Is today the last day of calm before the storm? War with North Korea could begin THIS WEEK as North prepares to test H-bomb and missile

Warnings from around the world as North prepares new provocations. How will Trump respond?

October 11 in North Korea is the anniversary of the founding of the North Korea's ruling party. Holidays such as these are used as occasions to demonstrate military capability, and if intelligence reports are accurate, then North Korea may be prepared to test both an H-bomb and a missile. The dual test, if it should happen, could trigger a military response from the United States.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- North Korea may be about to stage their greatest military provocation yet, testing both an H-bomb and a missile capable of reaching the west coast of the United States. Both tests could occur today, which is the anniversary of the founding of the North's ruling party.

North Korea often uses holidays as occasions to demonstrate their military power.

Intelligence services in both the United States and South Korea have warned that North Korea may be prepared to test both the bomb and the missile on the same day.

News of the test, should it happen, could break as early as tonight, or as late as Wednesday. If a nuclear test is performed, the U.S. will deploy a special "sniffer plane" to test the air for traces of radiation from the bomb.

A Russian source has also issued a warning. Mr. Anton Morozov, a member of Russia's parliament, warned that the North was planning another test to take place shortly. He also claimed he was shown calculations that prove the missile will be able to hit the west coast of the United States.

Morozov added he saw evidence the North can bring down a warhead intact to detonate over a target. This capability is critical to an effective strike, but until not experts have denied the North possesses it. The forces of flight and re-entry are tremendous, and nuclear weapons are remarkably fragile. However, there are ways to protect the warhead in flight, and if the North has developed them, then they will possess a practical weapon.

President Trump raised eyebrows last week, during a dinner with several high-ranking military officers. The President remarked, "maybe it's the calm before the storm."

The maybe suggests he is prepared to react to someone else's decision. The presence of the military indicates his reaction will be a military reaction, and the use of the word storm suggests the event will be large.

This combination of words and circumstances has many wondering if the U.S. is preparing to go to war with North Korea.

So far, the signs aren't there. In order to effectively prosecute a war with North Korea, the U.S. will need at least two to three aircraft carrier battlegroups in the waters off North Korea. Right now, the U.S. may has none. One carrier, the Carl Vinson is in San Diego along with the Theodore Roosevelt. The John C. Stennis is in Washington. The Ronald Reagan is in Hong Kong.

The Ronald Reagan could steam to Korea within days, while the other ships would need to be crewed, outfitted, and deployed, a process that could take days to weeks, even in an emergency.

This doesn't mean the U.S. is impotent. A limited-scale conflict could be staged using available resources already deployed in Asia. With help from allies such as South Korea and Japan, the U.S. could degrade and destroy the North Korean military over several days to weeks. And even under difficult circumstances, the U.S. is capable of hitting regime targets, and possible decapitating the North's leadership.

Nobody knows for sure what will happen this week, but there is a sense that the world is on the brink. If the President does not choose a military response to destroy North Korea's nuclear capability, then the world will have to live with it. While that ensures peace in the short term, in the long term the outcome is a simply a wild guess.

UPDATE: The Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71, deployed from San Diego this morning.