By Michael Snyder – End Of The American Dream

On Sunday, North Korea warned the United States that it could wipe out Manhattan with a single hydrogen bomb, and earlier this month North Korea threatened to make a “preemptive and offensive nuclear strike” on the United States in response to aggressive military exercises currently being jointly conducted by South Korea and the U.S. military.  So does nuclear war with North Korea actually pose a significant security risk to this country?  Well, according to the Washington Post the entire west coast of the United States is within reach of North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.  The only question is whether or not North Korea’s ultra-paranoid leader Kim Jong Un would ever actually press the button.

Most Americans don’t realize this, but nuclear war with North Korea is now closer than it has ever been before.  In the past, North Korea’s technical capabilities were greatly limited, but now all of that has apparently changed.  Just consider what has taken place within just the past few months.  The following comes from a timeline that was put together by the Arms Control Association…

January 6, 2016: North Korea announces it conducted a fourth nuclear weapons test, claiming to have detonated a hydrogen bomb for the first time. Monitoring stations from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization detect the seismic activity from the test. The type of device tested remains unclear, although experts doubt it was of a hydrogen bomb based on seismic evidence.

February 7, 2016: North Korea launches a long-range ballistic missile carrying what it has said is an earth observation satellite in defiance of United Nations sanctions barring it from using ballistic missile technology, drawing strong international condemnation from other governments which believe it will advance North Korea’s military ballistic missile capabilities.

March 2, 2016: The UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 2270 condemning the nuclear test and launch of early 2016, and demanding that North Korea not conduct further tests and immediately suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program. Resolution 2270 expands existing sanctions on North Korea by adding to the list of sanctioned individuals and entities, introducing new financial sanctions, and banning states from supplying aviation fuel and other specified minerals to North Korea. Resolution 2270 also introduces a requirement that UN member states inspect all cargo in transit to or from North Korea for illicit goods and arms.

In response to these moves, South Korea and the U.S. military have launched the largest military exercises in the history of South Korea.    More than 300,000 troops have gathered to simulate an invasion of North Korea and practice the elimination of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction.  These military exercises being held over a period of eight weeks, and this is precisely what caused North Korea to threaten us with a “preemptive and offensive nuclear strike“.

And on Sunday, North Korea boasted that they could reduce Manhattan to ashes with a single hydrogen bomb…

Continue reading at End Of The American Dream: Nuclear War With North Korea Coming?

About the author:

Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years.

Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream. 

Read his new book Get Prepared Now!: Why A Great Crisis Is Coming.