UK government warned to prepare for war

An independent think-tank in UK, the Royal United Services Institute, well-respected and with a pretty good track record, has today warned the British government to prepare for war between the US and North Korea because of Trump's volatility and unpredictability. The warning is made by Malcolm Chalmers, who has the grand title of deputy director-general. Oh dear. I think Mr Chalmers has been sitting too long in a comfy armchair! He needs to get out in the real world. After the furious week of warlike rhetoric from Trump and Kim Jong-un, it certainly seemed like war was imminent. But this is all politics. Dangerous politics I agree, but politics. Kim does not want to die in a fiery heap of missiles. War IS possible, you can't discount it. But Chalmers appears to be giving the impression that as war is inevitable, the UK and its civil servants should start preparing now because Trump will want his trusted British allies to join in. Sorry, but this is rubbish and it won't do the think-tank's reputation any good at all. One newspaper, the Independent, has already given a warning that so many civil servants are now engaged in Brexit there will hardly be any left to plan for war. This is such an August story. All the grown-ups must be on holiday dabbling their feet in the ocean somewhere. Chalmers is a perfectly good academic but he did start out life as a seriously left anti-war type, warning of Armageddon at the slightest sniff of cordite. This warning by the Royal United Services Institute should be ignored as a rather silly piece of "oh-my-God-what-shall-write-about" stuff. All the stories appearing in newspapers last week, including The Times, helped to ratchet up the war atmosphere but that was justified interprepation and reaction to a growing crisis given huge momentum by Trump and Kim Jong-un. Now things have calmed down and Kim has backed off. OK, he's still a big danger puss and could make a fatal miscalculation but he knows, and Trump knows because his wise defence secretary has told him, war would be catastrophic. Everyone has got that message. But Chalmers still thinks the UK should start preparing for war on the Korean peninsula. A piece of advice: there are grown-up people in Washington who are slowly having a big influence on Trump. The last thing he wants is to be the president who killed millions of people in a truly Apocalyptic war. And, remember, Kim is only young and seems to enjoy being alive. So, go talk to these big shots in Washington, Chalmers, before you scare the living daylights out of the British people. Your warning is nonsense.