Here’s what you need to know on Thursday morning…
– South Korean President Moon said in a speech last night: “I can confidently say there will not be a war again on the Korean Peninsula.” It seems to me that a statement like might not only be premature, but it might also be akin to former U.S. president Obama’s remarks in January 2014 about the Islamic State being the “JV team”. (And that’s before the Islamic State went on to slaughter thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria.) Meanwhile, President Trump is insistent that there’s a military option for North Korea.
– Surprisingly, White House Chief Strategic Steve Bannon gave an interview with left wing publication, The Prospect. Speaking about the “military option” on North Korea, Bannon says: “There’s no military solution, forget it. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no military solution here, they got us.” [source]
– Bannon also had this to say about China: “We’re at economic war with China. It’s in all their literature. They’re not shy about saying what they’re doing. One of us is going to be a hegemon in 25 or 30 years and it’s gonna be them if we go down this path. On Korea, they’re just tapping us along. It’s just a sideshow.” That’s a reference to China working to denuclearize North Korea.
I’ll include my other takeaways from Bannon’s interview in this week’s intelligence summary. If you’re not a subscriber, join over 650 Americans and global readers who have access to our intelligence reporting. Prepared by intelligence veterans, our reporting is focused on threats at home and abroad. Subscribe here.
