Jake's View | Why does the US goad Kim’s paranoia with war games and aircraft carrier?
The danger has always been that a mad man would push the button in panic. Why incite one to that panic then?
While the US and North Korea would avoid unilateral action, rising tensions in the region mean either one might, in haste, misread moves by the other. -- SCMP, April 10
The thing about paranoia is that it’s not subject to reasonable assurance.
You can tell a paranoid person repeatedly that you are no threat to him, and all he’s likely to do is read a threat into the fact that you told him repeatedly.
Every March, for instance, the United Nations tells the North Korean military command that US and South Korean armies are about to begin joint military exercises on South Korean territory and that these are purely defensive in nature. North Korea need not worry.
The exercises come in two parts, Foal Eagle at the beginning of March and Key Resolve in mid-March. Last year, they involved more than 300,000 soldiers with all their tanks, war planes and high tech weapons, all practising how to make a high speed dash for the North Korean border.
But, hey, we’re just kiddin’.