Will Trump start a nuclear war with North Korea?
Kim Jong-un
In August  Trump told the North Koreans what to expect if they made any more threats against the United States: “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” That warning didn’t deter  Kim Jong-un  from conducting a nuclear detonation and additional missile tests  part of  his  quest for the capacity to execute a nuclear strike on the American mainland.
The other day  Sen. Lindsey Graham  R-S.C.  told The Atlantic that “there’s a three in 10 chance we use the military option” — a figure he raises to “70 percent” if there’s another test. Based on their conversations  he says Trump “has 100 percent made up his mind that he’s not gonna let Kim Jong-un” deploy “a missile and a nuclear warhead that can hit America effectively.”
 Kim  has shown no penchant for suicide. The only circumstance in which  he  would be likely to fire nuclear-armed missiles is if North Korea or  his  regime were under surprise attack — leaving  him  nothing to lose. In this case  the remedy wouldn’t cure the disease; it would cause the disease.
The hawks speculate that the North Korean despot would use these devices to intimidate us while forcing South Korea to accept reunification under  his  rule.  He  might figure that an American president would not risk the radioactive obliteration of Los Angeles or Washington to save a distant ally.
But for Kim  the risk of being wrong on that gamble would be annihilation. And if we want to remove any doubts in  his  mind  we could turn over some of our nukes to the South Korean government — which would have every reason to retaliate.
In August  Trump told the North Koreans what to expect if they made any more threats against the United States: “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” That warning didn’t deter  [TGT]from conducting a nuclear detonation and additional missile tests  part of  [TGT]  quest for the capacity to execute a nuclear strike on the American mainland.
The other day  Sen. Lindsey Graham  R-S.C.  told The Atlantic that “there’s a three in 10 chance we use the military option” — a figure he raises to “70 percent” if there’s another test. Based on their conversations  he says Trump “has 100 percent made up his mind that he’s not gonna let Kim Jong-un” deploy “a missile and a nuclear warhead that can hit America effectively.”
 [TGT]has shown no penchant for suicide. The only circumstance in which  [TGT]  would be likely to fire nuclear-armed missiles is if North Korea or  [TGT]  regime were under surprise attack — leaving  [TGT]  nothing to lose. In this case  the remedy wouldn’t cure the disease; it would cause the disease.
The hawks speculate that the North Korean despot would use these devices to intimidate us while forcing South Korea to accept reunification under  his  rule.  He  might figure that an American president would not risk the radioactive obliteration of Los Angeles or Washington to save a distant ally.
But for [TGT]the risk of being wrong on that gamble would be annihilation. And if we want to remove any doubts in  his  mind  we could turn over some of our nukes to the South Korean government — which would have every reason to retaliate.