The US cannot win in the possible conflict with North Korea

Again, nuclear weapons. Also, the closer you get to China's border, the bigger the odds are China will at least push back. That goes for bombing as well. Also, what do you think will happen once you bomb North Korea? I consider it highly unlikely you'll kill Kim by just bombing. It's equally unlikely you can bomb the nuclear facilities. If push comes to shove, I think Kim will seek sanctuary in China. Even if you manage to make them surrender, you'll get a new totalitarian regime in it's place as that's the only government form the population knows there. If you want to clear the nation of nuclear weapons, you need ground troops to do it and you need to occupy the nation to force a democratic process to start. Maybe you'll gain more casualties after the official war would be over than during the war like in Iraq. I also find it very unlikely both China and Russia will tolerate American troops at their border. I also think you underestimate the morale of North Korean troops. They seem more fanatical than the regulars of Iraq.

It's not just about the war itself but what comes after too.

 

Why does Trump have no choice?

 

You would have instead preferred competent leaders replace Hitler and Tojo?

 

And how many South Korean and Japanese civilians die in those 30 days?

 

Not our problem.

 

So your plan is bloody North Korea's nose a little and then return a decade later with a multi-trillion dollar invasion and occupation?

 

It most certainly is if we want any cooperation from South Korea or Japan. We aren't defeating North Korea without access to our allies' airspace and bases.

 

North Korea cannot put a nuclear weapon on our shores. They cannot even put one on a missile yet. They likely do not even have one they could get assembled in time considering those facilities would be the very first thing taken out.

 

Why would we want their cooperation. It isn't like they can stop us, especially Japan.

 

They can still use those weapons against US allies or against US troops. They do have the means to use shorter range missles and artillery. Again, how do you plan to take those facilities out?


Also, wow... You don't care about the casualties of your allies? If I were Japan and South Korea, I would break away from the US right away if that sentiment was shared.

 

Japan has an Air Force. They can and would defend their sovereignty.

So really you don't want war with North Korea. You want to turn two allies into enemies and get embroiled in three wars.

Let me guess, neither you nor your family serve, do you? You seem pretty cavalier about wanting others to fight and die while you bravely post from your computer.

 

LOL. We can launch aircraft from the US, bomb NK, and land them back in the US or a multitude of other places outside the range of those missiles. NK doesn't stand a freaking chance if we decide to pummel them. They would be no more effective against us than Iraq's tanks during the Persian Gulf War. Our missile defense systems in the meantime would chew up anything they fired on Japan or South Korea in a heart beat. The only thing NK would be left with would be to send legions of idiots with rifles into the minefields of the DMZ.

 

This is just ridiculous. We need them to defeat NK. What if they tell us to leave? You just going to say "Screw you dudes, we're going with our without you"? And they say "Sure, get out of our seas and skies first"

 

I don't care if we have a war with NK or not. Japan has been held under US control since WWII. Japan is 100% dependent on imports. There is nothing Japan can do to stop a US attack on NK, and they sure as hell aren't going to join ranks with NK. Our ability to strike from afar wouldn't even need to involve our troops in Korea.

 

The US would win easily if China did not get involved, however it would be an absolute bloodbath.

 

Look, I would just be repeating myself here, but if you think you solve everything by throwing bombs, you really need a basic update. If things were that easy, I'm 100% sure it would have been done already.

 

No we don't. We don't have to put a single boot on the ground. A country can be defeated without being occupied.

 

Ok. I'm officially talking to someone who failed military sciences in ROTC.

 

The only way for the USA to win wars is to withdraw from them:


https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2017/04/30/the-only-way-to-win-americas-wars-is-to-end-them/


''The U.S. military hasn’t won these wars since the wars themselves are unwinnable by US military action. Indeed, US military action only makes them worse.''

 

Well don't let me distract you from your conversation with your grandson with talk of reality. NK doesn't have fuel or food. Its military is divided and has no effective cross peninsula support. Hell, NK is just about out of trees they have to burn them to cook what little food they do have.

 

Long post and I can answer in short...

At least North Korea has no chance to win such a war alone. But the war will be costly and nasty, because anyone who thinks this will be an easy task to defeat the NK Army is in a fairy tale world far from any realities and facts. Yes, they have not really latest equipment but they have masses of it and the complete psychology of NK population is for us not understandable. Yes, there is also opposition against the regime, but low and they are really so isolated to know much more as what the regime want them to let know what is going on in world. Their soldiers are fanatics and any fanatic soldier is dangerous as we learned out of many wars...

So in short ... NK can't win and USA will win with their allies for sure, but this will not be any Iraq War 1991 / 2003 version only. This will be a hard and bloody fighting and the question is ... particularly after the mess in Iraq caused by Bush and not solved by Obama ... how much losses can US society accept to take if not being directly attacked like done by the Japs in 1941?

The only open point is if anyone will join NK as ally to fight with them. On first is China here to be named with a big "?" of course and if China enters the war again on side of NK, the cards are really new mixed and who then really win is open and issue becomes really a global issue and threat!
But alone, NK will loose for sure ... but after a bloody, nasty and hard war only!

 

Are we certain he's after a Hydrogen bomb?? That's an awefully complicated "nuclear bomb." It's a fusion reaction. Much easier to do a fission bomb, which is orders of magnitude smaller than an H-bomb and much much easier to make.

We dropped fission bombs on Japan. An H bomb was not available at the time. I don't think Korea is working toward an H bomb.

 

What they do have, is a very powerful stock pile of weaponry and they are dug in. In some cases holding civilians as hostages. No personnel on the ground to collect intel? No troops to clear villages and build roads for easier transport? No one to liberate?

What did they teach you in military sciences? Seriously???

 

Even we two are normally in dispute here in forum, I must by exception agree in sum with you

 

That 11B's make good bait when there is nothing else obvious left to bomb since they generally suck at the whole winning hearts and minds thing.