Not to those of us who are informed, no.
It turns out there are plenty of people who are believing the mass media's drumbeat of 'be afraid!', however.
Make no mistake; WE are the belligerent ones; hundreds of aircraft including B-1 bombers flying laps past the DMZ. A naval presence that makes Fleet Week look weak off both coasts. Tens of thousands of American, Korean and even other nation's troops doing extended maneuvers along the border.
We don't have to do any of it. We could call off the multi billion dollar exercise in a show of good faith- a sign that we're willing to negotiate.
Sec State Tillerson has offered to open talks, 'about anything, even the weather'. It's pretty disingenuous to say that with all the hardware we're throwing around the place.
There aren't a lot of good options left and Chump's diplomacy is reducing even that number;
- We back down and look weak
- We ask the Chinese to intervene and look ineffectual
- We start a war and kill at least hundreds of thousands for no good reason
- ...? That's really kinda it. We can't force them to talk and we've given them zero incentive to.
I'm not defending North Korea's choice to break the Non Proliferation Treaty. The reality is that they clearly feel that their backs are against the wall and they have no choice. This is precisely what makes the situation so dangerous.
Kim Jong Un and his regime knows they're hated by almost every nation on Earth and they have seen the other 50 odd examples of what happens when America doesn't like a government. America has given itself the 'right' to fuck with other governments and we've done it whether the target was oppressive or not, democratically elected or not. Frankly, there is no international law that grants America or any other nation the right to manipulate the internal affairs of other nations- save the prerogative of force. In other words, no matter how it's been spun for domestic consumption, America does not occupy any moral high ground, nevermind credibility.
Kim may well keep lobbing missiles. He's smart enough to know that if one lands on foreign soil or hurts anyone, he risks annihilation. We can be sure that for all his bluster, he won't start a fight. Unfortunately, the Chump and his band of idiots think the potential costs are acceptable.
So who's the dangerous one, really?
