I'm reading a lot of first strike nonsense on the internet

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Not just a first strike but an Operation Barbarossa or Pearl Harbor like first strike. First of all Americans don't do that and second of all every military experts say the monetary and humanitarian costs are staggering.

[RandySF]

1. So who would stop Trump from giving the order?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. Since it would require deliberation and planning I suspect his generals would...

Since it would require deliberation and planning thus giving them to think about it I suspect his generals would if they determined the risks outweighed the benefits.

[Alice11111]

11. He already said he was going to do it if NK threatened.

So, of course, NK threatened, within hours of DT's pronouncement, to take out Guam..

Unless someone, probably China, deescalates this, which
may also mean silencing DT, it's here.

[rusty quoin]

2. Too many people don't learn from experience and always have great big opinions.

[C_U_L8R]

3. War crime

[ginnyinWI]

5. The Atlantic has an article which spells out all the options.

None of them are good. But keeping it going as it has been going is probably the best option.

If the U.S. strikes North Korea, South Korea and Japan get attacked at minimum. We'd be wiping out major cities in those countries.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/the-worst-problem-on-earth/528717/

[Strelnikov_]

7. Good article. Basically, all end in either option 1 or 4, with 4 being wait them out, and 1

being a massive surprise attack.

Guess the 'surprise' part of 1 is, well, moot.

[Cicada]

6. A few nukes are cheap, Trump has no human decency

Trump will probably rise in polls if he murders a few hundred thousand foreigners.

And a few hundred thousand dead asians mean nothing to him.


Americans will mostly think: whew, no more risk we will get nuked by NK. God I love Trump.

Admittedly the world may go into recession but higher polls are worth it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. What would the world reaction be if we incinerated twenty million Koreans ?

And those that survived pouring over the Chinese border?

[Cicada]

17. If he tries to nuke I think 25th amendment will stop him

If Pence and a majority of the cabinet agree then Trump is replaced by Pence.

If foreign govts think he might nuke NK then they might plant someone to get near him at a golf course, or other location, to spray an invible sleeping gas toward his mouth and nose. If you could stop Trump wouldn't you have to do it?

[Zoonart]

28. Keep you eye on Pence...

I think he probably has his cabinet appointment's papers all lined up.

[Strelnikov_]

9. Problem is, SK will be destroyed, and the systemic catabolic collapse of the world economy

will probably result in a billion or more deaths.

People just do not understand how close to the edge a large part of the world's population lives.

A small number of crooks gaming the system about crashed it in '08 . . . imagine what a few nukes will do to 'consumer confidence' and the banking system.

We are in uncharted territory.

[Alice11111]

13. Yes. For sure.

[XRubicon]

10. We did "preemptive" war in Iraq

We had to stop the "WMD"

This all seems so familiar, hmmmm..

[Willie Pep]

16. Sadly for many the Iraq War has gone down the memory hole.

It is a shame that so many people don't talk about it anymore. It was likely the biggest foreign policy blunder in American history but now people barely seem to remember it and talk about how fun the Bush years were. Uh!

[Alice11111]

12. Now, our Pres is truly mentally ill though. Plus, he

doesn't care if we lose S Koreans. There are about 100,000 Americans living there.

[Caliman73]

14. True.

I think the biggest thing for him is saving face and showing that he is tough.

I was reading that in Seoul there are about 630 thousand foreign nationals living and working. I think that the world will condemn any preemptive action taken by the US and the world economy would be thrown into chaos.

His base will not care, but everyone else with half a brain and a smidgen of conscience would certainly care.

[Alice11111]

24. Probably right about his base, unless someone has a son

there and it is personal.

[Shrike47]

15. He'll just 'forget' Guam is a U S territory and ignore the threat.

In fact, he probably really doesn't know Guam is part of the U S and doesn't give a damn anyway.

[Voltaire2]

18. Americans don't do that ?

Is your memory really that short?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. We attacked a nation out of the blue like in Pearl Harbor or Operation Barbarossa.

The invasion of Iraq was the biggest strategic blunder in the history of the republic but we couldn't have been more transparent in announcing we were going to invade them.

[Voltaire2]

21. "First strike".

We've done that in several occasions.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. i was pretty clear

Not just a first strike but an Operation Barbarossa or Pearl Harbor like first strike

[ginnyinWI]

20. Keep in mind what a liar he is.

That is the most consistent trait he has--he lies all the time. So the first thing to think whenever he makes a statement like this is that it is a lie or a bluff. I think he figures if he makes a great big threat, he will stop is opponent and not have to do anything more.

He won't mind if he doesn't follow through on some statement he makes. He's well practiced at weaseling out of things he's said he will or will not do. Just forgets it and moves 180 on the issue and completely contradicts himself. I'd expect after this threat he could easily make a complete shift.

One of his ploys is to keep the opponent off balance with stuff like this. He doesn't mind not keeping his word or sticking to a script!

[dalton99a]

23. Nothing will happen. Pretty soon he'll be bragging about how his "doctrine of unpredictability"

has saved the world

[Bradical79]

25. Donald Trump leading a war is absured

We did the preemptive strike thing in Iraq, but at least there was a plan. Not a well thought out long term plan, but still a plan.

Trump just wings it. He doesn't even know where to begin on something of this scale. The lost carrier group and ineffective missle strike on that Syrian base probably give a good idea of what a shit show any full scale war will be under Trump. He'll give some vague directive then go play golf, take a nap, or watch tv.

[jambo101]

26. Seems trumps cult

Is all for going in with a first strike. astounding ignorance that could get us into WW3 with Russia and or China in a real hurry.

[Girard442]

27. Yes, an American nuclear first strike could only happen if we lived in Bizarro World.

Oh. Wait.

[Zoonart]

29. YEP!