North Korea Playing with Nuclear Fire

 

North Korea has been firing off missiles again. The national security of the United States is being threatened by these actions. What should we do? For full disclosure, I should say that I have a son on the USS Ronald Reagan, which has been moved to South Korea as a response. 

In late September, North Korea simulated the loading of a tactical nuclear warhead on a missile that in the event of war that would be used in “neutralizing airports in South Korea’s operation zones.”

So North Korea is practicing its capability of attacking South Korea with nuclear strikes aimed at South Korea's airports. United States Forces Korea has over 23000 Americans stationed in Korea to provide a deterrent to north Korean aggression. They are there also to act as a tripwire. If those forces are harmed, America automatically is at war and will retaliate. And if they are nuked, well..I guess we will have to nuke them back. 

Is this what we want? The last time the US actually constitutionally declared war was over 80 years ago. We have been dragged into numerous conflicts since then by reacting to situations caused by "bad actors" like North Korea and China, Iraq, Afghanistan and, almost, the Soviet Union and Cuba. This doesn't seem like a rational foreign policy. 

We should (and probably are) going through all of the possible scenarios by which North Korea could attack us, and have a swift response for each. 

The problem lies in what North Korea's justification will be. Will they call it an accident, or a mistake, or an action by a non-authorized individual, or a terrorist that launched without knowledge or approval of the North Korean government. Will we strike back in such a case? Do you want us to? 

The world is and has always been a very dangerous place. Unfortunately, the amount of time leaders have available to make decisions is shrinking. We need to impress this upon the Chinese, who can then pressure the North Koreans, to stop playing chicken with nuclear weapons.