HAS NORTH KOREA WON AT A WORLD GAME OF CHICKEN ?

[Bruce Patrick Brychek]

09.04.2017:Dear JFK Murder Solved Forum Members and Readers:HAS NORTH KOREA AT LEAST TEMPORARILY WON AT A WORLD GAME OF CHICKEN ?HAS NORTH KOREA GONE ALL IN ON THE BIGGEST GAME OF TEXAS HOLD-EM, WITH EVERYBODY FROZEN IN THEIR TRACKS ?HAS NORTH KOREA CALLED ALL THE BLUFFS, AND SCARED TRUMP, THE U.S., CHINA, GUAM, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND RUSSIA ?HAVE ALL THE SUPER POWERS FOLDED AT LEAST FOR NOW ?WAS STEVE BANNON, THE RECENTLY "FIRED" STRATEGIC ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, CORRECT ?DID TRUMP POSSIBLY "FIRE" ONE OF HIS MOST BRILLIANT ANALYTICAL ADVISORS ?WAS THE DECISION REALLY TRUMPS ?OR WAS TRUMP "TOLD" WHAT TO DO ?BANNON ALLEGED THAT THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION TO NORTH KOREA ? IS THAT CORRECT AT LEAST FOR NOW ?(09.04.2017, BB).We’re stuck with North Korea for the long haul Rick Newman 4 hours ago Steve Bannon was right.Before leaving his job as a strategic adviser to President Donald Trump on Aug. 18, Bannon said in a defiant interview that “there’s no military solution [to North Korea]. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes … there’s no military solution here, they got us.”Since Bannon left, North Korea has raised the stakes even more. On August 28, it fired a missile over Japan — arguably, an act of war. Then on September 3, it conducted its sixth nuclear test, claiming for the first time to have detonated a hydrogen bomb far more powerful than ordinary atomic weapons. North Korea also claims it can put such a fearsome bomb on a missile able to reach the United States, which experts doubt, for now. But North Korea has reached other military milestones faster than expected, and it may be inevitable they attain this capability, too.The Pentagon is reportedly briefing President Trump on every military contingency plan for dealing with North Korea. Trump has said several times that “all options are on the table.” But all options are not on the table. In fact, there may be only one way forward on the Korean standoff, with investors having no choice but to live with the nerve-wracking risks posed by the world’s newest, and most troublesome, nuclear power.Trump wants North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to believe the United States is willing to launch a preemptive military strike to halt or destroy North Korea’s nuclear program, which most likely consists of several nuclear devices and missiles that will soon be able to carry those weapons to much of the United States. It’s prudent for Trump to send that message to Kim since he’d be tying his own hands and limiting his negotiating power by saying otherwise.But as Bannon said, a military option is implausible, for one obvious reason: The bloodshed would be horrifying. Any shooting war would allow North Korea plenty of time to lob thousands of artillery shells at Seoul before the United States and its allies were able to eliminate the threat. It’s also now possible Kim could launch a nuke at Japan, the U.S. territory of Guam or even the continental United States before American bombs shut him down. The death toll would be so large no commander-in-chief would order such action, and if he or she did, the Pentagon would probably find a way not to carry out the order.Limitations on containing North Korea:Just about every other approach to reining in the North Korean nuclear program has failed. Diplomacy was the method of choice for much of the past 20 years, and that allowed North Korea to covertly, then openly, develop what is now a legitimate nuclear arsenal. When diplomacy failed, the West imposed economic sanctions, which may have slowed the North’s nuclear program but obviously didn’t stop it.Trump suggested in a September 3 tweet there may be new, improved sanctions on any nation that trades with North Korea. But that would include China — one of America’s largest trading partners — which means ordinary Americans buying Chinese-made products would suffer. Advantage: North Korea.China has more leverage over North Korea than any other nation, but as Trump is learning, China has reasons to keep Kim in power and use him as a counterweight to America’s presence in South Korea. Trump can still lean harder on China, but if he goes as far as sanctions, markets will tank and Trump will have to explain why he’s willing to endanger an otherwise robust US economy for the sake of staring down a nuclear bully. Isn’t living well the best revenge?Finally, there is covert action, including the possible assassination of Kim. That could include cyber warfare that sabotages North Korean weaponry. But North Korea seems as impervious to covert action as anyplace, and Kim’s personal security is so rigorous that hardly anybody knows where he is at any given moment. So while it’s possible Kim could be assassinated — by internal factions or foreign interests — that possibility seems remote.That leaves one likely outcome: simply tolerating North Korea as it is and doing whatever is necessary to contain the threat it poses. “Deterrence is the most likely outcome,” says Sue Mi Terry of the consulting firm Bower Group Asia, who was a former senior analyst on North Korea at the CIA. “Trump will never say that, but we are living with a nuclear North Korea, just as we live with a nuclear Russia and a nuclear China. It’s only whether we want to admit that or not.”This is obviously an unsatisfying outcome that leaves the bellicose Kim free to build his weapons program and broadcast his threats of doom against the United States and its allies. Kim’s provocations clearly irritate Trump, who told journalists on Aug. 8, “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” Trump’s warning seems not to have constrained Kim at all.But North Korea’s verbal threats aren’t inherently harmful, and answering Kim with counter threats may actually be a form of acknowledgment he craves. The North’s weapons tests are far more dangerous since one could go awry and actually kill people, or trigger a response by a U.S. ally such as Japan that could lead to a military confrontation. The North’s missile firings and nuclear tests also generate a tenser military posture throughout the region, heightening the risk of an inadvertent clash, perhaps at sea, as has happened before.Experience with global unrest:But the United States and its allies have dealt with such risks before, especially in Central Europe during the Cold War, when NATO and Warsaw Pact countries had hundreds of tanks, along with tactical nuclear weapons, pointed at each other. Posturing and saber-rattling were routine events during the Cold War, much as they are now on the Korean Peninsula. Back then, containment worked, with the Warsaw Pact disintegrating once the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.Some strategists think North Korea is similarly doomed, since its economy is feudal, its leader paranoid and its people desperate for something better. The real question may be whether North Korea can stagger along, brandishing its fistful of nukes, longer than the likes of Trump. Until that becomes clear, the periodic outbursts will continue — on both sides, apparently.Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Encrypted communication available.Reactions Like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet EmailNorth Korea's announcement on Sunday that it has successfully tested a hydrogen bomb meant to be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile has raised alarm bells across the world, in part because of the weapon's destructive power.Here's a look at what a hydrogen bomb is, and what exactly it can do:Stronger than the atomic bombs used during WWIILos Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a federally funded research and development center focused on national security issues, suggests that thermonuclear weapons, including so-called hydrogen bombs, are more powerful than atomic weapons, like the ones the United States used on Japan during World War II, killing hundreds of thousands of people.PHOTO: Detonation of nuclear device 'Ivy Mike' during Operation Ivy, 1952. (Corbis via Getty Images)Atomic bombs produce energy through "fission, or the splitting of heavy nuclei into smaller units, releasing energy," according to LANL.Thermonuclear weapons use a fission bomb to start "a fusion reaction where light nuclei, with few protons and neutrons, join together and release energy," according to LANL. This represents the same reaction that powers stars, LANL notes.When a newsreader for North Korean state-run television announced today's test, she called it a "complete success," adding that the "two-stage thermonuclear weapon" had "unprecedented" strength.Mankind tested hydrogen bombs, but not used them in warPHOTO: The RDS-6s device, the first Soviet test of a thermonuclear weapon (called Joe 4) on Aug. 12, 1953. (Heritage Images/Getty Images)The U.S. first ran a test of its own hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands on November 1, 1952, during a mission called Operation Ivy."The Atomic Energy Commission announced tonight ‘satisfactory’ experiments in hydrogen weapon research … In a three-paragraph announcement, the Commission did not go so far as to state that a full-scale hydrogen bomb had been detonated, but it did say ‘experiments contributing’ to hydrogen bomb research had been completed,” the New York Times reported at the time.Footage of the test shows the haunting and familiar "mushroom cloud" of smoke billowing outward into the sky in repeated waves.The test represented the next stage in development for weaponry, and an escalation in potential damage: Nuclearweaponarchive.org, a website that tracks the history of atomic explosions, suggests that a blast created during Operation Ivy was "considerably more powerful than all the high explosives used in two World Wars put together."A summary produced by The History Channel suggests that the blast is "approximately 1,000 times more powerful than conventional nuclear devices" like the atomic bomb.Responding to the threat posed by the U.S., the U.S.S.R. tested "Joe 4," a thermonuclear device, in August of 1953.ReutersNorth Korean nuclear test prompts global condemnationReuters Reuters 11 hours ago Reactions Like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet EmailLONDON (Reuters) - North Korea's biggest nuclear test to date was condemned around the world on Sunday, with several leaders calling for new sanctions and U.S. President Donald Trump saying "appeasement" would not work.The explosion of what North Korea said was an advanced hydrogen bomb came just days after it fired a missile over Japan.Trump, who said after last week's missile launch that talking to Pyongyang "is not the answer", tweeted that Sunday's test showed North Korea's "words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States".U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he would put together new sanctions to potentially cut off all North Korea's global trade.German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said they planned to tighten European Union sanctions."This latest provocation by the ruler in Pyongyang has reached a new dimension," the German government said in a statement after Merkel and Macron discussed the issue by phone.Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson said: "They (North Korea) seem to be moving closer towards a hydrogen bomb which, if fitted to a successful missile, would unquestionably present a new order of threat," adding that there were no palatable military solutions.British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.N. Security Council should urgently look at new measures.Russia struck a cautious tone."In the emerging conditions it is absolutely essential to keep cool, refrain from any actions that could lead to a further escalation of tensions," Russia's foreign ministry said, adding that North Korea risked "serious consequences".Later on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in China where they agreed to "appropriately deal with" the crisis, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said."The two leaders agreed to stick to the goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and keep close communication and coordination to deal with the new situation," Xinhua said.Earlier, China urged North Korea to stop "wrong" actions and said it would fully enforce U.N. resolutions on the country.As North Korea's most important trading partner, the position of China - a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council - will be closely watched. A Japanese government source said there would be pressure on Beijing to impose an oil embargo."They will probably act eventually but ... it is possible that will not be before their October (party) convention," the source said. "Russia does not have real influence on North Korea. It's China that matters."Trump said North Korea had become "a great threat and embarrassment to China" and that Beijing had tried but failed to solve the problem. What he called South Korea's "talk of appeasement" would not work as "they (the North Koreans) only understand one thing!"The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has no access to North Korea, called the nuclear test, Pyongyang's sixth since 2006, "an extremely regrettable act" that was "in complete disregard of the repeated demands of the international community".(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by John Stonestreet and Andrew Bolton)Associated PressAs always, I strongly recommend that you first read, research, and study material completely yourself about a Subject Matter, and then formulate your own Opinions and Theories.Any additional analyses, interviews, investigations, readings, research, studies, thoughts,or writings on any aspect of this Subject Matter ?Bear in mind that we are trying to attract and educate a Whole New Generation of JFKResearchers who may not be as well versed as you.Comments ?Respectfully,BB.

[Slav]

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