nuclear-news

• President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, has consistently expressed hawkish views on North Korea and is reportedly pushing for a “bloody nose” strike against the country’s government.
• McMaster has a foreign policy vision that calls for the US to reverse decades of waning power by standing up to adversaries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.
• The US has been steadily declining in international efficacy and absorbing a constant stream of foreign policy losses, but it has managed to avoid a major war.
• McMaster’s “bloody nose” idea could stop the erosion of US power, but it could also start such a war.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, seems to think the US’s military and nuclear supremacy over North Korea cannot deter its leader, Kim Jong Un, from attacking the US – and that a strike is needed to stop him.

It also appears that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defence James Mattis are the key figures holding Trump back from taking McMaster’s advice.

McMaster, who led the US’s counterinsurgency strategy in the Iraq War of the early 2000s, frequently provides some of the most hawkish US statements on North Korea, sometimes surpassed only by Trump.

Even before becoming Trump’s national security adviser, McMaster has stood at the forefront of piecing together a comprehensive US military strategy for the post-Cold War era………

Make America fight again

McMaster has indicated that standing up for US interests and punishing its adversaries may be more important than avoiding a massive war.

Asked about the North Korean crisis by the BBC in December, McMaster said, “We’re not committed to a peaceful resolution – we’re committed to a resolution.”……..

One solution that’s increasingly discussed and apparently one of McMaster’s ideas is to teach North Korea a lesson with force. The “bloody nose” strategy, whereby the US carries out a limited strike on North Korea in response to some provocation, could achieve this.

Striking North Korea risks a major conflict that could quickly go nuclear. China, or even Russia, may get involved. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, could die…….. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trump-national-security-adviser-mcmaster-bloody-nose-north-korea-2018-1?r=US&IR=T