The reality that the entire U.S. mainland, and indeed, much of the world, is now in range of North Korea’s nuclear capability is a sobering one, particularly when combined with the fact that even North Korea’s limited atomic arsenal is fully capable of destroying the entire USA through an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
Over the past several decades, the U.S. “gave peace a chance.” President Bill Clinton tried buying off North Korea with aid. President Bush largely ignored the crisis as he concentrated on the Middle East. President Obama reduced the size of the U.S. military. All of those approaches failed.
China has the capability of completely turning off the North Korean economy. Despite verbally opposing Pyongyang’s atomic program, it has taken no effective steps to do so. Russia has seen the entire situation as yet another opportunity to take advantage of America. Both have urged the U.S. to essentially abandon South Korea in return for a denuclearized North Korea, which would be a major victory for China and Russia and the beginning of the end of democracies in the Pacific region and Asia.
Kim Jong Un has observed that, over the past 8 years, the U.S. was kinder to its enemies than its friends. The entire Obama Mideast policy tilted in favor of Iran, despite that nation’s constant devotion to the policy of “Death to the USA.” Meanwhile, Obama assisted in the destruction of Muammar Gaddafi, who had given up his nuclear program and turned away from terrorism. The same thing occurred in Egypt, which under Mubarak had favored peace in the region and a rejection of terrorism. Obama urged his ouster, and favored his replacement with a Moslem Brotherhood advocate.
From his perspective, Kim’s actions are wholly rational. He is doing what he has observed led to the enrichment and survival of regimes such as those in Iran, and avoiding the policies of those governments such as that of Libya, which acceded to U.S. demands and were subsequently wiped out. Add to that the fact that, despite the horrors of his regime, he now has China and Russia openly advocating the U.S. abandon its South Korean ally in return for North Korea’s pledge to eliminate its nuclear arsenal, a pledge North Korea has repeatedly violated, and one can easily discern the logic of what Kim is doing.
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After all the years of equivocation by Washington, Kim does not believe the U.S. will take any action, so he feels free to engage in whatever provocation he wishes, assured that he can only gain by aggression, and lose by compromise.
Kim also knows that the state of American politics is such that President Trump will be portrayed by leftist within the U.S. as a warmonger if he takes any military steps against North Korea. Kim is also fully aware that the American military is at its lowest level of strength in many years, a result of the disinvestment that occurred as a result of both Obama’s policies and the sequester.
There are steps short of military action available to Washington. An attempt must be made to induce China to act more responsibly by beginning to limit the importation of Chinese goods to the U.S. and allied nations. America’s commitment to its Asian and Pacific allies, and the permanence of that commitment, must be made clear through the enhanced placement of military assets in the region. The U.S. anti-ballistic missile shield should be dramatically strengthened. U.S. powerplants should be hardened against an EMP attack. And, of course, the disinvestment in America’s armed forces must be reversed, even more so than the recent defense budget provides.
It is far too easy to portray the North Korean regime as being irrational. Each action it has taken has had a proven track record of success—all of it leading to the current and very real crisis and threat of nuclear attack. Until the United States clearly demonstrates to Kim and his allies in Beijing and Moscow that there will be dire consequences, the world will move ever closer to nuclear war.