This image made from video of a news bulletin aired by North Korea’s KRT on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea’s northwest. (KRT/AP Video)
It appears the mainstream media propaganda machine is working…
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s assurances this morning may have been in vain: A new poll shows that most Americans believe North Korea poses a serious threat to the US, and an even larger number fear the restive state could pull off a successful nuclear strike.
According to a CNN poll, almost two-thirds of Americans – 62% – say Kim Jong Un’s isolated dictatorship poses a “very serious” threat to the US, the most since CNN launched the poll back in 2000. The figure increased from 48% in March. Furthermore, 77% say they think North Korea can launch a missile that would be able to hit the US.
And those numbers may already be outdated. The poll was finished on Monday, before Trump promised to retaliate with “fire and fury and…power” – an implicit threat of a nuclear strike – if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kept threatening the US. Kim responded by threatening to nuke the US territory of Guam. Fears intensified following reports that US intelligence agencies now believe the North possesses a nuclear warhead small enough to fit inside one of its ICBMs, echoing an assessment by the Japanese government. These newfound capabilities would enable the North to reach the US mainland, one of the Kim regime’s long-term goals.
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The polling data showed that only 37% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the North Korea situation.
“Trump merited more negative than positive reviews for his handling of the situation with North Korea. Half (50%) say they disapprove of Donald Trump’s handling of it, 37% say they approve and another 13% say they aren’t sure about his handling of the issue.”
Yet in a sign that his aggressive rhetoric is resonating with the public, 50% of Americans say the US should take “military action” against the North.
“The public is split on whether the US should take military action in response to the country’s recent weapons testing and development, and partisan divisions emerge on questions about how the US should respond. Overall, 50% say they favor taking military action in response to testing of weapons that could reach the US, 43% oppose it. Three-quarters of Republicans favor a military response (74%) but that dips to 47% among independents and 34% among Democrats.”
Americans now believe the North poses a bigger threat than Iran or China.
“With six in 10 people polled calling North Korea a very serious threat, the country is now viewed as a more serious threat than Iran (33%) or China (20%), and is about on par with the perceived threat posed by ISIS (64%). Fewer, however, said they saw the country’s military and weapons capabilities as a crisis for the United States (32% saw it that way).”
Most Americans believe that after decades of coddling the Kim regime, China should play a leading role in restraining in neighbor and beneficiary.
“Trump has frequently said that China should take a lead role in dealing with North Korea, and Americans generally agree, with 70% saying that China should take a major role in responding to the weapons testing. But just about as many, 68%, say that the US should take a major role.”
While Tillerson’s reassurances and North Korea’s decision to release a Canadian prisoner seemed the signal détente, at least for now, Trump has revealed in playing bad cop, taunting the North by taking credit for a decision to “renovate and modernize” the US’s nuclear arsenal.
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Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that Germany foreign ministry has warned against a “military solution” to the escalating crisis, while Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Russia and China to intervene to stave off a nuclear confrontation.
“In comments aimed as much at Mr. Trump as Mr. Kim, the Berlin foreign ministry said that “a military solution” cannot be “the answer in the quest for a nuclear weapon-free east Asia.”
The latest series of hostilities involving the US and the North began after Kim Jong Un launched a series of ICBMS, including a test on the July 4 holiday that prompted the UN to pass new sanctions. Markets have certainly been shaken by the drama, though US stocks remain near record highs. Which begs the question: Will Americans’ worries about nuclear annihilation stop them from buying the f**king dip?
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