News from the ground ~ Jilin city in China’s north east close to the NK border has just announced testing of it’s new air raid sirens and cell phone “war warning” systems over the next two weeks. Can safely bet they know something we don’t…
Can safely bet they know something we don’t.
Yes we can safely bet that.
They know nothing we can’t figure out from the available evidence. If anything, they’re a bit late to the realization themselves.
Watching this right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TReGTYE_gc
Lot of the usual stuff you see on those tourist itineraries, but this guy managed to shoot some interesting footage and photos in between. I skipped much of the Pyongyang part in the beginning. Gets more interesting once they travel to the countryside.
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haha the north korea airline comment cracked me up at 1:40. the lowest ranking airline
In what some security experts fear could be a high-stakes war of Elton John lyrics, minutes after Donald Trump called Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man,” the North Korean dictator responded by calling Trump “Honky Cat.”
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Some more horrific news out of NK, apparently the daughter of a top military official defected to SK after watching public executions using naval guns and tanks. And Rocket Man seems to be forcing little teenage girls into hidden sex dungeons. There’s many articles about this, here’s one of the earlier ones I’ve found.
What frightens me the most is not being able to really know how much of these reports are factual or hyped up propaganda. Unless you go there and see it with your own eyes, we can only rely on personal testimony of supposed defectors through the news outlets.
It is frightening taking someone’s word as proof that could lead to a nuclear war.
What? Nobody is even considering waging war over heartfelt words. Let’s be honest, world leaders couldn’t care less if Rocket Man really has a child sex slave dungeon or not. At the end of the day it’s just a very terrible and sad story. What world leaders care about is evidence of Geneva Convention violations, which they often sweep under the rug anyway. Or, hostile actions against other nations.
One prime example, everyone knows ISIS had/has child sex slaves and forced human trafficking. Among other atrocities. Very few people outside of the middle east made any kind of response. What I find worse than all this is people that water down this behavior, “Oh but we can’t prove her statements.” There’s always someone to lessen the magnitude of any horrific event.
That’s what secret service agencies exist for, I’d be willing to bet there’s a ton of Chinese spies in the NK capital, constantly feeding information to Beijing to make sure they’re not considered a possible enemy/target.
I’m not saying that reports like these are the deciding factor heads of state use to decide to wage war or not.
I’m saying propaganda is used on both sides to sway, control and numb the population.
He has nukes. He is being aggressive. That is frightening.
The US is the only nation to have ever used nukes on a population. And they are supposed to be the good guys.
It’s a messed up world.
Chancellor Angela Merkel: ‘There is a clear disagreement with Trump on North Korea’
She goes on to say.
Even if this conflict is far away from Germany, it is one that also affects us," Merkel said. “That is why I am prepared, as is the foreign minister, to assume responsibility here,” she said.
Interesting she wants to inject herself into this just as China started calling for 6 country talks. Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and USA.
Alrighty, I agree with your point that both sides use propaganda to their advantage whether intentionally or unintentionally. But you keep bringing up nukes and nuclear warfare almost as though the US has threatened dropping a nuclear warhead. If he has, my bad, but I cannot recall it ever being mentioned.
The time you’re mentioning is from when that was a new technology and nearly the entire world was at war. Then it was used to end violence on both sides and warning was given prior to the drop. These days it’s not a viable option, not only because of collateral damage … As a military veteran I’ll tell you, our government hates paying out disability. Sending troops through nuclear fallout is possibly the quickest way I could think of having to pay an entire company sized element (or greater) disability pay.
This notion of a big orange idiot pounding in nuclear codes at the cyclic rate comes from campaign era anti-Trump propaganda. individuals on the far left wing have been afraid of him launching a nuclear warhead since before he even became the President. It’s without merit.
Germany’s big election is coming up this week, so whatever she says or does these days is because she tries to get re-elected.
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That makes sense, trying to make herself seem like a world leader. The geopolitics of North Korea have nothing to do with Germany, weird to see Merkel try and suggest she can be lead negotiator.
You have USA and their military outposts in South Korea and Japan on one side and China and Russia using North Korea as a threat to all three of them via proxy. North Korea didn’t develop Nukes and missiles without a nod and some help with the parts from Russia and China.
USA ratcheted up the stakes first verbally, then with each new test, more sanctions, threat of sanctions on China, deployment of missile defense systems in South Korea and Japan, now talk of putting Nukes in South Korea and Japan. Which Russia and China don’t want to see at all. Hence China calling for the resumption of 6 party talks.
For those paying close attention to the leverage being created and the prediction of China pushing for 6 party talks.
Communist Beijing has boxed themselves into this inescapable cycle. The reason they keep authorizing Kim Jong-un to take action is simply because China has no alternative leverage to use against President Trump. China has nothing in their economic arsenal they can use to hit back against President Trump, so Beijing keeps using North Korea in an attempt to create leverage.
However, President Trump doesn’t play along with the bluff, he knows every card China is holding. Trump knows China has no substantive economic leverage against the U.S., and Trump also knows China has boxed themselves into this cycle.
It’s a ridiculous three step process:
¹China tells DPRK to do stupid thing. ²DPRK does stupid thing. ³Trump hits China with economic punishment for stupid thing.
This cycle has been ongoing for months now, yet the media apparently doesn’t notice it. Each time Kim Jong-un, aka “Rocket Man”, does a stupid, Donald Trump slaps Xi Jinping.
What I really do not like is the hubris. I have read the plans and expectations from diplomats and the media and it seems it is taken from granted that even if NK strikes first, it won’t take out US forces in SK. Seems people have forgotten the 1950s war. Or that that sneaky eastward in charge of NK may be a lot of things, delusional is not. He will cling to power suicidally. But he won’t strike last and he will do so with an ace up his sleeve. I am thinking anything from dirty bombs to viral/chemical. This war won’t be the old fashioned one army against another. That is so 19th century. Yet all plans seem to be drawn that way. I am thinking ISIS type of crusade.
if that’s the case, Trump will be following the path of Obama in Libya and Syria, thus increasing his chances for a Peace Nobel price.
All I see is trump playing into Kim Jung Uns card. American aggression is what the whole regime has been feeding into the minds of the people. You don’t think the videos of trump saying he will destroy NK is used as propaganda videos in NK? It’s basically giving him more power in that country and more and more urgency for him and the people to get brainwashed into being a legitimate nuclear power.
The people there don’t know any better. Every sanction, every threat and response just solidify what the NK regime has been feeding them.
You don’t get a deal done with North Korea by just targeting North Korea with sanctions, China and Russia have North Koreas back.
You need to create leverage both economically and militarily against China and Russia (which has happened, and is happening) then China and Russia want to reopen 6 party talks (under discussion and will happen soon).
Then everybody needs to look like a winner in front of their people. I suggest reading the article I just posted in my previous post. The same source I just posted, posted this a month or so ago.
The six party talks will be essentially a Marshal Plan of sorts for North Korea. Japan, South Korea, The United States, China, Russia and North Korea will enter into a set of negotiations publicly sold as engaging in diplomacy and reducing tension.
Strategy - Will President Trump Break Norms and Arrange Meeting With Kim Jong-un? Indications Point Toward Yes... - The Last Refuge
Note Trumps reference to the Marshal Plan in yesterdays UN speech. I suspect that will come up later with regards 6 party talks.
It was in the same period exactly 70 years ago that the United States developed the Marshall Plan to help restore Europe. Those these beautiful pillars, they are pillars of peace, sovereignty, security, and prosperity. The Marshall Plan was built on the noble idea that the whole world is safer when nations are strong, independent, and free.