A Clear Response

February 16, 2005

By: Mike Talley

Click here for a printer friendly version of A Clear Response

In past essays, I have brought up my fears concerning a nuclear Iran and North Korea. Well, it now appears that one of those fears has come true. The Norks have nukes. Now what?

Jonah Goldberg with National Review Online, has posted several interesting emails in The Corner today concerning arming Japan with nukes in order to deter the Norks from using their nukes. For a run down, begin here and then scroll up to see the many posts on the topic. He also references a Charles Krauthammer column from 2003 that deals with this topic as well. These emails and Krauthammer’s column provide an interesting option, but also shows how unpopular this option would be. Even if we could get over all the obstacles, would a nuclear Japan actually deter the Norks?

Call me a pessimist, but North Korea’s leaders have no regard, absolutely no regard, for the lives of their fellow countrymen. They have shown this time and time again during their entire existence as a separate country. Famines and work camps; death and starvation are the norm. Any country that treats its citizens in such a way should not be expected to play by the normal rules that other countries play by. Their terrible treatment of their citizens coupled with the MASSIVE inferiority complex of Dear Whack Job Leader leads me to the conclusion that no amount of deterrence is going to work for these jerks.

Everyone keeps pointing to China for leadership on this issue as they are the only country that could potentially strong arm the Norks into giving up the bomb. Why would China want to help us? They have their eyes on a greater prize, Taiwan. If the Norks do have a bunch of nukes, China knows that they will not use them on China. So why worry. The nuclear question will keep South Korea, Japan and the United States back on their heels. Our army is engaged elsewhere and now this? It would seem to me that the next year or so would be the perfect time for China to “reclaim” Taiwan. What could we do? John Derbyshire had a very pessimistic column back a few years ago called “Unpleasant Truths”. One of his predictions was this:

Taiwan will be re-united with the Motherland. ...by some combination of economic carrot and military stick. The U.S. will grumble ineffectually, up to the point where the Chinese Ambassador loses his patience and asks the U.S. Secretary of State point-blank: “How many cities are you willing to lose over this? We ourselves are willing to lose three or four.” Then we will stop grumbling.

So, our hands are mostly tied, our military is stretched to thin, our intelligence agencies suck, China is not going to help due to the above information and the Norks are just dieing to use their cool new nukes. What are we going to do?

This has been bothering me for some time and then I read William F. Buckley’s column on National Review Online (I know, I know, I seem to cite them a bunch…..hey, return the favor and cite me!) concerning this subject. He feels that North Korea’s neighbors should be the ones that are pushing for a resolution to this problem:

It is a responsibility of President Bush to address the nations on the borders and persuade them that it is they who have to devise policies to cope with Kim Jong Il, because they must contain their deadly dangerous neighbor. North Korea is 10,000 miles away from our heartland.

I do not agree with him because I doubt that China will be a good faith partner in any negotiations and they are the only ones that the Norks will listen too. He also mentions what would happen if the North Koreans did launch a nuke at someone:

Obviously the United States' nuclear arsenal is available for punitive action, in the event Pyongyang were to launch a missile. But that is different from serving a deterrent purpose. If Dear Leader shoots off a missile, deterrence has ipso facto failed. An ensuing rainstorm of nuclear bombs made in the U.S.A. would bring devastation, but that is different from preemption, which is what the world hopes for.

He is assuming that the US would retaliate with nukes. Here is my question: Would the United States have the will to respond with nuclear weapons to an attack on Japan or South Korea? I have serious misgivings about the will of the American people. As a matter of policy, it should be a no brainer, you launch nukes, we melt your country. Pretty simple. But could we do it? Can you imagine what the Left in this country would say if we did that? Hell, they are still pissed at us for nuking Japan and thereby saving a million US lives. Imagine what they would do and say if we nuked a country that only attacked one of our allies. Would you launch one missile or many? I vote for many. My logic is along the lines of shooting an attacker in your home. If you feel threatened enough, and feel your or your family’s life is in danger……unload the clip. A wounded intruder, opps sorry, “victim”, on a stand is a lot more unpredictable than a dead assailant. We would need to unload on the Norks to ensure that nothing is left in the rubble but roaches and rats.

But what about the women and children? I am sorry. That is how life goes. If we do not respond forcefully, then the Norks will eventually launch on us killing millions of OUR women and children. Do you think the North Korean leadership gives a rats *ss about our women and children? If you do, you are delusional. War is grim business, but you have to do what is required to win. I do not want any innocent people to die, but unfortunately that is not going to be possible in a situation like this.

There is an awesome essay that many of you have read entitled “A Realistic Plan for World Peace – a.k.a Nuke the Moon” by Frank J. over at IMAO. If you have not read it, you must stop now and go read it. Do it! Now! Anyway, he may be crazy, but he does have a few good points. The most applicable to this scenario are these:

After annihilating everything until nothing but ash is left, I’d nuke the ashes. It’s that extra bit of extremely disproportionate use of force that makes other countries start to wonder if America "has it all together" and really worrying who we’ll lash out against next.

And:

People pick on the weenie because people like to start fights they think they can win. In the same way, people will continue to attack America and our interests when they get the idea that they can piss off America without us immediately eradicating them and everyone around them in the most painful way possible.

Does America have the resolve to turn another country into a nuclear wasteland if that other country nukes one of our allies? Good question. I hope that the answer is yes. It needs to be yes, to protect millions and millions of innocent people.

North Korea may already be a lost cause, but how we respond to their attack – and they will attack – will speak volumes to our other enemies out there.