming out in interviews with politicians and Trump administration members lately when the subject of North Korea comes up? Over and over the answer to the seriousness of threats from North Korea is, “We’re running out of time.” I’ve heard that answer several times just this weekend.
Unless you’ve been in a medically induced coma the past year or so, it is clear that the crazy-like-a-fox brutal dictator, Kim Jong-un, in North Korea has a nuclear war with America on his to-do list. After a brief hiatus, another advanced ballistic missile test was launched last Tuesday. North Korea touted it as capable of reaching America’s mainland but it appears to have experienced failure upon re-entry. This is from CNN:
North Korea on Tuesday broke a two-month lull in weapons testing. It launched an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-15, that state-controlled media described as the “most powerful ICBM” carrying a “super-large heavy warhead” to unprecedented heights of almost 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles).
Technical analysis of the missile flight is ongoing, but the US official said “the North Koreans had problems with re-entry.
President Trump speaks frequently on the threats and spoke of running out of time to leaders during his recent Asia trip. John Bolton, Ambassador to the U.N. during the G.W. Bush administration, used the expression before that.
The fifth annual Reagan National Defense forum was held this weekend and National Security Advisor McMasters spoke of an increasing threat. (Defense News)
While laying out a tease of President Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the president’s national security advisor, warned that “there’s not much time left” to deal with the threat from North Korea.
McMaster, speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum, identified North Korea as the greatest threat to the United States, adding that it is “increasing every day” and saying North Korean Kim Jong Un is “getting closer and closer” to having a full nuclear deterrent.
During an interview on Sunday’s Face the Nation, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham spoke of moving closer to a military conflict. While war talk is nothing new for Senator Graham, he, too, uttered the opinion that “we’re running out of time.”
We’re getting close to a military conflict because North Korea’s marching toward marrying up the technology of an I.C.B.M. with a nuclear weapon on top that cannot only get to America but deliver the weapon. We’re running out of time. McMaster said that yesterday. I’m going to urge the Pentagon not to send any more dependents to South Korea.
So, are we on the brink of war? Are we being prepared for an inevitable escalation into nuclear weaponry to extinguish a growing threat to our homeland? I sure hope not. There is a real potential for a death count in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, and no one is prepared for that.
A recent Congressional Research Service report estimated as many as 300,000 could die in the first few days of fighting between the U.S. and North Korea––even without the use of nukes. A separate assessment from 38 North, a website analyzing North Korea, estimated 2.1 million could perish if nuclear detonations occurred over Tokyo or Seoul.
The experts say we’d be looking at a ground war and that presents geographic problems. America would win the war but the neighborhood wouldn’t be so happy about that. (Newsweek)
The U.S. military recently concluded a ground invasion would be necessary to destroy North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, since little intelligence is available on the location of its military assets, which would make airstrikes unreliable. This could get extremely complicated given the close proximity of North Korea to Russia and China, countries that would not benefit from a pro-America, unified Korean Peninsula.
Diplomacy has failed for several previous administrations. At this point, all we can do is hope war isn’t necessary and, if it does, we do what is necessary to win.
Karen Townsend is a guest author at Hot Air. You can read her other work at her Pondering Penguin blog. A longtime political blogger and activist, she enjoys writing about life and culture, too.
Yes. We’re running out of time.
I believe we will hit NK within 6 months. It’s going to be ugly.
That’s because the “Intelligence” “Community” is too busy sticking their noses in domestic politics rather than working against America’s enemies
IF WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, why haven’t US service member dependents been evacuated home from Korea? Are they left there as hostages? To prevent us from taking action or to limit our actions as in that we might cause American citizen deaths, not just Korean? If there is any seriousness to current situation in Korea, then these people should be out of harms way, back in America. BRING THEM HOME.
Kim currently also has limited capabilities of non missile delivery systems
Kim may also have significant bio weapons for germ warfare.
It's a classic case of Winston Churchill's quote
“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
We are currently in the grey area between not too costly and he odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.
Nuclear weapons are a game changer, even one successful attack on a city like Washington DC, NYC or LA would be devastating . Take out all three and the damage would be unimaginable. North Korea may be a mouse, but with nukes it can be a mouse that roars.
If NK acts as proxy for a China and Russian attack we could be facing much worse.
“That’s because the “Intelligence” “Community” is too busy sticking their noses in domestic politics rather than working against America’s enemies”
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Some perhaps, but then anything in the public domain in situations like this is more than apt to be disinformation ... which was the point I was making.
War is coming soon via North Korea and will expand out of the Asia-Pacific to other regions, IMO.
The thing is that Auntie Maxine knows what she’s saying and she means it just the way it sounds.
It certainly works on the blithering idiots that support her and voted for her.
And gives the traitorous MSM their sound bites.
I doubt we’ll do anything to stop him. I just don’t think America has the stomach for that kind of thing any more.
A preemptive nuclear strike of all known missile sites, followed by a constant umbrella of tactical aircraft searching for potential set up of road mobile missiles.
You have about a 10 minute window from when they emerge until they launch. Supersonic aircraft broadly dispersed can get most of them. Maybe all.
Then you hope your anti-missile defenses get the rest.
It’s a rational act. Failure to act is dereliction of duty.
Do it now before they have 50-100 road mobile ICBMs mounted with proven nukes.
I believe no new dependents are being added, and they are slowly, quietly, moving dependents out.
I believe the number is around 20 ICBMS and about the same number medium range missiles (capable of hitting Japan), most with nuclear warheads maybe a few with chemical or biological warheads. Kim could have that in 3 to 5 years 10 years at the outside. Our missile defense for ICBMS is rudimentary at the moment and may still not be reliable in 5 years or more. The important number is whatever Kim thinks is enough to threaten/scare the U.S. or Japan or South Korea should either one not back a U. S. preemptive strike then we would be in a bad position. We would not go to war if South Korea did not back it. For Kim his personal survival as leader of North Korea, his families continued authority, his parties continued authority and the unification of North and South Korea are almost equal priorities for him.
At some point he will manufacture some incident, say the sinking of one of his naval vessels, demand reparations and the moving of the DMZ about 20 kilometers further South for “additional security” or he will cancel the truce. Should the U. S. or South Korea (either one) lose nerve and comply he would have pushed the border beyond the 38th parallel something neither his grandfather or father were able to accomplish.
Imagine the chaos in South Korea, Japan and at least the U. S. West Coast if a nuclear attack was thought to be imminent, some leader caving is not out of the question.
Depends, are we willing to risk major land war? Can we take them out with air power and maybe a limited ground incursion? If that is a viable option I look for an eventual attack. A full on ground invasion makes it a more dicey option.
The other option is to accept NK’s nuke and practice a bastardized version of MAD with them to an extent since we have a limited ABM ability. This option would of course cause Japan and South Korea to go nuclear fairly quickly.
“Depends, are we willing to risk major land war? Can we take them out with air power and maybe a limited ground incursion?”
We aren’t going to invade North Korea without provoking a war with China, and we aren’t going to provoke a war with China, so I don’t think it’s going to happen.
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