The Secret of Israel

 

Israel seems to be a secret to the remainder of the world. That becomes obvious when you listen to the idiotic ideas coming from so many when referring what they believe is Israel. We have read of and heard some claiming that Israel wants to establish a “Greater Israel” by expanding her borders. We have covered this claim before explaining that the term “Greater Israel” simply refers to the times of Kings David and Solomon. They will infer that Israel is supremacist, started the conflict and numerous other ways of saying that Israel is the bully. Actually, the Ottomans started it when they joined with the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and Germany against the Allied Powers during World War I. Just for the record, they lost and the world decided to end these empires which were considered the aggressors, thus the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was divided up and the Balkan nations were born along with the rest of Eastern Europe, Germany found their borders slimmed at the edges and the Ottoman Empire was carved up with the separate parts placed into Mandates with the presumed intention of making them into little democracies with some effort. Another large idea of the age was the reestablishing of originalist nations returning areas to their original rulers such as Finland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania which dotted the new Eastern Europe. The Ottoman Empire was carved up making the nations making up the MENA nations of the Middle East and North Africa (see map below). One of those Mandates established the ancient homeland of the Jewish People, Israel, and an Arab state of Transjordan (later simply Jordan) which was designated the homeland for the Arab Palestinians. Another pair established was Lebanon and Syria where Lebanon was supposed to have been Christian while Syria was supposed to be Arab Syrians in their historic lands.

 

(MENA)
Middle East and North Africa
Including Turkey and Iran
With North Central Africa

 

Initially, the Arabs residing in all four nations claimed they were Syrians. The French Mandate, which included Syria and Lebanon, claimed to be simply all part of Syria while the British Mandate, which included Israel and Jordan, claimed to be in southern region of Greater Syria. The idea was that they would take all of the area and make their Arab state of Greater Syria. The Arabs believed that all the lands which had been the Ottoman Empire were to remain under Arab and Muslim control. They refused to recognize the Mandates established by the various treaties including the San Remo Conference, the Treaty of Sèvres amongst others. That has been the main problem which has led to the difficulties between Israel and her Arab neighbors which continue into our daily news. Lebanon is no longer a Christian nation, simply a Muslim nation where the Christians are permitted to remain as long as they behave. The Islamic name for such is called a Dhimmi, a form of second-class citizenry. For intents and purposes, and in reality, Hezballah is the current ruling power in Lebanon. That means that Iran has direct control over Lebanon, the Hezballah terrorist military and the Lebanese Army which includes quite an amount of United States military weaponry including Abrams main battle tanks.

 

Back to what it is Israel honestly wants from the rest of the world. This includes the Muslim nations, the United States, the Europeans, the British, the Russians, the Chinese and everybody else. It is actually the thing that the Jewish People have prayed to have for the past two-thousand-plus years. We would like our little plot of land promised to Abraham which extends from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, from the Egyptian Border north to, originally the Litani River (see map below), but we will be just fine with the Blue Line as already inspected and approved by the United Nations after the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000. Any people within this region who desire relocating voluntarily, we will give them generous assistance. Those who prefer to remain will need to understand that they will be residing under the laws of the State of Israel. Any terrorist act will result in their being deported and not permitted to return. After this has been settled and we are securely within our border, then please just allow us to tend to our needs and as long as we are left in peace, we will leave the remainder of the world in peace. There will be advantages for the world should this be accomplished. Any medical, technical, agricultural or other discoveries or inventions performed in Israel will be shared with the rest of the world. Israel will be able to make greater strides when we no longer are required to prepare for a war to start at any moment.

 

Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Original Borders for Israel

 

As far as what will be occurring within our borders, that is a simple matter. We will have a large segment of the Jews praying to Hashem while also working to build a better future. We will likely rebuild the Temple making the Third Temple, and hopefully final Temple, a reality and do so with the minimal upset to other religions to the greatest of our ability. Those fearing that this means we will reengage in animal sacrifice, allow us to give a modicum of relief and peace of mind. The first Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, who some claim believed that animal offerings will not be reinstituted when the Third Temple is rebuilt, thought that only grain and vegetable sacrifices would be reinstituted. His commentary on the Siddur on the sentence at the end of Shemoneh Esrei, “Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Hashem as in the days of old and as in the ancient years,” Rav Kook wrote, “In the future, the abundance of knowledge will spread to and penetrate even animals…and the “sacrifices” which will then be from Grain, will be as pleasing to G-d as in days of old (when there were animal offerings).”* This would limit the Third Temple to only vegetarian offerings.

 

Israel will not make demands on other nations and instead will do as we are bid by our Torah, to lead lives worthy and honoring Hashem and then our lives will not want for anything. Judaism has a unique feature not found in the other two Abrahamic faiths in that we do not proselytize nor do we insist that others must follow out religion or even believe in Hashem. We simply request that we be permitted to follow our religion and be left to our own ways within our borders and, in return, we will share any great bounty or discoveries we find with the world. In Judaism we are instructed only to tell those who come and inquire about Judaism and not to press any to convert and even to ask those who request to convert why they would want to do so. There are numerous rules and rituals which are required of those following strict Judaism which is why we question why one would desire to take on these potential burdens in their lives when there is no pressing requirement for them to do so. In Judaism, Hashem loves the Jewish People and also loves all people for we are all His children and thus all receive his love. The Jews, it is often stated, believe they are special as the Chosen People. Well, yes, in a warped way. One need understand that being the Chosen People is defined in two ways, the first is the well-known that Hashem chose the Jews, or at least Abraham, Isaack, and Jacob plus likely Moses. Remember, Hashem also chose Noah and gave him the Noahic Code, the Seven Laws for a civilized society. The other side of being the Chosen People is the Jewish People have chosen to follow the Laws given us at Mount Sinai through Moses and written in the Torah which demand of us performing six-hundred-thirteen Mitzvot. (Here is a list drawn up by Chabad for comparison and a second opinion.) So the Chosen People works in both directions and does not mean the Jews are special other than they have agreed upon the laws and customs they are to observe, for which we get to live an orderly life and no special compensation beyond what every other individual receives from Hashem for living a good and honest life.

 

 

Israel, much like Judaism, desires only to be permitted to live within our borders as described above or as shown in the map above. Nothing would make us happier than to be allowed to tend to our own business within the ancient lands of our forefathers. Yet there are those who insist that the Jews never resided in this region despite the historical evidence to the contrary. Of course, some of those making these statements claim that the history of mankind, or at least the only history that matters, started approximately fourteen-hundred years ago with the revelation of the Quran to Mohammad in Mecca and finishing in Medina. The history of the Jewish People dates back slightly more distant with Kings David and Solomon residing over three-thousand years ago and Abraham almost a thousand years before that. That is a very long time ago, but that was the beginning and was where much of what is the beginnings of the basis of the democratic institutions and the Judeo-Christian ethics upon which much of European and American history is based and on which many other cultures base their beliefs. Israel, under Kings David and Solomon attempted to gain empire, as that was the way of the world three-thousand years past. That ended poorly soon after King Solomon when the kingdoms split into a northern and a southern kingdom and the added lands of empire revolted successfully gaining their independence only to be swallowed by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. The Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria and then the Southern Kingdom, Judah, fell to the Babylonians. The existence of the Northern Kingdom is somewhat a mystery as they are referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel though some are claiming to be returning in these modern times of the reestablishing of Israel. The Jews, based on the Kingdom of Judah, once conquered by Babylon were prophesized to have to spend four-hundred-thirty years in exile but when Cyrus the Great and Persia conquered Babylon, he freed the Jews to return and build their Temple anew and were only required to pay a tax to Persia in return. The Jews built their Second Temple and were doing quite nicely and then Alexander the Great and his Greeks arrived. The Jews had only been in Babylon for seventy years and had they lived according to the Torah and the laws of Hashem, then they would have lived happily ever after. The Jews failed at living the good and decent life and that is why they were returned into exile and the Diaspora, but more on that later.

 

The Greeks conquered Judea in 322 BCE and except for a few short spans where foreign rule was thrown off, remained conquered through the Roman Empire, the Caliphate, Crusades, Ottomans and finally the British until May 14, 1948. This is where things get interesting. Prophesy has lost some of its wonder in the modern era, but the reestablishing of Israel should put a little polish and a new shine on ancient prophesy. These prophesies provided the core of the Jewish People’s hopes for over two-thousand years along with the knowledge that Hashem promised that we would be returned to our homelands miraculously and our dispersal and exile would end. The promise gave a date according to Ezekiel who said the Jews were to be punished for 430 years because they had turned away from Hashem. This was to become the Babylonian exile. The Persians under Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians, as mentioned above, and freed their Jewish captives about 70 years after Judah lost independence to Babylon. This left 360 years which the Jews would require a second exile to fulfill as one must pay Hashem when one strays. In Leviticus 26:18, Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:24 and Leviticus 26:28 the Torah spells things out quite clearly, should the Jews not fully repent their sins they would be punished increased by a factor of seven. Since most of the Jews freed from Babylon decided to live in the Persian society and adopted pagan ways, which is not exactly repenting, their remaining 360 years were multiplied by seven meaning their time in the Diaspora or under foreign occupation became 2,520 years on the original lunar Jewish calendar which translates to 2,484 years. Count from 536 BCE forward 2,484 years and you arrive at 1948. Further, Isaiah’s prophecy Chapter 66:8 states: “Who has heard of a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Will a land be brought forth with labor pains in one day? Or will a nation be born at one time? For Zion has come into labor pains as well as given birth to her sons.” Israel was established exactly as Isaiah prophesized in a single day. Who said prophesy was dead, certainly not us.

 

We took a long time and the ingathering prophesized in the story of the Dry Bones. That was the prophesy from Ezekiel 37:1-14 telling of the restoration of the Jewish People using the parable of the Valley of Dry Bones. The prophesy tells of the ingathering of the Jewish People being brought from the four corners and renewed. The prophesy also speaks of taking tribes of Israel (Joseph) and the tribe of Judah and make them one foretelling that the House of Israel will be a united house once more as it is. The verse goes on to say that being observant and true to the Mitzvahs, the Commandments, will be made easy for the people in Israel, something we can attest to as this has been our case as religion has come upon our souls and persons and following the Commandments of Torah have been placed within reach. Of course, not all are finding returning to their former religious ways as easy as one might hope. The rate at which this would come about once the nation was reestablished was made to appear slow as the bones took time to gather, gain sinew, muscle, skin, and eventually the return of their soul, their religious zeal. This means that Israel is still a work in progress but the love of her people will eventually overcome all obstacles.

 

That brings up to this past week. Very early Thursday morning, Iran fired approximately twenty rockets towards Israel aimed at the Golan Heights. The Israelis residing in the region were awakened and told to take shelter which they were kept secured within for a few hours. These rockets largely fell short of their mark and most of the remainder was intercepted by the Iron Dome systems guarding the region. Despite the entire evening and night previous to the launch having been completely peaceful and quiet, the IDF was tipped to the coming attack when hearing Syrian broadcasts claiming the Israeli forces had attacked a series of positions held by Hezballah within Syria. Despite not having left their positions in the Golan, the IDF knew from experience that this was the signal for “retribution” by the Arab forces, actually in this case, the forces were Iranian. There would be an Israeli attack, but it came subsequent to the launching of multiple, at least twenty, rockets at Israel by Iranian Quds Force (videos below) and Israel retaliated and struck a large area and numerous Iranian and Hezballah bases and munition stockpiles (see map below). There will be claims that the Israeli response, wait for it, was “disproportional” to the Iranian attack launched at Israel. Since when has combat become a proportional enterprise? The entire reason for striking back after the Iranian Quds Force attack is to dissuade any future attacks by making the cost too steep. You do not prevent an aggressor from attacking you by trading them blow for blow, you strike them as hard as you feel is necessary, and if they try such again, this was the third Iranian attack in several weeks, then you make the cost spiral even higher. When a bully picks a fight and the targeted youth gains the upper hand, they do not just allow the bully to walk away without further harm, they bloody the nose of the bully and perhaps a few extra punches for good measure making any future attack out of the question. Iran is the bully in the Middle East along with their terror proxies Hamas, Hezballah, Islamic Jihad and their foreign IRGC forces who practice terrorism throughout the globe as the Ayatollahs desire. Hamas is currently, along with Islamic Jihad, making a spectacle on the Gaza border which is supposed to climax over this weekend and on through Monday in celebration of Nakba Day, the day that six Arab armies attacked the newly declared state of Israel and proceeded to fail to destroy all of Israel and had to settle for winning Gaza and areas of Judea and Samaria which Jordan annexed illegally and called the West Bank. These were and are lands which the League of Nations and United Nations, under Article 80 of the U.N. Charter, promised and guaranteed to be an integral part of Israel. They are also hoping that their month plus rioting and general mayhem would prod the United States into postponing the opening of their Jerusalem Embassy. They obviously have not yet understood President Trump and the changes which came with his taking office.

 

 

Locations of Israeli Counter Strikes Against Iranian and Hezballah Targets

 

There will probably also be great amounts of attempted disruption coming from the Palestinian Authority which they will launch from Eastern Jerusalem. This will be an unofficial protest, but there has not been a Nakba day which was not also made into a Day of Rage since the first intifada was launched back in the 1980’s. We are fairly sure that part of the reasoning behind the Iranian rocket attack was also to place pressure on the United States to not relocate their embassy. We can only hope that the response they suffered in response to their rocket launches will be sufficient to deter their future thoughts for such misadventures. We simply want to live within our borders in peace and security and in return will share our discoveries with any in the world finding them advantageous. We do not want a war but as has been proven in the past, we will fight if one is foist upon us. We surrendered land to Egypt for peace and made peace with Jordan. We withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza with hopes for peace and received terrorists waging wars in return. Now much of the world demands we give away land overlooking the heart of the nation to the Palestinian Arabs who are ruled by the PLO, a recognized terrorist organization, and the world is aghast that we do not wish to commit suicide. Next we will have the United Nations demanding from the General Assembly for Israel to answer for these attacks on Syria despite their knowing full well Israel was attacked first. But it does not matter that Israel was attacked first, what matters is the Jews are defending themselves for the first time as an independent nation in over two-thousand years. It will take the world a little getting used to but they had best get used to it faster, please. We will not suffer to be attacked and just sit back and plead that everyone stop being mean to us, we will act like what we are, a proud and independent nations fully capable of fighting to protect ourselves. Strike at us and we will respond, that is the reality. Israel is a nation and a member of the United Nations which means we have the same rights as every other nation and we will protect ourselves and our rights. If we are left in peace, then all will be peace, but if we are attacked, then we will return violence with violence of our own, that is just as much a promise as is our promise for peace.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

* Olat Reiyah, Volume 1 (Jerusalem 1983) 292

 

 

War with North Korea Now Inevitable….Iran?

 

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, who served under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told ABC News “This Week” in a Sunday interview, “We’re actually closer in my view, to a nuclear war with North Korea and in that region than we have ever been.” When queried on possible routes for negotiations or other options to actual war, he replied, “I don’t see the opportunities to solve this diplomatically at this particular point.” Mr. Mullen’s commentary on President Trump’s efforts did shed some light as he stated, “I think President Trump has made China move more than they have in the past. Whether they continue to do that to help resolve this is the open question. A real measure of how this all comes out is whether China is going to commit to a peaceful resolution here. If they don’t, then I worry a great deal that it’s much more likely there will be conflict.” On the other side of the coin, Mr. Mullen criticized President Trump stating that his actions have been “incredibly disruptive, certainly unpredictable in many many ways. Those who have been our friends for many years ask questions about our commitments to them…and our enemies, those that would do us ill, seem to be able to take advantage of the uncertainty.” Towards the end of the discussion Mr. Mullen added another worry into the mix, Iran, stating, “I worry greatly about the fact that the Iranians will bring forward a nuclear weapon capability. They were very close when the deal was struck. They can redevelop it, I think, very rapidly.” The remarks were in obvious reference to the fact that President Trump decided not to certify that Tehran as being in compliance with the treaty in October leaving the final decision to the Congress.

 

The first thing we would like to point out is that Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen has been out of the loop and not receiving briefings or other information since 2011, quite a period without such vital input for making anything other than broad conjecture. Sure, he has friends and other contacts but many of these would probably not be friendly to President Trump. We have to admit that those who are tied in any way to either the Bush family or President Obama, and Mr. Mullen served under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, likely view President Trump in a dim light. With that in mind, let us proceed. First, As far as the charges of President Trump being, “incredibly disruptive, certainly unpredictable in many many ways. Those who have been our friends for many years ask questions about our commitments to them…and our enemies, those that would do us ill, seem to be able to take advantage of the uncertainty.” What does Mr. Mullen think happened under President Obama when our former allies were directly rebuked and former adversaries taken in a coddled like no nations had been so adorned with affection in American history. Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia were all thrown under the bus, Iraq and Afghanistan were evacuated prematurely, the Taliban allowed to return in Afghanistan, ISIS left unchallenged until they became a threat to the Russians who, with the help of the Kurds with President Trump’s air support and weaponry, were eliminated in approximately six months. Under President Obama Iran was rewarded for going ahead with their nuclear weapons research during negotiations, left to inspect themselves and probably had a fairly substantive stockpile of nuclear warheads to fix atop their numerous ballistic missiles. They were also left completely free to develop ballistic missiles and likely have come close if not already having an ICBM. Further, under President Obama North Korea was not sanctioned any more seriously than the United Nations would allow, which is to say nothing additional was imposed, while they developed nuclear warheads to include thermonuclear weapons and Super EMP weapons and the ICBM capable of striking at the least Chicago if not all of the globe. Calling President Trump returning to a more traditional foreign policy and supporting Israel like no president since Truman’s initial recognition, visiting and having a fairly successful summit with most of the Arab League members in Saudi Arabia and restoring our relations with Egypt while placing Iran and North Korea on notice that the party is over and they are being scrutinized once more as the problem rather than a solution a disruptive foreign policy confusing our friends and coddling our enemies explains why he was so admired by President Obama, he has friends and enemies confused just as his President had.

 

The real item here is whether or not the world, the United States in particular, is on the verge of a nuclear war with North Korea or will things inevitably go beyond the cusp leading to all out nuclear war between the United States and North Korea. The one item we agree with Mr. Mullen is that probably the second greatest influence on this entire situation is China. The leadership in China can assist President Trump in two means and work to his detriment in only one way. China has already placed a modicum of pressure on Kim Jong-Un and they can certainly do far more. The two means of assistance they can offer is, of course, putting on a full press and freezing all trade with North Korea and giving President Trump their complete support, or on a lesser note, simply letting Kim Jong-Un know that if he decides to take on the United States that he will be in that endeavor completely on his own and China will do absolutely nothing to prevent the United States from acting as deemed necessary in their own defense. Either of these will help greatly in relieving the pressure unless Kim Jong-Un is truly insane and suicidal. The one means China, or Russia, have of making the situation far more dangerous would be to make known that they are willing and capable to protect North Korea and come to their aid should the United States take any action against the regime of Kim Jong-Un, even in self-defense.

 

President Trump, Kim Jong-Un,
President Xi Jinping, President Putin

 

That now allows another layer to be examined. We must determine if Russian President Vladimir Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to attach their fate to that of Kim Jong-Un and would they risk war with the United States over protecting North Korea even from an American attack in response to a North Korean offensive strike. Let’s say both Russia and China were to warn-off Kim Jong-Un impressing upon him that they will not support him in attacking the United States and would only protect him from an attack were he to enter negotiations and while the negotiations progress, refrain from any testing of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. Even should they arrange four party talks, that should be acceptable providing the Chinese and Russians assure President Trump that their participation will not be in order to protect Kim Jong-Un but to bolster reasonable negotiations. They need also put to rest any ideas of the United States needing to bribe or in any other means reward North Korea for acting responsibly beyond loosening sanctions in stages as they prove their good intentions. The antics and threatening behavior exhibited by Kim Jong-Un is something President Trump would be well advised to make an example such that when the time comes to deal with Iran, they will understand that there will be no rewards or knuckling to threats. President Trump might even invite Russian President Putin to join in pressuring Kim Jong-Un and let the leftists scream Russian collusion anew. Their insane reaction to cooperating with Russia and possibly China as well could prove amusing and even more deranged than the current round proved. However, you slice it, North Korea is but half the problem and even once they have been tamed, there will remain Iran. We would like to close with something which the mainstream media has left unemphasized, Iran and North Korea have colluded, cooperated, traded technology, exchanged knowhow and in all ways worked together to advance their mutual nuclear and ballistic missile technology to the point of carrying out tests, one for the other, to get around sanctions.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Trump and America Alone

 

The United States has not ever been known to be alone in the world with friends which can be counted on her two hands. Those days are almost upon us. Very soon the United States will be finding herself blamed for acting when she acts and for standing aside when she doesn’t act. She will start facing denunciations in the General Assembly of the United Nations by votes resembling those only Israel has faced before where 130 will vote to denounce her with maybe a dozen supporting America and the remainder abstaining and in the United Nations Security Council she will find only her own Veto will prevent her facing sanctions. Whenever the United States acts there will be accusations of unilateralism even when her actions are to rescue a nation from hostile acts of their neighbors. What could possibly bring on such condemnations? Well isn’t it obvious? Her own leftists and their NGO’s in their inevitable rush to try and discredit and destroy President Trump will result in their also discrediting the necessary actions he may soon be called upon to decide as certain things reach critical levels after being pushed aside for decades. These situations reaching these points, these deplorable stages, are doing so largely due to President after President kicking the can down the road because to act required somebody actually being the adult in the room and taking the responsibility of what would inevitable be an unpopular series of events.

 

This will burst upon the scene initially with probably facing down the North Korean menace Kim Jong-un and his ever-increasing threat which advances with each missile test. Most observers place his current level of threat lower than it actually is, a common thread in politics where avoiding bad news and terrible situations is often done by underestimating the possibilities. Currently, President Trump and his military are properly giving North Korea and its potential threats its rightful attention but they are likely to back away from confrontation if for no other reason than their knowledge of the firestorm which would follow any military action against the Kim regime. They probably already made the deal not to intervene in exchange for allowing one more set of sanctions just passed by the United Nations Security Council to work. If somebody could give us a reason why these sanctions will function with any superior results than the past five sets of sanctions since the armistice was signed in the early Eisenhower years, that would at least be amusing. The problems with these sanctions are the same as with the previous sanctions, North Korea largely trades with China and some with Russia and little else. These are the two nations which can be counted upon to ignore the sanctions after a brief period of observing them so as to grant them the appearance of working. Sanctions are not the magic tool for breaking the bond that China and Russia have with North Korea. For these two adversaries, North Korea is their arrow in the flank of the United States which seriously hampers the American image and drains off the attentions of the United States from their acts of belligerence. One will always pay attention to the leader threatening nuclear annihilation over those merely pressuring neighboring nations in order to increase their spheres of influence.

 

Map of Approximate Missile Ranges of North Korean Missiles

 

North Korea is soon to reach the point of no return with their having produced a viable and reliable two stage, solid-fueled ICBM and the thermonuclear warhead of five to ten megaton range, a real city-killer with the necessary accuracy to strike within a mile or two from the intended spot anywhere in the world. The advantage they will gain once their ICBM’s are solid-fueled is recognizably dire. Solid-fueled two stage ICBM’s, unlike their liquid-fueled missiles, are ready to be fired instantly by simply, as it is shown in the movies, pressing the large red button on the console (always placed next to the other red button which is for self-destruct of the station). The current liquid-fueled missiles take at least an hour to pump the fuel into the tanks where they also must be kept heavily chilled to avoid the launch becoming a detonation. Such a process is fairly easily picked up by satellites viewing the planet below and thus giving the United States ample warning to take actions either political, economic or military threat as well as preparing an interception under best possible conditions. Solid-fueled missiles simply are fired from their launcher, which in the case of North Korea, thanks to China for providing these, are on mobile launchers which means that their location could be anywhere within North Korea and often have escaped detection. This prevents having the right resources for an interception under best conditions available. This is why the threat from North Korea has, in our opinion, already reached the point where they are at having an advantage.

 

North Korean Missile Launcher Utilizing Chinese Trucks

 

Unlike those whose responsibility is to give President Trump a picture where he still has the largest possible range of options still available, our assessment is that North Korea has tested their separation technology with their last four launches which were two stage missiles. This was the last remaining step to master before placing a solid fueled second stage, which they have already demonstrated, atop a similar sized first stage booster. That is the formula for a viable ICBM which is all solid-fueled and ready to fly within a moment’s notice. North Korea has had a viable Super EMP warhead for two years by now and they have proven to be capable of aiming a missile to strike the United States from the south coming into the Texas area where NORAD has a soft spot of minimal detection and intercept being designed primarily to prevent Russian attacks and having been adapted to include China but never to intercept a missile coming from the south. This has long been a deficiency the United States had left vulnerable as the cost of closing the circle was considered too high for the limited protection it was thought to provide, a purely political choice and another can kicked down the road. North Korea already has placed a satellite into such an orbit which could be dropped to the required low-earth orbit necessary for optimum EMP detonations currently and this satellite is of unknown function. Military experts have claimed it was much like Sputnik and was merely a proof of capability satellite and nothing sinister at all. Let us all hope they were correct.

 

North Korea likely has a mountable sized warhead which could easily deliver a Hiroshima sized or possibly larger warhead currently in their arsenal. Kim Jong-un may even have a small thermonuclear warhead available for launching. This is the point where it all depends on your faith in the abilities provided by his scientists. It would not make much sense for China to have provided mobile missile launchers for liquid-fueled missiles as it would have been equally illogical to provide such if Kim Jon-un was only going to be targeting South Korea or Japan, as is still being held as his only really viable target by some advisors. These locations could be targeted and struck well before anybody could intervene with the most simple of Kim Jong-un’s known arsenals. The North Koreans have had sufficient weaponry targeting Seoul, South Korea for over half a century initially using simply artillery and subsequently replacing rocket artillery with some missiles, most probably some version of guidable Scud, so as to strike particular targets such as hardened command and control and other bunkers. The targeting which Kim Jon-un has been waiting to have are reliable missiles with which he can target New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Washington D.C. and Colorado Springs with the Air Force Academy and central controls for NORAD.

 

Presumed China Provided North Korean Mobile Missile Carrier

 

The sole thing holding Kim Jon-un from any attack is two fold, first he lacks sufficient missiles to guarantee overwhelming any interception capabilities of the United States and he would prefer to make demands, painful demands, of the United States mainly but addressed to the world. The first demand will be for the United States to remove their bases and soldiers from South Korea. This will be demanded to prove to South Korea as well as Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan that they are basically on their own against North Korea and China. Should the United States approve such a move then Kim Jong-un will know that he has an appeaser to work with and he will continue. The next demand will be to South Korea where he will demand that the peninsula be united under a federation between himself and the President of South Korea and some form of united administration. That will be inconsequential as within weeks Kim Jong-un will have announced that he was granted sole leadership despite any governance that was initially signaled. Kim Jong-un is not the kind of person who shares anything, let alone absolute power. Then he will demand the sanction be removed, as his merger with South Korea should be proof that he is no danger to anybody, he used pure diplomacy for his takeover of the entire Korean peninsula. What he might do after that is anybody’s guess. Japan would be one logical next target, but that would not be a diplomatic move, as Japan would never agree no matter how much pressure the world placed upon them. So, the next step may as well be his swan song, the really big step, demands Security Council permanent status seat with the other nuclear powers because he deserves such respect. Whatever his demand, he will continue making more and more outrageous demands until finally somebody, likely the United States puts their foot down and says no to his demands. That is when he will appear to sulk and be forlorn while waiting for a sufficient period that he feels will have the United States relaxed and not expecting an attack. This is when he might actually be sufficiently unstable and believe that should he decapitate the United States leadership, then the United States might simply not respond and settle for licking their wounds and trying to recover.

 

This is why Kim Jong-un need be countered on the United States terms and not wait for him to become an actual threat. That leads us to President Trump and the current situation. President Trump currently has his hands tied until Kim Jong-un either carries out a nuclear test or another missile test this time using both stages being solid-fueled systems. This will prove his ability to launch on command instead of having an hours waiting for fueling for launch when ready, not immediate. With this proven technology, the United States will be on notice that Kim Jong-un will be readily capable of striking any number of targets potentially within the Continental United States, that would be CONUS Command, and possibly any target within the United States as well as Europe. Whatever the perceived and admitted abilities of North Korean missile technology, they are frighteningly close to their desired capability and already are capable of striking the United States with a devastating EMP device which could bring down most, if not all, of the North American electrical grid. We would call that a very definite threat to the well-being of every American as such a devastating strike would minimally kill three-quarters of the population of North America. Canada would also be direly adversely affected. This places President Trump with the unenviable decision of does he act now, before anything horrific occurs or does he wait for a provocation which nobody could fail to recognize and admit he acted according to the betterment of the American people or did he act as a warmonger seeking personal glory. We may as well face the reality of this situation. Should President Trump act to prevent any of the dire consequences of a nuclear capable Kim Jong-un, then the media, Congress and other world leaders and especially the United Nations and their army of NGO’s and Agencies will all unite to condemn the man who destroyed the peace solely for self-aggrandizement. And should President Trump wait until Kim Jong-un acts and attacks the United States then President Trump would be pillories as the President who did not have the foresight or the willingness to act in the face of impending danger and allowed the needless suffering of the people of Japan, South Korea or wherever Kim Jong-un ordered the strike and if it was the United States, all the more Trump will be condemned. If Kim Jong-un were to strike Japan and President Trump responds by attacking North Korea then he will be criticized if his attack is too large in scale or if it is considered insufficient in scale. The secret is if it leaves Kim Jong-un with any ability to strike further, then the attack proved to be insufficient and Trump is an incompetent. If, on the other hand, the attack decapitates North Korean military and political structure and removes all threats, then Trump is a warmonger bringing undue suffering to the people, the innocent people of North Korea. If then China were to take hold of most of North Korea, well, then Trump is an incompetent again for not seeing this inevitability and acting to prevent the Chinese from taking over the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and thus threatening South Korea even worse than Kim Jong-un had threatened them. If United States and South Korean troops enter the North and unite the peninsula, well then Trump did it for the land and to force democracy war upon North Korea without even asking them if they desired such. You basically get the idea, either he is a warmonger or he was unprepared or he was a warmonger just before he was unprepared or he is a warmonger land grabber. Whatever President Trump does about North Korea, or does not do about North Korea will prove to have been wrong in the immediate media coverage and in the halls of Congress. We predict that if President Trump were to take steps to replace Kim Jong-un and manage this without firing a single shot or missile and all of North Korea were hailing him as their savior, impeachment charges would be brought up in the House of Representatives on charges of unnecessarily involving the United States in regime change for no reason. Of course, if he waits and Washington D.C. becomes a target, then there likely will be no action from Congress, as they will be scrambling to get far enough from the Capital in the period they have between warning and strike. With the EMP scenario, Congress might meet and actually still have electricity as the coasts might survive such a strike, and they would most definitely be bringing impeachment even if they were doing so by candle light. The end result of any action or inaction on North Korea will be impeachment, that is about the only sure bet.

 

Beyond the Cusp