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I am beginning to think that obama is so weak that the norks and chicoms will move... South Korea and then Taiwan.

That would make a lot of sense. Start trouble in Korea, and stir up trouble with Iran to keep our forces pinned down. Then move on Taiwan, which is what they actually want. We won't have anything to send to help Taiwan without completely exposing Japan and South Korea, and we can't afford to do that.

The US is over stretched and our economy is shot. China hasn't even committed any troops anyplace and their economy has given them vast cash reserves. They have us pinned. We can't fight them everywhere, and Obama is to weak to do the kind of triage necessary to save anything.

I’ve been getting more and more uncomfortable with all of the speculation, of late, on what China *should* do to resolve this situation, to *our* satisfaction - so I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to look at the cards from what might be the Chinese perspective...

And I’ve come to a startling conclusion —

In an armed conflict between NK and SK, China comes out as the BIG WINNER - by doing precisely nothing....

The US is in an untenable position - our options, in case of hostilities, are to

a)abandon - sacrifice - the 30,000 troops-in-place, renege on long-standing defense agreements, and withdraw from the area — in which case, the US is finished as a World Power...

b) Honor our treaty obligations, and commit a tremendous amount of blood and treasure (neither of which we can afford) to the war effort - which will, at the very least, weaken the US to the point of insignificance, if not bring down our Government completely.....

Either way, while the military outcome of any such war is a foregone conclusion, it will inevitably leave the entire Korean Peninsula as a devastated area, with only China left with the resources to rebuild....

So, by remaining aloof, the entire SE Asia theater - and, more significantly, market - comes under Chinese sway without any more troop committment than it would take to control the oft-mentioned ‘refugee problem’.....

No wonder they’re not ‘doing what they should’ to calm things down - I really don’t think they see any downside for them in conflict in the Koreas......