Posted on 10/23/2017 10:58:43 AM PDT by JP1201
CLARK, Philippines (AP) — Japan's defense minister asserted Monday that North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities have grown to an "unprecedented, critical and imminent" level, requiring "different responses" to the threat.
The minister, Itsunori Odonera, said that this rising threat compels his country to endorse the U.S. view that "all options" must be considered, which President Donald Trump says includes possible military action. Japan was alarmed by North Korea twice launching missiles over Japanese territory, in August and in September.
Odonera's comments, made through an interpreter, came at the outset of a so-called trilateral meeting in the Philippines with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and South Korea's defense minister, Song Young-moo. Each made statements about North Korea before a group of reporters and news cameras, but none took questions.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
We don't know the for sure.
This is almost certainly an attempt on his part to (dramatically) increase his leverage.
I wouldn't so "almost certain", with such an assessment.
It wasn’t a “trade off” as you falsely claim, it was a statement of fact.
Think of it as an “if...then” statement.
IF Rocket Man launches an EMP attack, THEN the US will respond in a way that will be devastating for NK.
Do you think that an EMP attack would neutralize our ability to respond? Trust me, it won’t. And that will be the worst of any number of possible outcomes.
How in the world did you come to the conclusion that I PREFERRED that outcome? I repeat, I said NOTHING of the sort.
I did not say, nor did I imply, that I thought our guaranteed response would deter Rocket Man. That would deter a sane man, but Rocket Man is nuts. Crazy people don’t act in a rational way. At least we agree on that point.
And when have I ever said, or even implied, that I don’t support preemptive action?
Please stop the lying and childish name calling.
Then why post what you are referencing here?
I did not say, nor did I imply, that I thought our guaranteed response would deter Rocket Man. That would deter a sane man, but Rocket Man is nuts. Crazy people don’t act in a rational way. At least we agree on that point.
Telling me what would happen next, was for what purpose?
Perhaps you just meant we would do it, and nothing more. I took it in the context of him having a natural fear of what would follow his actions.
I agree with what you say here. He's nuts.
Him being nuts is why we have to take pre-emptive action.
I had two others who seemed to disagree with me on that point. I thought you were a third. If I was wrong, then I apologize.
well, if the Japanese are that upset about it, maybe they should do something instead of sitting around waiting for the US to act
Thank you, apology accepted!
I wish I knew what form our preemptive action should take, it’s a very dangerous situation. And that danger has grown every time appeasement has been tried.
I just hope and pray that, with all the information that he as access to, President Trump will make the right decision as to how to proceed to end Rocket Man’s regime and not set off a nuclear war in the process.
It may not be pretty. I’m not certain there won’t be massive repercussions. The reality is, we face it today or accept nukes raining down on us at some later date, many of them.
I’m not in favor of us using nukes up front. We will have to use conventional weapons to take out his weapons infrastructure. Me must be thorough.
If Kim wants to live, he’ll refrain from using nukes. If he sends off nukes, he’s toast. Even if we stop them, his intent will have been clear. We take him out.
Then take responsibility for your own defense. I mean Japan has been flailing at 10 plus years of “fiscal stimulus” that has failed to life their economy. How about try some “military stimulus”?
Which is exactly what the past four administrations have done - starting with Albright being massively played.
But even open sources (and common sense) acknowledges that the problem with a second Korean War is that casualties and destruction would be immense, even if we struck first.
It is true that the North Koreans have artillary, sited for Seoul and elsewhere, that is dug in hard, effective, and destructive. Before we could completely take even that node out, the NKs could kill thousands and thousands of people.
I don't know about their nuke weapons. But all you need is one to start one helluva war.
If I was Trump, the next thing I would say/tweet would be a plain message to say "Any missile that lifts off from N Korea heading anywhere will be destroyed. Time to fully enforce UN Embargo on missile tests", and see where it goes from there. Let Kim try to bluster past that as we plaster his missiles at lift off.
Iran used nuclear blackmail to get pallets of currency delivered by Obama. Clearly Kim wants some of that action. Throwing vast amounts of money at Iran has only emboldened North Korea to do the same.
That is one reasonable explanation of “why now”.
It is also yet another reason why the money should never have been given to Iran, and why nuclear blackmail can no longer be allowed to work. It only made the situation so much worse as money was used to fund the nuclear and military programs in these outlaw nations.
He wants to get back into the international negotiations arena, which would help explain his uncharacteristically positive remarks regarding Trump of late.
They’ve always rattled sabres to get some key concession and it’s worked in the past. Problem is, they’re getting too big for their britches as far as the capabilities they’re claiming and are now perceived as a far greater threat, possibly an existential threat. So, it’s not working this time around because they’ve overshot the mark and they’re going to get taken down instead, one way or the other.
Yes, you’re headed in the right direction IMO.
I think it’s time to get a new leader in North Korea who actually cares about his populace.
With a reasoned leader the U. S. could lend a hand and help them through the tough times.
Let China get involved too. We’re not trying to turn the nation into a satellite of ours.
Just get a decent leader in there.
At this point. Let Japan have a full military. They already have so many potential threats in their own backyard, I doubt that they could achieve the level of empire that they had in World War II.
This poem hangs above my desk and I included it in my husband’s eulogy:
“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
“Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God.”
The first time I heard that poem read was by Ronald Reagan, for the Challenger Astronauts.
It always brings a tear to my eyes.
The people are brainwashed to believe that ‘their’ starvation is the sacrifice they give to their country and it’s dear leader...but the blame for them starving is the United States which of course they also believe.
This explains some..
Even though rice and other food bags are clearly marked US many of the defectors didn’t realize the food was from the US..they thought US was just another trade mark of a company from China... until they defected and learned it was the US actually feeding them. For many it was the first time they believed they were lied to by Fat Boy and his father about the US.. once they learned the truth.
The ‘top’ leaders are, as I said, very much aware of the outside world as they travel it as well. They will not be those who take out FatBoy...it will be those in the lower rungs and this ONLY if China is on board.
Should China think themselves better off with new leadership in N.Korea they will certainly be the ones to determine who that new leadership will be.....You can be certain of that. There will not be that many changes to N.Korea and what will change will be slow...
Thank you for the comments. They were thought provoking.
I agree with your take on things.
It would be nice if China would see the need to open up the N.K. economy to improve the place.
I don’t think Japan would need to go to war, just debating it would likely force China to do some serious soul searching in regards to North Korea.
Japanese soldiers created a lot of lasting hatred in both Korea’s and China. Nobody over there wants the Japanese declaring war on North Korea and yet Japan’s interests are being threatened by North Korea.
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