Trump gets a taste for war

Last week began with war and ended with war. Trump threatened Kim Jong-un with a fire and fury war and then decided to put President Maduro of Venezuela on notice that he, too, faced possible military acion because of the rising cases of human rights and constitutional abuses. Now, of course, it's another week and everyone is trying to backtrack. No, war with North Korea is not imminent, the US miitary is going about its normal business, nothing has changed, and as for war with Venezuela, Mike Pence, the US Vice-President who is in Colombia, is reasuring everyone in Latin America that diplomacy is the only solution for bringing Maduro to his senses. Well, that's a relief, Trump can go back to his golf and all is right with the world. Well, actually no. Whatever Mike Pence says with his soothing words, Maduro, former bus driver and total idiot and brutal, repressive dictator who is quietly building up a family fortune while the rest of the country starves, will now be looking over his shoulder. Could Trump have really meant it, are the US Marines on their way? I don't think that's a bad thing. After all, it's Trump who will make the decision, not Pence. Maduro might just be a tiny bit scared now, and, if so, perhaps he will look up the word 'democracy' in the dictionary and start behaving more like a proper leader. It's fairly unlikely but the fact that Trump has used the phrase 'military option' might just make Maduro realise that the White House is watching him. No one, least of all the poor and abused and terrified Venezuelan people, will mind in the least that Trump appears to be on their side. So, don't go all lovey-dovey, Mr Vice-President. At least look tough when you are asked during your Latin America tour whether Trump is about to launch a war in Venezeula and don't dismiss it out of hand. Remember, Maduro is one of the most despised leaders of the world, he deserves to lose some sleep at night. As for Kim Jong-un, it's time the world got tough on him. Despite all the sanctions imposed on his regime, North Korea still manages to flourish in the export world, its businessmen still sell North Korean goods, and the so-called secretive Office 39, sometimes also known as Room 39, in Pyongyang, still runs a clandestine operation to maintain a flow of foreign currency to keep Kim and his family in luxury. No one is stopping that. China and many other countries who have signed up to the latest sanctions somehow get away with breaching the international measures, preventing North Korea from becoming a bancrupt wasteland. It's a truly cynical world. So Trump's belligerent rhetoric against Kim and then Maduro last week has not brought us all closer to war, but it just might make Kim and Maduro think more carefully about their next actions. On the other hand, both leaders might also come to the conclusion that Trump is all bluster. "He'll never do it, will he?" If there's a question mark in their heads, then Trump will have achieved something out of all the fire and fury.