CIA/MILITARY/NORTH KOREA: “Former CIA Director John Brennan estimated that the U.S. has at least a 20% likelihood of becoming engaged in military conflict with North Korea amid President Donald Trump’s discord with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
‘Having this back-and-forth on the public stage is not the way to de-escalate here,’ Mr. Brennan said during an onstage interview at Fordham University School of Law on Wednesday [10-18-17] night.
Mr. Brennan said only back-channel negotiations would ‘allow these two individuals to save face.’…
‘I think the prospects for military conflict in the Korean Peninsula are greater than they have been in several decades,’ he said. ‘I don’t think it’s likely or probable, but if it’s a one in four or one in five chance, that’s too high.’
‘Is that where you’d rate the chances?’ asked interviewer David Ignatius, an associate editor and columnist for the Washington Post.
Replied Mr. Brennan: ‘Well, yeah, I guess I would.’
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday morning
Mr. Brennan was appointed director of the CIA by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and worked under several other presidents, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.”
-Erica Orden, “Ex-CIA Chief Sees at Least ‘One in Five’ Chance of War with North Korea,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct 19, 2017 10:17am