Reuters: Trump: military option for North Korea not preferred, but would be 'devastating'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be “devastating” for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington’s first option to deal with the North’s ballistic and nuclear weapons program.
“We are totally prepared for the second option, not a preferred option,” Trump said at a White House news conference, referring to military force. “But if we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that, devastating for North Korea. That’s called the military option. If we have to take it, we will.”
Bellicose statements by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks have created fears that a miscalculation could lead to action with untold ramifications, particularly since Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: More sanctions on North Korea .... New U.S. sanctions target 8 North Korean banks, 26 individuals (PBS News Hour/AP). More here .... The Trump administration just cranked up pressure on North Korea (CNBC).
3 comments:
I really hope Trump won't lead the US into war. I cannot see the US winning under his "leadership". While wartime presidents usually see an initial bump in their public support, this usually doesn't last long. And a war with north Korea would be either very short or very long. The very short option is unimaginable, even unspeakable. The long option is all but a guarantee that the US will be overburdened by debt and lose the war in a few years. There's just too much going on around the world even as it is today. And the US military would be consumed for years in fighting this war. This is not like Afghanistan or Iraq where major battles ended within weeks or months and after that it was urban combat and drone strikes. This would be against 4+ million soldiers. Mind you, North Korea has only about 26 million people. That means every sixth or so is in the military. Everyone will be afflicted. Every family will fight. We cannot win without using the unspeakable option. And we just cannot do that. That's not winning either. That's just murder. But I think that's what Trump is capable of. He has the profile of a psychopath. And a world in which you have two psychopaths go to war will be a different world indeed.
There us absolutely no scenario where war with north Korea lasts,years (insurgency aside but China won't allow a,drive to Pyongyang).
Regardless of the death toll most experts,acknowledged that north just cant maintain supply and logistic s beyond a few weeks .
Trump is leading no one to war,for over 25 years every other administration has led Kim to this point, trump has no choice when words and sanctions fail.
4 million soldiers is Kim's fantasy, no nation on earth can field such a force let alone a,3rd world nation where soldiers eat grass and planes and tanks have little fuel.
The reality is this is not iran vs Iraq warfare, and beyond a certain point boot numbers are irrelevant
Post a Comment