A Napalm Pissing Contest
So here we are, being pushed up a very steep and dangerous hill with the very likely proposition of being thrown off the cliff edge to our doom.
Who's pushing us?
Our leaders, the ones we elected to look after us and make sure we are safe. Now I'm not American, North Korean, Chinese, or Japanese, though I do feel as though my life is in their hands. Whatever the outcome of this skirmish they are having I, and the rest of us normal folks, have no say in the matter... well, not to the point that it will actually affect anything.
So what this situation boils down to is a pissing contest between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un.
Trump is resentful that North Korea are preparing a sixth nuclear test ahead of their Day Of Sun celebration of Kim Il Sung's 105th Anniversary of his birth and may be considering building a rocket powerful enough to reach America. Does America have one powerful enough to reach North Korea?
Now, I can fully understand Trump's annoyance. Testing of nuclear weapons is a dangerous thing and even-more-so when it will lead to Kim Jong-Un having a nuclear arsenal; a man who has allegedly without mercy killed family members and then systematically scrubbed them from existence in his country because they disagreed with him or did something wrong. Though to be honest, if Japan is correct North Korea may already possess a great amount of germ and bacterial warfare, including sarin, which they are fearful of them using against them. This is more disturbing as this type of weapon could be more catastrophic while being less destructive.
My thought is this; if Kim Jung-Un is intending to go to war with his neighbours what is he expecting to get out of it? He has threatened so many countries and their peoples, does he actually believe he could win or is he just filibustering to keep his tough image alive in his country? What's to say that if he builds his nuclear weapons that he will ever use them. We never did, neither did America, or Russia. Would you really launch when so many would be launched back at you? This is a game of tic-tac-toe, pointless and unwinnable.
Though less nuclear equipment in the world would make for a safer and better world in general. I include in this power stations and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers such as the USS Carl Vinson, which Trump has sent into the Korean Peninsula.
Unfortunately, Trump seems to be a "Shoot First, ask questions never" type of guy. Not only has he moved the Vinson into the Peninsula but he's also moved armed divisions in South Korea closer to the North Korea border, and had a no-notice exercise of the fully armed 18th Wing aircraft division. If this isn't a show of strength I don't know what is... and isn't a show of strength meant to strike fear and terror into your opponent? Now, what do we call that?
Conversation is required. From conversation other doors can open that may lead to the tougher economic sanctions the US say they want and may in the future lead to something better for everyone.
North Korea is not I.S. At the moment, they are not causing any other county any problems, just concerns that they might. This is not a black and white situation and taking pre-emptive action could lead to some serious and disastrous outcomes when it may not even be necessary. What would have happened if JFK and Khrushchev hadn't communicated back in October 1962? Do we ever want to be at a point like that again in our history? Especially when there are other concerns, not only closer to home but on a global scale that need to be addressed.
There's strong... and then there's strong. This situation requires a man with JFK's skills. Not a man who is willing to put people's lives at risk on a whim. Peace will never be attainable if either of the opposing sides relies on brute force.
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