It's probably the world's biggest geopolitical problem imo, and I would think getting to the point where only a military strike is the solution. Personally I'd be more concerned if they can create nuclear artillery shells.

I predict USA is going to strike the missile testing launch sites with Tomahawks. Similar to what they did in Syria. 

A nuclear armed NK would be a major catastrophe for the world. 

All the goings on around the world, particularly with Syria, is pretty concerning if you ask me. Whilst I still believe it is unlikely the Russians will attack USA or the 2 superpowers will face off in a war, I have never felt so edgy before because of their nukes. 

Chill out and get stung

War's a terrible thing, but the question is whether the alternative of a nuclear ICBM armed North Korea is worse. Tough call. Can't blame the USA for wanting a pre-emptive attack.

If the USA bombs the missile launch pads, Seoul could be devestated within a couple of hours.

Looks like Trump is forcing China's hand. First with the attack on Syria showing he is prepared to take military action, now with moving the carrier into place a week after he met Xi Jinping. China HAS to do something about N.K.s missile launches now.

Like being  a Liverpool fan. Talk the talk but never deliver year after year.

Looks like the purpose of the Syria airfield bombing, to boost approval ratings, has done little for Trump & he continues to have record net negative ratings

Yes, that was clearly the reason why he did it.

-PB

But why would that even be a concern nearly four years from the next election? 

With NK I think you really need to shatter the mentality of fear and the whole leadership change. The military leaders all need to go. Cutting the head off the snake doesn't work when it can easily grow a new one.

The presidential race is ongoing.
Trump recently held a rally in Florida, which he stated was for 2020
So it takes a bit of ignorance to think that this bombing was anything otherwise

Lol hi Ricecrackers.

It's Murdoch Rags not Crackers.

-PB

Yeh I found that a little odd myself.

I strongly doubt any approval ratings at this early stage would be enough to warrant a Cruise Missile strike on anyone. Maybe if it was at least 3 years in, then maybe it's plausible. I think it is as all the pundits have said - USA Trump sending a message to Assad and Russia as well as Iran about the use of Chemical Weapons. 

It's drawing a line in the sand. 

Moreover, any Military Action by Trump is said to have the opposite effect among his supporter base anyway and as a result he would lose more support. They voted for Trump partly because of his isolationist rhetoric. it's the Democrats and their base that wants the US to strike in retaliation against Chemical warfare. 

Aren't they the same person too?

I don't think so.

Ricecrackers was a stridently right wing ideologue as well as a climate science denier / skeptic(?).  Draupnir outed him Poptech.  Ricecrackers became Trident and then a few other variants.

Murdoch rags is a left wing nutjob.  Virulently anti right wing.
 
Whilst nothing is impossible it seems unlikely.

This is accurate. RC was Trident and adopted a left wing persona in a very obviously satirical way. He hasn't been back for a while.

Why do people create multis. Is there a fear of someone finding out who you are behind an anonymous account so you need to create a multi.

Makes sense.

Short memory, must have a...(Iraq, now possibly Syria)

https://youtu.be/KU5taO5vRDo

In Rags' case it's because they get banned lol.

T-minus a few weeks on this one no doubt.

-PB

It amazes me how much things actually change.

trump, who preached and sermonized isolationism, is anything but. Obama who preached and sermonized engagement with the world, was in fact isolationist.

Obama's administration will go down in history as destabilizing the world. His inaction has resulted in the US being forced to the brink of war. he should have acted against the Chemical Attacks in Ghouta in 2013 but did not. He should have answered North Korea's ballistic missile and Nuclear tests. 

By not acting, he has made things 10 times worse and more dangerous. 

Yes.

In Decentric's case it's to bolster his position on 'triangling' or the latest 'milieu'.  Just have a go at his footballking55 character. "Welcome to the forum".

Always have to laugh at politicians like this and the people who eat up their words.  Trump followed a very liberal path before he ran for office.  He wanted abortion rights, supported limitations on gun ownership, believed in universal healthcare and a whole bunch of other things that i can't remember.  Idiots falling for propaganda at its finest.

Err, I don't think he ever said he supported Obama care. Doesn't mean he doesn't support universal health care though. 

As for abortion, that would be his political suicide given his base is the Christian Conservative sector. 

The guy isn't as silly as the media portray him as. On the contrary, he has outwitted and outsmarted the world and not just all his political opponents. He is the president in what was the best US Presidential campaign I have ever seen. he was in touch with the base that would support him. 

Gun Ownership would be suicide for him too and he knew it. He has no choice but to support the 5th amendment and the right to bear arms. 

Not only that, but he has made a lasting dent on Obama's Foreign Policy legacy concerning Syria, Russia and North Korea. Still early days how this will pan out, but if I am right and they all cower which is what I predict, then he comes up all trumps yet again. Even if I am wrong and only Chemical Weapons are not used again in Syria, he still gets to claim a victory of sorts. 

Exactly, anyone with half an ounce of sense knows he only says things to appeal to his supporter base. He was once a member of the Democrats ffs. He isn't some American hero defending the people that so many think he is.  He is power hungry and will say anything to get it.  That is more of an indictment of the people rather than some grand strategy in my opinion.    Populism is alive and well.

Don't they all try to appeal to a base? Are they not all power hungry? What's the difference?

Frankly, a politician who doesn't try and appeal to a base, will inevitably lose. That's what politics is about. 

He got himself into the white house. If he was all lovey dovey and politically correct, he would have lost. It's a no brainer. he got the top prize. He came first. he is now the top dog. 

Populism has always existed since democracy was invented in Ancient Greece and it persists to this day. Don't believe everything you read about one side preaching populism whilst the other does not. It's not true. 

In fact the mere meaning of Democracy (Demokratia) is the very definition of populism. The Politician who wins a vote is because of the very populism of issues and agendas or their populism as a character. 

In short, populism is exactly what the people want. That is the essence of Democracy. It's a marvelous thing this Democracy.

Those who talk about populism in the manner you do, are just sour because they don't like who got elected or the result. 

Don't we all vote for politicians who best express the issues and agendas which are more important to us? That is also populism that we are exercising at the grass roots and it is this very vote politicians are trying to attract with their policies. We are the market and the market dictates a politicians agenda - populism. 

Donald Trump is the most psychologically ill-equipped president in US history, according to former foreign minister Gareth Evans.

Mr Evans has unloaded on Mr Trump, describing him as ill-informed, under-prepared and ethically challenged.

"Personally driven by instinct and impulse, unhampered by knowledge or judgment, he has led an administration acting so far on the basis of postures rather than policies," Mr Evans will say in a speech today to the National Press Club.

"While the commentariat is beginning to find some comforting early signs that the adults are regaining charge of foreign policy, anyone betting on this administration delivering consistent, coherent, constructive and decent outcomes over the next four years is making a very big gamble indeed."

Mr Evans, who was foreign minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, wants Australia to have a long think about its alliance with the US.

"My own answer to the dilemma of how Australia should respond to all of this is: less United States, more Asia, and more self-reliance," he said.

While Mr Evans agreed Australia gained a lot from the alliance, particularly in intelligence and military terms, he believed support for the US should be much less reflexive.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-13/gareth-evans-blasts-donald-trump-urges-pivot-to-asia/8441444

Without being over the top or anything. This is probably the first time in my lifetime where armed conflict has ever worried me. Just with how stupid trump is, how loopy north korea is and how oppertunistic china, russia etc are. Its a little unnerving.

Everyone is buying up everything at the supermarkets and going crazy... but that may be because they are closed for one whole day. Its like the end of the world. 

Seen the video doing the social media rounds?
- Trump boasting of bombing Iraq while having chocolate cake for dessert.
He was bombing Syria....

Erdogan gets his dictatorship today.

-PB