Armageddon !

A lot of senior citizens remember the newspaper headlines on August 12, 1953.   That was when the world learned that the Soviet Union has first test fired a Hydrogen bomb !   It was a cause for dismay.  We had hoped that the Hydrogen bomb secret would remain in western hands for many decades.

Sixty-four years later and we are all still alive and we have avoided the dreaded start of World War Three.  The Soviet Union has imploded and the threat of Communism being forced on an unwilling world by military means has been lifted.  We no longer liver in fear of Russia or China suddenly launching a nuclear attack without warning.

Up until now we have lived with the Hydrogen weapon being in the hands of half a dozen nations headed by sane people.  This ultimate weapon stands ready in a reserve status.  Should anyone be so stupid as to launch one in attack they would be similarly destroyed by the response.

All that changed in the twinkling of an eye when North Korea exploded its first Hydrogen bomb in the last few days.   The aims and ambitions of its leader, Kim Jong-Un are enigmatic. He is a dictator heading an impoverished hermit kingdom with one of the worlds biggest conventional armies.  He openly expresses hatred of both the United States and Japan and it is now clear that he is fast reaching the operational stage of an ability to reach the rest of the world with nuclear tipped ICBM's.   He now has the ultimate weapon - the Hydrogen bomb - in his keeping.

It must be very tempting for Donald Trump, the American president to use the opportunity offering to eliminate this threat and restore the world to its previous nuclear balance.  Technically, the United States and North Korea are still at war. The 1950/53 Korean war ended in a temporary armistice and has never proceeded to a peace treaty.  North Korea is openly threatening America there is no doubt that the United States has the military power to win such a war.  The only unknown factor is what degree of damage North Korea might manage to cause in such a confrontation.

It could destroy Seoul, the South Korean capital and it might launch an ICBM that hits an American city, but the response would be less than the destruction the United States would rain down on that little country.  Overlapping hydrogen bomb explosions would reduce the country to charcoal and eliminate its people.

That may well be an option Donald Trump is seriously considering.  Should the US hold its hand and do nothing the future is ever more frightening.  It seems inevitable that North Korea will continue to develop even better ICBM capabilities and that its warheads will improve to multiple re-entry diverse target models.  It is already testing missile launch from submarines, hence it may soon be able to threaten from a fleet hidden in the worlds oceans.

The unknown factor is just what sort of person is Kim Jong-Un ?   Is his demonic façade the product of an unhinged mind, or can he be expected to achieve moderation once he believes that his military make his country safe from attack.  Is his dictatorship safe from the aspirations of the generals that surround him - or is it inevitable that this unstable regime will try to blackmail the world into giving it a living ?

For many years the world lived on the edge of Armageddon. Looks like we are back to the status quo !