this whole North Korea thing is getting worrying.

Most of you, especially the leftist, completely miss Trump's negotiation (or game playing, same thing) style. That's OK, that's how he wins.

The Norks have for decades been playing us. OST, you study it, tell me I've read this wrong. They go "Oh, I'm gonna build a nuke, you Americans better watch out!" and we go "Oh, no, don't do that, here, promise you won't and we'll give you x Billion dollars a year." "Oh, well, OK, THIS TIME, but you Americans better watch it!" Again and again for decades. Then it was missles, then ICBM's, etc. Meanwhile we set up a free trade zone so they can make stuff in North Korea and get money for it. I was somewhat surprised to find that my Genuine Harley-Davidson clutch bearing for the Sporty, in a HD bag bought from a HD dealer with an HD part number on it, was labeled "Made in North Korea." That factory didn't get there by itself. And my friend, who did two tours on the DMZ as a Tank Commander or Master Gunner or something like that, said it was his opinion that the only reason we were still on the Korean peninsula was to keep the South Koreans from overrunning the North.

Anyway, just a show. The Norks' old game of "I'm gonna make a ..." and then wait for more free E36 M3 is not working against Trump's different game playing strategies. They are not gonna nuke Guam. And we are not gonna nuke them. We just are playing to win this time. For a change.

I've been to Guam, BTW. At the mall, you know what the biggest store was? A "Texas" theme store where you can buy cowboy hats and boots. The Japanese tourists loved it. They went "to America" on vacation and bought genuine American souvenirs. And when we docked and discharged our cargo (JP4 and #2 Diesel, if I recall,) we almost tipped it over. Man, that would have been bad. Embarrassing, to say the least.

I agree about the game they've been playing in the past, but how is Trump's "strategy" of escalatory rhetoric going to bring it to an end? Or a positive end, at least? Calling their bluff until they back down maybe? I wouldn't be so sure it's a bluff. If it does escalate to anything that could remotely resemble the beginnings of an invasion by the US, NK could attack. When the tweet that a carrier group was headed over there went out, I thought that the chance of a nuclear weapon being used was at the highest since the Cuban missile crisis.

Dr. Hess wrote: I've been to Guam, BTW. At the mall, you know what the biggest store was? A "Texas" theme store where you can buy cowboy hats and boots. The Japanese tourists loved it. They went "to America" on vacation and bought genuine American souvenirs. And when we docked and discharged our cargo (JP4 and #2 Diesel, if I recall,) we almost tipped it over. Man, that would have been bad. Embarrassing, to say the least.

Hehehe I see what you did there

I think I can hear Margie's cement mixer warming up.

GameboyRMH wrote: I agree about the game they've been playing in the past, but how is Trump's "strategy" of escalatory rhetoric going to bring it to an end? Or a *positive* end, at least?

Maybe it will "Cold War" them. If the NKs keep spending money they don't have and pissing off what few friends they have left, at some point maybe their glorious leader will be "disappeared". I would be willing to bet that there are many in the upper leadership who toe the line to keep themselves and their families alive but would be glad to form a less threatening government if given the chance.

I am on a couple of Australian forums and they are worried as well. They say that China has been hands off and possibly have been egging him on so that he would do something stupid and they could step in, but in past few weeks they have begun to tell him he'd better shut it down.

It reminds me of that old book the Mouse That Roared where an itty bitty country declared war on the U.S. so it could get foreign aid. Maybe the little guy has positioned his troops or missiles in a place he wouldn't mind clearing and is going to get the U.S. to do that clearing with the bombing and then he'll live off the reparations he'll get from us.

I know that a lot of South Koreans have been moving family & friends out. I have a lot of South Korean friends.

Yeah, I'm not sure name-calling and fanboi slamming of politicians is appropriate to a thread where we're discussing our possible obliteration--unless, of course, the goal is to make us happier that humanity is getting closer to exterminating itself. So I'm going to lock this and walk away, shaking my head that we can so easily reduce any discussion of massive threats to what amounts to sports-fan behaviors.

Margie

IBTL!