Trump’s entire North Korea strategy could be a giant bluff
By Harry J. Kazianis, opinion contributor — 12/26/17 04:00 PM EST With reports breaking that Pyongyang could very well return to its old tricks — test firing a so-called “satellite,†essentially code for a missile test under a less terrifying name — it seems one thing is clear: The North Korea crisis is not over.
Indeed, with Trump administration officials — and their various surrogates — almost daily making statements that seem to cheerlead a so-called “military option,†some vague sounding preventive, preemptive or shock and awe strike on the Kim regimes nuclear and missile programs, it seems for certain trouble is slowly brewing. Many analysts here in Washington fear that unless North Korea either gives up its nuclear weapons and missiles or makes a quick dash towards suspending its weapons testing and returns to the bargaining table war seems almost inevitable.
Or is it? One of the possible policy options is that the Trump administration, with its talk of “fire and fury,†that the regime would be “will be utterly destroyed†in a war or that “we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea†if forced to defend our allies†might not be ready poised to strike at all.
In fact, I have a different take these days: all the hot rhetoric might just be a giant bluff, using the threat of military action to get North Korea to back off.
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http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/366498-trumps-entire-north-korea-strategy-could-be-a-giant-bluff
