Mike Whitney: US not interested in direct military conflict with North Korea

Sept. 29, 2017 - PRLog -- The United States are not interested in the phase of active hostilities against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The American analyst from Washington Mike Whitney expressed this opinion in his article "Why Trump Won't Start A War With North Korea" published in a number of foreign media.

"Not only does the United States not have the ground forces for such a massive operation but, more important, a war with the North would serve no strategic purpose at all," the article says.

According to it, the US already has the arrangement it wants on the Peninsula.

"The South remains under US military occupation, the economic and banking systems have been successfully integrated into the US-dominated western system, and the strategically-located landmass in northeast Asia provides an essential platform for critical weapons systems that will be used to encircle and control fast-emerging rivals, China and Russia," Mike Whitney explains.

In his opinion, impulsiveness and unpredictability of the new American president does not give grounds for believing that the conflict with the DPRK will grow into real fighting.

"Many people think Trump is calling the shots and that he is an impulsive amateur who might do something erratic that would trigger a nuclear conflagration with the North. That could happen, but I think the possibility is extremely remote. As you might have noticed, Trump has effectively handed over foreign policy to his generals, and those generals are closely aligned to powerful members of the foreign policy establishment who are using Trump's reputation as a loose cannon to great effect. For example, by ratcheting up the rhetoric, Trump has managed to stifle some of the public opposition to the deployment of the THAAD missile system," the analyst says.

Meanwhile, according to him, THAAD is clearly not aimed at North Korea which is small potatoes as far as Washington is concerned; it's an essential part of the military buildup the US is stealthily carrying out to implement its "pivot to Asia" strategy.

"Trump's belligerence has also prompted a response from the North which has accelerated it ballistic missile and nuclear weapons testing. The North's reaction has stirred up traditional antagonisms which has helped to undermine the conciliatory efforts of liberal President Moon Jae-in. At the same time, the North's behavior has strengthened far-right groups that – among other things – want to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the South. By playing to the right wing and exacerbating hostilities between North and South, Trump has helped to fend off efforts to reunify the country while creating a justification for continued US military occupation," the expert says.

From his point of view, the crisis has clearly tightened Washington's grip on the peninsula while advancing the interests of America's elite powerbrokers.

"I seriously doubt that Trump conjured up this plan by himself. This is the work of his deep state handlers who have figured out how to use his mercurial personality to their advantage," Mike Whitney stresses.

He believes that North Korean authorities are trying to ensure the safety of their citizens.

"The nation is still technically at war with a country that has toppled or tried to topple 50 sovereign governments in the last 70 years. The Korean War did not end with a treaty, it ended with an armistice which means the war is ongoing and could flare up at any time. And Washington won't sign a treaty with the North because it despises their form of government, and is just waiting for the opportunity to force them from power. Trump is no different from most of his predecessors in this regard. He hates the leadership in Pyongyang and makes no bones about it," the author of the article says.

Source: https://penzanews.ru/en/analysis/64568-2017