The North Korean viewpoint is given little or no consideration in the above article. Apparently they have long wanted a proper peace treaty to conclude the Korean War. Seems the Yanks have continually obstructed this, leaving less legal problems for them to attack NK again. Then they have regular provocative military exercises nearby to coincide with rice planting and harvest so manpower is diverted from them to be ready for a surprise invasion attempt. North Koreans are very well aware of how during the Korean War the US carpet bombed their country and killed millions of people. Then the end result was borders about where they had been before.

One of the reasons for continued hostility to North Korea is the US military industrial complex needs enemies to justify its continued funding. A phenomenon that goes on with both small and large government departments which exist to solve problems. If it looks like not enough to keep them well supported, they often try to find more problems, beat up existing ones and/or create some new ones.

Then note how the US has long behaved on the world stage like a schoolyard bully. Finds all sorts of pretexts to infiltrate and attack other countries. Especially to depose leaders whose policies are not favourable to US billionaires, banksters, corporations and military. To be reasonably sure of keeping bullies away, those likely to be targeted need capability of strong retaliation. NK has no hope of having military forces technically comparable with its US led potential enemies. Without the threat of then carrying out a successful nuclear strike in retaliation if attacked, North Korea would almost certainly quickly go the same way as Libya. Note Iran has been large and developed enough to organise a non nuclear military to strongly deter a US attack, which Zionists have been trying to encourage on behalf of Israel.. When it makes agreements with other countries, if they are 'stretched' or breached, it is usually done first by the US who carry on as if they are "exceptional". North Koreans basically behave defensively with above points in mind.

mox

Agree with all you say. In addition, NK reportedly has trillions in mineral wealth that could raise up to 6 million of its population out of poverty. This wealth remains in the ground, because of crippling financial and export sanctions imposed by the West (not just on NK itself, but on any country that trades with NK). Its last major export industry, coal, which I understand makes up 40% of NK's exports has now been dealt a massive blow in the last sanctions round.

These sanctions are potentially famine-inducing and based on a bunch of false-equivalence justifications, that put NK and the US threat on a par with each other. In addition, the sanctions are justified as preventing NK's use of minerals for its weapons programme. So why sanction mineral EXPORTS?

Gee, Binoy Kampfmark has actually written a fairly reasonable post for once. Although one can't help but notice his reflexive anti Americanism in most of what he says.

But Binoy raises a good point. Is it better to take out the North Korean regime through a really bad war? Or is it better to wait and let the information age enlighten his people so that they will to topple his odious regime themselves?

Personally, I think that a real good, knock down, drag out war would be the better option. The longer we wait, the stronger this idiot and his regime is getting. They now have ICBM's, but it is believed with good authority that they have not miniaturised the nuclear weapons to arm them. The time to strike is now with conventional weapons. If the North Koreans respond with nuclear weapons on the US armed forces, Guam, or anywhere else, then the US should turn loose SAC and turn North Korea into a giant sheet of glass.

The longer we wait, the more likely that North Korea will sell ICBM's and nuclear weapons to HAMAS, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, ISIS, and any other religious crackpots who really are stupid enough to use them on us. Taking out North Korea will also be an object lesson to any other fruitcake regime thinking about crating their own ICBM's and nuclear weapons.

The option to wait and avoid a bad war is very tempting, and if the North Koreans were not making great strides in their missile and nuclear technologies, it would be the better option. But that is simply not happening. They are improving their technology at a rate which has surprised us.

At the moment, President Trump is making pointed threats and that too is the right thing to do. The probability of a bad war with the US which North Korea would lose, should be enough to concentrate the minds of North Korea's leaders that they are on the road to their own conventional or thermo nuclear extermination.

They would be more worried now than we are.

Trump's high pressure strategy may be inducing China to keep North Korea under control. North Korea only respects China.

For decades the West has tried diplomacy and economic sanctions against North Korea. They haven't worked. The successive Kim regimes just build better, longer range, missiles and nuclear bombs, while threatening more dangerously.

The risk that a Kim (brain trapped in his own Royal world) will undertake nuclear suicide bombing or miscalculate undercuts fervent hopes

North Korea may launch nuclear missiles at South Korea, Japan, Guam or Australia (as a demonstration shot) long before the hoped for fall of this dictatorship.