When North Korea built intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching continental United States, it caused panic across the planet.
But did anyone for a moment ask if we are all wrong in the approach to deal with Pyongyang’s brinkmanship?
US President Donald Trump should ask himself if he is causing the problem rather than finding a solution.
Do we match brinkmanship against brinkmanship like the gunfight at OK Corral?
North Korea built the ICBMs in response to the proximity of US presence, the “defense” missiles in their South Korea bases. If the Americans left, which they will never do, there would be no need for Pyongyang to build ICBMs. American presence breeds war and their absence breeds peace.
You have a gun, I get a gun. You have a bigger gun, I get a bigger gun. It is a never-ending vicious cycle of escalation by the determined bully and the defiant bullied until it explodes on all our faces.
The basic principle is there are no winners in a nuclear confrontation. You cannot say the United States is absolutely safe. The scenario is not absolutely predictable.
ICBMs are not meant for South Korea or Japan. They are peripheral. They are meant primarily for the United States. The US policy since Hiroshima and Nagasaki has always been from a position of superiority, because they were successful in ending World War II.
Let the small fries cower, “or else.” But this time, their “or else” falls on deaf ears. This time, the United States may ironically trigger World War III.
That is the North Korea dilemma. The United States will never pull out of South Korea. Pyongyang will never stop the ICBM program, which is in reply to US presence. A preemptive strike is dangerous.
So let’s all get ready for World War III. North Korea may never concede even if the sanctions are quadrupled. If it is obliterated, it may take down with it the entire planet. It is suicidal geopolitics for both the United States and North Korea to toy with nuclear diplomacy.
God can permit World War III to happen the way he permitted World Wars I and II. He sent floods in Noah’s time, fires in Sodom and Gomorrah. He permitted terrorists to destroy the twin towers of New York, as He permitted the Tower of Babel to crumble.
The North Korea impasse has the imprint of a biblical cataclysm. All this is related to our becoming arrogant and ignoring Him. The love principle, which speaks of bread as a response to a stone, is the Christmas message. Dismantle the sanctions. You will be surprised how much it can soften hard hearts.
The solution to the North Korea impasse is not threats, intimidations, sanctions. Diplomacy will no longer work. Too much bad blood has caused distrust.
Just withdraw unilaterally from South Korea. Yes, you say, “Never!” Then let’s prepare for World War III. You say, if you withdraw, North Korea will conquer Asia. No way. It just wants to be left alone, believe me.
BERNIE V. LOPEZ, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com