sept 30 saturday evening briefing
2017-9-30
Good evening.
It is 12:48 PM in Pyongyang
October 10 is the founding day of the ruling party of Korea; October 18 is the opening day of China's Communist Party. Multiple reports have suggested that North Korea might be interested in commemorating those dates.
Unreliable Twitter accounts are blaming Hillary and Obama for the North Korea problem.
It is claimed that US government hackers have gone after North Korea.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-signed-presidential-directive-ordering-actions-to-pressure-north-korea/2017/09/30/97c6722a-a620-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html
The US State Department is finding that North Korea is not interested in denuclearization. How (un)surprising. There needs to be some cynical old realpolitiker giving advice here, methinks. Is Kissinger still around to give nasty comments about how hope is not a plan? Because I'm pretty sure that's the operative strategy.
http://thehill.com/policy/international/353257-state-dept-north-korea-has-shown-no-interest-in-talks-on-nuclear-threat
Interestingly, Kissinger did write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in mid-August about the matter. I was unaware of this heretofore. His suggestion is to work with China as equal partner to deliver a high level plan, then bringing in South Korea and Japan as partners in the matter, as they have significant interests in the security of the region. I certainly hope that Secretary of State Tillerson has taken this advice to heart. Kissinger is worth listening to.
http://www.henryakissinger.com/articles/wsj081117.html
A report claims that a US aircraft carrier will be deployed in the middle of October to the Korean region. This is a significant reinforcement to the US armed forces in the region. It's not unreasonable for the US to shift a heavyweight force to the region and smile widely.
A British tabloid (aka, propaganda outfit) is claiming "top sources say" a special forces group made up of British, American, and South Korean commandos are training to enact regime change. I wonder what the motive there for talking about this is. And, too, is this the decapitation strike South Korean leaders have referenced? For now... take this with a big heaping grain of salt.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/648832/North-Korea-news-Kim-Jong-un-World-War-3-WW3-SAS-US-Delta-Force-soldiers
Fake News enters the picture:
- A Twitter account links to an RT article on the Yellowstone volcano and claims that North Korea could drop a nuclear bomb and destroy the entire US.
- Seeing repeating anti US propaganda spam arguing against war
- Seeing botnets repeating anti US "Anti Imperialist" spam arguing against war.
I think we're seeing where Russia is landing. I speculate that these accounts are Russian in origin. They are operating as "far left" argument actors, which is something long established with Russian links.
A note on propaganda here... just because propaganda uses some historical facts in its arguments, does not mean that it is true. It is framed to make you think a certain way, or mixed with lies, in order to achieve a specific aim that benefits the propagandaizer. This is commonly used by Drudge, Breitbart, and often the Fox News commentators. It's a curated version of reality to sway the receiver.
Anyway, Media Round Up.
- CNN - two notes on diplomacy & North Korea
- Fox - "focus on NK Atrocities and China's Shameful role". Yes, I understand that antagonizing the people you want to do something for you is an ideal solution.
- MSNBC - not much changed since yesterday.
- ABC: A few notes, no specific narrative.
- Drudge: two notes, no narrative.
- Breitbart: A remarks on China's complying with UN Sanctions.
Summary. It seems clear after carefully watching for a few days that only Fox favors war; there are bots arguing both for and against war; the Great Powers and once-Great Powers prefer peace. Certain Americans seem to really favor war, possibly augmented by bots who mimic redneck arguments. Tags: #DPRK #trumpenwar #north korea
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