Concur 100%, as would any rational/knowledgeable person.
Do you think Lil Kim falls into this category?

No matter what he does, he's screwed.   We know that.
So why does he keep upping the ante?


Serious question, and probably one that no one can answer.  I'm just thinking out loud.
Personally, I don't believe he's playing with a full deck

Edit:  see my post below

Seven hundred some miles off the coast of Japan, after going across Japan at the skinny part.

Trump and Japanese PM Abe just spoke by phone, agreed North Korea's missile launch was unprecedented, called for emergency UNSC meeting

Anna Fifield  (@annafifield) August 29, 2017

Ships are heading out there now too. The landing site is thought to be more than 700 miles east of Hokkaido, in the Pacific Ocean

Anna Fifield  (@annafifield) August 29, 2017

The North Korean missile landed east of this red mark. Japanese military aircraft are now out looking for debris, local media report pic.twitter.com/hUAgchDmHp

Anna Fifield  (@annafifield) August 29, 2017

Attached File

Oh no! It's Hans Blix!

Fire and fury.

Or nothing. One of those.

He is already rich enough to have ANYTHING his heart could desire. He cut ties with China and murdered his own uncle, the chief minister that was pushing the NK-China alliance, because he wanted more independence for NK than China wanted.

He is rational. Everything you see is an act. He's a private school raised third son of a dictator that barely knew any of his sons. He wasn't raised to be a leader, he wasn't groomed very long by his father when he was selected, especially since Kim Jung Il was pretty sick at the end. All Kim Jung Un's power comes from the backing of the OGD faction of the NK power elite, who exist to ensure the Kim family remains in power and does what they promised to do. Save NK from the threat of a US attack by creating a nuclear deterrent capable of back off the US forever.

So at its core, everything happening right now on both sides is being done extremely delicately and with lots of rational thinking. Had it not, it would have already spin out of control and military attacks would already have started. However, nobody believes a threat if the person giving it isn't a little bit crazy, which is why both Kim Jung Un and Donald J. Trump both are up'ing the "I'm batshit crazy and will nuke you in a heartbeat" routine. Because its gambling, and that requires acting.

The rest of us are simply spectators, as if we're watching a hand of poker being played at the Texas Hold Em World Championship. We might know a few cards the players have, but we're really just along for the ride, for the entertainment factor.

None need get worried. What we're seeing right now is classic brinksmanship negotiation. Its what the fucking State Dept is supposed to be doing all day, every day, playing hard ball. Stress comes from the irregular nature of all this. We're used to seeing previous presidents either too big of pussies to contemplate this aggressive approach (Clinton and Obama), or they couldn't because they were too tied up in quagmire wars to pull off a credible threat to legitimately attack NK (GWB). And none of our previous administrations had the outright giant set of balls to threaten China with trade sanctions just to get their help on NK. That shit was brilliant, and I still think it was Mattis' idea, he told Trump early on how he would like to deal with various enemies through a joint political military approach. Because NK was on the verge of nuclear tipped missiles, they get priority over Iran, which is SURELY in Mattis' sights. Upon hearing Mattis' plan, no doubt Trump loved it, and being the Reality TV WWE entertainer/actor we know him to be, he delightfully plays the part assigned to him since NK as a legit nuclear power is pretty bad for the long term. Hell, Trump is playing bad cop to Mattis as good cop of all people, which makes sense, considering he isn't fond of his Mad Dog nickname, he sees himself as calm, collected, highly educated, urbane, a master of war and strategy, possibly the deadliest man alive to have as an enemy. And I'd agree.

Not a bad course of action.

Yeah the UN can go fuck a goat, but Trump not going to them and taking action would have the media creaming in their shorts.

Yea, Hans Blix will straighten out Nork...

Eh, UN might boot N.K. from the meeting boardroom entirely. It'd actually be a bit of a big deal for N.K.

Thank you for that, it makes a lot of sense.
But it still comes with a lot of risk based on assumptions that I'm really, really uncomfortable with.

I'd never cut it as a diplomat or politician.  I wouldn't have the patience for all this crap

Time to.......

Neither could I.

I could never tell a lie to save my life.

I like this idea, do it in a similar fashion to what NK just did.

Unfortunately I think it is a very unlikely thing to happen, the geography just does not allow it. Shoot from the Yellow Sea and you are shooting towards Russia. Shoot from the Yellow Sea and you are shooting a ballistic missile VERY close to mainland China. Shoot from the Sea of Japan and you shoot towards mainland China. This theoretical is starting to get in the territory where mistakes are globe ending. Sure you could do it with cruise missiles but send on NK may just shoot it down, send 60 and they make think it is war.

Get Goldar and Silvar ready!!

Serial Killer IN THE HOUSE!
Buffalo Bill (Silence of the Lambs)

I raffed.

J-

Time to Japan to conquer and enslave Korea......again.

"Oh, Korea, you want more Japanese DNA?"

SK military warns of retaliation against North Korea. US & SK will retaliate 'against any additional provocations' https://t.co/CzZU3U5vRz

Strategic Sentinel  (@StratSentinel) August 29, 2017

(LEAD) Moon orders show of 'overwhelming' force against N. Korean provocation https://t.co/J5DmVxsEK3

Yonhap News Agency  (@YonhapNews) August 29, 2017

so moar of the same..

It might be the Koreans that take comfort women this time around.

B2's dropping leaflet bombs over Pyongyang full of little Kim memes....what does this mean? where did they come from?

Thanks for the education

I don't consider her American......

start flooding those Norkie tunnels

You want to really punish NK? 
Get the UN Security Council to require Obamacare to be implemented in NK.  They'll surrender within a few months. 

Saber rattling buys him time. He doesn't need to commit. But everytime he backs down he loses more credibility. But eventually the costly ramifications of the sanctions embargos will catch up...

But if he can scare us, and others into deescalating to avoid war then China might try to back out of sanctions and embargos, claiming its making the situation more dangerous.

Kim could be batshit nuts but his faction is pulling his strings. That faction wants nukes to prevent war, not start one. While its possible shit could spiral out of control its unlikely.

Loads of risk and lots of stress. But pull it off and we win without firing a shot and risking a very damaging war, physically and politically. Bannon was right, there is no real military option for NK, its diplomatic. But its the best option and as of right now its actually working out well.

Destroying North Korea is the easy part. Taking care of our allies in the area would be the part that complicates everything.

But yeah, a few SLBMs enroute to that fat dweeb would make me very happy.

That's why you need actors to play parts.

Like Kim, his job is to look like his grandfather, talk like his father, and act utterly ruthless. He was chosen because of all his brothers he had less negative stigma associated. He only gained office with the support of a faction that was loyal to his father,  and that faction now controls NK (and likely Kim too).

Trump is a great actor,  he's been perfecting his persona for decades now. And he likes drama, he likes acting,  see his WWE roles as the heel, fighting Vince McMahon and the loser gets his head shaved. See Trump on reality tv. He likes playing a role, he likes acting.

So of Kim vs Trump, the former is worse at playing unstable/unpredictable than the latter.

No problem, i live to educate.

In your opinion, at what point do you think NK would go hot?

 It seems if he's facing an impending coup, a dice role on a limited strike may have merits?  The great enemy idea and hope the world is restrained enough to leave him breathing.  

And that is based on what source? Sanctions on exports only started weeks ago.

I think if Kim is pressured enough he might crack, and his faction might foolishly and out of total desperstion, attempt some last "show of force" more aggressive than any before it, possibly even a limited attack. It call snowball especially if we FO totally instead of a limited response.

A coup doesnt necessitate Kim even being replaced. "The loyalist factions rescues Kim from traitor ministers who attempted a coup. The traitors were swiftly dealt with and now Kim is once again safe!"

One faction of advisers kill off the other but keep to the same puppet the other side used to be their puppet too. Kim is the puppet, and the faction that needs to go down is the OGD, which now essentially runs NK. THEY are the puppeteers, current Kim is only in power through their support, wouldn't even have been chosen as heir if not for him.

Think of Kim like Hirohito of Japan. Undisputed God Emperor of Japan, but proved he was a puppet as he would NEVER challenge his ministers, until they got nuked twice and.

China and Russia are not suicidal. If we went all in by means of a massive first strike against North Korea, they would bitch and moan and do nothing of substance.

It would, however, open up a similar course of action against Iran being considered a viable and likely course. We might not be able to save North Korean (or the North Koreans), but we might be able to leverage an attack on them to compel a lasting peace in the middle east.

If those that respect action and strength see that we will fucking kill them if they cross us, we can finally negotiate terms for their surrender (or at least terms under which they are forced into absolute and unwavering compliance with whatever restrictions we choose to place upon them).

If you scream "Stop or I'll shoot", the other party may wonder if you are serious. If they know you have no fucks to give and will kill everyone they have ever known and irradiate every place they have ever been, they are far more likely to stop and consider what you might demand of them next.

North Korea is the best hope for peace we've had in generations.

Saber rattling costs Kim as much time as it buys him. Launching a ballistic missle isn't cheap, even for a dictator. NK may have received some money from Iran but they can't sustain that funding forever.  The way I see it, the longer this drags out the more likely the NK government fails.

Does NK have a huge hardon for Japan ?

Maybe a stupid question but IDK ?

You're not much into WWII or pre WWII history, are you?

Don't believe the Chinese, they are playing a shell game.

They are perhaps the biggest threat to the US and they are leveraging NK against a domestically weakened president.

Best hand Trump has is to build upon a solid alliance and game plan with SK and Japan to counter China and it's puppet NK.  
Pressuring China to reign in NK will never happen.  They'll make symbolic gestures but strategically they are bent on having NK survive.  

It's not NK refugees pouring through, it's the thought of losing the regional hegemony over their smaller neighbors.  They are bent on marginalizing the US in Asia while presenting a dominant influence over their smaller neighbors using their economic dominance over the region.  THAAD in SK?  China then says fuck you SK, we're banning your products and services in China and we'll ban travelers to your country.  They are a complete bully and evil when it comes to dealing with their neighbors yet scream of injustice when US is looking to impose tariffs on their crap and punish Chinese companies stealing our industrial secrets.  

China will not let NK fall, they fought a war over that chunk of land and whether NK fails by an uprising, or via war with the US, China will get militarily involved.  

Hmm...   4 Navy vessels crashing in the Pacific, coincidence?  I think not.  China is involved.  

I don't have much faith in Trump as those of you who think he's playing some 4D chess, hopefully he has good advisers who will get him a good game plan to deal with the underlying China threat.    

Don't underestimate the Chinese threat.   They are not our friends and they never will be.   Best we have is to solidify favorable economic/military/social relationship with other Asian countries to counter China.

Tag for later...

Nork warning

Why don't you try answering the question instead of giving a snarky reply?

No kidding, the guy asked because he said he doesnt know much about those countries' relatiionship, esp during early days.

Japan invaded unified Korea 1910 and utterly destroyed it. At the end of WWII the US controlled SK USSR controlled NK. The goal was unification, then a with alleged support of the USSR NK invaded a nearly unarmed SK.

And to add onto this. Japan has several US military bases that we would use as ground forces staging areas and to launch air strikes against the norks.

Not much for that theatre, no.

A couple thoughts...


This is the first time I've read reports that anyone was racing to find wreckage....I think someone shot it down and they want intel from the wreckage.


Secondly, I keep seeing reports of multiple rockets going over Japan.  Was it one or more than one?

It goes back farther than that as well. Japanese pirates were raiding Korean villages in the 16th century. Cutting off ears and noses to display at home.