Trump Threatens a Genocide

As President Trump taunts North Korea’s leader with schoolyard insults, the terrifying possibility is that his threat to “totally destroy” a country of 25 million people could involve the U.S. in another genocide, warns David Marks.

By David Marks

The level of insult and hostile name-calling between world leaders was taken to a new extreme by Donald Trump in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly. In his preferred rhetoric replete with saber rattling, Trump’s comments included,  “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

President Trump meets with South Korean President Moon in New York on Sept. 21, 2017. (Screenshot from Whitehouse.gov)

Are we becoming numb to the tirades of the President? His apologists claim his words don’t necessarily reflect U.S. policy, however the threat to destroy an entire nation of 25 million people reveals a further willingness to embrace nuclear war. There are many Americans who protest his vision, but the United States seems relatively complacent considering his belligerence.

In the same speech, rather than envisioning an improvement in U.S.-Iranian relations, Trump condemned their leadership without any room for diplomacy: “The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in addition to responding specifically to Trump’s threats to scrap the 2015 nuclear agreement, added, “Mr. Trump was offensive to Iran, and we are waiting for Mr. Trump to apologize to the people of Iran.”

Behind Trump’s words is a drumbeat that is all too familiar to anyone who has read, studied or lived through war; and seen how threats and hostility can turn into madness and violence. When it comes to war there is an irrepressible and repetitive pattern where self-righteousness and nationalism mix to make a poisonous, explosive cocktail, blinding opponents to the humanity of their adversaries.

Although Trump points his finger at leadership, the implication is that we should fear and hate an enemy with no room for compromise; and eventually embrace war against an entire population. By dehumanizing and demonizing a leader, politicians give emotional foundation to aggression against a nation.

It doesn’t matter which “side” you are on. The rhetoric has been the same around the world and throughout history; all war promoters have an identical chant. They rise to power with claims of devotion to peace; devolving with threats to scapegoats, and eventually embracing conflict.

Consider this extract from Hitler’s speech to the Reichstag on January 30, 1939: “These other nations are continually being stirred up to hatred of Germany and the German people by Jewish and non-Jewish agitators. And so, should the warmongers achieve what they are aiming at, our own people would be landed in a situation for which they would be psychologically quite unprepared and which they would thus fail to grasp. …

“The German nation must know who the men are who want to bring about a war by hook or by crook. It is my conviction that these people are mistaken in their calculations, for when once National Socialist Propaganda is devoted to the answering of attacks, we shall succeed just as we succeeded inside Germany herself in overcoming, through the convincing power of our propaganda, the Jewish world enemy. …”

Demonizing the ‘Enemy’

Hitler rose to power repeatedly claiming he wanted peace (as late as 1939) and economic stability for Germany. Enough of the German people were persuaded that they had suffered at the hands of horrific foreigners to embrace Hitler’s vision. He was able to convince them that “the” Russians, “the” Americans, “the” Gypsies, “the” British, and “the” Jews were conspiring against the greatest nation on the planet.

German dictator Adolf Hitler

Hitler went on to attack Germany’s neighbors, justifying the aggression as necessary defense. His mad reversals exemplify how a leader can ignite the insanity of war. Not only does history repeat itself, but for centuries, conflicted leaders across all political persuasions have sown hatred as a precursor to war.

When economic, social, political or environmental crises arise or disaster looms, political leaders begin by verbally attacking the “enemy” — identifying appropriate scapegoats — in preparation for military action. The human tendency to direct anger and distress onto “foreigners” is the favorite tool of dark politicians.

Despite progress in many areas of human endeavor, people in all countries are still fed national stereotypes condemning entire populations or cultures as sub-human and worthy of aggression.

Yet among North Koreans, Iranians, Russians, Israelis, French, Americans — and of course, all nationalities — there is a diversity of perspective, feelings and lifestyle that is often falsely summed up with incendiary linguistics. When an entire population is glossed together as “the” Germans, “the” Cubans, “the” Chinese, etc., it removes individuality from potential enemies; a necessity for war; and certainly if nuclear bombs will be dropped on millions of civilians.

Trump seems to be willing to obliterate “the” Koreans. It is not just the North, as in a war scenario, South Korea, by all forecasts, will be pulverized by the North Korean response or as “collateral damage.”

In contrast to the risky bravado of Trump (only days after his U.N. speech), the South Korean government approved an $8 million humanitarian aid package for the North. While the U.S. President adds fuel to the fire from thousands of miles away, most South Koreans would rather find a path to peace.

Hurling Insults

The President stands before the world at the United Nations and says of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.” Subsequently, he signed an order for the Treasury department to target businesses and banks doing business with North Korea. One can only wonder what reaction he expects from Kim other than continued escalation of hostilities.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In the first North Korean response to Trump’s threats, their foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, said, “There is a saying that the marching goes on even when dogs bark.” Kim responded both to Trump’s speech and executive order with a hostile statement that included, “Action is the best option in treating the dotard, who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say.”

Trump, as he escalates the potential for a major war, is proving himself to be more like Hitler than many people would like to believe. He claims to want peace while setting a course toward war. He always thinks he is right and easily finds others to blame. And most importantly, by threatening to “totally destroy” an entire country, Trump is suggesting that the United States commit genocide and possibly launch a new World War.

David Marks is a veteran documentary filmmaker and investigative reporter. His work includes films for the BBC and PBS, including Nazi Gold, on the role of Switzerland in WWII and biographies of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Sinatra.

61 comments for “Trump Threatens a Genocide

  1. Robert Golden
    September 25, 2017 at 21:03

    The article alerts us to the potential for war on the Korean Peninsula, but understates the recklessness and ignorance of Trump, and the implications of his UN speech. Trump’s threat put over 200 M people at risk of murder. Moreover, North Korea shares borders with both Russia and China. What a catastrophe destroying North Korea would likely produce on the Korean Pen, Japan, and beyond, plus the global, economic depression.

    Recklessness and ignorance pervaded Trump’s address to the United Nations. No only did Trump threaten using nuclear bombs on North Korea, he also threatened Iran. Again, he didn’t bother to look at a map. Such action could not only launch a very expensive war in the ME, it could also lead to WWIII. This war would start with a global recession, as Iran could not only shut the Straight of Hormuz, but easily lob enough missiles to stop Gulf oil production. Again Iran is an ally of Russia.

    Trump ran against our 20T debt, promising his “voodoo economics” would reduce it. Yet the biggest driver of debt are wars and military spending. According to Trump, the Iraq War cost 6T and counting. An Iran War would be at least double and would have a much greater global, economic impact. Additionally, he threatened military involvement in Venezuela, as well as his dislike of all socialist and communist regimes. In other words, this person is a dangerous, raving lunatic, and a threat to the entire globe. The same people who thought he would somehow help them, with his racism, will find themselves worse off, from his malignant, narcissism and megalomania.

  2. Robbi Gomes
    September 25, 2017 at 13:35

    Oh gosh! I’m starting to feel sorry for Kim Jong Un and North Korea. That bully in the White House is threatening the little dictator with words, while he is threatening the world with nuclear Bombs and Ballistic missiles. How dare Trump do this? Why doesn’t he take Obama’s lead and bribe Kim. Yeah, that’s the best strategy: offer your enemy’s money––billions of dollars in cash–– surely they will behave or… uh… maybe use the money to build a bigger Nuke.

  3. September 25, 2017 at 00:39

    At a recent event held over an Air Force 70th anniversary, toward the end of his speech Donald Trump talked about achieving “total victory”. Mr. Trump in the address chose not to elaborate on, further describe, or share more in-depth aspects or details about what exactly he meant by “total victory”. The American people might want to think long and hard about the absolutely dangerous situation they and the all humanity are now facing.

    • irina
      September 25, 2017 at 11:23

      We have been facing that ‘absolutely dangerous situation’ since at least the 1950’s.

  4. elmerfudzie
    September 24, 2017 at 17:14

    This is another propaganda article that has the story completely turned around, it’s Un, who threatens genocide and has committed it against his own people with “internment” camps. It was over eight years ago, that the (absolutely totalitarian government) at Pyongyang decided to dismantle a previously negotiated and agreed to, area monitoring camera(s) mounted adjacent to atomic reactor cores and fuel rod storage facilities in Yongbyon. Since that, oh so memorable point in time, the Western Occident Intel community had no other tool (spy networks), other than satellite imagery ans air monitoring which are not too helpful at all, for ascertaining weather or not Un has already or will divert nuclear materials, bombs or technical know how to terror groups, individuals or rogue governments. ASIDE: Well, Donald Rumsfeld and ex-Prez Clinton, a fine situation you both got us all into now! ….In any case, our new POTUS is a direct descendant of the original American Settler and Spirit, the founders, the doers, the movers and shakers, mowing down forests, dividing the waters and building like no other group of peoples !..When this sort of personage says, “draw” the challenged had better not touch his holster or any part of it, because something God Awful will DEFINITELY happen and the cards will fall where ever they may. This violence is what we are as a nation, and is firmly part of our cultural nationhood…I sincerely hope Xi is reading this, because frankly, you Xi, just don’t get it! I know President Putin does, I know Prime Minister Shinz? Abe get’s it, Emperor Akihito sure as hell get’s it, President Moon Jae-in understands our predicament, but you Xi, you don’t !

  5. Kelli
    September 24, 2017 at 16:00

    “Are we becoming numb to the tirades of the President? His apologists claim his words don’t necessarily reflect U.S. policy, however the threat to destroy an entire nation of 25 million people reveals a further willingness to embrace nuclear war. There are many Americans who protest his vision, but the United States seems relatively complacent considering his belligerence.”
    THIS.
    The US population is completely complacent, normalizing this psychopath. There is ZERO resistance, no anti war or peace protests, even as Congress just voted up for a 700 BILLION WAR package with BIPARTISAN support.
    What is rarely mentioned is the criminality, not only of Trump but of the Senators and House that did NOTHING to stop it, but in fact signed off on our death warrants. They are all SILENT. The healthcare bill is merely political theater for if they cannot get rid of us with death by domestic legislation, they will do it with foreign policy.
    I know many many people who see the writing on the wall. The defense department announced missing 6.5 TRILLION more, and our economy is more to the advantage of the elite while Americans struggle to survive, but we will have no survival at all if this psychopath and his INSANE Congress pulls the trigger.
    It was easy for Republicans like MCCain, to say no to healthcare when he is a WARMONGER and so the policy that matters most to both parties but especially McCain is MORE WAR.

    I thought when Trump was SELECTED, that the American people would wake up. Nope. They only pay attention when it directly affects THEM. How narcissistic is THAT?Meanwhile the last several administration have been all about WAR.
    I hate to say this, but a world war on their doorstep would wake them up. By then it’s too late and we have a WORLD full of human beings who have been HARMED by US AGGRESSION.
    No one is going to feel badly for us as we allow this murderous President and Congress to take us all to our DEMISE. Just as the ZIONISTS WANT.

    We are not just complacent we are SHAMEFUL..

    • mike k
      September 25, 2017 at 09:13

      I share your feelings Kelli. The world we are living in is an outrage!

  6. Seer
    September 24, 2017 at 05:46

    I can only hope that this actually is, whether intended by Trump and his handlers or not, a strong unifying measure for ALL of Korea. They either unite against the “Death Star” or they perish.

    • mike k
      September 24, 2017 at 12:02

      South Korea is beginning to wake up to who the real threat is to their continued existence, and it ain’t North Korea. The problem is how to escape the deadly embrace of Amerika?

  7. Realist
    September 24, 2017 at 04:38

    If Trump gave the order, would his hand-picked generals really relay the order to eradicate 25 million human beings (and possibly triple that considering the collateral damage that would ensue in S. Korea and Japan) based on one man’s whims? I remember that one admiral, I think it was, said that he would gladly do so, but I question his sanity. Such a decision should always require a majority consensus of those wielding power, which is why the congress was solely authorised to start wars under the constitution, not that the constitution is considered relevant to anything anymore.

    But, let’s assume the maniacs in Washington all got on the same page and nuked the Korean peninsula into a smoldering heap of trinitite just to uphold our exceptional status as the world hegemon. What would the rest of the world do in the ensuing ten minutes? Einstein used to find such “what if” questions useful to put the big issues into perspective.

    • Seer
      September 24, 2017 at 05:59

      And it’s pretty clear that the real target is not NK, but Russia (and, of course China, though Russia is and always has been the number one objective).

      https://consortiumnews.com/2017/03/10/dreams-of-winning-nuclear-war-on-russia/

      Compare Trump to Kennedy. Unless Trump has everyone fooled, he’s a fool that will ensure that humanity pays for giving Tthe Button” to a “smart ape.”

    • mike k
      September 24, 2017 at 11:10

      Perhaps the most idiotic and dangerous feature of our political system is placing so much power in the hands of one person. This goes way back in our history of one man rulers with absolute authority. It is a terrible idea, and one that could cost us our continued existence on Earth.

  8. ADL
    September 24, 2017 at 02:28

    Mr. Marks is dead on. The similarities between T and AH, and other demagogues is natural. That is how they gain power. T’s whole life, and certainly political career, is built on hatred of those ‘others’. Fear mongering, demeaning, degrading, divide and conquer. Us and against them, me against everyone.
    T’s last 2 speeches are textbook examples of this – attacking everyone, blaming everyone, then claiming for himself righteous authority.
    It was and is the bedrock of his whole campaign, and appeal. No different than any demagogue, any dictator who understands that creating enemies to hate and attack and destroy empowers themselves. But you need a willing audience – and boy has he found one right here in the good ole USA.

    For months I have witnessed our country be engulfed by this cesspool, watched his followers, and APPEASERS, assure us that what T has done and said is no indication of who he really is. No – just wait – the man has a plan for world peace and great prosperity.

    T is going down, his arc is of a man on self destruction, on a suicide mission. He cares not one iota who he hurts or how bad. It is ALL about him, it always has been.
    The question every person in this country is soon facing, are we going to go down with this madman?

    • mike k
      September 24, 2017 at 11:05

      Excellent insight. I agree 100%. Trump is the most dangerous man on the planet. We must get him out of his position as soon as possible. The need to do this trumps every other consideration.

  9. tina
    September 24, 2017 at 02:10

    I really respected this site in the past. In late 2015 early 2016, I noticed so much vitriol toward HRC. There was this narrative on CN that HRC was itching to go war with Russia. Funny, I have never seen anything where HRC stated that she wanted to “totally destroy” Russia, or North Korea, or Iran, or Venezuela, or Cuba. I get it that HRC is not likable to some citizens, but my goodness, all you HRC dislikers here on CN, can you imagine if HRC told the NFL Owners to fire those SOBS for disrespecting the flag? Think about it. In your own words here, you call her Killary, Shillary, Cankles, WarMonger… Would she ask the NFL to fire those Sons of bitches because
    those sobs do not respect the flag? And DJT is wonderful, the best,

    • ADL
      September 24, 2017 at 02:56

      Piling on Tina’s comment.
      NBA Coaches Kerr, Van Gundy, Popovich called out T for his racism, misogyny, lying, etc.
      I do not recall any tweets or verbal retaliation towards them. What do these coaches have in common?

      Ms. Hill, Mr Kaepernick, and Mr. Curry called out T.
      T retaliated against all 3. What do these 3 have in common?

      Hint: something to do with the color of their skin.

      PS: For all you have claim equivalency between T and HRC please provide documentation per above example.

      • Seer
        September 24, 2017 at 06:47

        Count the dead in Iraq, Syria, Libya Yemen…

    • David G
      September 24, 2017 at 06:49

      She threatened to “obliterate” Iran during her 2008 campaign.

    • mike k
      September 24, 2017 at 11:14

      DJT is the best we can do? Sad.

  10. ADL
    September 24, 2017 at 01:36

    Thank you Mr. Marks for pointing out EXACTLY how demented T is.
    Things just keep getting worse and worse.

    If any Leader of any Country had given T’s UN speech, they would universally be attacked as a raving lunatic, a megalomaniac, a supreme danger to the safety of the world and their own country.
    But yet his supporters still cheer, and his past appeasers acted ‘surprised”.

    It reminds me of post WWII Germans who when asked how could they have possibly supported AH replied:
    Well he promised to make Germany great again.
    And he promised Economic prosperity.
    And beside who knew that AH was such a racist, warmonger, pathological liar, and deranged?

    Yes who could have possibly known T is so deranged? There were no previous signs, right? Just a complete surprise.

    • mike k
      September 24, 2017 at 11:15

      Your mind is clear about Trump’s dangerous lack of sanity.

  11. Max Plummer
    September 23, 2017 at 20:25

    Don’t misunderstand me: “Trump is acting like a 7th Grade Bully.” However, if North Korean people are killed, it will be Self Inflicted Genocide.

    • Zachary Smith
      September 23, 2017 at 22:13

      However, if North Korean people are killed, it will be Self Inflicted Genocide.

      That isn’t how the dictionary handles the word. Or are you using the term to mean what happened to the Iraqis because of their possession of WMDs, the Libyans for having excess amounts of Viagra of mass rape, or Syrians for irresponsibly squatting on land which must become Greater Israel?

    • Zachary Smith
      September 23, 2017 at 22:13

      However, if North Korean people are killed, it will be Self Inflicted Genocide.

      That isn’t how the dictionary handles the word. Or are you using the term to mean what happened to the Iraqis because of their possession of WMDs, the Libyans for having excess amounts of Viagra of mass rape, or Syrians for irresponsibly squatting on land which must become part of Greater Israel?

    • LJ
      September 27, 2017 at 13:50

      Is that what happened to so many Tribes of Native American Indians? Self Inflicted Genocide?With any Luck at all it ain’t gonna happen. One man does not have the right or power to bring genocide upon his race or any others. Romans use to kill the adult males of the Tribes and Peoples they defeated and sell the woman and children as slaves. Now that makes more sense. Genocide is wasteful . Trump does not have this power and he will not be allowed to do this. Lost in this nonsense is the fact that the USA would lose South Korean and Chinese as allies forever. I suspect even the Japanese and most of the rest of Asia would shit us out also. It ain’t gonna happen.. Trump is an idiot. A blowhard. The North Korean Kim will not commit suicide. It would not benefit him in any way.

  12. Joe Tedesky
    September 23, 2017 at 19:56

    Trump puts an American face too all that is wrong with America the Empire.

  13. Karl Sanchez
    September 23, 2017 at 19:08

    It helps to know the context of Kim’s usage of “dotard,” of which few writers and news outlets seem capable. Here’s a link to KIm’s entire letter to Trump, which is very reasonable IMO, and displays Kim’s much higher level of intelligence, http://theduran.com/kim-jong-un-delivers-rare-personal-address-donald-trump/

    • David G
      September 23, 2017 at 21:45

      Having read it, I completely agree. Thanks for the link.

      The imperfect translation actually brings home that this is in fact a personal statement by Kim, rather than a polished product of the DPRK communications shop, which would have likely been more extravagantly theatrical than this, and that somehow makes the statement we have more chilling.

      It’s distressing, but not surprising, that our media has played up the “dotard” thing rather than looking at the message as a whole.

      And it’s an additional bummer that our political and media discourse is so degraded that a perfectly reasonable word like “dotard” is being treated like an oddity out of the depths of the OED, another troubling illustration of where the adults are in this dispute.

    • Seer
      September 24, 2017 at 06:41

      If folks didn’t read the comments from this article then they missed this most excellent, snarky cartoon:

      https://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FDEe2Hv9XsAAIUb3.jpg&key=eKv5m0Csb1tSjIQ0F6ufjw&w=800&h=545

      • Karl Sanchez
        September 24, 2017 at 16:10

        Thanks for posting that link! Somebody needs to paste/copy and add it to Trump’s Twitter feed where it will really raise hackles!

        • hatedbyu
          September 25, 2017 at 10:40

          yes, trolling is great for the masses. just not when politicians do it…..

  14. robjira
    September 23, 2017 at 18:40

    Excellent article. Comparing DT to AH though is giving DT too much credit; AH was a tactician at least…

  15. mike k
    September 23, 2017 at 16:44

    “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
        Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
        The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
        The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
        The best lack all conviction, while the worst
        Are full of passionate intensity.”

    W.B. Yeats

  16. mike k
    September 23, 2017 at 16:39

    “Ah, love, let us be true
    To one another! for the world, which seems
    To lie before us like a land of dreams,
    So various, so beautiful, so new,
    Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
    Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
    And we are here as on a darkling plain
    Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
    Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

    Matthew Arnold

  17. mike k
    September 23, 2017 at 16:32

    It seems to be a historical law that in the declining years of an Empire, madmen gain the leadership position, and their crazy temperaments lead to the very decisions that speed the collapse. Trump is our Caligula, our Nero. That anyone could feel safe with this deranged character at the helm is a testament to most of the populace’s disconnection from reality, their dwelling in foolish dreams as the colossus of Empire collapses around them.

    • ADL
      September 24, 2017 at 01:48

      Exactly. Disconnect from reality is being kind.
      To know T’s history, his record of racism, fraud, and ignorance and still support him only speaks to those followers, not to T. To listen to his constant pathological lying, his birtherism, his constant racist comments, his demented rants on everybody and everything including his own countrymen, and still support T only speaks to his supporters.
      To read or hear women supporting a man who over a lifetime has degraded them speaks to those women, not T.

      And yet not only did they support him, they still do.That is the scariest thing to witness – this mass insanity. What has happened to my country?

    • LJ
      September 25, 2017 at 13:59

      Mike K after Caligula (4th Emperor) and Nero (6th Emperor) who were of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, the Roman Empire lasted a couple hundred more years in the West and several hundred more in the East after Constantine the Great moved the capitol of Rome to Constantinople. Generals and strongmen took charge of the position of Emperor.. Sometimes were worse than others. Sometimes it was a little bloody. Especially after Marcus Aurelius who was Emperor for 20 years 100 years or so after Nero. There are always loonies around power. When sons and bloodlines and palace treachery become involved it’s worse. Can you imagine President Trump Jr. or Baron Trump the First ? We have only recently become the world’s indispensable nation and world’s policeman. In 50 years China will be the boss unless some kind of catastrophe occurs and we enter into a Dark Age of sorts.

  18. Abe
    September 23, 2017 at 16:25

    “North Korea is once again the big, bad, boogey man of Asia, a convenient villain Washington will use to fuel a spanking new arms race. If all-out war does not follow Donald Trump’s insane policies aimed at Pyongyang, something miraculous will have to take place soon. The American hegemony turns once again to the Far East, in a redux of the 2000 North Korean sanctions negotiations.

    “I’ll wager that very few people reading this remember the 1999 missile tests over Japan that North Korea used to ‘negotiate’ sanctions reductions. Yes, it’s true and not ‘fake news’, as the New York Times reported from 2000, ‘South Korea Plans to Begin Rocket Program’. What, you expected ingenuity and creativity from the Trump administration and the US Congress? Not a chance of that, I say. The elites that run the globalist narrative never divert from what works, I tell you. If young and old Americans were fearful Japan would go up in a mushroom cloud in 1999, then the new generation of willing idiots are all the more capable of apathetic abandon. Trump and Co. are just doing Korea or Vietnam II, since those ventures proved financially profitable for the military industrialists and the economy overall. […]

    “America’s missile defense strategies have metamorphosed in the last three decades under Ronald Reagan’s successors […] the new Commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems, Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves testified the other day before the U.S. Senate, “modernizing” America’s ABM capability was the subject. Greaves, who inherited Reagan’s SDI, Bill Clinton’s Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, and President George W. Bush’s Missile Defense Agency, has more experience and knows more about space based systems than anybody in the U.S. Military. There’s little doubt but that he is a key figure in testing of systems such as the touted Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI), offshoots of the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser (ABL), Raytheon’s Network Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCADE), and an array of other top-secret weapons that operate within certain spheres. Instances of programs that focus on the ascent phase intercept (API). Mid-course and terminal phases of ICBM flight are as broad as anyone can imagine. The mid-course system Mr. Putin discussed, the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD), is but a single facet to extraordinary developmental efforts in the field.

    “Finally, all this ‘development’ spells jobs and money at the endpoint. But there has to be a threat in order to expand research, development, manufacturing, and deployment of these systems. Once again, North Korea plays a vital role in drumming up enough good old fashioned fear to justify trillions of dollars in weapons programs. Therefore, the lie has to be manufactured and propagated through trusted media like the New York Times and other corporate or elitist controlled channels. Advertising was never so effective as when it’s applied to products that save lives and liberty. Stay tuned for North Korea to announce a cessation of all testing in exchange for lifted sanctions, and for Raytheon and others to announce new contracts for advanced deterrent systems.”

    The Deadly Rocket Scare Redux: North Korea’s Role in the Arms Game
    By Phil Butler
    https://journal-neo.org/2017/09/22/the-deadly-rocket-scare-redux-north-korea-s-role-in-the-arms-game/

  19. Zachary Smith
    September 23, 2017 at 16:11

    According to a story I found on the Naked Capitalism site this morning, Trump may not have as much freedom of action as he thinks he does.

    The US and South Korea at Odds

    US President Donald Trump tweeted a message to the South Koreans accusing them of appeasement.

    In response, the South Koreans released a statement saying South Korea’s top interest was to ensure that it would never experience the devastation it endured during the Korean War.

    From South Korea’s perspective, artillery fire exchanges that might hit Seoul had to be avoided. Given the choice between a major war to end the North’s nuclear program and accepting a North Korea armed with nuclear weapons, South Korea would choose the latter.

    h**p://www.mauldineconomics.com/editorial/south-korea-dispute-throws-wrench-in-us-war-plans/oac#

    It is not inconceivable the US could end up fighting North Korea, South Korea, and China all at once.

    Another story of interest is this one:

    “Why China Could Invade North Korea”

    h**p://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-china-could-invade-north-korea-22417?page=show

  20. mike k
    September 23, 2017 at 16:05

    All that we have today is the logical and inevitable result of our evolution in this world. We responded as could be expected, and we are now deep into the unfortunate results of those responses. The oppression of the many by the few goes all the way back to our emergence as a clever species. The whole tragic failure of humankind could have been predicted from very ancient times on earth, if not all the way back to the “big bang.” This current nightmare was scripted into our story from the beginning of life on Earth, and perhaps unfolds in a similar way throughout the Universe. The underlying physical and biological laws governing the reality we are born into determine in broad strokes how this human affair will go, including it’s self-destruction.

    So it is that in our struggles to script another outcome to the human drama, we find ourselves fighting against vast cosmic forces that guarantee our failure. Although our intelligence and the powers we have gained through it are presently leading us into our extinction, ironically these same gifts (curses?) could be the key to our salvation.

    The real drama underlying the happenings of our times is the struggle of the few who are awakening to turn the many who are asleep from their suicidal path. The efforts here on CN to expose what is really going on in the world today, are part of this struggle to awaken the sleeping populace, so that we can turn away from the precipice we are rapidly approaching now. Whether the sum of this and many other similar efforts will be adequate to achieve their purpose may well determine humankind’s fate.

  21. GM
    September 23, 2017 at 15:04

    Dotard. I’m totally using that.

  22. September 23, 2017 at 14:29

    September 20, 2017
    I Believe I Saw a Dangerous Hypocrite Today

    I believe I saw a dangerous hypocrite today his hair was orange instead of grey
    He threatened to “destroy’’ another country, if it didn’t do things his way
    He talked of being “righteous” but then spoke very angrily
    Sometimes he says, “God Bless,” is this hypocrisy and blasphemy?

    He does sword dances with head chopping dictators
    And sells to them arms and missiles, and is a peace violator
    He fired 59 missiles into Syria and killed some innocent people
    While enjoying chocolate cake and being very gleeful

    He is a member of a coalition that is destroying Yemen
    They have been called war criminals and to that I say “Amen”
    He talks about fighting terrorism while arming terrorists as well
    Are he and his helpers, hypocrites straight from bloody hell?

    He talked about upholding “respect for law” and borders
    Is he hallucinating, and suffering from a mental disorder?
    This is a man that fires missiles into another country in an illegal act of war
    Is he a self deluded hypocrite and a creator of blood and gore?

    Will this man, who could be unstable, start a nuclear war?
    Is he being egged on by those, that don’t come to the fore?
    Are the secret war planners, using him, to get their way?
    Do they control the dangerous hypocrite, I believe I saw today?

    [more info at link below]

    http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2017/09/i-believe-i-saw-dangerous-hypocrite.html

    • truth time
      September 24, 2017 at 02:02

      Most Excellent

    • Quintus Sertorius
      September 28, 2017 at 01:33

      nice poem. I’ll share it with my friends.
      Gratefully,
      QS

  23. exiled off mainstreet
    September 23, 2017 at 14:20

    Since Trump’s power to negotiate is circumscribed by the deep state, he’s doing what they’ll allow him to do: foment wars. The ending will likely be unpleasant. He apparently knows the guidelines and even ad-libbed some of the dangerous North Korea talk. The fact he is in largely because the other candidate was an obvious pro-war anti-Russian loony shows how far things have degenerated, and limits the scope of anti-war resistance since the former anti-war types are largely subsumed in the phony opposition part of the two-party uniparty war matrix.

    • Kent
      September 23, 2017 at 17:31

      ^ Yes, what you said. ^

    • Dave P.
      September 23, 2017 at 21:31

      eom – Very precise and well said – and true.

    • Jake G
      September 24, 2017 at 10:33

      Nice calm and rational comment.
      Refreshing after seeing all these full blown anti-Trump comments.

    • LJ
      September 24, 2017 at 16:20

      Boy, if you don’t like this country maybe you ought ta move to Russia, I hear foreigners can get 5000 hectare in Siberia if they emigrate, with global warming and all maybe it’s a smart move.

      • irina
        September 25, 2017 at 11:18

        The continental circumpolar subarctic is a very nice place to live.

  24. Ol' Hippy
    September 23, 2017 at 14:06

    As much as possible the US needs to rein in all the explosive rhetoric before it escalate into an all out conflagration. We have a demagogue acting in the role of president and his words DO matter, a lot. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a president speak as recklessly as Trump did to the UN. I bet there have been other inflammatory speeches in the past but never threatening to annihilate another nation. I’ve pointed out to several people the shocking similarity that the current situation is reminiscent of Germany in the 30’s and they don’t see the connection. Thank you for using this very useful analogy. We can all hope for at least a few cooler heads to ward off this latest dangerous blustering from two of the leaders that seem to act with child like abandon.

  25. LJ
    September 23, 2017 at 13:59

    It was very, very stupid to expose himself as a surface thinker and a bully. The first thought that came into my mind was what about South Korea, they will be destroyed as well. What about the reactor core meltdowns and the humanitarian catastrophe that will insue. What about the costs to teh United Staes to occupy the Korean Peninsula and clean up the mess. What about any nuclear strikes that may occur in retaliation. Why would this be worth it. In the same speech he threww out the Nuclear agreement with Iran? Why then should North Korea negotiate, what do they have to gain since the USA cannot be trusted to honmor it’s word even when all parties want to maintain an agreement… This is not an accident. Juts today he withdrew an invitation to the Golden Stae Warriors the NBA Champions to visit teh White House because his feelings were hurt anfd yesterday he was calling any NFL player who may engage in protests a “son-of-a-bitch” and encouraged NFL owners to fire them. What about teh costs there in terms of litigation for these firings and the bad will incurred with Black Atheletes everywhere. What poliytical gain is there in such reactionary stupidity. How can he emerge with a Victory or a “better deal” by pandering to a bunch of mouth breathers in Alabama at a football game watching their National Championship contenders when it is obvious that they are over 90% Black. What if they choose to boycott and walk off the field. Trump is unsuited by temperament, personality and intellect to serve as President of the United States. He is too divisive. You see Mueller is silently building his case. I think he will be forced out. It is a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. He can’t shut up, He displays poor judgement on a daily basis. This is not an accident. He is not going to get a better deal. He said John McCain was not a war hero and never apologized and he tried to bully Senator Murkowski form Alaska and Senators Collins from Maine. He will never gain their support. What is the point in digging a deeper hole. He’s no smarter than the malevolent Korean Dwarf. He should resign. It is true, I voted for him and I am glad that Hillary is not President now, Thanks Donald, Good-Bye.

    • D5-5
      September 23, 2017 at 14:33

      LJ, I sympathize with much of your comment but not “malevolent Korean Dwarf.” This suggests you’re in the camp of the propagandists with North Korea as automatically evil. It stokes hatred. Why do it? There is a case for North Korea, as recently indicated from one of their ministers that their bomb program is a maneuver for defense in the face of US hostility–emphasis on defense, not offense. Trump underscores this US hostility with his demonizing, and so does your comment here.

      • LJ
        September 23, 2017 at 15:05

        Propaganda my ass, The Kim family in North Korea Is evil, the grand father was evil and the father was evil. Look how this scumbag had his brother murdered with the gel and the nerve gas in the airport just a couple month ago. . A painful, no excruciating death. Why not just button him if you are that close and had his tendencies like the Israelis would do? Thta’s evil. It was a thumb in the face of international aw, an intelligence hit pulled off in an International Airport. It was an insult, a finger to all who would criticize the North Korean Regime. The people are starved and brainwashed. Assets are directed towards the nuclear program. What is their endgame besides survival of the Kim regime in power? They do not want re-unification with South Korea or even a treaty ending the Korean War. Kim wants money. He’s a Jr. Gangsta. Period. Now as for the USA we wanted a military base on Jeju Island and we got it. We are and have been evil the dirt on our hands in Korea will never wash off , clearly we are and have been obstructionists to any attempt at reconciliation since the 50’s but I was talking about Trump. The reference to Malevolent Dwarf was an allusion quote from George W Bush regarding the present clown in charge’s father. I think the world would be better off without the guy but that applies to a few billion other humans as well. Donald Trump and his entire family included. You want to stick up for somebody try the Iranians or Maduro in Venezuela. They aren’t shits.

        • D5-5
          September 23, 2017 at 15:32

          Demonizing is a form of hatred and violence, and here you continue with it and patronize to boot. We need a profound investigation of the case against Jong Un instead of this MSM driven style rant. Even the MSM has doubts on Jong Un’s murdering his brother:

          https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/kim-jong-un-is-a-top-suspect-in-his-half-brothers-death-but-questions-abound/2017/02/16/caf6aad2-f461-11e6-8873-a962f11835fb_story.html?utm_term=.e61cd6e664da

          • LJ
            September 23, 2017 at 15:47

            Get rid of him and Trump too. Let the buzzards pick their bones. Don’t waste any time burying them. All this Peace and Love in human history? All, this Good Will? When was it? The Garden of Eden didn’t last log and that was a story, a myth. Good luck with your vegan diet and I hear gluten free beer is OK. Sheesh Dude, Be safe. Peace. Who else would kill the guy’s brother and why. It was a sophisticated operation, it cost money and the perpetrators disappeared without a trace scott free. They didn’t steal money, it wasn’t a sting. You are making ridiculous assumptions. The killers had a motive and they had a bankroll and didn’t profit. They were not ordinary criminals.

  26. truth time
    September 23, 2017 at 13:58

    I’m sure the idiots that support Trump, or as with any recent President, believe they are playing “4-D” chess. The dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard concocted by voters to ignore past and ongoing War Crimes committed by the Trump. I heard similar excuses by Obama supporters when they shrugged off what he himself signed off on including a drone assassination list.

    Fact: It took 2 years for Obama to sign off on orders that killed nearly 80 civilians per month in Iraq and Syria for roughly 2,300 civilian total deaths. It took Trump less than 6 WEEKS for the roughly 360 killed per month under his Administration to reach that number.

    Now, this isn’t a dick waving contest. They and the people of the Pentagon that oversee these disasters should be brought before a Tribunal and sent to prison. Of course that isn’t going to happen, since the Imperium will blunder on until collapse is inevitable.

    Unfortunately the continued bombing of these countries will have lasting affects for generations, especially in the form of Blowback and Revenge killings. And endless cycle of violence.

    • hatedbyu
      September 25, 2017 at 10:30

      difference might be that obama got the peace prize before he did anything. trump got the hitler moniker before HE did anything……

      i follow the published works of a few former intelligence people and make up my own mind based on that and history. history has shown us that the posturing that north korea does is for media consumption and is to achieve some aim. sometimes that aim is for their benefit but i think it has always been for the benefit of the war machine,in the us, in selling weapons to nk”s neighbors…..

      something is different this time. i contend that what we are seeing is the dismantling of north korea entirely. in short, the unification of korea. whatever is the true outcome, i don’t think it is what is being reported or what comes out of trumps mouth.

  27. D5-5
    September 23, 2017 at 13:41

    Trump is clueless as to how his words apply to the US:

    “In the same speech, rather than envisioning an improvement in U.S.-Iranian relations, Trump condemned their leadership without any room for diplomacy: ‘The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy. It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos’.”

    Analogy with Hitler appreciated.

  28. John A
    September 23, 2017 at 13:38

    Maybe Trump and Kim Jong Un could engage in a beard growing contest instead. Whoever grows a full set wins. The rest of the world can then sleep safely because neither of them will ever be able to do that.

  29. September 23, 2017 at 12:59

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