Trump May Find Deterrence Is His Only Viable Option on North Korea

Increasing Recognition That There Is No 'Military Solution'

Jason Ditz 

Posted onSeptember 7, 2017CategoriesNewsTagsNorth Korea, Trump

Threats of attacking North Korea, and calls for more sanctions clearly aren’t having the Trump Administration’s desired effect. The administration likewise appears to have little appetite for diplomacy. Is there another option?

Deterrence might end up finding itself the default solution to the row, because there is a growing recognition among officials that there is no military option that isn’t disastrous for everyone involved. Despite officials insisting they won’t tolerate North Korea posing a long-term threat, that appears to be the reality of the situation now.

Analysts see some problems with this, both in that the administration isn’t convinced the North Koreans can be deterred by threat of military destruction, and because the analysts aren’t convinced President Trump has the discipline and steadiness to make this work.

But, again, the alternatives appear to be either diplomacy, which President Trump has even less appetite for, and an aggressive US war that seems assured to kill millions. Hopefully, in the end, the option without the millions killed will be seen as the safer choice.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/09/07/trump-may-find-deterrence-is-his-only-viable-option-on-north-korea/