US Politics - Trump cancels summit having to do with North Korea

There may be something to Bashar al Assad being framed in terms of the chemical attacks (I'm talking more generally than anything specific), but it would need to come from a better source than the Russians or another dodgy regime.

How do you solve a problem like Koreeeea?

According to estimates, Donald Trump's journeys to Mar-A-Lago has cost taxpayers $21 million already. Obama in comparison spent just shy of $100million...in 8 years. So if Trump was to keep this up he'll have hit that target within about a year.

$70million to blow up 20% of an airfield, $21million on glorified weekend holidays, budget cuts up the wazoo everywhere else...I wish I was an American right now. JEALOUS AS strawberry float of this winning.

Preezy wrote:How do you solve a problem like Koreeeea?

The Sun have already done that headline, they're going to have to think of something new. Or hope their readers have forgotten the last time they used it. You know, like The Express and statins.

As I keep saying North Korea isn't really the problem. It's the relationship between the west and China that are a problem. If the US went to war with North Korea, and China stayed out, it would end within days. The problem is that China likes it's buffer zone between itself and the US friendly South Korea.

Where can I get powerarmour training?

lex-man wrote:If the US went to war with North Korea, and China stayed out, it would end within days.

Not sure that would be the case.

1. How would America "win"? What does victory look like?
2. NK has spent the last 60 years preparing for a war against the imperialist aggressors, yo we heard you like bunkers so we built a bunker in your bunker's bunker. Getting their command and control could prove difficult.
3. They have a navy (albeit aged), that could inflict damage to US capital ships.
4. Their air defense network is more advanced than Iraq's (for example), they have an air force and plenty of Chinese/Russian anti-air equipment. Are America prepared to lose aircraft and risk having air personnel taken hostage or as POWs?
5. Their artillery capability is well known, they could wipe out Seoul with conventional shelling pretty rapidly, any US incursion would potentially carry huge casualties.
6. Entire population is bonkers and would never accept a US-led change in power.

It would be really interesting to watch it all unfold though, just preferably from space or the Moon

There are 24million people in NK...how many of those would simply roll over to the Americans, or any invading force?

Preezy wrote:

lex-man wrote:If the US went to war with North Korea, and China stayed out, it would end within days.

Not sure that would be the case.

1. How would America "win"? What does victory look like?
2. NK has spent the last 60 years preparing for a war against the imperialist aggressors, yo we heard you like bunkers so we built a bunker in your bunker's bunker. Getting their command and control could prove difficult.
3. They have a navy (albeit aged), that could inflict damage to US capital ships.
4. Their air defense network is more advanced than Iraq's (for example), they have an air force and plenty of Chinese/Russian anti-air equipment. Are America prepared to lose aircraft and risk having air personnel taken hostage or as POWs?
5. Their artillery capability is well known, they could wipe out Seoul with conventional shelling pretty rapidly, any US incursion would potentially carry huge casualties.
6. Entire population is bonkers and would never accept a US-led change in power.

It would be really interesting to watch it all unfold though, just preferably from space or the Moon

I think your massively over estimating the power of North Korea. It would take a large amount of US might but the US has huge military resources in the area and could lay waste to the entire North Korean military within a couple of hours. All of their military equipment is antiquated and their soldiers are malnourished, they wouldn't put up much of a fight. It maybe better than Iraq's but Iraq was basically floored with out a fight. Maybe the leadership could hide but it wouldn't take the US long to track them down.

North Korea could be re-connected with the South. It would be politically difficult but it's far more viable than the attempts to build a working democracy after the fall of Saddam. Flooding North Korea with food and western entertainment would quickly end any really push back. The only problem is China won't let it happen, because China can't be seen to abandon it's ally. Any change to the leadership of North Korea would threaten China's own safety.

Also I don't really see the current American administration been able to get up the interest in a sustained push to topple the North Korean government. The problem is we'll see a single poorly coordinated strike and then no follow up action.

I suppose one thing that massively counts against NK is that for all their talk of military action, they haven't actually been at war against another nation for a very very long time. The US is extremely well-versed in the art of modern warfare and I suppose that would count bigly.

Tafdolphin wrote:

DML wrote:The thing is, as much as we like to take the piss - North Korea are no joke. They have nuclear armaments and they do have a fair amount of weight they can push around.

I was involved in the Sony hack which was done by North Korea, and it showed that if they want to, they can certainly make major moves.

Do they? Was this ever actually proven?

[EDIT: Yes, but possibly not fully weaponised: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11813699 ]

Also, last I heard on the news, the Sony hack looked less and less likely to be the result of N Korean hacking? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pict ... orth_Korea

It definitely was. Take that from an ex-employee!

Worth noting that South Korea are one of China's main traders, trade between the two countries is worth 40x what trade between China and North Korea is.

Xi Jinping also had an official state visit to South Korea without visiting the North first. Is this "buffer zone" really as important to them as it was in the 1950s?

DML wrote:I was involved in the Sony hack

I knew it. I've informed the FBI of your confession.

NickSCFC wrote:Worth noting that South Korea are one of China's main traders, trade between the two countries is worth 40x what trade between China and North Korea is.

Xi Jinping also had an official state visit to South Korea without visiting the North first. Is this "buffer zone" really as important to them as it was in the 1950s?

Yes, because there is still a large amount of tension between the US and China, despite the massive increase in trade between China, South Korea and China.

Special election today in Kansas. 'Mon Democrats!

NickSCFC wrote:Worth noting that South Korea are one of China's main traders, trade between the two countries is worth 40x what trade between China and North Korea is.

Xi Jinping also had an official state visit to South Korea without visiting the North first. Is this "buffer zone" really as important to them as it was in the 1950s?

As long as there's still US military bases in South Korea, yes.

Stap Sean. Just. Stop.

twitter.com/yashar/status/851860791217278977

twitter.com/yashar/status/851862930752778242

SNL is going to be all over that one. Jesus what an embarrassment.