North Korea shows every sign of becoming the trigger for World War 3

The prospect of Joe Biden being defeated by Donald Trump is a signal to every hostile foreign power that the next 50 weeks may be their last opportunity to take military action exploiting POTUS’s and his national security team’s weakness, indecisiveness, and incompetence. Our degraded military preparedness, the presence of possibly tens of thousands of saboteurs and guerillas who came over our nonexistent borders, and the failure of Team Biden to adequately punish the Houthis for 160+ attacks on our troops all beckon aggression.

China has made no secret of its plan to take over Taiwan, and Iran wants to destroy Israel with the nukes it is preparing. Even lesser lights, such as Venezuela, threaten a neighbor’s oilfields, and, now North Korea is radically escalating its threat to invade South Korea.

Helen Raleigh writes in The Federalist:

The disturbing signs that North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, may be preparing for war are too many to ignore.

It all began in November. Kim Jong Un claimed that his country successfully launched a spy satellite into space on Nov. 21 and any interference with its satellite would constitute a declaration of war. South Korea responded by launching its own spy satellite and partially suspending an agreement about military cooperation with North Korea. Kim retaliated by announcing he would withdraw from all measures “taken to prevent military conflict in all spheres, including ground, sea, and air.”

Since then, the hostile rhetoric and proactive actions by North Korea against South Korea have intensified. Kim told his subordinates at the end-of-year policy meeting that he needed to “make a decisive policy change” because “the two Koreas were belligerent states at war, not counterparts for reconciliation and unification.” He also warned that “it is fait accompli that a war can break out anytime on the Korean peninsula.”

Kim followed up his rhetoric with action. On Jan. 5, North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells at South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island. 

Bluster from North Korea is nothing unusual, of course, but the probable closing of the Biden window of opportunity for aggression makes the threat of action more likely. Kim Jong-un’s youth and obesity-driven ill health may also make him more likely to take rash action. But the prospect of China joining in once the Nork artillery and missiles start, using its vast capacity to “wreak havoc” on our critical infrastructure, in the words of FBI Director Christopher Wray, makes military aggression all the more attractive.

Xi Jinping, the dictator of China, has a lot of other problems on his mind, in addition to his Taiwan ambitions. His economy is imploding, destroying the wealth of the ascendant urban middle classes and destroying the legitimacy of his regime, threatening serious unrest. Corruption in military procurement is a serious problem that may undermine his own readiness, and the sheer size and regional diversity of China make unifying behind him far more difficult than what Kim faces.

In contrast, Kim never came up through the party ranks the way Xi did but, rather, inherited his job at a young age. His power is absolute, and no one dares openly speak against him. He has demonstrated a willingness to employ horrifying punishments against his rivals. Add in his relative youth and lack of seasoning in dealing with opponents, combined with his fear of having to deal face-to-face with President Trump again, and it becomes far more likely he’ll take action that would then trigger attacks from other elements of the new and expanded Axis of Evil.

Cropped from Trump White House Archive (public domain)

Imagine the internet and cell phones taken out, while water systems, rail transport, and sewers all become non-functional. The Biden administration, paralyzed by the domestic crisis, would not be able to oppose a multi-front attack triggered the North Koreans shelling of Seoul and then invading South Korea

All of this danger can be attributed to the disastrous Biden administration. Maybe Kim will resist the temptation to make good on his rhetoric, but there are other crazies and near-crazies out there with access to serious weapons and the ambition to take down the Great Satan/capitalist HQ. None of this would be happening if the ballot counters had found in Trump’s favor in 2020.

Biden is already a disaster as President of the United States. The only question is the magnitude of the disaster.