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From Vox: Scariest part of SOTU? Trump talks about N Korea the way Bush talked about Iraq
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/1/30/16953558/state-of-the-union-trump-north-koreaTrump discussing North Korea in the same way that Bush discussed Saddam is a troubling warning sign. This is how American presidents sell wars absent an imminent threat. They paint the prospective enemy as evil, an enemy of civilization, something that must be defeated both to preserve our own safety and to secure the future of humanity.
And like in 2002, we have spent months hearing about proposals inside the White House for a preemptive strike. Many assumed these were a bluff — but many informed observers have come to believe they are not. When I interviewed a slew of Korea experts last month, the consensus was that we are far closer to war than most Americans believe.
The difference between 2002 and now is that war with North Korea would be far, far bloodier than even the terrible war in Iraq. The North’s artillery could kill tens of thousands of civilians in Seoul, South Korea’s densely populated capital, within the first hours of a conflict. A protracted fight would lead to destruction on the Korean Peninsula on a scale unheard of since the Korean War in the 1950s, with millions of deaths on both sides.
The North’s nuclear missiles could easily reach Tokyo; most major American cities are also within their range. Imagine a nuclear strike on New York City — hundreds of thousands of Americans dead or irradiated in a catastrophe that would dwarf 9/11 by multiple orders of magnitude — and you start to understand what’s at risk here.
Just before Trump’s ominous speech, we learned that Victor Cha, a highly respected North Korea scholar at Georgetown University, had been dismissed from consideration as a possible ambassador to South Korea (a currently unfilled post). This is highly unusual at this stage — Cha had already gone through security checks and been approved by the South Korean government.
The reason, according to reports in the Washington Post and the Financial Times, is that Cha had criticized the administration’s proposed plans for a strike on North Korea in private. Shortly after the news broke, Cha published an op-ed in the Post attacking the proposed plan as too dangerous and unlikely to work.
-snip-
Cha, it seems, is worried about the Trump administration actually starting a war with North Korea. The State of the Union showed that we should be too.
And like in 2002, we have spent months hearing about proposals inside the White House for a preemptive strike. Many assumed these were a bluff — but many informed observers have come to believe they are not. When I interviewed a slew of Korea experts last month, the consensus was that we are far closer to war than most Americans believe.
The difference between 2002 and now is that war with North Korea would be far, far bloodier than even the terrible war in Iraq. The North’s artillery could kill tens of thousands of civilians in Seoul, South Korea’s densely populated capital, within the first hours of a conflict. A protracted fight would lead to destruction on the Korean Peninsula on a scale unheard of since the Korean War in the 1950s, with millions of deaths on both sides.
The North’s nuclear missiles could easily reach Tokyo; most major American cities are also within their range. Imagine a nuclear strike on New York City — hundreds of thousands of Americans dead or irradiated in a catastrophe that would dwarf 9/11 by multiple orders of magnitude — and you start to understand what’s at risk here.
Just before Trump’s ominous speech, we learned that Victor Cha, a highly respected North Korea scholar at Georgetown University, had been dismissed from consideration as a possible ambassador to South Korea (a currently unfilled post). This is highly unusual at this stage — Cha had already gone through security checks and been approved by the South Korean government.
The reason, according to reports in the Washington Post and the Financial Times, is that Cha had criticized the administration’s proposed plans for a strike on North Korea in private. Shortly after the news broke, Cha published an op-ed in the Post attacking the proposed plan as too dangerous and unlikely to work.
-snip-
Cha, it seems, is worried about the Trump administration actually starting a war with North Korea. The State of the Union showed that we should be too.
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
NK will mean death to millions of people. We need to get this POS out, he is a true danger to us and many other countries.
Vietnam
Gulf War 1
Afghanistan/Iraq 2
N Korea?
