President Donald trump recently launched into a tirade against North Korea and warned that “fire and fury” would rain on the North. The statement may have been an impulsive reaction to the needling by the North Korean regime but all the same, this Tough Talk is a bad omen, and many interpret it as a warning of a nuclear attack.
Such a statement is not appreciated by North Korea which has reciprocated to Trump's statement by saying that they will target the US base at Guam with nuclear weapons.
Trump further added that any military action launched by him would be something “like the world has never seen.” CNN International reported this news.
Stooping to level of Kim
His statement is sure to alarm China, including many leaders in the US Congress. Senator John McCain, one of the critics of the president reportedly said that this kind of rhetoric does not help as great leaders don’t threaten unless they are ready to act. By attacking the North in strong language, Trump stooped to the level of Kim Jong-un who is known for making such statements that lack punch.
Trump and exaggeration
Throughout his election campaign and later as president, Trump is known to have a penchant for exaggeration.
An example is his take on crowds attending his inauguration which he claimed were much larger than those attending Obama’s inauguration but photographs showed that the American people were not enamored of Trump and the crowds attending his inauguration were sparse. Despite Trump's bombastic statement, the Pentagon has not done anything special on North Korea. The Secretary of State, Tillerson has brought sanity by stating that all that the president had said was to warn North Korea not to make any miscalculation.
Military strike?
The biggest loser in a US army strike is South Korea which could be devastated and suffer a great number of casualties in the event of a North Korean counter strike.
Trump's critics have been quick to point out that his statements risked dividing the allies against North Korea and played into Korean hands. The fact is North Korea is at least a decade away to perfect missiles with nuclear warheads to hit the USA.
View of critics
Critics of Trump also feel that such statements show that the USA is not interested in nuclear disarmament but just wants to oust the Kim dynasty from power. Democrats have criticized trump and Rep. Eliot Engel a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has said that the North is a threat, but this is not the way to go about facing it.