DEALING WITH NORTH KOREA

Right now, a sizable portion of America’s elected officials and military leaders is running around like chickens with their heads cut off in response to Kim Jong Un’s belligerent displays of military aggression in North Korea. Most of them are screaming about what they can do to restrain him and are probably planning reckless actions that could very well start World War III.

Let’s set the record straight. North Korea is a sovereign nation just like any other. Yes, it is currently under the rule of a crazy dictator. But what goes on inside its borders is none of our business. Sending our troops, planes and ships over there to flaunt our military strength is about the craziest thing we could do. The only thing that we will accomplish is rile up Dictator Un even more, and (God forbid) even provoke him into doing something really crazy—like shooting a missile or two into South Korea.

Let the little dictator play with his toys. He certainly knows that if he ever commits any aggression against any of his neighbors, he and his so called “country” would be toast.

Even without America’s help, the firepower of South Korea could wipe Un and all of his armed forces off the map. South Korea’s population of 50 million is twice the size of the North’s. A much bigger disparity is the South’s economy—a GDP of $1.38 trillion against the North’s pitiful $17 billion—81 times greater. The South’s advanced F-5, F-15, and F-16 fighters would make mincemeat of the North’s crude Russian Su-25 Frogfeet. Even Un knows that taking on South Korea is an utter impossibility.

Obviously, Un has no ambitions of invading South Korea, Japan or any other country. So what is he up to? What does he want? He wants a peaceful co-existence with the South without the United States’ nose poking under his tent. He wants the United States to respect his regime and vacate South Korea. That’s it.

But what if we don’t? Since Un cannot possibly fight America, his plan is to beat us down by agitating our leaders into doing something even more stupid than his reckless sword rattling—wasting billions of dollars in military exercises and diluting our heavily indebted economy.

China has already agreed that it would side and fight with the North, but only if the North did not strike first. If Un could goad us into attacking his pitiful fiefdom—like G. W. Bush did to Iraq in 2003—he would draw China into the fray and begin one more battle to bring our nation to its knees via thousands of casualties, depletion of our treasury, and universal hatred around the world.

Right now, our military industrial complex could very well be public enemy no. 1—our enemy, not North Korea’s. Even though it has made our national defense the most powerful in the world, it has also set the stage for its blatant misuse as we threaten and invade other nations and become the world’s greatest bully—not to mention one of the greatest mass murderers. With an image like that, it is only a matter of time—perhaps a very short one—before the entire world revolts against us economically and effectively shuts us down.

So what should we do? The question is really what we should NOT do—have a temper tantrum and instigate an act of military road rage? That is exactly the reaction Kim Jong Un is seeking—to embarrass us into reacting like a spoiled child. So what should we do? Absolutely nothing. Just leave him alone.

Right now, it is up to President Donald Trump to declare non-action and withdraw our forces from the area. Even if our hostile military powers and Congress manage to railroad aggressive legislation down his throat with huge, veto-proof majorities, he can still halt it dead in its tracks. He is commander in chief of all of our armed forces. He can shut off all funding for reckless operations. He can order our troops, ships, and planes out of places they should not be and send them home. Even if Congress declares war, he can withhold funding and refuse to engage in it.

President Donald Trump really does have the opportunity to make America great again. And he can do it by the simplest means imaginable—withdraw and refuse to engage in another war. He can shun the paranoia that warmongering zealots are shouting. He can prevent thousands of future casualties. He can restore America’s friendship with the rest of the world. He can build America’s economy by free trade and the repeal of counterproductive sanctions, including Russia and the Cuban embargo. He can save trillions of our tax dollars that would otherwise be frittered away on military follies. And yes, he can even win a Nobel Peace Prize—a legitimate peace prize that is actually earned.