Tag: North Korea

If Trump wants nuclear war, virtually no one can stop him

The following article by Dennis Jett, Professor of International Relations at Pennsylvania State University, was posted on the Conversation website November 21, 2017:

Credit: UnitedforPeace.org

The general in charge of America’s nuclear arsenal, John Hyten, recently said he would resist carrying out an illegal order from the president to use those weapons.

His comments echoed the ones made a few days earlier by one of his predecessors, retired Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Nov. 14, Kehler asserted that nuclear operations officers would refuse to implement an unlawful order. Continue reading “If Trump wants nuclear war, virtually no one can stop him”

Carter volunteers to help solve tensions with North Korea

The following article by John Bowden was posted on the Hill website October 21, 2017:

© Getty

Former President Jimmy Carter says he is open to working with President Trump to solve the growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

In an interview with The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, Carter said he would go to the country to work on negotiations.

“I would go, yes,” Carter said. He pointed to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s unpredictability as a major reason why diplomacy was so necessary. Continue reading “Carter volunteers to help solve tensions with North Korea”

Almost half of Republicans want war with North Korea, a new poll says. Is it the Trump Effect?

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website October 15, 2017:

South Koreans watch TV news in Seoul in August, on the day North Korea launched three ballistic missiles over the Sea of Japan. (Jeon Heon-Kyun/European Pressphoto Agency)

There was a pretty striking finding in Thursday’s Quinnipiac University poll: Fully 46 percent of Republicans — a plurality — said they would support a preemptive strike against North Korea.

That’s nearly half of President Trump’s party that is ready for war — today — with Kim Jong Un, his nuclear weapons and all. (Forty-one percent said they opposed a preemptive strike.)

It’s no surprise that Republicans are more hawkish on this than Democrats are; that’s generally the case on foreign policy. But basically nobody is talking about the prospect of a strike right now. Even when Trump talks about it, he’s responding to North Korea threatening the United States or its allies. Continue reading “Almost half of Republicans want war with North Korea, a new poll says. Is it the Trump Effect?”

No, President Trump, U.S. missile defense does not have 97 percent success rate.

The following Fact Checker email from the Washington Post is dated October 13, 2017:

Credit: Shutterstock.com

In discussing the threat posed by North Korea and its rush to perfect an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), President Trump offered a reassuring image: a missile defense so robust that a single interceptor had a 97 percent success rate and just two interceptors would assuredly knock the missile out of the sky. Is this anything close to reality?

Nope. Trump appears to be referring to the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) in Alaska and California, which is administered by the Missile Defense Agency. Some $40 billion has been spent on developing the project, which is supposed to prevent ballistic missiles from attacking the homeland. MDA officials have been optimistic about the program’s effectiveness, tossing around statistics that sound a bit like Trump’s 97 percent figure. Continue reading “No, President Trump, U.S. missile defense does not have 97 percent success rate.”

Trump says Tillerson is ‘wasting his time’ trying to pursue negotiations with North Korea

The following article by David Nakamura was posted on the Washington Post website October 1, 2017:

President Trump tweeted Sunday, Oct. 1, saying he told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with North Korea. (Reuters)

BRANCHBURG, N.J. — President Trump signaled Sunday that he does not believe that attempts at direct communications with North Korea are worth the effort despite escalating tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

A day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested that the United States maintains “lines of communications” with Kim Jong Un’s regime, Trump wrote on Twitter that Tillerson is “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man” — his nickname for Kim. Continue reading “Trump says Tillerson is ‘wasting his time’ trying to pursue negotiations with North Korea”

North Korea threatens to shoot down U.S. warplanes

The following article by Carol Morello was posted on the Washington Post website September 25, 2017:

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho called President Trump’s recent comments on North Korea a declaration of war and said North Korea has the right to “shoot down” U.S. bombers. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

North Korea threatened on Monday to shoot down U.S. military planes, even if they are not in the country’s airspace, arguing that President Trump’s bellicose tweets amount to a declaration of war.

The remark by Ri Yong Ho, Pyongyang’s foreign minister, represented another escalation in tensions stoked by a series of insults and threats hurled between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his regime. Even though Pyongyang’s military capability is considered far outmatched by U.S. technology and pilot training, Ri’s rhetoric raised anxieties that a simple miscalculation could spark a military confrontation and spiral out of control. Continue reading “North Korea threatens to shoot down U.S. warplanes”

Poll: Far more trust generals than Trump on N. Korea, while two-thirds oppose preemptive strike

The following article by Scott Clement and Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website September 24, 2017:

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally for Sen. Luther Strange in Huntsville, Ala. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Two-thirds of Americans oppose launching a preemptive military strike against North Korea, with a majority trusting the U.S. military to handle the escalating nuclear crisis responsibly but not President Trump, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.

Roughly three-quarters of the public supports tougher economic sanctions on North Korea in an attempt to persuade it to give up its nuclear weapons, while just about one-third think the United States should offer the isolated country foreign aid or other incentives. Continue reading “Poll: Far more trust generals than Trump on N. Korea, while two-thirds oppose preemptive strike”

Aides Warned Trump Not To Attack North Korea’s Leader Personally Before His Fiery UN Address

The following article by Brian Bennett with the Tribune Content Agency was posted on the National Memo website September 23, 2017:

WASHINGTON — Senior aides to President Donald Trump repeatedly warned him not to deliver a personal attack on North Korea’s leader at the United Nations this week, saying insulting the young despot in such a prominent venue could irreparably escalate tensions and shut off any chance for negotiations to defuse the nuclear crisis.

Trump’s derisive description of Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man on a suicide mission” and his threat to “totally destroy” North Korea were not in a speech draft that several senior officials reviewed and vetted Monday, the day before Trump gave his first address to the U.N. General Assembly, two U.S. officials said. Continue reading “Aides Warned Trump Not To Attack North Korea’s Leader Personally Before His Fiery UN Address”

Apple and 7-Eleven show why Trump’s threat to sever China trade over Korea rings hollow

The following article by Greg Wright was posted on the Conversation website September 5, 2017:

President Donald Trump tweeted on September 3 that the U.S. “is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea” after it performed a nuclear test.

Though North Korea currently trades with nearly 100 countries, this threat was almost certainly aimed at China, by far its biggest trading partner.

And it is technically something that a U.S. president can do. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, the president can impose trade restrictions in the face of an “unusual and extraordinary threat.”

Continue reading “Apple and 7-Eleven show why Trump’s threat to sever China trade over Korea rings hollow”

Lawmakers Fear Trump Making North Korea Situation Worse

The following article by Harriet Sinclair with Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website September 4, 2017:

Donald Trump’s combative tone on North Korea has come under fire from lawmakers concerned that his Twitter rants are exacerbating a delicate situation.

The president previously said he would bring “fire and fury like the world has never seen” in response to North Korea’s threat of physical action in response to further United Nations sanctions.

And following Pyongyang’s announcement on Sunday it had tested “with perfect success” a powerful hydrogen bomb that was capable of being fitted to an intercontinental ballistic missile. Trump again tweeted about reacting with force. Continue reading “Lawmakers Fear Trump Making North Korea Situation Worse”