The Consequences of Trump's Failed Foreign Policies & N. Korea's Growing Nuclear Capacity

Foreign affairs probably won't play a significant role in the 2020 election because of pressing domestic concerns, but the long-term results of Donald Trump's failed leadership in international relations will haunt America long after he has left office. America's standing in the world is already as low as its been for a generation and our allies widely view Trump as a dangerous nationalist buffoon.

And, as we noted last week, America's top intelligence and military leaders are ringing alarm bells regarding national security concerns and are warning us that Donald Trump is incapable of protecting America.

Illuminate: "In an unprecedented act of courage and conviction, 200 former Admirals and Generals published a letter yesterday endorsing Joe Biden for President while excoriating Donald Trump's presidency saying, "the current President has demonstrated he is not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office; he cannot rise to meet challenges large or small. Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us."

As a concrete example of Trump's incompetence, Simon Denyer and Joby Warrick of the Washington Post published a piece today describing the consequences of the President's failed policies toward North Korea. While Trump has often credited his love affair with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, as producing tangible benefits for the United States, Kim has been building out his nuclear capacity to make it larger, more technologically sophisticated and harder to destroy.

Washington Post: "But all along, North Korea — a serial cheater on past nuclear agreements — was hedging its bets. Multiple strands of intelligence collected by U.S., South Korean and Japanese intelligence agencies have confirmed that Kim never missed a step in his march toward creating a credible nuclear deterrent that included powerful warheads and a variety of advanced missiles for delivering them."...

"North Korea’s recent progress on weapon systems is detailed in a report by a U.N.-appointed Panel of Experts that compiles intelligence on North Korea supplied by multiple countries, including the United States and South Korea. A pre-publication draft of the report, obtained by The Washington Post, concludes that North Korea has continued to manufacture nuclear bombs, including more “miniature nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles.”

Knowing the President's weakness for flattery, Kim played Trump to gain time to create a more credible deterrence against an American strike on his nuclear facilities.

Washington Post: "The result, two years after the start of Trump’s unconventional peace overture, is a North Korea that U.S. officials say is better armed, with a growing nuclear arsenal scattered across a network of bunkers newly hardened against a potential U.S. airstrike."

#news #internationalrelations #nkorea

By: Don Lam & Curated Content