By Allan Hewitson
Just over 14 years ago, in March, 2003, then American President, George Bush initiated the “shock and awe” campaign in Iraq as post 9/11 World Trade Centre events escalated into a display of overwhelming power in Baghdad. World populations gobbled up the explosive full colour television images of Bush’s attack.
None of that is really ‘over’ or resolved - the Middle East remains a morass of horrific terrorist events with ISIS and the Taliban, if not as cocky as ever, still valid dangers to peace in many parts of the world. Millions of refugees have created chaotic conditions around the world.
Ah, but, time marches on - and now we have the bombastic new American president, Donald Trump, warning he will unleash “fire and fury like the world has never seen…” if the North Korean Kim Jung Un adminstration continues to threaten nuclear strikes on the United States.
North Korea has repeatedly indicated it’s prepared to use nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
Trump’s apparenty ‘off the cuff, improvised lines’, however, have raised the temperature of angry debate about North Korea’s nuclear development program, at the same time as sending chills around the world about the ease of these dire threats in the ongoing war of words between Trump and the North Korean leader, who seems equally obdurate about his ambitions as a nuclear leader.
No one is ever quite sure from following today’s erratic media coverage, who Trump is really responding to. The sudden escalation in tensions in the past few days actually followed comments from U.S. intelligence analysts musing on their belief that North Korea had produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead capable of being carried to the continental U.S. - but the North Koreans are not shy.
Reports always quote North Korean media and are accompanied by mass armed forces marching parades in Pyongyang featuring tanks and rockets and frequent rocket launch footage. It is disturbing.
Kim Jung Un is reported as dismissing Trump’s threats. Trump administration members are all over the map from ‘Trump is serious’ to ‘diplomacy will overcome these difficulties’. U.N. sanctions don’t even seem to be a consideration.
What do I see? Two ill-advised and extremely unpredictable ‘leaders’ who just don’t know when to shut up. In the past this kind of repeated bombast and threats tended to escalate eventually into action — and the actions that are being tossed around could easily lead to the most-alarming war situation in 10 years.
On a provincial note, it was simply not a surprise when the B.C. NDP-Green coalition stepped up to the microphone in Victoria to make the expected announcement on actions it will take to “protect B.C. from the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker traffic expansion”.
Work on the pipeline expansion was due to kick off in a month.
A weekly newspaper and an isolated columnist certainly won’t be able keep up with what will be a fast-moving and likely rough and noisy confrontation between the B.C. government and the Federal Liberals with yet another multi-million, and there’s little point in trying. Other than to comment that here we go again with more of British Columbia’s endless economic interference, frustrating and costly project delays, large job losses and more work for lawyers and media activists of all stripes.
This was predictable if not inevitable when the coalition took power in Victoria. Business as usual for any new NDP government!