Happy NUKE Year! North Korea and US doomed for NUCLEAR showdown in 2018
NORTH Korea and the US are heading for a nuclear showdown in 2018 as the two sides sit on the
brink of "hot conflict", it has been warned.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are on a path of "spiralling escalation" after a year
of intense rhetoric and military muscle flexing.
North Korea has tested dozens of a missiles and their most powerful nuclear bomb ever,
while the US held unprecedented war games flexing its military muscles.
And both sides have threatened to annihilate the other, with the US President warning of
"fire and fury" and promising to "totally destroy" the rogue state at the UN.
Nuclear expert Dr Bruce Blair warned this descent towards war is only going to continue
in 2018.
He told Daily Star Online: "I think we are on a trajectory of spiraling escalation that
is going to lead to a showdown."
Dr Blair, a former nuclear launch officer, added the "odds are increasing we will come
to blows" as he gave a grim evaluation of the New Year.
Co-founder of nuclear disarmament group Global Zero, he said: "The two sides will be brought
closer to the brink of conflict in 2018.
"There are a number of paths to the outbreak of hot conflict, both through intentional
and inadvertent escalation."
North Korea has fired 23 missiles in 2017 as Kim works to perfect his missile technology
to get the US in range.
The rogue state believes nuclear will protect the regime from any attempt by the West to
depose Kim.
Pyongyang's ruling elite fears a situation such as those involving Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein or Libyan warlord Muammar Gaddafi where the US spearheaded efforts to remove
them.
Kim's last missile test on November 28 was his most advanced nuclear missile yet, but
questions still remain over the technology's viability for nuclear war.
However, Dr Blair says any conflict between the US and North Korea would inevitably lead
to the use of nukes.
The expert said: "Little outbreaks of hostilities have been escalating and I think they could
escalate much faster than people realise.
"It could lead very quickly to in a large scale nuclear conflict.
"In a conventional conflict, the North Koreans would lose, and they would be put into a position
with having to resort of nuclear weapons.
"That could be the last straw that causes Trump to escalate to the use of nuclear weapons."
Nuclear war could even be triggered by a particularly provocative missile test if the US decide
to intervene, Dr Blair added.
He explained a scenario where the US detects North Korea to be loading a nuclear warhead
into a missile for a live test.
The US President would be briefed, and Trump would be given options to act.
Dr Blair said: "Maybe Trump rides out a missile launch, or maybe he doesn't – and
then we go into emergency consultation and he opts to retaliate."
Despite the course for war being clear, the expert warned "I don't think we have any
answers" – saying "deterrence is all we have", but adding he had "little faith
in it".
He urged the US to try and get North Korea back to the negotiating table, predicting
we would see the rogue state "isolated to the maximum extent possible".
The next phase of North Korea's missile test is believed to be a live nuclear weapon
launched in the Pacific – known as the Juche Bird test.
This would be the ultimate provocation and test of the US's military patience with
Kim.
Dr Blair previously described this test as Trump's "red line" on North Korea when
speaking to Daily Star Online.
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