Obviously, North Korea has been the subject of quite a bit of press and speculation recently. They’ve conducted a test of a bigger nuclear weapon than the one we already knew about, they’re working on enhancing their missiles’ range, they’ve tested some newer short range missiles, etc. They’ve also said that they are no longer bound by the Armistice that ended the Korean War more than 50 years ago.
Cato has a couple of excellent articles about what is going on and what we should do about it – we should be realistic and restrained, but basically ignore them. Personally, I completely concur with these assessments.
Let me further note that we’ve basically done the exact same things in recent years. We’ve worked on new nukes – via our mini-nukes/’bunker buster’ nukes, we’ve tested all kinds of new weapons – many of which are already on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we even said that we are no longer bound by a treaty signed decades ago – in our case, the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
The difference in North Korea and the United States of America?
North Korea at least does a lot of talk, but then only defends its own borders.
The US does a lot of talk – and then goes out and ‘polices’ (aka ‘bullies’) the rest of the world into doing what it wants.
Now, I am COMPLETELY for having the strongest, most capable military force on the planet. But I do NOT accept the fallacy that ‘we have to fight them there so that we don’t have to fight them here’. How about we just leave everybody alone? Keep the strongest, most capable military on the planet as a DEFENSE force. Make the message loud and clear: do what you want in your own country, but the instant you attack American soil, your country will cease to exist. No more of this ‘nation building’ or ‘peace keeping’ crap.
And I also don’t buy this ‘protect American interests’ or ‘protect American citizens’ crap either. With regard to ‘interests’, it is rightfully the job of private security organizations to protect businesses/ships/etc when outside the borders and territorial waters of the US. With American citizens, the official policy of this – or any – nation should be that the moment an individual leaves the country, his or her personal protection is his or her own responsibility, and not that of the nation itself.
And let’s be honest, this isn’t a new concept. In fact, it is centuries old – castles anyone? Indeed, ‘peacekeeping’ and ‘nation building’ are the new concepts, and let’s face it, they ain’t working out so well.
Again, I COMPLETELY support having the strongest, most capable military on the planet. I just think they should be a defense force rather than a ‘peacekeeping’ or ‘nation building’ one. This, to me, is the heart of non-interventionism.
So yes, we need to be ‘realistic and restrained’ with North Korea. We need to ignore them.
But we also need to make sure they – and every other foreign nation – get one message crystal clear:
We’ll leave you alone as long as you leave us alone. But if you poke the sleeping giant, expect to get squashed.
One of the areas I part company with libertarians is in the area of national defense. We have researched and developed new conventional weapons. Bunker busters aren’t nukes. And as the old adage goes, the best defense is a good offense. “We’ll leave you alone as long as you leave us alone.” It has not worked in 200 plus years why do you think it will suddenly start now. As far as the ABM treaty, subsequent treaties pretty much rendered it null and void.
CC:
Again, I’m not putting forth – as some of my fellow non-interventionists do – that we should even reduce the military overall or military spending. Indeed, if we concentrated our present military to more of a border defense force along the lines of what I envision, it would basically take a 9/11 style attack to get through. No traditional military force would stand a CHANCE at getting in.
I’m a big fan of Dale Brown’s books. Not really ALL the ideas presented in them, but I LOVE his weaponry. Granted, some of it – such as the Tin Man Battle Armor – is completely physically impossible. Other weapons have debuted on the real life battlefield less than 5 yrs after debuting in his books – such as his ‘Wolverine’ cruise missile and the real life ‘sensor fused weapons’ that were used in the actual battle phase of Iraq II in March 2003. An ultra high tech border defense force with quick strike capability and unbeatable foreign surveillance technology – THAT is the kind of Department of Defense I would like to see. (Indeed, some of his latest ideas as seen in Strike Force and Shadow Command are truly astounding.)
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Jeff is right on the money. North Korea is a recognized, if troublesome soverign naton. They may be ruled by a crazy man, but I could name a few other nations that are headed up by someone of questionable mental capabilities and character. How does that make them a target above all the others?
It is the peak of hypocrisy for the members of the UN Security Council, all of whom have vast arsenals of nuclear weapons, to tell another nation, regardless of the type of nation it is, that it cannot have nukes.
If I ruled North Korea, had South Korea below me, China above me, and the US all over me in a continual war of words, you can rest assured that I would max out my techincal ability to defend myself, and strike out at those nations that I felt were my mortal enemy.
We may not like North Korea, they may be a cruel and unjust society, but unless we are willing to back up all of our bluster about how they do not have the right to build a nuclear force, with actual military action, (which would be very foolish), we should shut up.
If the day ever comes when North Korea actually attacks, without provication, ourselves or an ally, then we can do something about it. Nobody forced us to proclaim a “no first use” policy on nukes. We came up with that ourselves. We have tied our own hands.
Lon McNeil’s last blog post..What Do You Want With Six Million Dollars?
I think what’s missing here is that NK already has a history of shooting missiles through the airspace of our ally, Japan, (Imagine if Mexico or Canada was doing this over our heads) and is actively testing missiles to reach our west coast.
Additionally, NK is actively exporting nuclear technology to Iran and Syria. Lon McNeil’s post is incorrect when it suggests that the major threat from NK is a direct attack on ourselves or an ally–though that threat exists. The far more insidious and likely threat is that the bankrupt NK regime exports nuclear tech to other rogue nations or terrorists.
Please also check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Orchard
If one wants to inform ones self about NK, a good start might be Bradley Martin’s “Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader,” a very well-written book heavily researched with a great many interviews with dozens of North Koreans who have fled their country.
This isn’t a regime that can be safely ignored and building a Maginot Line around our borders (as suggested here) will not protect us.