When a serious open wound is not treated it can get
infected. Some infections like gangrene
or MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus) can be life threatening.
North Korea is like an infected wound. The Korean Conflict ended in a ceasefire that is
still with us. There was no peace treaty,
and the reunification of North and South Korea did not happen. The free world has not been willing to do
what is necessary to resolve this stalemate in its favor. The situation has gradually grown worse,
until it now threatens to start World War III.
The American print and broadcast news media have
generally ignored our increasingly threatening drift toward open hostilities on
the Korean peninsula. They, and the U.S.
Congress, have chosen to try to oust a duly elected president instead. I get so sick of it. President Trump has recognized the need to
end the nuclear threat to the United States, Japan, South Korea and others
posed by North Korea. However, he has no
good options open to him. Things have
been allowed to go too far.
Over the last 60+ years, the United States has tried to peacefully
resolve the Korean problem, without success.
More recently, Bill Clinton sent Jimmy Carter to negotiate with North
Korea. He tried to buy them off, but
they broke their word and resumed their nuclear program. George W. Bush fought a two-front war in Iraq
and Afghanistan on borrowed money.
Having insufficient resources to deal with North Korea militarily, he
chose not to follow-up when they continued to develop nuclear weapons. Barack Obama put his head in the sand. He allowed the North Koreans to test nuclear
weapons and develop missiles that could deliver them. Unwilling to go to war, anywhere for any
reason, Mr. Obama regarded a nuclear North Korea as inevitable. As Yoda said to Obe-Wan, “Now matters are worse.”
President Trump has been trying to persuade China,
Russia, and the United Nations to reign in North Korea. Over the years they have enjoyed watching the
various Kim family dictators make trouble or us. We can only hope that they will see that Kim
Jong-un has gone too far. However, that would mean that
mankind would have learned something from World Wars I & II. It is probably too much to hope for.
If we impose economic sanctions on countries and
businesses that trade with North Korea, we risk a disastrous trade war that
would undermine our current efforts to stimulate economic recovery. We could possibly motivate nations like China
to give greater support to North Korea in retaliation. There is a chance that such economic
sanctions might work, but economic sanctions do not have an impressive history
of success. Should armed conflict with
North Korea occur, the hostility the sanctions might create could dispose some
countries that might otherwise stand aside to lend their support to North Korea.
A blockade is technically an act of war. If we were to impose a blockade on North
Korea, would we be willing to sink Chinese or Russian ships to enforce it? Would we be willing to bomb convoys of
supplies entering North Korea from China?
If we did, what would Russia and China do? Can a blockade be imposed effectively enough
to choke North Korea into submission? If
we blockade North Korea, will it provoke Kim Jong-un and his military bosses to
attack South Korea; or perhaps Japan?
All good questions. Kim Jong-un may
be mentally ill. It is impossible to
predict what he will do.
What then about military action? A “limited” attack on North Korea to destroy
their nuclear capability and existing delivery systems would probably succeed
if we can achieve surprise and destroy their air force and their command and
control systems. It would almost
certainly result in an attack on South Korea, and possibly Japan, by North
Korea. The loss of life could be massive.
I was wrong about the invasion of Iraq in 1991 (Desert
Storm). I thought that Iraq’s military
would inflict a lot more casualties on the coalition forces than they did. I do not, however, think we can safely assume
that we can overwhelm the North Koreans the way we did the Iraqis.
Various sources I have read give me to believe that the North
Korean air force has at least 1,000 planes, and that they have a 750,000-man
army. To keep the North Koreans from
killing thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of South Koreans and Japanese,
we will have to crush their military as quickly as possible. We do not have about a month or two in this
case to soften them up with precision air strikes. We must get the job done in a matter of days;
not months. My knowledge of our military
capabilities is dated. Perhaps our
military planners have tools to work with that I am not aware of. However, the only way I know of to obliterate
the North Korean military in a fast, overwhelming surprise attack is with
nuclear weapons. We just do not have the
military and economic resources to fight a protracted war on the Korean
peninsula; and everybody knows it.
Now, I am not as crazy as Kim Jong-un. I have some comprehension of the consequences
that would follow a nuclear attack on North Korea. We would be an outlaw nation in the eyes of
the rest of the world. It could
precipitate a nuclear retaliation by Russia, China, or both. In short, there is a high degree of
probability that it would start World War III.
At the very least, a nuclear first strike on any nation by the United
States would divide our country, and possibly precipitate a
constitutional crisis. Is it worth the
risk?
What is to be done?
We cannot continue to ignore the North Koreans and hope they will go
away. Make no mistake, although they do
not yet have a missile or an aircraft that can strike the continental United States, they can
strike us with a nuclear weapon by other means.
Please understand that I mean this in all sincerity. We need to pray. Prayer is not the least we can do. Prayer is the most we can do. The one true God, the God of the Holy Bible,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is all powerful. He created the universe and everything in it,
and He is in control of it. People who
are in positions of power in the world are there by His active will, or by His
passive will. They are in power because He
puts them there or because He allows them to be there. His plan for the ages is perfect, and He will
work together in all things for the good of those who love Him, and are called
according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Secondly, we must apply every legal pressure we can to
peacefully bring the regime of Kim Jong-un and the North Korean military to an
end; regardless of the economic or international consequences. If this results in an attack by North Korea
on the United States or its allies, we must respond with every military means
necessary to destroy completely the North Korean’s will and ability to strike,
before they can do a lot of damage. Our
forces must be poised to carry out this mission on a moment’s notice, and we
must give our military the resources to do so.
All nations must be made aware through diplomatic channels that any
attack on the United States or its allies by North Korea will result in an
immediate and devastating military response.
