Free Republic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAhCIiNmjv0&list=PLvGO_dWo8VfdUS_shFCmhSTNOcEdroPJ5&index=7 A great Youtube video detailing credible Korean scenarios.

Gauntlet thrown The calculation has always - or at least for the past decade or so - been that any sort of strike against North Korea would be too risky because a) if they really do have operable nukes, they could easily reach Seoul or various targets in Japan; and b) Bowl Cut Jr. is either evil enough or crazy enough (or both) to do it. Ergo, no threat of force is credible or feasible. So went the thinking throughout the Bush and Obama administrations.

The United States is prepared to respond to North Korean nuclear threats on its own if China fails to pressure Pyongyang, President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday. "Well if China is not going to solve North Korea, We will. That is all I am telling you," he was quoted as telling the newspaper....

Shortened title. Full title: MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE TO NEGOTIATE A LEGALLY BINDING INSTRUMENT TO PROHIBIT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, LEADING TOWARDS THEIR TOTAL ELIMINATION To Her Excellency Elayne Whyte Gómez President of the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination I extend cordial greetings to you, Madam President, and to all the representatives of the various nations and international organizations, and of civil society participating in this Conference. I wish to encourage you to work with determination in order to promote the conditions...

The mainstream media, and some officials who should know better, continue to allege North Korea does not yet have capability to deliver on its repeated threats to strike the U.S. with nuclear weapons. False reassurance is given to the American people that North Korea has not “demonstrated” that it can miniaturize a nuclear warhead small enough for missile delivery, or build a reentry vehicle for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of penetrating the atmosphere to blast a U.S. city. Yet any nation that has built nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, as North Korea has done, can easily overcome the...

[Original title too long: Erdogan Holding U.S. Tactical Nukes At Inkirlink Taking Control Of The Second Most Powerful Army In NATO And Is Hailed As Mahdi] Turkey, in less than 24 hours was occupied by ErdoganÂ’s pro Muslim Brotherhood militia and entered the U.S. base where tactical nukes at Incirlik are held. Period. Plain and Simple. Yet there are no headlines in any media that reveals this global catastrophe in this way. Why? Even the air base, which is used by NATO and stores US tactical nuclear weapons, has been invaded by ErdoganÂ’s militia. The militia entered the base in...

Done with "strategic patience." This is sure to bring about shrieking from the left that Trump “wants war,” and that under no circumstances should we even think about using weapons or the Armed Forces against Bowl Cut Jr.‘s hermit torture paradise. That’s been official U.S. policy for at least the past eight years, and de facto U.S. policy much longer than that, if only because of the presumption that the Norks either have nuclear weapons, or are awfully close to having them, and could turn Seoul into a sheet of glass if given enough of a provocation. Would the U.S....

The U.S. military is relying on zero-hour modernization to maintain its aging nuclear arsenal as an effective deterrent against adversaries, according to two top U.S. generals. Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the House Armed Services Committee that the United States cannot defer nuclear modernization without "significant risk" to its deterrent capabilities, particularly as other countries like Russia and China are working to revolutionize their forces. "These systems will not remain viable forever. In fact, we are now at a point where we must concurrently recapitalize each component of our nuclear deterrent," Selva...

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity. In a Reuters interview, Trump also complained about Russian deployment of a cruise missile in violation of an arms control treaty and said he would raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin when and if they meet. On another front, Trump said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure...

Whirling Hands of Doom Shortly after the clock struck 12 noon one week ago today, Barack Hussein Obama’s deplorable presidency was mercifully replaced by the one of Donald J. Trump. Anxiety ridden for eight long years of watching their country slipping further into decline, little people sent up rousing cheers;the mainstream media began searching for more cunning ways to undermine the new presidency;ganging up together, feminists, jihadists and celebrities were at home posing with pink p**sy caps in front of the mirror, readying for a screaming, 2 million strong worldwide Women’s March, scheduled for the following day.

WHEN Donald Trump takes office as new President on Friday one aide will remain ‘stitched’ to his side – the one with the briefcase needed to spark a nuclear war. The unknown military officer will accompany outgoing Barack Obama to the handover ceremony at the Capitol in Washington before quickly ‘switching sides’ to The Don. He’ll be carrying a satchel which holds military hardware which could change the lives of EVERY person on the planet. Inside the briefcase – bizarrely known as ‘the nuclear football’ – is a piece of digital technology measuring just three inches by five inches called...

For the first time, Russia, which is in the midst of a major strategic nuclear modernization, has more deployed nuclear warheads than the United States, according to the latest numbers released by the State Department. Russia now has 1,643 warheads deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers. The United States has 1,642, said the fact sheet released Wednesday.

.... Several U.S. officials briefed on the options told me they include declaring a “no first use” policy for the United States’ nuclear arsenal, which would be a landmark change in the country’s nuclear posture. Another option under consideration is seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution affirming a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons. This would be a way to enshrine the United States’ pledge not to test without having to seek unlikely Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The administration is also considering offering Russia a five-year extension of the New START treaty’s limits on deployed...

A retired four-star Marine Corps general who served as the nation’s second-ranking military officer is a target of a Justice Department investigation into a leak of information about a covert U.S.-Israeli cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program, a senior Obama administration official said. Retired Gen. James E. “Hoss” Cartwright served as deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was part of President Obama’s inner circle on a range of critical national security issues before he retired in 2011. The administration official said that Cartwright is suspected of revealing information about a highly classified effort to use a computer virus...

A top White House national security adviser and key proponent of the Obama administration’s diplomacy with Iran is the focus of a congressional inquiry following disclosures the FBI may have denied him top-level security clearances, according to communications exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser who led the administration’s efforts to mislead Congress about the terms of the Iran nuclear agreement, is under scrutiny in the wake of disclosures he was declined interim clearance status by the FBI in 2008, when the administration was moving into the White House. Since that...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense intends to move forward with its $126 billion plan to procure 12 new nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. Under the plan, the Navy's existing Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines will be replaced by the developing Columbia-class submarines at an estimated cost of roughly $8 billion per ship. Pentagon acquisition undersecretary Frank Kendall voiced his approval during a recent interview with Bloomberg. "I'm hoping to have it done before I leave," Kendall said, noting his job ends when President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. President Obama has supported the...

Full Title: WAR GAMES US sends special forces to RUSSIAN BORDER as NATO is poised to strike back against Vladimir Putin’s ‘aggression’ Russia is reportedly deploying nuke-ready missiles in the province of Kaliningrad which borders Lithuania President Obama has deployed US special forces troops along Lithuania’s border with ‘aggressive’ Russia. Tensions between Washington and the Kremlin have reached Cold War levels amid reports Vladimir Putin is deploying nuke-ready missiles in the Russian province of Kaliningrad – which borders Poland, Belarus and Lithuania. And Lithuanian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Asta Galdikaite confirmed America has offered additional military support following Russia invasion of...

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's "clear warning" to North Korea shows he is aware of the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program and will not waver from a policy of sanctions against the isolated country, South Korea said on Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), raising the prospect of putting parts of the United States in range. Trump dismissed the claim, saying on Twitter: "It won't happen." South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Trump's comment, his first mention of the North Korean...

On Thursday, Donald Trump created controversy when he tweeted, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.” In case anyone was confused, he followed up Friday morning with an off-air remark to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that clarified his intentions: “Let it be an arms race,” he said. “We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.” The backlash was swift and unanimous. Critics charged that there is no plausible reason to expand U.S. nuclear weapons, that Trump’s comments contradicted a decades-old bipartisan consensus...

Americans – our public and our leaders – have no understanding of how seriously the United States’ nuclear weapons capability has been damaged over the past 25 years. Today we risk losing our country unless President-elect Trump launches a virtual nuclear weapons revolution to reverse the ill-advised policies that have been in place and rebuild our capabilities. Here’s what has happened and what actions are needed. When the Cold War ended in 1991, our nuclear arsenal was #1 in the world. We had just defeated the Soviet Union in a 45-year conflict and saved the world from nuclear holocaust. At...