[Motti]

Imagine that you lead the US deep state, and you are observing the real-time flow of Western technology, industry and next-generation skills to the East with alarm. How will you reverse this trend with one master stroke and temporarily staunch the decline of Pax Americana?

A rapid socio-economic meltdown across Asia might produce this hypothetical outcome, and this is where the current North Korean "crisis" may provide an opening gambit. Amidst "rising tensions" on the Korean Peninsula – while South Koreans are concerned with noodles, not nukes – the United States has pre-emptively decided what is best for the region.

Read the rest of the article here:

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201704 ... rosshairs/

Nobody seems to have gamed out the extent of the contagion once the US attacks North Korea. I guess we are just weary of the heightened state of manufactured fears.

[Suntzu]

I don't think we need worry as long as China is around.

[Rapperson]

@Motti

Why should the Deep State be concerned with what you describe? The Deep State is concerned with skimming off the top of taxpayers' money.

[Motti]

@Motti

Why should the Deep State be concerned with what you describe? The Deep State is concerned with skimming off the top of taxpayers' money.

Good question. Maybe, taxpayer money is not enough? The world is not enough. Furthermore, the tax-paying pool may dwindle as the months progress, and the need for accelerated looting worldwide makes sense. The chances of an escalation in Northeast Asia are increasing by the day. Nobody wants to think of a worse case scenario, and yet the escalation continues. According to Zero Hedge, the US is testing what appears to be an NK-specific missile.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-2 ... orth-korea

Just who is the US fighting for in Korea? What is the end game here? If US was concerned with nuclear proliferation, then it should go after Pakistan which has enough jihadi elements within its military brass.

As days drag by, one should expect more protests from South Koreans who'd not want their nation to be a theatre of war.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/26042017-s ... le-system/

This is not just about South Korea but ALL of Asia will reel from any attack on NK. And it will crash the US economy in the process.

[MistyTiger]

This is not just about South Korea but ALL of Asia will reel from any attack on NK. And it will crash the US economy in the process.

And just who has the most to lose? The billionaires and millionaires like Trump and his golf buddies. No wonder Trump is trying to tread a little bit lighter now, but he still walks with a very heavy foot.

[ThirdTerm]

A pre-emptive naval strike against North Korea is the most likely option pursued if the madmen prevail in Washington. The strategic calculus here is "yuge" in its simplistic crudity: any North Korean retaliation may result in massive civilian casualties and Twitter-generated sympathies for the US-South Korea alliance.

Pyongyang has no other option. It will need to take out the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul which hosts the United States Forces Korea (USFK) headquarters, particularly the Combined Forces Command (CFC).

President Trump needs to keep all options on the table without backing down. This is the only way to contain the madman in Pyongyang. Previous administrations bribed and appeased North Korea with food aid and a nuclear reactor, which only emboldened Pyongyang.

[Motti]

President Trump needs to keep all options on the table without backing down

Agreed. But he does not have a good council of advisors.

[Zagadka]

I think that it is pretty evident that Trump is not a military minded person (not meant as an insult). The real choices will be with his cabinet and military intelligence.

[Rapperson]

Containing Li'l Kim isn't enough anymore. He has to be taken down, and so does NK. It has to happen sometime, and postponing it only makes the eventual day of reckoning worse.

What an empty suit Barack Hussein is.

And don't get me started on George.

[Suntzu]

Containing Li'l Kim isn't enough anymore. He has to be taken down, and so does NK. It has to happen sometime, and postponing it only makes the eventual day of reckoning worse.

What an empty suit Barack Hussein is.

And don't get me started on George.

You need to get over there and kick his ass!

[Rapperson]

You need to get over there and kick his ass!

Yeah I know. Donald is keeping me in reserve.

[Suntzu]

Does anyone remember our last military adventure in Korea?

[Rapperson]

Does anyone remember our last military adventure in Korea?

I remember it, and obviously the next one is going to be identical: Riflemen dug in on hills fighting static small scale battles year in year out.

[Motti]

It could be that Donald Trump is using North Korea as a diversion. He has just caved in over Obamacare, and has so far reneged on ALL of his electoral promises. He needs to appear strong over NK. I agree that the Kim is a maniac who needs to be contained but NK should have been resolved right after the fall of the Soviet bloc. But US priorities were the Middle East back then. Perhaps even today.

[Rapperson]

It could be that Donald Trump is using North Korea as a diversion. He has just caved in over Obamacare, and has so far reneged on ALL of his electoral promises. He needs to appear strong over NK. I agree that the Kim is a maniac who needs to be contained but NK should have been resolved right after the fall of the Soviet bloc. But US priorities were the Middle East back then. Perhaps even today.

Clearly, NK is the easiest diversion Donald could find.

[Zagadka]

I hope the eventual M*A*S*H reboot is good.

Anyway, I have a feeling that any concept of what we've done before would apply here. I would bet dollars to donuts that any ground action would be taken by China, while air and sea bombardment comes from the US while we use our anti-missile capabilities to protect South Korea and Japan. Israel has proved fair success with them.

[Motti]

Anyway, I have a feeling that any concept of what we've done before would apply here. I would bet dollars to donuts that any ground action would be taken by China, while air and sea bombardment comes from the US while we use our anti-missile capabilities to protect South Korea and Japan. Israel has proved fair success with them.

NK Korea will fire a salvo of high incendiary artillery shells which I doubt can be intercepted by anti-ballistic missiles.

[Motti]

Zagadka,

You got me all nostalgic on M*A*S*H

[Rapperson]

NK Korea will fire a salvo of high incendiary artillery shells which I doubt can be intercepted by anti-ballistic missiles.

Not when Don and I hit them first with a nuclear ground penetrator or a neutron bomb.

[QatzelOk]

I don't mean to crash the High Noon at the Kim Jung Corral party, but... it looks like the only jobs that Donnie is going to create are in the nuclear cleanup sector.

Thus diversion after diversion after diversion...

Has North Korea stolen all of America's industrial jobs or were they shipped to Asia by actual American billionaires?

...postponing it only makes the eventual day of reckoning worse. ...

I almost spit out my whiskey-in-a-dirty-glass when I read this.