Too many Americans are completely detached from the horrors of war as the US has enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace within its continental borders. The ability to not know war has been a precious luxury enjoyed for a generation in the US, but is now taken completely for granted. For most, war is just another form of entertainment like sports games and movies. In fact, to the average person, there is literally no distinction between the Hollywood war movies and reality. Why would there be when roughly only four tenths of a percent of the US population is serving in the military and far less have actually fought its wars? This makes it highly likely most Americans don’t even know a vet. There are many problems with this disassociation. However, the most detrimental has been that our nation has become so insulated from war they feel that we can kill with impunity around the globe. Symptomatic of this condition is the apathy Americans demonstrate to our military intervention overseas. We now allow our nation to blindly blunder into global conflict without even a debate. Americans have forgotten the actual human costs and the horrors of what a war is like if it comes to our own shores. This always ends badly and if a war with North Korea begins, we may very soon learn what it is like to see war again on American soil.
Currently, the Trump Administration has overtly entered or continued US involvement in wars in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq without any debate, votes, or justification. Literally, President Trump has picked a new fight every month he has been in office. My fear is that President Trump is now setting the stage for an unavoidable conflict with North Korea making him five for five. Let me be clear, I do not believe President Trump has many options left with North Korea. However, I fear that he will not chose the best courses of action and it will cost the US an incredibly high price. I don’t say this lightly. Conflicts in Syria and Iraq have the potential to spread and end in a disaster for the US in large part because they will financially bankrupt our nation and lead to the wholesale slaughter of millions of innocent people. However, the US has not fought a war since WWII where the adversary had the ability to attack the US mainland. Am I suggesting North Korea has the ability to physically invade the US and pelt of with missiles? No. In fact, North Korea does not have that ability at all. However, North Korea has the ability to asymmetrically attack the US with some of the most horrendous weapons known to man and you need to be prepared.
War with North Korea is looking more and more inevitable. Neither side is willing to back down. If there is to be war, even the best case is still horrible. The best case would be a surprise US nuclear strike against the North Korean regime and its military installations ending the war quickly and with minimal US and allied casualties. A far uglier picture emerges if the Trump Administration opted for, even if just initially, a conventional option. Using conventional weapons would allow North Korea time to deploy not just its conventional weapons, but its chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. This would almost guarantee Seoul would be reduced to rubble and tens of thousands of American and South Korean casualties would be incurred within the first 24-48 hours of the conflict. If the US and South Korean troops had to conventionally fight the entire war, we would be looking at close to a million casualties and our nation utterly bankrupted by the conflict. Further, this is assuming China doesn’t enter the war, which would truly make it a WWIII endgame scenario and this isn’t at all unlikely.
However, irrespective of the financial cost and the massive loss of life associated with a war in North Korea, Americans, have in their comforts, become totally ignorant of the fact that North Korea has planned for and put in place numerous asymmetric means to attack the US. To be blunt, North Korea is prepared to attack the US homeland in horrific ways should war break out. In particular, over the course of time, North Korea is rumored to have smuggled via diplomatic pouches numerous biological and chemical weapons into the US through its United Nations mission in New York. Disturbingly, once the technology to produce these types of weapons is achieved, and North Korea has achieved it, these weapons are relatively easy to smuggle and very difficult to track. Adding to the problem is that a very small amount of these weapons can inflict large number of casualties. If true, literally every city in the US could be simultaneously attacked with a full range of biological and chemical weapons. In particular, North Korea is already believed to have smuggled VX nerve agent into a foreign country and used it to assassinate a political rival. In larger quantities, VX could be dispersed over crowded areas to inflict large numbers of casualties and to create massive panic in cities like New York and Washington, DC. If not bad enough, a far scarier threat exists. North Korea is believed to have been mass producing anthrax and has likely mass produced other biological weapons such as smallpox, francisella tularensis, and hemorrhagic fever virus. Any one of these agents could be released in densely populated areas and cause a massive number of deaths. Finally, North Korea may have the ability to detonate a space based nuclear weapon over the US releasing an EMP capable of blacking out a large portion of the North American grid. I consider this scenario less likely due to North Korea’s technological challenges and US countermeasures; however, if China becomes involved, the probability of this scenario is 100%. Should that event occur, the US will effectively be destroyed. Before the grid could be rebuilt, some congressional studies estimate that two-thirds of the US population or approximately 200,000,000 people would die. Not even our grandchildren will live to see the US recover from this type of attack. Let that sink in for a moment. The war that President Trump is about to start has the potential to destroy the US.
If what I have just written didn’t scare the hell out of you, you are completely disassociated with reality and need professional help. I am not trying to create panic and I do not subscribe to fear mongering. Unfortunately, reality isn’t always pretty and as much as we would like to deny the uncomfortable, it is critical we recognize threats and dangers. North Korea is a very big threat and far more dangerous than Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan combined. Remember, President Bush believed Afghanistan was going to be a quick war against some illiterate savages, but over a decade and a half later, we are still mired in his war we have already strategically lost. Iraq proved to be another example of Washington’s hubris and overly optimistic military predictions. In fact, the history of warfare demonstrates that in nearly every case, wars prove to be much longer, tougher, and more costly than predicted. Why would anyone think North Korea will be a war any less costly when all indicators say the exact opposite? I am curious because as I type, no fewer than three American aircraft carrier battle groups are steaming towards the Korean Peninsula prepared for a military showdown and nearly no one aside from Ron Paul is urging restraint. I think the answer is that Americans are living in ignorance and have no concept of the hell this war will most likely bring to our lives. Again, war with North Korea may be unavoidable, but we need to have a national discussion and the homeland must be prepared for the consequences.
As with all articles, I don’t just point out the problems. I offer solutions. In this case, the truth is you and I aren’t going to change a damn thing. All we can control is our actions and to a limited degree help those around us. Ideally, now may be a good time to literally leave the US for an extended vacation that lasts until either the war is over or North Korea backs down. I don’t make this recommendation lightly. However, for those that can’t leave or opt to stay, you need to prep your chem/bio response kits. Everyone in your group now should be at minimum carrying a protective mask with new filter in day bags. If you have antidote kits for nerve agents and decon kits for blister agents, those should also be packed and make sure you know how to use them. You should also have antibiotics ready for a biological attack involving a bacterial agent like anthrax. However, if the bio weapon is viral, we are looking at an untreatable megadeath situation and the only real option is to completely isolate your group from all other people until the virus has burned itself out. Wherever you plan to stay, make sure you have an area prepped with provisions and the ability to seal it from the outside with plastic and duct tape at minimum. You also should have enough chem/bio suits prepared for everyone in your group to at least bug out from the hot zone. If you are driving to work, you should have at least one complete suit in your vehicle and a contingency link up plan for everyone else in your group. Listen to me; you need to do this immediately. A war with North Korea is hopefully avoidable, but literally could be launched at any moment in the coming days to weeks.
As for preparations beyond immediate survival, you need to get as much cash on hand as you can withdraw from the banks. If you have the ability to move money to overseas bank accounts, do it now. If you are invested in stocks, you should consider taking profits now and holding them until this crisis passes. Once the market crashes, feel free to re-enter the market and buy up the cheap stocks. This will lead to a market shock and crash if a war breaks out. However, some stocks will likely sky rocket in value. I am personally seeking out companies that specialize in radiological decontamination and chem/bio defenses to invest in. Call it Machiavellian, but a crisis always presents opportunities for those with the foresight to position themselves to seize it. Make sure that person is you. In the interim, please take some basic precautions. I pray for the best, but will be preparing for the worst. We will be very blessed indeed if we can get through this crisis with the homeland unscathed.
By Guiles Hendrik
April 17, 2017
