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U.S. told Japan before Trump-Xi talks of option to strike N Korea

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If it happens, I hope it doesn't lead to bombs being dropped on Japan.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

It would be wise for China to pressure Kim to back down. After decades of allowing the KIm regime to reach this point perhaps they didn't expect Kim to provoke the US to this extent. Full US military action will inevitably result in a unification of the Korean Penninsula but with US/Skorean troops stationed right up to the Chinese border. China certainly doesn't want that.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

intercontinental ballistic missile, which could potentially deliver a nuclear warhead to the U.S. mainland,

More boogeyman under the covers syndrome. Thinking this is logically possible is nothing short of moronic. NK is belligerent not suicidal. This is the same noise we heard before the forray into iraq. Tragic that many have forgotten how that turned out to be a mistake.

Full US military action will inevitably result in a unification of the Korean Penninsula

And where pray tell do you summize that? Everyone was sold on empty assumptions such as these to justify war in iraq. McDonalds on every street corner they said.

The last great statesman General Eisenhower espoused it prophetically when he warned against an industry that had by the time unfortunately taken root in the government. The undying military complex!! It's terribly disgusting how many sane people still propose violence over discourse. I'm inclined to believe that deep down in their psyche contrary to what they might say, they truly believe in the dissemination of the age old monroe doctrine on steroids. Disgusting!!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Hence the USS Carl Vinson battle group being rerouted to the Sea of Japan. I hate to say it but it seems that this seems to be the only option in stopping that nut in NK.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The Orange One needs to look Manly (because of his tiny hands) and show the Armchair Hawks among his supporters that he's A Man. Hence, he bombs empty airport hangers (the crowd goes wild!) because gas was used on Children! that The Orange P-Grabber doesn't want in HIS country.

Now he's going to put Japan and millions of North Koreans and Seoul residence in peril to improve his own ratings. And oh yeah, and make money for himself as he has stock in bomb producing companies.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Borscht, not that I necessarily have an alternative to the action Trump is considering taking, but I wonder what do you consider as a better course of actions (than the proposition of a premptive strike).

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Just look at what 59 missiles did in Syria and you can make your mind about the worthiness of this action.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Eeesh, hope they don't do anything irrational, Japan can not and should not be involved in any confrontation.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Fred WallaceApr. 12, 2017 - 08:17AM JST "Full US military action will inevitably result in a unification of the Korean Penninsula " And where pray tell do you summize that? Everyone was sold on empty assumptions such as these to justify war in iraq. >McDonalds on every street corner they said

Do you actually for a moment believe that in a full scale war, even with conventional weapons alone, that the United States would not overwhelm North Korea entirely? North Korea is not Iraq, all of which your comments are made with the benefit of hindsight. .

It's terribly disgusting how many sane people still propose violence over discourse.

We have tried for decades with discourse. There is only one country that has continuously proposed violence towards it's neighbors and the U.S.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

We have heard this sort of talk over the years, even 25 odd years ago the young American military conscripts in roppongi were convinced they were going to war with NK. Is it just more sabre rattling or is it really different this time? Are the North Koreans so far gone that they are willing to commit mass suicide for the great leader with an even greater haircut, and/or is America willing to bring more chaos to another region for THA man with the worlds BEST haircut? Would it be different if they were both bald?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

China can help NK liberalise its economy, while still maintaining the party/family structure.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Do you actually for a moment believe that in a full scale war

I'll stop you right there. The last 'successful' Full scale war was the second one. Everything after that has been muddled. My point is the continued insistence on the use of violence is something that's been ingrained over the course of seventy plus years. I'm thinking you glossed over the bit about Eisenhowers warning?

There is only one country that has continuously proposed violence towards it's neighbors and the U.S.

So it's safe to say all presidents before trump were incompetent to stop them? We're they cowardly to impose sanctions? And I'd sanctions inevitably fail as you clearly believe, should going in guns blazing become the new norm?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

J better prepared intercept missiles trajectory

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Having all options on the table just makes good sense. That doesn't mean any will be used and doesn't provide 'probabilities' for each.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Fred WallaceApr. 12, 2017 - 09:19AM JST "Do you actually for a moment believe that in a full scale war" My point is the continued insistence on the use of violence is something that's been ingrained over the course of seventy >plus years.

Since the Korean War ended in 1953, North Korea is the country has continued to maintain a State of War mentality, and an agenda which has now culminated in the likelihood of being an actual threat to the U.S. Or are you talking about all nations and humans in general?

"There is only one country that has continuously proposed violence towards it's neighbors and the U.S."

So it's safe to say all presidents before trump were incompetent to stop them? We're they cowardly to impose >sanctions? Nope, they weren't incompetent, their policies were failures. Imposing sanctions has nothing to with cowardice or bravery. It was the rational ting to do to give North Korea a chance to change it's policies. They failed.

And I'd sanctions inevitably fail as you clearly believe, should going in guns blazing become the new norm? Sanctions don't inevitably fail, they simply failed with respect to North Korea. Going in guns blazing is not the norm, new or otherwise. It's a final option if all else fails, and they have all failed with the exception of China putting a lid on the Kim regime. And we do not know if they will or not.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

If U.S. is thinking attacking North Korea seriously, it is now. We cannot wait their missiles and nukes improve and come to accurately pin point Japanese or U.S. cities. Best scenario will be to remove him by China in a secret manner.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Borscht and others, you don't seem to realize we are trillions of dollars in debt to China which means if we attack nk more than likely they will say stuff but they won't attack anyone because if they do then that debt will be wiped due to war and they want our money

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It is time to delete the word "Self" from the defense forces. SDF was created by people like McArthur as a natural reaction to the Japanese agressivenes. If this is the 21st century in Japan, it is time be prepared for the worst disaster.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

China certainly doesn't want that.

I'm betting on them on calling Trump's bluff. NK has a very capable military. They already have missiles that can reach SK and Japan for a while now.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

The citizens of North Korea are essentially slaves, with the right PR not only will Trump have saved the world from a nuclear threat, won easily but he also will have 'saved' 20 million+ innocent people from a concentration camp type existence.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

NK has a very capable military.

Strength in numbers, that's about it.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

If it comes to military action, they need to make sure to cause overwhelming destruction to the NK leadership to try and end the conflict quickly. If it drags out, it will be the people living in SK and Japan who will suffer from retaliatory strikes. Many major cities may have to be evacuated, especially in SK

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Having a devided Korea is in the best interests of both China and Japan. Did I forget to mention America? Your benefiting too!

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

overwhelming destruction to the NK leadership

I'm sorry but isn't doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting a different result the very definition of madness? This flawed approach failed miserably in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen etc. Enough is enough!! Any incursions into NK will create a terrible blowback to all those involved. How anyone can dismiss that so easily is foolish to say the least!!

Success or failure of sanctions aside, only dialogue will lead to an amicable outcome. Enough with this hollywood style good guy bad guy mentality. This is the real world!!

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Russia and China have ICBMs capable of taking out the US. The US is not getting ready to hit them. What is the difference?

Equally, to Russia and China, NK is not a threat. Why not?

The difference is not in the capability, it is in the history, attitude and intention. In other words, if the NK were less belligerent, and if the DPRK leadership could prove to the world that they are mature in their thinking and less full of hate, then major problems would largely tend to disappear. Possibly the NK government are not aware that their rabid announcements push all the wrong buttons in the western world. Possibly they are mouthing off as a smokescreen in order to control their own people.

How do you get a nation to change its attitude? How do you develop real trust? It takes two to tango.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

NK won't be a walk in the park like saddam's Iraq.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

North Korea has done this same angry barking routine for the last 50 years to get some form of food aid or loosening of financial or good embargo.

So now an idiot in the White House, his idiot Secretary of State and his idiot Secretary of Defense are going to launch an attack because the boy cult dictator says angry words to the schoolyard bully.

Their first reaction will be to annihilate Seoul with th3e barrage of rockets, artillery and missiles only seconds away in flight time.

Trump is now the dangerous man on planet Earth because he's in a bubble formed by the neocons surrounding him while listening to a 30-something son-in-law.

God help us all.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

The only proper way for N. Korea to fall, is for it to collapse internally. Maybe an assassination of Kim, or the people rising up, or whatever. But attacking from the outside is absolutely ridiculous.

Really weird that I'm on the same page as the alt-right this time.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

they wont do anything to stop north korea. they only attack nations that cant fight back. if a war starts south korea will be wiped out and japan will be hurt as well because the American bases make us a target. the usa risks losing 100s of billion in trade after the damage a war would do to the region.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Wow, surgical strikes on North Korea, which (for those who haven't noticed) borders South Korea. Since there's never been a war on the Korean peninsular, we have no way to know what could go wrong! The US couldn't beat North Korea in 195--53. Then it was the Chinese army (still a peasant nation) that beat them. Then in the 60's they tried Vietnam. That didn't work out. On to Iraq and Afghanistan. Oops, two more massive failures, and a series of others. And none of them were even military powers. North Korea is a military power with a huge army just waiting to swarm all over the South Koreans. They have lots of rockets and bombs to destroy South Korea with. They can also hit any number of other countries, including the whole of Japan, and obviously Okinawa and the US troops there. I'd love to see NK dealt with, but regime change probably needs to come from within. Striking Pyongyang unilaterally could have consequences too terrible to contemplate. Mind you, if that's the idea, do it now. They're only going to get more powerful.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Do you actually for a moment believe that in a full scale war, even with conventional weapons alone, that the United States would not overwhelm North Korea entirely? North Korea is not Iraq, all of which your comments are made with the benefit of hindsight. .

Uhm.....do you actually believe for a moment what you wrote here? Go back and read the history of the Korean war, NK may not be Iraq, and it would be worse than Iraq, as China is bound to jump in again.

Since there's never been a war on the Korean peninsular, we have no way to know what could go wrong!

Wow....why do people make comments on a topic they know nothing about?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Again, I can't see why the US would do this. It makes no sense.

The Kim regime are wickedly unhinged, of that there is really no dispute except for Dennis Rodman. Providing the leader and some of his cronies survive any strikes, then it will be on, and I agree with Zichi, the whole region will descend into chaos. It's a fuse that just shouldn't be lit.

China are the wild card here. If they were to back North Korea and get involved, you have regional war. If they don't, you would need a combination of South Korean and US forces to completely dismantle the NK regime quickly and ruthlessly. North Korea would likely attack Japan as well, so what does Japan do then?

I really feel for the North Korean people. They have long had to suffer the regime and it's paranoid madness, but they will die en-messe if this were to kick off.

Again, I can't see the sense in it.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

America is on bankruptcy. It is an economically failed state and empire, even though they won't admit it, everyone knows it. Empires are born and dead continually, during history. The US are bringing war everywhere as a strategy to survive economically (Middle East, Far East, Europe). They are isolated geographically, protected by two Oceans, so they don't care about the consequences of they military aggressions in other places. Our European politicians, like puppets, support everything they do, as vassal states, even though this destroyed the European societies with huge mass migration as consequences of American endless wars. Now they want to start a mess also in the poor Korean peninsula. I hope it's just a bluff for propaganda reasons like part of the press says here in Europe. I wonder how they can attack NK when Chinese own millions of American debt.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

If it happens, I hope it doesn't lead to bombs being dropped on Japan.

Unless NK's army is crushed within 24h, which is unrealistic, it would. There is no reason for KJU's regime to go down quietly. The 2 obvious targets being SK and Japan, I don't see how both countries could avoid some sort of NK retaliation.

With this in mind, I don't see any reason to strike first, unless the US/allies have absolutely rock solid intelligence showing NK's about to launch a nuclear attack within X days. And when I say rock solid, I mean it in a non-WMD way i.e based on facts & non fabricated evidence a la Colin Powell, GWB etc This is why I think we need the UN or some for of coalition (with at least Japan and SK in it) to be involved rather than the us alone. Not that I don't trust Trump and his boys, naaaaaa... ;) but people like Trump or Bush before him tend to be more trigger-happy when the target is thousands of km away (i.e beyond reach) from his own ppl.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Trumps move is right. Kim will behave. China will not help NK fight the US.

China will now be screaming at NK to behave.

The last thing China wants is a conflict on its border.

Having an armada off the coast with a Pres who everyone is scared of will mean Kim will back off. He has nobody supporting him now. China isn't. And generals in NK will be scared too.

The days of Kim bullying everyone are over.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The Chinese President has called Trump and said he will help with a solution, as long as it is peaceful. China also rejected a shipment of coal from North Korea (as a way to tell them to knock it off?) The date of that order is the same day that President Xi met with President Trump, but I am sure someone here will explain to me how it had nothing to do with Trump. Oh and who just started mining coal again? That would be the U-S-A.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Chinese President has called Trump and said he will help with a solution, as long as it is peaceful.

You know the president is in shambles when China is acting as a calming force on him.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Yubaru, have you never heard of sarcasm:

Since there's never been a war on the Korean peninsular, we have no way to know what could go wrong!

Wow....why do people make comments on a topic they know nothing about?

The next line even mentions the Korean war of 50-53. Perhaps you're not a native speaker. Never mind...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The battle group is there because this week NK celebrate will some one,s birthday and a week latter N.K. will celebrate Army day. These special days are usually earmark with bomb test or missiles test launch into the Sea of Japan. I say N.K plan to launch a test missiles from their base in the west and over fly the capital Pyongyang and fly off over the Sea of Japan on Army day a week from Thursday, tomorrow. None will pass the Battle group. They will be intercepted. This will not go down will with China if any missiles are launched, nor the Americans having a Battle group mass on their border. China it has be said have or are mass 150,000 troops on the N.K border. If no missiles are fired China will not interfere, But if missiles are launched, I assume China will place way more pressure on the NK Leadership, I stated a few week back when the murdered brother son or Grandson and Great Grandson of the original leader, came out to signal that he and his family are alive and well, was also a massage to the people of NK that he would make a good blood related Leader.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The claimed nuclear tests by North Korea had a yield of less than 1 kiloton. Any true fission detonation would by a minimum of then times that.

This is all more nonsense by neocons who have surrounded Trump and are itching for a fight with anyone.

You're eye witnesses true stupidity at its finest.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

noriyosan73Apr. 12, 2017 - 10:49AM JST It is time to delete the word "Self" from the defense forces. SDF was created by people like McArthur as a natural >reaction to the Japanese agressivenes.

That's both ridiculous and completely incorrect. The US forced Japan to create the JSDF as a branch of the NPA to circumvent Article 9 because the US troops stationed in Japan were now being deployed to Korea when the Korean War broke out in 1950. At the time the US was still wary of possible Soviet invasion of Japan and needed a military to defend Japan while US forces were deployed elsewhere.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Really weird that I'm on the same page as the alt-right this time.

Name calling. The last refuge for the immature!!

Moderator:Please stop posting this. It is irrelevant.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

MSNBC poll. Should USA attack N Korea? Yes 2% No 98% :....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is an economically failed state and empire, even though they won't admit it, everyone knows it.

Wow, what a fantasy world you are living in!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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