"Only one thing will work ..." DJT

 

"President Trump continued to make vague threats toward North Korea on Saturday, saying that diplomatic negotiations and agreements over the years have not worked and that “only one thing will work,” without elaborating on what that one thing would be.

“Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid . . . hasn't worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!” Trump tweeted in two messages on Saturday afternoon."  washpost

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OK.  I have no idea what he is doing.  Maybe that is the idea. He has me half convinced that the intends to attack North Korea.  He has me altogether convinced that he is going to withdraw from JCPOA.

The Congress will surely re-impose sanctions against Iran if given the opportunity. Why?  They are blithering idiots under the thmb of the neocons and Israel.

If he attacks North Korea  with anything less than nuclear weapons, the NOKOs will destroy a lot of South Korea as they fight for their existence.

As a legacy of the Cold War there is no way to stop him in advance of the attack.

We live in interesting times.  pl 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/10/07/trump-on-north-korea-sorry-but-only-one-thing-will-work/?utm_term=.d967ecde9cdb

Comments

[notlurking]

He is acting like a nutcase.....but there will be no attack...

[David E. Solomon]

Colonel Lang,

He does not have a point. He really has no idea what he is doing (with the exception of trying to attract lots of attention to himself).

Looking for some rational explanation for what he is up to is simply an exercise in futility.

I realize many of your readers would like to believe that he has embarked upon some grand scheme to shake up the government and change it for the better.

Having met the man twice oh so many years ago, I can only say that such an explanation is more than highly unlikely.

Still, I am glad the greedy Clinton and Obama teams are gone (at least for the moment).

Did anyone catch Joe Biden delivering his speech late last week.

He is another one we do not want to see as president.

Regards,

David

[Sam Peralta]

Col. Lang

I have no problem President Trump tweeting away and making whatever off-the-cuff remark he wants, as long as he does not order our military into another war, which will surely be another disaster for all parties involved.

I'm surprised the "mukhtar" has not yet commented on the Saudi pilgrimage to Moscow. Theater to rival his sword dancing. A 1,000 person entourage. The Ritz Carlton & the Four Seasons completely taken. Daily flights back to Saudi Arabia to fetch their finest halal. Do they also bring their harems?

[b]

75% of Americans think North Korea is a "critical threat"
40% of Americans want to bomb North Korea in "preemptive" strikes,
36% of Americans can find North Korea on a map (number is probl. too high).
https://www.alternet.org/media/media-coverage-north-korea-crisis

On the North Korea issue Trump is a typical American.

[ambrit]

Sir;
Given your knowledge of the region, will the re-imposition of sanctions drive Iran deeper into the Russian camp? I can't see Russia as wanting yet another nuclear armed neighbour, especially a quasi theocracy, of any creed. Also, the Iranians strike me as quite self respecting, so, becoming "clients" of any power seems to be a humiliation I wouldn't expect them to embrace whole heartedly. Finally, I wouldn't expect Iran to sit around on their laurels if sanctions are reimposed. Could they counter by becoming really supportive of the Yemenis?
Interesting times indeed.

[b]

Some sane analysis: Hair will be mused ....

/quote/
Ultimately, there are no free lunches in international politics. If the United States wants North Korea to constrain its nuclear program, it will need to offer North Korea something in exchange. And if the United States tries to pursue regime change or denuclearize North Korea by force, it must accept that North Korean nuclear capabilities allow it to force the United States to pay a high price for doing so.
/endquote/
https://warontherocks.com/2017/10/north-korea-benefits-from-nuclear-weapons-get-used-to-it/

[Richardstevenhack]

The problem with Trump is that he babbles so much it's impossible to know when he's actually going to follow it up with some action.

The fact that he apparently knows absolutely nothing about the actual history of negotiations and things like the Clinton Agreed Framework between the US and North Korea is truly worrying. Has NO ONE in the US government provided him with at least a serious recap of the conflict? Or is he aware of all that but is just ignoring it for his own reasons?

Or is he just babbling while back channel negotiations are ongoing?

Meanwhile, latest report is that North Korea is preparing another long-range missile test.

So far, it seems NK is continuing to apply their form of pressure, while Trump continues to make more or less vague threats of war. What's missing is any apparent ACTION on the part of Trump to actually DO something, either negotiation or war.

How long can that go on before Trump is forced to make good on his threats. Six months? Another year? At some point he either has to blink or start the war.

[João Carlos]

"We live in interesting times" is a chinese curse.

China informed that if US attack NOKO, they will intervene. China have a treaty of mutual defense with NOKO.

I don' t think a US nuclear attack will stop NOKO of destroy Seoul and maybe Tokyo.

I am TOTALLY conviced that Trump will attack North Korea. Trump needs "wag the dog", he is plummeting in polls.

Third World War will be an intersting time.

[zk]

IMO, this represents nothing of significance.
Some of the things Trump (and powers that be) can try are :
- issue wild threats, which are immediately answered by even wilder counter threats
- create this atmosphere of imminent action (calm before the storm) hoping this will succeed where more direct threats failed
- stage a false flag attack so it doesn't appear the US attacked first
- somehow get NK to make the first move

Not sure how any of this can work. Despite the popular opinion, I don't think the NoKos are crazy.
They are acting as most people would, were they born and raised in such a system.
Trying to preserve it and their lives.

All of the above goes for Iran and the nuclear deal.
It would not be in US interest to act unilaterally. Even if it means the US (and Israel) have to live with a nuclear NK and independent and strong Iran.

[Kutte]

May I yet again annoy the readers of this blog with the theory that Trump wants to scare SoKo and JP so much that they will ask him to leave, and they will take matters into their own hands. After all, during the election it was his declared goal to make them pay for their own security and enable him to leave. If they ask him to leave, he can say, without loss of face, and without being vulnerable to neo-con attacks, that you cant defend people against their will. Then again, of course, I might be wrong.

[LeeG]

He's getting thrills from all the attention. Like a three yr old running with knives.

[Lincolnite]

America’s strategic positioning doesn’t suggest War, it suggests Pressure and principally on China. DJT has a Presidential visit to China next month DRNK has to be high on the Agenda, it is even theoretically possible for a meeting with Little Rocket Man in Beijing, DJT has said he is quite prepared to meet with him once an accep5able deal is in the offing. November will be an interesting month.

[Eric Newhill]

Whatever it is, Japan appears to back it: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/10/08/japan-fully-backs-trump-on-north-korea-abe-says.html

Apparently the NoKo situation is a top issue in the Japanese election.

[turcopolier]

b
Perhaps the "one thing" is that DJT must meet him personally. pl

[turcopolier]

ambrit

In the absence of evidence to the contrary I continue to think that Iran has not had a nuclear WEAPONS program since 2003. That is the opinion expressed in the NIE of 2007 and nothing to the contrary has been said even by Clapper. The resumption of sanctions may well cause Iran to re-start a nuke weapons program and they would not look for Russian permission. pl

[turcopolier]

b

Most people are ignorant, anywhere. pl

[turcopolier]

Sam Peralts

you notice that they stayed in US run hotels? The bigger fish probably bring a woman or two with them. The Saudis are just signalling the possibility that they could divert money to Russian arms purchases if displeased. They have no real ability to use fancy military equipment. Jet aircraft are a good example. They can fly them but that is all they can do - no planning, no targeting, no maintenance. Their purchases are a means of spreading kickbacks around. pl

[LeeG]

And the people that voted for him think he's not level headed, not that honest but is a strong leader.
Can't wait for the winning to start.

http://www.apnorc.org/projects/Pages/Americans-Evaluations-of-President-Trump.aspx

[J]

Well, it appears that Saudi Arabia is kicking the U.S. to the curb. The Saudi king visiting Moscow, will no longer deal in Petro Dollars, and is changing their arms buying from the U.S. to Russia. Saudi attempts to steal the oil fields of Yemen (their whole reason for their war against Yemen), have failed, the Saudis have run out of their own oil.

Let the Russians have the Saudis.

The only problem is their are now more and more nations around the world dumping the U.S. Dollar in favor of gold and the Yuan for their daily trading and purchases, which means that good and services IN the U.S. will now go up and up and up on domestic U.S. store shelves.

Given that the world monetary system is controlled by the U.K. Rothschild banking family, and that Jacob Rothschild has recently been pulling his assets out of the U.S., it appears that this might, just might be the 'calm before the storm' that POTUS Trump was cryptically referring to.

We in the U.S. are fast headed for the day when a loaf of bread will be a days wages. Wait, haven't we heard such a warning before? Wasn't it in a scripture someplace, a scripture called the Holy Bible?

Why the world has not taken out the Rothschild banking cartel, as they have been involved in every war playing both ends against the middle since before Napoleon, still alludes me. When you have an evil banking cartel, and you know that it is evil in its actions,and you allow it to flourish knowing full well it will hurt you (spelled mankind} more and more the longer its allowed to continue, makes no sense does it?

Woa to Mom and Pop America who have put their trust in U.S. politicians who have sold them down the river with unnecessary wars and the theft of their American blood sweat and tears.

[raven]

You are serious? Obama and Clinton teams "greedy". Incredible.

[LondonBob]

I guess we have to wait and see what Tillerson's direct negotiations with NoKo bring. I still maintain Trump is bringing his own brand of wrestling theatre to the madman approach. I expect a deal to be struck.

Iran has always been a blind spot, lets see but I still don't expect much to happen there.

[Dubhaltach]

In reply to turcopolier 08 October 2017 at 08:04 AM

"They have no real ability to use fancy military equipment. Jet aircraft are a good example. They can fly them but that is all they can do - no planning, no targeting, no maintenance."

Colonel can they even do that much? I've never met a Saudi pilot but have met lots of Pakistani ones.

From what I can make out your comment also applies to their ground forces . Maintenance and logistic are conspicuous by their absence.

[NancyK]

Unfortunately he is a typical American on all issues.

[LeaNder]

b, it feels you were a bit unfair to Tritan Parsi. Never mind his "doctorfather/Doktor Vater" Francis Fukuyama or the larger academic context he had to fit in as expat.

I may ask, since I wondered about his disappearance from Daily Beast at one point:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/trita-parsi

[Sam Peralta]

Col. Lang

Yes, they stayed in US run hotels maybe because they were the best in Moscow. What was amusing is that they brought their own kitchen and wait staff. Even guests who had long term residences were asked to move out as they took over both hotels completely.

I wonder why the Saudis spend all this money on high-tech weapons. They are I believe in the Top 5 spenders on defense expenditures. The failure of their Yemen adventure speaks volumes. If they can't defeat the blockaded Yemeni tribals how will they fight the Iranians?