Alternatively, imagine if the North Korean government leaked plans to bomb a couple of American targets to “give us a bloody nose” while hoping it doesn’t lead to all-out war.— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 9, 2018
What would people think?
One clear characteristic of American politicians and political commentators is the shockingly cavalier way that they talk about bombing or attacking people in other countries. (I have mentioned this before, mostly when talking about Iran, but these days it applies just as much to NoKo). The only other country that has political chatter like this is Israel. No one is shocked if someone in American government or there is an editorial in a major news site that talks about attacking North Korea, or overthrowing its government. But if a member of a foreign government or a newspaper editorial proposed doing that to the U.S., the entire country would be dismissed as a rogue state of bloodthirsty maniacs.
