Op-ed:
War...Politics With A Different Name
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
“No one starts a war ~or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so ~ without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it.” - Prussian General and military theorist Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz who stressed the 'so-called' moral and political aspects of war
Tick-tock...the 'doomsday clock' has been set...and the date of striking zero is fast approaching.
Fast approaching and coming close on the heels of President Trump's recently announcing that the U.S. was re-designating North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism...North Korea issued a government statement via its state news agency KCNA to the affect that last week's mobile night missile launch demonstrated to the world that Pyongyang would be able to strike back at any preemptive strike taken against the 'Hermit State.'
Testing yet another ICBM...this one called Hwasong-15 (Mars-15 in Korean)...this one being North Korea's most powerful missile to date and a missile topped with a
"super-large heavy warhead" ..saw said missile...and it was a missile actually fired off by Kim Jong-un himself... reaching an altitude of about 2,780 miles...more than ten times the height of the international space station...and then flying 600 miles eastward during what was said to be a 53 minute flight that ended with (supposedly) accurately hitting a sea target within Japanese waters.
And so ended a ten-week lull in Kim Jong-un's weapons testing...and end that saw both U.S. and South Korean weapon's experts now believing that Washington, D.C. itself is within range of an attack. And with this most scary of thoughts some are finally waking up from their slumber of disbelief...disbelief that one mad man-child...one thug...is literally holding the world hostage...disbelief turning into shock knowing that if this missile had traveled on a 8,000 or so mile standard trajectory course it could have reached any part of our continental U.S.
"We will take care of it," said President Trump on being informed of North Korea's latest transgression. And his words were added to by Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis who stated that North Korea was building
"ballistic missiles that threaten everywhere in the world.”
No truer words spoken but how and when to
“take care of it” is still to be seen. But with the U.N. Security Council having met in an emergency session last Wednesday to strongly condemned North Korea's latest launch, individual voices soon spoke up. The E.U. called this recent launch a
"further unacceptable violation" of North Korea's international obligations; Germany
“sharply condemned” North Korea's actions; the British ambassador to the U.N. called it
"a reckless act;” and our U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said it best when she told the world that,
“the rogue regime's actions have brought the world "closer to war" and that
“if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed.”
And even Russia...who had previously warned the U.S. not to preemptively make the first strike against North Korea...actually condemned the test by saying that this
“provocative step sparks a further rise in tensions”...for even the Russians understand that we can no longer count on the Chinese being able or willing to diffuse this ever escalating situation, even with China's Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying that China is
"seriously concerned about and opposed to" North Korea's latest missile test and that China
"strongly urges" the North to abide by all Security Council resolutions and cease actions that might escalate tensions. Yet China sees Kim Jong-un happily and defiantly continuing to escalate tensions but doing nothing of true substance to stop him...and the question that must be answered is, why.
Why...because China has much to lose in their own right if they totally walk away from North Korea.
How so...if the North Korean regime collapses...as it would surely do when up against the military might of the U.S and her allies...millions of starving North Koreans would make their way into China with China having to feed, house, and cloth even more people than they are already overburdened doing, thus putting their own economy in danger of collapse. And something many have overlooked is the fact that when North Korea does goes down we and our allies will be able to position our troops alongside China's border watching, close up and personal, their every move...something I think the Chinese would not be too happy about.
Sadly, this reality means that China as of now sees no true advantage in totally reigning Kim Jong-un in as they have too much to lose if they do, and that means we might actually have to throw China under the proverbial bus to keep our homeland safe...an oh so dangerous scenario in its own right.
So now a harsh reality check must be taken...a harsh reality check that hopefully will wake up the naysayers, the doubters, and the kumbaya sorts whose eyes have been closed to the very tangible threat we face...and know it is not just a threat of the nuclear sort, because if a specific altitude is reached and sustained the chance of an EMP strike becomes another reality that we and our allies would need to worry about. And why...because an EMP strike could be more of a headache in the long-run than a singular, regional nuclear strike would be.
Much to ponder indeed. And now with talk of war continuing to rev up Sen. Lindsay Graham...who sits on both the Committee for Armed Services and the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces...is recommending that all military families leave South Korea and return home as soon as possible.
“War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.” - Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz
And so within mere hours of North Korea's launch, South Korea conducted a 'precision strike' missile exercise aimed at potentially taking out North Korea’s military assets while South Korea’s President Moon Jae In and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed that the two nations could
“no longer tolerate” the nuclear and missile provocations from North Korea. But instead of talking so-needed military action they talked about putting stronger pressure and stronger sanctions against North Korea ignoring the fact that when dealing with a madman sanctions alone do not and will not work.
So where do we go from here...where do we go knowing that while the sovereign nation of North Korea does have the right to defend itself against any and all threats, they are the ones threatening the world not only by taking a verbally aggressive tone, but by conducting what amounts to acts of war by testing missiles they have been forbidden to test as per U.N. mandates. And yet they continue on with such tests as the mad man-child baits President Trump to stop him.
And know that even with President Trump's very strong language, threats, and tweets...let alone sanctions...have done not a thing to change the outcome of what likely will be war, because instead of reining Kim Jong-un in these tactics actually allow him to grow stronger and more defiant with each and every word said for as mad as Kim Jong-un is he remains smart enough to know that words without actions mean not a thing.
So the truth above all else is that Kim Jong-un must be stopped and stopped sooner rather than later.
If we act now...if we preemptively strike North Korea...not with nuclear bombs as we do not need nukes to take the rouge regime out...but if we carpet bomb North Korea's military sites and weapons/mobile launch warehouses with both bunker busters and MOABs...and do not think for a minute that we do not know where they are...the threat to both our homeland and to the world will not only decrease but will draw out the man-child into the open like a piece of cheese draws a hungry mouse out from its wall lair.
Remember, the longer we wait to end Kim Jong-un's threats and defiance, the more time he has to increase his weapons stockpiles, his missile's accuracy along with their range. In other words, the longer we wait to do what we all know must be done, the more time this lunatic has to prove to the world that when he does push the button not of a test missile but of a missile loaded with a nuclear surprise, the body count of those who will die will be more than what even we expected.
And this means we are at a true crossroads...do we act preemptively...do we wait to see if the situation tempers down on its own as power struggles sometimes do...or do we do the unthinkable and welcome North Korea into the club of the world's nuclear powers. And while to me that last option is not in the equation, sadly to many it is what with Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, and Israel already being members of that club...and with Iran probably soon to be a member...thanks of course to Obama's 'very bad' nuclear deal. So to some what's one more member, as in North Korea.
And to some it is no problem what with them claiming that containing Kim Jong-un, if you will, is enough...enough in the same sense that Russia and China are contained...and even that we are contained...nuclear wise that is...as in the world's main nuclear powers know we dare not start what would equate to Armageddon. And why is that no problem to some...because they see reality as being that Kim Jong-un will never give up his nuclear weapons so we and the world just have to learn to live with it no matter that North Korea knowingly breaks the rules that most of the civilized world lives by including not letting terrorists get their hands on nuclear materials, weapons, or delivery systems.
But to those in the know the selling of nuclear weapons by North Korea...what with its people starving because of its very cash-starved economy...is what is truly the most disconcerting as North Korea already sells conventional weapons to countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In fact, Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, sees its medium-range Shahab missiles being the same but with a different name as North Korea’s No Dong missiles. So can the selling of nuclear materials or actual nuclear bombs be far behind...probably not...not with terrorist groups having the cash North Korea so desperately needs.
So what happens now as we wait to see which road this public discourse will take, especially since Ri Jong-hyok, Deputy of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, claims that their nuclear weapons are aimed solely at the U.S. and that other nations should have no fear of Kim Jong-un's ever growing military and nuclear ambitions unless they show any provocations towards him or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). And how do we change a madman's misplaced and all-consuming hate of America over what he erroneously believes to be our ambition to secure supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region...simply...we cannot...and that is why actions not words must be the next logical step.
“Now is the time when the international community is required to unite against North Korea’s provocative acts, which threaten world peace...we must make North Korea understand that if it continues down this road, it will not have a bright future,” so said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe back in September of this year.
And that logical step is a preemptive strike...a preemptive strike to prevent all-out war of the nuclear kind. However, as is usually the case, Congress is coming down on both sides of the same coin. Some in Congress...mostly the Democrats with the usual RINOS thrown in for good measure...feel that they must exert their constitutional authority over any decision to go to war and that under no conditions whatsoever should the U.S. be allowed...should Trump be allowed...to strike North Korea first, while the Republicans, for the most part, rightfully feel that war is both inevitable and justified.
And this has led the Democrats to not only insist that diplomacy play out but to introduce legislation...the 'No Unconstitutional Strike Against North Korea' bill...to try and tie President Trump's hands from ever launching a preemptive strike. Fearing a preemptive strike could lead to an all out war with North Korea, and maybe even with the North's allies China and/or Russia, the Democrats see the possibility that such a war could extend for some time...that is unless said war becomes nuclear and then nobody wins for the doomsday clock would have struck twelve.
So what is the answer when even logic is questioned...maybe this is indeed the time for emotions to dictate our next action for while we know well that a preemptive strike is surely needed...if for no other reason than a madman now possesses the capability of preemptive striking us first...maybe President Trump's threats of
"fire and fury" and that we are
"locked and loaded" for war should and must be the way we go...after all what do we have to lose if we don't preemptively act...how about it all.
Copyright @ 2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.
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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!
Today, Tuesday, December 5th from 7 to 9pm on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS
Craig Andresen and Diane Sori welcome special guest MUDAR ZAHRAN, Secretary General of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition; discuss politics with a different name; and the dawn of a new religion.
Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history
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