And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
Patriots,
this is what you get when a nation does not in wars. In 1953 we swept the North Korean problem under the rug by signing an armistice. (a state of war still exists on the peninsula) Over the years this sore has festered. Now we, the South Koreans, Chinese and especially Japan have a real problem.
I think I know the N. Koreans, they are fanatics, they are not poorly trained or led Iraqis or Afghanis. I would not use American troops to fight the fanatical North Koreans, if they commit aggression we must use tactical nuclear weapons against them or we will have another American bloodbath.
THAAD is being deployed to
shield South Korea from North Korean ballistic missiles after several tests by
the Stalinist state in recent months. Beijing is angry because the system
will also be capable of detecting and tracking missiles launched from China.
It was also reported yesterday that the U.S. will send B-1 and B-52
nuclear bombers to South Korea in order to display a stern show of strength.
300,000 South Korean troops and 15,000 US personnel have also started their
annual Foal Eagle military exercise. The USS Carl Vinson nuke-powered aircraft
carrier will join the drill – carrying dozens of fighter jets.
An article in the Global Times, which is
widely regarded as the voice of the Chinese government, says that Beijing will
respond to America’s “strategic provocations” by “rapidly increasing the number and quality of China’s strategic nuclear weapons” "China
isn’t worried about starting a limited “arms race”.
Asserting that “the US must pay
the price for the THAAD deployment,” the piece goes on to warn that, “If the US
further intensifies its anti-missile attempts and strategic containment, China
may reconsider its pledge of not being the first to use nuclear weapons.”
In other words, Beijing is
signaling that it would be prepared to use nuclear weapons against South Korea
in the event of a conflict.
China’s second aircraft carrier is moving closer to completion while China vows
to use its “first class navy” to intercept any “intruding aircraft” within its
region of control.
Last month, Beijing warned the Trump administration that the
People’s Liberation Army is “making preparations” for war after the deployment
of the nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson to patrol the South China Sea.
Pat Buchanan wrote the following article.
To back up Defense Secretary “Mad Dog” Mattis’ warning last month, that the U.S. “remains steadfast in its commitment” to its allies, President Donald Trump is sending B-1 and B-52 bombers to Korea.
Some
300,000 South Korean and 15,000 U.S. troops have begun their annual Foal Eagle
joint war exercises that run through April.
“The
two sides are like two accelerating trains coming toward each other with
neither side willing to give way,” says Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, “Are
(they) really ready for a head-on collision?”
So
it would seem.
It
is Kim Jong Un – 33-year-old grandson of that Stalinist state’s founding
father, who launched the first Korean War – who brought on this confrontation.
In
February, Kim’s half-brother was assassinated in Malaysia in a VX nerve agent
attack, and five of Kim’s security officials were executed with anti-aircraft
guns. Monday, Kim launched four missiles toward U.S. bases, with three landing
in the Sea of Japan.
U.S.
response: Begin immediate deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
missile shield in Korea.
This
set off alarms in China. For while THAAD cannot shoot down Scuds on the DMZ,
its radar can detect missile launches inside China, thereby, says Beijing,
imperiling her deterrent.
For
accepting THAAD, China has imposed sanctions on Seoul, and promised the U.S. a
commensurate strategic response.
Minister
Wang’s proposal for resolving the crisis: The U.S. and Seoul cancel the
exercises and North Korea suspends the nuclear and missile tests.
How
did we reach this crisis point?
In
his 2002 “axis of evil” address, George W. Bush declared, “The United States …
will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the
world’s most destructive weapons.”
He
then launched a war on Iraq, which had no such weapons. But North Korea,
hearing Bush’s threat, built and tested five atom bombs and scores of missiles,
a few of intercontinental range.
Pyongyang
has tested new presidents before.
In
April 1969, North Korea shot down a U.S. EC-121 over the Sea of Japan, killing
its entire crew. President Nixon, a war in Vietnam on his hands, let it pass,
which he regretted ever after.
But
this crisis raises larger questions about U.S. foreign policy.
Why,
a quarter of a century after the Cold War, do we still have 28,000 troops in
Korea? Not only does South Korea have twice the population of the North, but an
economy 40 times as large and access to U.S. weapons far superior to any in the
North.
Why
should Americans on the DMZ be among the first to die in a second Korean War?
Should the North attack the South, could we not honor our treaty obligations
with air and naval power offshore?
Gen.
James Mattis’ warning last month was unambiguous:
“Any
attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated and any use of
nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and
overwhelming.”
JFK’s
phrase in the Cuban crisis, “full retaliatory response,” comes to mind.
Hence
the next move is up to Kim.
New
tests by North Korea of missiles or atom bombs for an ICBM could bring U.S.
strikes on its nuclear facilities and missile sites, igniting an attack on the
South.
For
China, this crisis, whether it leads to war, a U.S. buildup in the South, or a
U.S. withdrawal from Korea, is problematic.
Beijing
cannot sit by and let her North Korean ally be bombed, nor can it allow U.S.
and South Korean forces to defeat the North, bring down the regime, and unite
the peninsula, with U.S. and South Korean soldiers sitting on the Yalu, as they
did in 1950 before Mao ordered his Chinese army into Korea.
However,
should U.S. forces withdraw from the South, Seoul might build her own nuclear
arsenal, followed by Japan. For Tokyo could not live with two Koreas possessing
nukes, while she had none.
This
could leave China contained by nuclear neighbors: to the north, Russia, to the
south, India, to the east, South Korea and Japan. And America offshore.
What
this crisis reveals is that China has as great an interest in restraining North
Korea as do we.
While
the United States cannot back down, it is difficult to reconcile a second
Korean war with our America First policy. Which is why some of us have argued
for decades that the United States should moves its forces out of South Korea
and off the Asian continent.
Events
in Asia – Chinese claims to reefs and rocks in the South and East China Seas
and North Korea’s menacing her neighbors – are pushing us toward a version of
the Nixon Doctrine declared in Guam in 1969 that is consistent with America
First:
While
we will provide the arms for friends and allies to fight in their own defense
in any future wars, henceforth, they will provide the troops.
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