Stephen Lendman

On Thursday, NBC News said the Trump administration “is prepared to launch a preemptive strike with conventional weapons against North Korea should officials become convinced (it’s) about to follow through with (another) nuclear weapons test, (according to) multiple senior US intelligence officials…”

Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear weapons test could come Saturday - commemorating Kim Il-sung’s 105th birthday, the nation’s founder. The USS Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is positioned off North Korea’s coast, able to launch cruise missile and aerial attacks.

Guam-based US heavy bombers could be used, NBC News said, adding a “US strike could include missiles and bombs, cyber and special operations on the ground.”

Center for Strategic and International Studies Korea chair analyst Victor Cha lied, claiming Pyongyang’s leadership “has shown absolutely no sign or interest in diplomacy or dialogue (on) this issue.”

For decades, North Korea sought normalized relations with America and other nations, its good faith efforts rebuffed.

Its government justifiably fears another US-led war on its territory - why it chose to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, hoping to deter another hugely destructive war.

NBC News cited unnamed sources, saying Washington “is aware that simply preparing an attack, even if it will only be launched if there is an ‘imminent’ North Korean action, increases the danger of provoking a large conflict.”

According to an unnamed senior US intelligence official, the stakes are “high…We are trying to communicate our level of concern and the existence of many military options to dissuade the North first.”

“It’s a feat that we’ve never achieved before, but there is a new sense of resolve here.”

China sent its top nuclear negotiators to Pyongyang to try heading off potential disaster, said NBC News.

On Tuesday, the Kremlin said Moscow is “gravely concerned about Washington’s plans regarding North Korea, considering hints about the unilateral use of a military scenario.”

On Friday, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi “urge(d) all parties to refrain from inflammatory or threatening statements and deeds to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from becoming irreversible.”

“On the Korean peninsula, it is not the one who espouses harsher rhetoric or raises a bigger fist that will win,” he added.

If nuclear war on the Korean peninsula erupts, everyone loses.

If Washington intends striking North Korea preemptively, it could come today ahead of a possible nuclear test, conducted as part of Saturdays Kim Il-sung commemoration.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at http://www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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