I don’t expect anyone in Washington to heed this advice – certainly not Barack Obama, who hates his tepid critics at Fox News more than he detests foreign dictators who starve their own people and threaten neighbors and the U.S. with nuclear annihilation.
It’s a simple story I’ve been telling since 2007.
Washington is filled with people who believe we can negotiate ourselves to freedom and security. They seem to accept that America should be limited to defending itself and following the rules of engagement lesser powers have established for us. Too many in the U.S. State Department – and even the Defense Department – place a priority on stability over actions that can free millions of our brothers and sisters living in bondage.
Let me give you an example of how we could overthrow one tin-pot dictator – one of who is aiding our Islamo-fascist enemies with nuclear weaponry and technology and making almost daily threats to go to war with the U.S.
I refer to Kim Jong-un, the third-generation tyrant in North Korea.
Conventional wisdom in Washington suggests we need China’s help in declawing this little beast. We’re told we need more six-party talks. It is suggested we need better diplomacy. Maybe we need to bribe the little bugger like we did his father before him.
What no one in Washington talks about is a simple formula for total victory in North Korea – the ouster of Kim, the freeing of millions, the saving of countless starving lives, the reunification of Korea and a big setback for all of America’s enemies around the globe.
I believe it can be accomplished without the U.S. firing a shot.
Here’s my idea, developed in conjunction with my buddy Franklin Raff, my former radio talk-show producer (the best in the business, by the way).
North Koreans cannot be happy under the Stalinist control of Kim. Millions have already died of starvation. But the people are disarmed and face the wrath of a 1 million-man army if rebellion should ever be considered.
I say forget about talking to Kim.
I say forget about considering plans for invading North Korea.
I say there’s an alternative to bombing the country’s nuclear installations to prevent a future holocaust.
Let’s try bombing the people with support.
Let’s try carpet-bombing North Korea with food, with small arms and munitions and the instructions they need to overthrow the little despot who keeps them in chains.
Let’s try extending our hands in love to the people of North Korea
Let’s let them know where these gifts come from and why.
We might even want to drop in a few brave advisers to give the people the guidance they need to strike out effectively in taking back their country.
Would it work?
I don’t know.
But I do believe such daring campaigns are worth a try.
Could anyone argue that the cause is not just? If it worked, would it not be a humanitarian triumph?
Would anyone justify or rationalize the continued mass starvation that has taken place in North Korea for years as a means of maintaining control over the population – anyone besides Dennis Rodman?
A worst-case scenario is the effort fails. Would we be worse off than we are now? We will still need to rid ourselves of this menace. And, believe me, he cannot be bought off. He cannot be reasoned with. He cannot be cured of his anti-American rage. It’s been bred in him. He was inculcated to hate America since the day he was born.
And imagine if it worked.
Imagine how such a victory would encourage other oppressed people throughout the world – people in Iran and Sudan for starters.
Pulling off this inexpensive little miracle could give America a quantum boost in prestige and respect around the world. It could redefine the balance of power. It could restore the morale of the beleaguered West.
So why not take some chances? Why not roll the dice? Why not be aggressive? Why not get on offense against our enemies before they become strong and united against us – before one of them inevitably detonates a nuclear weapon in our backyard?
There’s one more important element to this plan besides beefing up border control and strategic missile defense. America has a long-standing defense policy with regard to incoming missiles from nuclear powers: When they are detected, the U.S. launches nuclear missiles with the intent of utterly destroying those responsible.
It shouldn’t be a surprise if the U.S. is forced to retaliate. It should be a matter of clearly articulated national policy.
That means the president needs to get on national television and explain what will happen to North Korea if there is ever an invasion of South Korea or an attack on the U.S. He needs to tell Kim and the world that it will spell the end of the Stalinist North Korean regime and, sadly, the lives of many North Koreans.
It wouldn’t be a heartless and cruel announcement. In fact, it would be the most humane thing America could do.
We cannot accept a first strike against us. We’ve never been willing to accept it in the past – not from the Soviet Union, not from China or anyone else. And we should not be willing to accept it now from the tin-pot dictator of North Korea who holds his own starving population in captivity.
Kim needs to be put on notice that he is playing with his own miserable life if he embarks on such a course.
No one can tell whether an ICBM has a nuclear payload. It’s not enough for us to say we will try to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. No anti-missile defense, surely not our own primitive one, is anywhere close to 100 percent effective against incoming missiles.
Kim is testing our national will, and Obama is, predictably, failing the test – failing us all.
Beyond the threat of nuclear retaliation against ICBMs fired at the U.S. and its allies, there is one more message North Korea needs to hear loud and clear: The very next time North Korea even moves ICBMs onto the launch pads those missile installations will be destroyed. End of story.
This kind of strength by America would not only serve to defend our own country, it could also hasten the end to the murderous regime of Kim – a real blessing for the Korean people.
It would also send the right message to all enemies abroad.
Let me tell you something: Everyone fears death – even the Islamic madmen who claim to welcome it. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never strapped bombs on themselves to attack their enemies. They strapped them on little children. They brainwashed others to do their dirty work. They don’t welcome death themselves.
It’s time to remember how we maintained the uneasy peace with a rogue power during the Cold War. It’s time to remember how we won that Cold War – with the initiation of missile defense under Ronald Reagan’s leadership. It’s time to return to policies that have worked effectively for a generation.
It’s time to abandon the policies of appeasement that invite nothing but disaster.
Again, is anyone listening? No. But it’s time to start an intelligent dialogue about how to deal with existential threats to our country from tyrants without going to war, without attempts at nation-building, without costly occupations and with minimal risk to our brave military personnel.
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