MY TAKE ON THE NORTH KOREAN ISSUE

This administration, like all previous administrations, keeps lying to us about North Korea. It very well knows that there is no military solution to a problem (see below) that all administrations have created. Just as there is no solution when it comes to Russian or Chinese nuclear capabilities.

But there is a difference between Russia and China on the one hand and North Korea on the other hand. With Russia and China, the end-result of any use of nuclear weapons is mutual assured destruction or MAD. That is why Dumb Trump's soundbite that "There will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world" is meaningless. What kind of advantage is this if the end-result is MAD?

As far as North Korea is concerned, the issue is different. North Korea is not seeking to have nuclear capabilities to attack or even threaten America, its goal is to deter America from even thinking about attacking North Korea. What made North Korea seek to deter America is history. During the Korean war, the United Sates carpet-bombed the North using more bombs than it used in the Pacific theater of World War II. North Korea had to develop nuclear weapons to ensure its survival.

Now, if Dumb Trump makes the colossal mistake of attacking North Korea, under what he wrongly calls "preventive" war (pre-emptive is the right word), he should be ready to sacrifice millions of lives. Metropolitan Seoul, which is about 35 miles from the border and is within range of North's missiles and artillery, has 26 million people. This is not all. The United States had 23,000 troops, plus their families, living between Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone. In total, about 200,000 Americans reside in South Korea. It is hoped that the adult around Dumb Trump will stop him from taking a stupid decision.

Those who are trying to characterize Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, as impulsive or unstable are not only wrong, they are in fact trying to incite the Americans, and indirectly encouraging Dumb Trump to attack. In fact, Kim Jon-un is rational and it is Dumb Trump who can be characterized as impulsive and unstable, if not crazy.

What is the solution? There are only two options. One is to attack North Korea knowing well the consequences of such a stupid decision (see above). Two is to acquiesce to the fact that North Korea is a nuclear weapon state. In fact, this has been the case for the past decade. What is wrong with that? Pakistan and India are nuclear weapon states, as well as Israel. Why are our consecutive administrations, including this one, keeping quiet? Just as we have tacitly acquiesced to the idea that those three countries are nuclear weapon states, we can do the same with North Korea.

There are those who suggest a third option, unrealistic in my opinion, which is to work with China to put pressure on North Korea: first, to freeze any further development of its nuclear capabilities and second to roll back it nuclear program. The problem with such a suggestion is the mistaken belief that China is ready to cooperate. China will never go along, even if we apply to strongest pressure. It is in the interest of China to keep a thorn in America's side. Those who do not see that are lying to themselves and to us.

Medhat Credi

August 2017