I have a feeling NK is going for chaos rather than surprise. If they were as easy to defeat as many seem to believe, why have we left them alone for so long? Mostly because the entire area is wickedly unpredictable. Too many powerful countries too close together.

The problem right now, as I see it, is this potential war must stay land based, or at the very least contained to the Korean peninsula, with limited US troop deployment within the limits set out by China. I don't doubt they'd repeat their response to the first time we invaded Korea.

The little fat man is either a lot smarter than anyone has given him credit for or is listening to people who've already practiced this dance. It looks as if this whole event is less about all out nuclear destruction and more about forcing the hands of the interested superpowers.

I don't think for one second the recent news about Australia/China currency conversion isn't linked to this in some way, however small. The world is fragmenting and not-so-subtly picking sides. Whether or not this goes to conflict, NK will have done damage to the US, which is all they really wanted from the get-go.