Trump Talks About War With North Korea. Here’s How Horrific That Would Rally Be.
Jan 5, 2018 10:42:45 #
Twardlow
Loc: Arkansas
WORLD NEWS
01/05/2018 05:46 am ET Updated 49 minutes ago
Trump Talks About War With North Korea. Here’s How Horrific That Would Really Be.
Millions could die, for starters.
By Nick Robins-Early
• President Trump has hinted at the possibility of military action against North Korea, but any U.S. strike is likely to rapidly escalate into an all-out war.
• A full-scale conflict with North Korea would cause mass casualties, even in the best-case scenario.
• A U.S.-North Korean war could lead to millions of deaths, a refugee crisis and long-term instability.
President Donald Trump’s taunt this week that his “Nuclear Button” was bigger and more powerful than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s once again raised the specter of armed conflict between the U.S. and Kim’s regime.
Trump has been engaged in an intense and at times juvenile battle of insults and threats with Kim since he took office. In that same time, Pyongyang has rapidly expanded its nuclear and missile capabilities.
Amid the constantly escalating rhetoric between Trump and North Korea, it’s easy to lose sight of what exactly is being threatened and just how devastating war with the country would be. It’s a conflict that would undoubtedly kill thousands, if not millions, of people and likely bring about the first use of nuclear weapons in combat since World War II.
First, A Rapid Escalation
Analysts have looked at a number of possible scenarios for how a war between the U.S. and North Korea would play out.
Most likely, hostilities would start small, but quickly become difficult to rein in. For example, North Korea could retaliate after the U.S. shoots down a missile test or because of some kind of misunderstanding around a perceived American military move.
Experts say that if the U.S. were to launch an initial strike ― say, targeting a North Korean missile site ― Pyongyang could easily interpret it as the start of something larger.
“More likely a limited strike would not stay limited and would quickly escalate. Everything I’ve read about North Korean military doctrine and way of thinking indicates they would fight back fiercely and would regard even a so-called limited strike as the first salvo of the invasion that they’ve been predicting for years,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, head of the International Institute for Strategic Studies Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Programme.
North Korean defectors, including a former diplomat, have echoed that assessment, warning that if the U.S. were to conduct any sort of limited strike, Pyongyang would likely respond harshly to deter a full-on invasion from the U.S. and its allies.
Threats To South Korea And Japan
Among North Korea’s immediate targets would be U.S. bases in South Korea and Japan, experts say, which Pyongyang would likely attempt to destroy using nuclear weapons as a show of force to deter further invasion.
The problem with the North Korean strategy, experts say, is that rather than cause the U.S. and its allies to back off from a conflict, the use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang would motivate the U.S. and its allies to launch an intense, full-scale attempt to destroy North Korea’s military and decapitate its leadership.
It’s unlikely that the U.S. would succeed in completely obliterating Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal or its conventional weapons before North Korea could target South Korea with its artillery and devastate major metropolises like Seoul and Tokyo.
Threats To U.S. Cities
North Korea could also potentially launch intercontinental ballistic missiles against the U.S. mainland, either in an immediate strike or after threatening cities like New York and Washington with a strike to prevent further American military action.
Analysts’ current assessments of North Korea’s missile and nuclear capability is that the country could reach most of the mainland United States with its intercontinental ballistic missiles and potentially be able to target major American cities.
Although there is debate among missile experts over how accurately North Korea could deliver a nuclear warhead to the U.S. and whether such a weapon would survive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, the North Korean military has shown itself to be increasingly proficient at conducting successful tests and is continually advancing its missile technology. It’s possible that Pyongyang could already hit cities like New York, Washington and Los Angeles with nuclear weapons.
It would take about 30 to 40 minutes from launch for North Korean missiles to reach their targets in the U.S. in the case of a nuclear attack. The missiles would leave cities in rubble and kill thousands in the initial blasts ― but as in the cases of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the deadly effects would not stop there.
“It’s so horrible that people don’t really ever want to deal with what it would really look like. We pretend that there’s a flash and everyone’s dead, but that’s not what happens,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear policy expert at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
“There would be survivors for days trying to make their way out of the rubble and back home, dying of radiation poisoning,” he said.
Unreliable Missile Defense
To try and defend against missile attacks, the U.S. has spent decades investing billions into developing and testing missile defense systems that could knock missiles out of the sky before they reach populated areas. But missile defense is an extremely difficult endeavor that experts liken to hitting a bullet with a bullet, and tests so far have proven it’s not guaranteed to work.
“People think it ought to work, because it exists and we spent tens of billions of dollars on it, but it hasn’t been shown to be reliable or to work in real-world conditions,” said Laura Grego, a senior scientist at the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“I would not count on it being a good defense, that’s not the way you should think about it,” she added.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has around a 56 percent success rate in its tests since 1999, which means that if North Korea were to launch multiple missiles, the chances of at least a few warheads making it to their targets is extremely high. This data goes against Trump’s statements on missile defense in October, when he claimed that the U.S. can shoot down missiles “97 percent of the time” ― prompting missile experts to worry about Washington’s overconfidence in the defense systems.
“I’m worried about missile defense’s role, since an misapprehension or overestimation of its capabilities can be dangerous,” Grego said.
Guerrilla Warfare And Long-Term Instability
Although much of the focus in a hypothetical conflict with North Korea concerns the role of missile strikes, the country also has over a million troops at the ready to fight on the ground.
“Their military is the fourth-largest in the world and is supported by a paramilitary that is 4 to 5 million strong. There’s no doubt that North Korea would put up a fierce fight in the event of a war,” said Fitzpatrick.
Although experts say that the U.S. has the overwhelming military power to win a conflict with North Korea, they note a likelihood of continuous guerrilla warfare in the aftermath and the need for a massive occupation force to prevent the nation’s collapse into anarchy. A population of more than 25 million people would need food and aid, while also transitioning from a totalitarian political system that has closed it off from the world for decades.
China is also concerned that the fall of Pyongyang would create a massive number of refugees crossing the border. Military forces and arms could also join the exodus and present a major crisis for the government.
If North Korea’s regime fell, there would also be an urgent proliferation crisis and a race to prevent its extensive conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons stocks from falling into the wrong hands. Altogether, containing the fallout would be a military and political endeavor rarely seen in history, likely costing trillions of dollars and killing untold numbers of people.
A New And Unpleasant Reality
As tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to escalate, Trump’s inflammatory statements and Washington’s talk of a military option against North Korea has brought increased uncertainty and concern about the risk of war.
But there’s also a broader shift in the U.S. relationship with North Korea as American policy adapts to the growing and unpleasant reality that Kim’s regime has the power to target the U.S.
“This moment is so fraught because the North Koreans are doing something very unusual. The North Koreans are transitioning from being like any other country which is vulnerable to American military coercion into a mutual deterrence relationship,” Lewis said.
“We really only have one historical data point, and that’s the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s, where we transitioned into a mutual deterrence relationship ― we didn’t like it and we had the Cuban missile crisis. The North Koreans are now making that same transition and we’re having a crisis about it.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-war-north-korea-trump_us_5a4ced7fe4b025f99e1f2516?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
01/05/2018 05:46 am ET Updated 49 minutes ago
Trump Talks About War With North Korea. Here’s How Horrific That Would Really Be.
Millions could die, for starters.
By Nick Robins-Early
• President Trump has hinted at the possibility of military action against North Korea, but any U.S. strike is likely to rapidly escalate into an all-out war.
• A full-scale conflict with North Korea would cause mass casualties, even in the best-case scenario.
• A U.S.-North Korean war could lead to millions of deaths, a refugee crisis and long-term instability.
President Donald Trump’s taunt this week that his “Nuclear Button” was bigger and more powerful than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s once again raised the specter of armed conflict between the U.S. and Kim’s regime.
Trump has been engaged in an intense and at times juvenile battle of insults and threats with Kim since he took office. In that same time, Pyongyang has rapidly expanded its nuclear and missile capabilities.
Amid the constantly escalating rhetoric between Trump and North Korea, it’s easy to lose sight of what exactly is being threatened and just how devastating war with the country would be. It’s a conflict that would undoubtedly kill thousands, if not millions, of people and likely bring about the first use of nuclear weapons in combat since World War II.
First, A Rapid Escalation
Analysts have looked at a number of possible scenarios for how a war between the U.S. and North Korea would play out.
Most likely, hostilities would start small, but quickly become difficult to rein in. For example, North Korea could retaliate after the U.S. shoots down a missile test or because of some kind of misunderstanding around a perceived American military move.
Experts say that if the U.S. were to launch an initial strike ― say, targeting a North Korean missile site ― Pyongyang could easily interpret it as the start of something larger.
“More likely a limited strike would not stay limited and would quickly escalate. Everything I’ve read about North Korean military doctrine and way of thinking indicates they would fight back fiercely and would regard even a so-called limited strike as the first salvo of the invasion that they’ve been predicting for years,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, head of the International Institute for Strategic Studies Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Programme.
North Korean defectors, including a former diplomat, have echoed that assessment, warning that if the U.S. were to conduct any sort of limited strike, Pyongyang would likely respond harshly to deter a full-on invasion from the U.S. and its allies.
Threats To South Korea And Japan
Among North Korea’s immediate targets would be U.S. bases in South Korea and Japan, experts say, which Pyongyang would likely attempt to destroy using nuclear weapons as a show of force to deter further invasion.
The problem with the North Korean strategy, experts say, is that rather than cause the U.S. and its allies to back off from a conflict, the use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang would motivate the U.S. and its allies to launch an intense, full-scale attempt to destroy North Korea’s military and decapitate its leadership.
It’s unlikely that the U.S. would succeed in completely obliterating Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal or its conventional weapons before North Korea could target South Korea with its artillery and devastate major metropolises like Seoul and Tokyo.
Threats To U.S. Cities
North Korea could also potentially launch intercontinental ballistic missiles against the U.S. mainland, either in an immediate strike or after threatening cities like New York and Washington with a strike to prevent further American military action.
Analysts’ current assessments of North Korea’s missile and nuclear capability is that the country could reach most of the mainland United States with its intercontinental ballistic missiles and potentially be able to target major American cities.
Although there is debate among missile experts over how accurately North Korea could deliver a nuclear warhead to the U.S. and whether such a weapon would survive re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, the North Korean military has shown itself to be increasingly proficient at conducting successful tests and is continually advancing its missile technology. It’s possible that Pyongyang could already hit cities like New York, Washington and Los Angeles with nuclear weapons.
It would take about 30 to 40 minutes from launch for North Korean missiles to reach their targets in the U.S. in the case of a nuclear attack. The missiles would leave cities in rubble and kill thousands in the initial blasts ― but as in the cases of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the deadly effects would not stop there.
“It’s so horrible that people don’t really ever want to deal with what it would really look like. We pretend that there’s a flash and everyone’s dead, but that’s not what happens,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear policy expert at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
“There would be survivors for days trying to make their way out of the rubble and back home, dying of radiation poisoning,” he said.
Unreliable Missile Defense
To try and defend against missile attacks, the U.S. has spent decades investing billions into developing and testing missile defense systems that could knock missiles out of the sky before they reach populated areas. But missile defense is an extremely difficult endeavor that experts liken to hitting a bullet with a bullet, and tests so far have proven it’s not guaranteed to work.
“People think it ought to work, because it exists and we spent tens of billions of dollars on it, but it hasn’t been shown to be reliable or to work in real-world conditions,” said Laura Grego, a senior scientist at the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“I would not count on it being a good defense, that’s not the way you should think about it,” she added.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has around a 56 percent success rate in its tests since 1999, which means that if North Korea were to launch multiple missiles, the chances of at least a few warheads making it to their targets is extremely high. This data goes against Trump’s statements on missile defense in October, when he claimed that the U.S. can shoot down missiles “97 percent of the time” ― prompting missile experts to worry about Washington’s overconfidence in the defense systems.
“I’m worried about missile defense’s role, since an misapprehension or overestimation of its capabilities can be dangerous,” Grego said.
Guerrilla Warfare And Long-Term Instability
Although much of the focus in a hypothetical conflict with North Korea concerns the role of missile strikes, the country also has over a million troops at the ready to fight on the ground.
“Their military is the fourth-largest in the world and is supported by a paramilitary that is 4 to 5 million strong. There’s no doubt that North Korea would put up a fierce fight in the event of a war,” said Fitzpatrick.
Although experts say that the U.S. has the overwhelming military power to win a conflict with North Korea, they note a likelihood of continuous guerrilla warfare in the aftermath and the need for a massive occupation force to prevent the nation’s collapse into anarchy. A population of more than 25 million people would need food and aid, while also transitioning from a totalitarian political system that has closed it off from the world for decades.
China is also concerned that the fall of Pyongyang would create a massive number of refugees crossing the border. Military forces and arms could also join the exodus and present a major crisis for the government.
If North Korea’s regime fell, there would also be an urgent proliferation crisis and a race to prevent its extensive conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons stocks from falling into the wrong hands. Altogether, containing the fallout would be a military and political endeavor rarely seen in history, likely costing trillions of dollars and killing untold numbers of people.
A New And Unpleasant Reality
As tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to escalate, Trump’s inflammatory statements and Washington’s talk of a military option against North Korea has brought increased uncertainty and concern about the risk of war.
But there’s also a broader shift in the U.S. relationship with North Korea as American policy adapts to the growing and unpleasant reality that Kim’s regime has the power to target the U.S.
“This moment is so fraught because the North Koreans are doing something very unusual. The North Koreans are transitioning from being like any other country which is vulnerable to American military coercion into a mutual deterrence relationship,” Lewis said.
“We really only have one historical data point, and that’s the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s, where we transitioned into a mutual deterrence relationship ― we didn’t like it and we had the Cuban missile crisis. The North Koreans are now making that same transition and we’re having a crisis about it.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-war-north-korea-trump_us_5a4ced7fe4b025f99e1f2516?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Jan 5, 2018 19:00:52 #
An unstable Muslim country (Pakistan) is a nuclear power that we give tons of aid to.
And now we are cutting off aid, and setting them free to become a radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons.
North Korea is a blip; let Russia and China deal with them.
And now we are cutting off aid, and setting them free to become a radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons.
North Korea is a blip; let Russia and China deal with them.
Jan 6, 2018 03:15:42 #
Time for you fella's to start practicing "Duck and Cover"..........
Jan 6, 2018 05:28:51 #
richosob
Loc: Lambertville, MI
Twardlow wrote:
WORLD NEWS br 01/05/2018 05:46 am ET Updated 49 mi... (show quote)
If your boy Odumbo would have done his job Trump wouldn’t have to. Now North Korea has nukes and Iran won’t be far behind.
Jan 6, 2018 10:49:55 #
richosob wrote:
If your boy Odumbo would have done his job Trump wouldn’t have to. Now North Korea has nukes and Iran won’t be far behind.
The use of the word Odumbo puts you, RichSOB, in the same elementary grade as Trump. Is there a reason why you put SOB as the end part of your name?
Saying sudda wooda cuda is not looking at what is. Obama and others kept the lid on the smoldering for years and the agreement with Iran was one to contain nuk development. Trump and his family would be in a safe place while we ... you and I.... will be soaked in radiation from fall out.
One should remember that NKorea may make the first strike and we are not expecting it and the reaction time will allow too many to hit. Trump is mentally ill, and should find an honorable excuse to step down. The republicans are fulls allowing him to go on and will suffer as a party for decades to come... if indeed decades come.
Jan 6, 2018 11:00:55 #
Twardlow
Loc: Arkansas
dpullum wrote:
The use of the word Odumbo puts you, RichSOB, in t... (show quote)
Wisdom speaking, listen fool.
Jan 6, 2018 11:54:17 #
Jan 6, 2018 21:00:15 #
richosob
Loc: Lambertville, MI
dpullum wrote:
The use of the word Odumbo puts you, RichSOB, in t... (show quote)
Being a libturd you obviously don’t understand reality, Odumbo was busy sending millions to Iran, which will be used to kill women and children, and you seem to be okay with that. He did nothing to deter N. Korea and the screwball running that country. If you think he will send missiles toward us knowing in less than a few hours his entire country will glow from radiation and he will be nothing but a few ashes blowing in the wind you’re as crazy as the other left wing loons who think the sun rises and sets in Odumbo’s arse. He was a example on how to ruin a country, bowing to Muslims and secretly sending them planes filled with cash for payment of kidnapped Americans all the while at home applauding groups who wanted to assassinate police officers and using the IRS to hurt people that didn’t agree with him. You have your head stuck up your obama.
Jan 6, 2018 22:25:40 #
Black Bart
Loc: Indiana
You people are debating something said by a wacko from the Huffing and Puffing post. ROFLMAO
Jan 7, 2018 08:20:35 #
Jan 7, 2018 09:18:21 #
dpullum wrote:
The use of the word Odumbo puts you, RichSOB, in t... (show quote)
Dumbass thinking on your part proves you are as stupid as the POS Barak Ofucko, the worse traitorous prez that spent 8 years doing only what DemoCraps are capable of, putting
their head between their legs and kissing their ass goodbye till we kicked you f**ing ass for you. The only people America can see who are mentally ill are the dipshit DemoCraps
that only know HATE. Get over it LITTLE 'MAN' so get back on your knees, I have heard that Ofucko is coming to visit you.
Jan 7, 2018 09:51:57 #
Twardlow wrote:
WORLD NEWS br 01/05/2018 05:46 am ET Updated 49 mi... (show quote)
This whole story presumes a whole lot of things that most probably will never happen. The US is very unlikely to "Fire the first shot". You must first remember that every president in the last 25 years has failed by "playing nice" with N korea. History has shown that appeasement never works. Trump is taking a different approach than--If you if allways do, what youv'e allways done- you'll allways get. what youv'e allways got. The only reason N.Korea has entered talks with S Korea regarding the Olympics is because of Trump,s pressure. Maybe (just maybe) N Korea is starting to come around. But thn again N Korea must uderstand that if THEY fire the first shot, Trump will turn North Korea into a parking lot.
Jan 7, 2018 13:06:30 #
Twardlow
Loc: Arkansas
boberic wrote:
This whole story presumes a whole lot of things th... (show quote)
I’m not at all convinced Trump wouldn’t fire the first shot. I do think there’s a chance Trump will lead us to war next summer, such leading possibly being a prelude to the ‘first shot.’
You presume way too much.
The entire nation is debating whether Trump is an idiot or only ‘merely’ mentally deficient, and you place your faith in his rational action.
North Korea has a desire to separate South Korea from the US and the talks you refer to are the first step; the result is not a victory for Trump or for the US, and may lead to a diplomatic defeat, who knows?
And, North Korea is already a parking lot, except for nuclear works which are all underground, safe from nuclear attack.
Meanwhile Trump orders CDC to advise the nation how to survive our nuclear attack, and all of our civilization is above ground.
And, don’t forget the possibility of a dirty bomb, perhaps already in hand or in place.
And you don’t seem to understand that the first shot from either side sends Seoul to a bloody hell, and millions of lives with it.
Jan 7, 2018 16:51:19 #
Twardlow wrote:
I’m not at all convinced Trump wouldn’t fire the f... (show quote)
Why must you ALWAYS assume that Trump want's a nuclear war. From a puerely selfish point of view Trump has a hellova lot more to lose than you. From a business point of view, his real estate holdings would be worth 0 were he to get the US in a nuke war. He knows that. He is talking tough on N Korea because the last 3 presidents failed, by playing patty cake with N korea. Clinton, Bush, and Obama totally failed. N Korea developed Nukes and the ability to deliver them, contrary to their Chicken shit policies of appeasement. What would you have Trump Do. Tuck his tail up his ass and continue the failed policies of the last 3 presidents. I think that would fall into the category of insanity. Doing the same thing and expecting.......! Will the new approach work? I don't know. But I do know thatr regardless what Trump does, we are closer to nuclear war with North Korea as a result of the utter failure of the last 3 presidents.
Jan 7, 2018 22:47:59 #
Twardlow
Loc: Arkansas
boberic wrote:
Why must you ALWAYS assume that Trump want's a nuc... (show quote)
Trump has profound insecurities and needs desperately to be respected and admired. A lot of GIs could die from this, and civilians possibly numbering in the millions.
Other than that, you know nuttin’.
You mistake ignorance for knowledge.
Sad!
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