Generals Rule US Foreign Policy

Let's dwell on North Korea. Last Sunday it conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb designed to equip missile warheads. Honorable Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un worked on nuclearization. It was the most intense explosion in the region. There even was an artificial earthquake of about 6 points. On Thursday the Americans announced that they had deployed 4 extra THAAD anti-missile defense complexes in South Korea.

This is a system of inter-atmospheric interception of short- and medium-range missiles. China is absolutely against it. Russia is absolutely against it. In our common opinion, THAAD breaks the strategic balance in the region. China and Russia will have to restore it. It will result in the militarization of the Korean peninsula and the region as a whole. Hence, less security. At the same time, Trump and his team keep hinting at a possible preventive military strike at North Korea. And here it is difficult to get rid of the association with what is called 'chicken play' in English, when 2 drivers are rushing at full speed head-on until one of them turns. Bad idea. But today this is exactly what Donald Trump and Kim Jong -un are playing.

 

Donald Trump has been the first to turn so far. It was when he sent three carrier groups to North Korea demanding to stop missile tests, and Kim Jong-un conducted a new test, as if he didn't notice anything. But Trump is taking part in new races. Threats, sanctions and again threats. Then he dodges somehow. But how long can this go on? Kim Jong-un is holding the frame as if nothing happened. At the same time, Putin does not lose his sense of humor, regretting State Secretary Tillerson falling into bad associations. But what exactly does Putin mean by 'bad associations'? Who are these people? In my opinion, Putin meant the dominance of generals at key posts around Donald Trump. There are at least three of them. They are General John Kelly, the White House Chief of Staff; The US President's National Security Advisor Lieutenant General Herbert McMaster.

Formerly in this post were, for example, Condoleezza Rice and Henry Kissinger long before her. And the third is Secretary of Defense James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, given then the post of the US Secretary of Defense has been a civilian, not military, post for the last 60 years It is clear that the general's trio, directly involved in determining the policy concerning North Korea are doing what they know instead of what's needed, or at least they think they know it.

After all, the US has not won any convincing military victory in recent years. Of course, this is not a junta yet, but a kind of stratocracy, the military government. It explains the American tactics regarding North Korea: aircraft carriers parade, military exercises, arms supplies to neighbors, missile systems deployment, threats of a preemptive strike. Only suffocating sanctions are non-military. Putin is sure that none of this will work.

Everyone remembers well what happened to Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Hussein abandoned the production of weapons of mass destruction. Nonetheless, under the pretext of searching for these weapons, Saddam Hussein himself and his family were killed during the well-known military operation, even children died back then. His grandson, I believe, was shot to death. The country was destroyed, and Saddam Hussein was hanged.

Listen, everyone is aware of it and everyone remembers it. North Koreans are also aware of it and remember it. Do you think that following the adoption of some sanctions, North Korea will abandon its course on creating weapons of mass destruction? Russia condemns these exercises on the part of North Korea. We believe they are provocative in nature. However, we cannot forget about what I just said about Iraq, and what happened later in Libya. Certainly, the North Koreans will not forget it. Sanctions of any kind are useless and ineffective in this case. As I said to one of my colleagues yesterday, they will eat grass, but they will not abandon this program unless they feel safe.

Russia is against alienating and isolating North Korea, but for inviting it to broader international cooperation in beneficial projects. Then there will be a completely different intonation. We need to advance towards a dialogue between all the parties concerned. It is important for all participants in this process, including North Korea, not to have any thoughts about the threat of being destroyed; on the contrary, all sides to the conflict should cooperate. In this environment, in this situation, whipping up military hysteria is absolutely pointless; it is a dead end. Besides, North Korea has not only medium-range missiles, we saw it does, and nuclear weapons, we know they have that, but they also have long-range artillery and multiple rocket launchers with a range of up to 60 kilometers.

It is pointless to use missile defense systems against these weapons. There are no weapons in the world that can counteract long-range artillery or multiple rocket launchers. And they can be located in such a way that they are virtually impossible to find. In this context, military hysteria will do no good, but may lead to a global, planet-wide disaster and enormous casualties. Diplomacy is the only way to solve the North Korean nuclear problem.