Trump's Rage Against North Korea

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

In a Twitter tirade, Trump blustered about no longer letting China "do nothing" about Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

No issue would exist if Washington acted responsibly, ending over 75 years of hostility toward the DPRK. 

Its government genuinely fears US aggression, experiencing it once, keenly aware of ongoing US wars in multiple theaters, its hostility toward all sovereign independent states it doesn't control, wanting pro-Western ones replacing them.

The "problem" with North Korea lies in Washington. Its imperial rage threatens world peace. China can't resolve what America bears full responsibility for.

Trump saying otherwise reflects stupidity and arrogance. Beijing's Foreign Language University Li Yonghui thinks his "tweets are a bluff. But the Chinese government has to take (them) seriously."

He thinks tough US policies toward China may be forthcoming. Earlier sanctions were imposed, likely others ahead, maybe targeting trade relations.

A Pyongyang statement following its latest ballistic missile test said it's "meant to send a stern warning to the US making senseless remarks, being lost to reason in the frantic sanctions and pressure campaign against the DPRK."

South Korea is occupied US territory - by at least 15 Pentagon bases, including a large new one, Camp Humphreys, able to accommodate thousands of US forces and family members.

Destabilizing THAAD missile systems threaten North Korea, China and Russia. So do provocative joint US/South Korea military exercises simulating an attack on the DPRK.

Beijing warned Washington about its "close-in surveillance" of strategic coastal areas along with intrusion in waters and airspace where it doesn't belong - on the phony pretext of "freedom of navigation and overflight."

In response to Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile test, two US B-1B Lancer bombers along with Japanese and South Korean warplanes provocatively overflew the Korean peninsula in a show of force.

Pacific Air Forces Commander General Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy calling Pyongyang "the most urgent threat to regional stability" is wrongheaded, reflecting typical US arrogance.

"If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing," he warned.

A previous article explained North Korea has thousands of underground national security facilities, the world's fourth largest military, about 200,000 special forces, nukes and ballistic missiles, along with around 10,000 artillery pieces and mobile missiles able to strike all US regional military bases.

While no match against Washington's military might, it's able to inflict enormous regional damage if attacked.

It's powerful enough to give Trump and hawkish US generals pause about likely severe consequences if they launch naked aggression on the DPRK.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.