BUT FOR WHOM? Pentagon Says War Against North Korea Would Be ‘Catastrophic.’

Even a so-called surgical strike aimed at the North’s partially hidden nuclear and missile force is unlikely to destroy the arsenal or stop its leader, Kim Jong Un, from swiftly retaliating with long-range artillery that could kill stunning numbers in South Korea within minutes.

An all-out conflict could then ensue. And while Trump’s Pentagon chief, Jim Mattis, says the U.S. would prevail, he believes it would be “a catastrophic war.”

North Korea’s position has been allowed to evolve unimpeded over three decades and three Administrations. Pyongyang can use its nuclear capability — their own arsenal and the threat of sales to unsavory types — to blackmail the West into providing food and goods. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has its artillery just north of Seoul to hold South Korean civilians hostage against American action. They’ve got us by the …this… and by the …that.

That’s an outsized position for a small and impoverished nation ruled by an apparent sociopath.

And Beijing no doubt delights in having such an inexpensive ally creating such an expensive headache for their rivals here in the West.

There were never any easy outs with the Norks, and at this late stage there aren’t even any left which are merely ugly.