Imagining the unimaginable - a DPRK strike

Is Trump a madman or a strategic genius?

Excerpt:

Trump is talking far tougher than Obama or Bush ever did. The traditional American political establishment is getting quite nervous.

Is Trump a madman, or is his behaviour actually genius?

Madman theory is believed to be part of nuclear strategy. Former US President Richard Nixon is supposed to have invented it when he commanded the US nuclear arsenal during the Vietnam War and cold war. The book Nixonland by Rick Perlstein tells it like this:

“I call it the madman theory, Bob,” the Republican Presidential nominee had told his closest aide, walking on the beach one day in 1968.“I want the North Vietnamese to believe I’ve reached the point where I might do anything to stop the war. We’ll slip the word to them that ‘For God’s sake, you know Nixon is obsessed about Communism. We can’t restrain him when he’s angry – and he has his hand on the nuclear button.’ And Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two days, begging for peace.”

For a nuclear threat to be credible it has, of course, to seem real.

Trump’s apparent willingness to take the wraps off US nukes for the first time since 1945 is frightening. And that could be exactly the point. Everyone knew Obama was cautious and considered – he couldn’t believably use madman theory. Trump could be executing a strategic pivot that only he can pull off.

Comment: I modeled San Fransisco where my daughter lives using NukeMap
Meanwhile:

How Seoul would defend itself against a North Korean attack https://t.co/yoeIPlsd4k via @WSJ

— James Peet (@jrpeet) August 12, 2017

Scary thought:

Just FYI persuading the U.S. president not to launch a preemptive strike on N. Korea is an ongoing process.@gluboldhttps://t.co/STcMjnfVJo pic.twitter.com/WdPGWxRg3t

— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) August 13, 2017

Trumpian Fury on North Korea - China needs to know that the threat of military action is real.https://t.co/LmcVH01PTk pic.twitter.com/IuG10Auahf

— James Peet (@jrpeet) August 14, 2017

Into the Abyss: A Scenario for the Next... https://t.co/gw146wxsYK

— James Peet (@jrpeet) August 14, 2017

It's “game on” for war if North Korea hits the U.S. or its territories, Mattis says https://t.co/9gjEgRqWmR via @bpolitics

— James Peet (@jrpeet) August 14, 2017

Kim walks it back .... for now

North Korea’s climbdown on Guam was textbook brinkmanship from Pyongyang https://t.co/0J0pFChUsG via @WSJ

— James Peet (@jrpeet) August 15, 2017