U.S. President Donald Trump meets South Korea's President Moon Jae-In and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ahead the G20 leaders summit in Hamburg, Germany July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Brian Padden, VOA: Doubts Growing US Will Always Defend Asian Allies
SEOUL — In South Korea and Japan there is increasing support for the deployment of nuclear weapons to defend against the growing North Korean threat, and due to public concern that the U.S. may no longer be counted on to aid allies with extended nuclear deterrence.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency estimates North Korea may have as many as 60 nuclear weapons, and that it might have successfully miniaturized nuclear warheads to fit on its arsenal of 1,000 missiles.
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WNU Editor: South Vietnam was once a U.S. ally.
2 comments:
South Korea and Japan should have developed nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them long, long ago. I'd say they should have developed them about 25 years ago. I am pleased to see that some are finally catching on.
As to will America defend them, if it is able to do so, America will. Unfortunately the American military is worn down and hollowed out. Even basic national defense is going to be problematic for the US right now. As such, a nuclear armed South Korea and Japan would relieve some of the pressure on the drained US military.
A better question is will America's "allies" come to our aid if we needed it. Also, will these "allies" do something that will get us drawn into a war? Worrying about what South Korea, for example, might do that would get us drawn into a war with North Korea has to be one of those things that keep US leaders up at night.
I know first and second hand what it is like to have things that are important to you being decided without your input or your consideration and you have no way to influence the process!! What this does to a person's stress is incalculable. While it is sound advice to simply not worry as you have no control, this is easier said than done.
This is the same with South Korea. We are supposedly allied but we have little to no influence, their support for us is tepid at best, and they have the ability and willingness to make decisions that can impact us in major ways and there is little to nothing we can do about it. As such, a very good question is "will our Asian allies defend America should the need arise?"
By always asking what will America do we are, at best, being incomplete. At worst, it is completely the wrong question. More focus needs to be on what will our "allies" do. Will they defend us?
It is a "crap shoot" if America will defend it allies, if Democrats are in ascendancy.
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