What to do about North Korea ? That is what is on my mind this morning as I sip my coffee and contemplate the world. You know the Korean war officially ended seven days after I was born, Yes, it was July the twenty seventh nineteen hundred and fifty three. On that day the armistice was signed. Did you know it may have been the threat , by then President Eisenhower, to use nuclear weapons that brought the North Koreans and China to the table ? Yes, that's right, Ike threatened to use a nuclear bomb to speed things up. Remember it had been just seven years and eleven months since we dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. Less than a decade and the memory was clear in the mind of the world. It can't be stated with certainty that it was that threat that was the deciding factor but it seems likely. Has President Trump repeated that threat ? To the North Koreans I'm certain that is what it sounds like. Well, they started it ! And doesn't that sounds like an immature statement involving world politics ? This really is a precarious time and being nervous about it all is justifiable. One wrong move, one action misconstrued, and extremely serious consequences could be the result. I just wonder what North Korea hopes to accomplish with all this bravado. The bigger question is, do we allow North Korea to continue " building a better bomb " that will jeopardize the world ? Another Nuclear power ?
I'm no historian or authority on the Korean war or just what North Korea was trying to accomplish other than the spread of communism. It was a political war. The United States agreed to help South Korea keep its' independence from communist rule and so joined the fight. With our help we had pushed the commies back to the 32nd parallel and China was getting worried that we would invade their territory. China joined in to help there communist brothers. At the time we were still calling our involvement a police action. I'd say that is the position we are taking right now, acting like the police as far as North Korea building any more nuclear capability. Technically we are still at " war " with them as no peace treaty has ever been signed. That's right, it is still just a cease fire. All of this is just a repeat. They say history repeats itself and I can certainly see evidence of that. I was there for Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm when we drove Iraq out of Kuwait. Then ten years later we were right back there , in the middle east, fighting those Iraqis again. Fact is, we still are fighting in the middle east.
I just don't know what to think about this latest development. Sounds like Trump is saying we will strike first and strike decisively if North Korea doesn't knock it off. Will the threat work again ? I can't see any sane man willing to enter into a nuclear conflict. No doubt it is the most powerful weapon one can wield, but do you ? It is a strategic problem of monumental magnitude. When we used our bombs in WW2 no one could retaliate in kind. It was a knockout blow and the rest of the world, namely Japan, had to utter those words, " no mas. " Certainly any reasonable people would say that about the use of nuclear weapons in general. We should use them " no more. " But the cat is out off the bag in a manner of speaking, Pandora's box is open. So just what do we do about that ?
If the United States decides to strike I can only pray that it is with conventional weapons. We certainly have the capability to unleash " fire and fury " like the world has never seen before with conventional weapons. As I said, I was there for Desert Shield/ Desert Storm and saw a little bit, first hand, of what we are capable of doing with conventional missiles, rockets, bombs and naval gunfire. I don't think China would stand idly by however and what about Russia ? It is all a very complicated situation when dealing with world politics. I am praying that no action is necessary and cooler heads will prevail. Just how North Korea can " save face " is the most difficult piece of the puzzle.
Like I said, I'm no historian and certainly no expert on world politics. It just struck me as rather ironic that Trump should hint at using nuclear weapons as a means to stop North Korea developing its' nuclear arsenal any further. General Dwight D Eisenhower was the president when I was born and used that threat to end the " police action " and the memory of that destruction was still fresh in the minds of the world. Have we forgotten ? Has North Korea and China forgotten ?
" Both Truman and Eisenhower quite seriously issued nuclear threat against China. On Nov. 30, 1950, President Truman announced at the news conference that "he is prepared to authorize the use of atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea". Truman refuses to rule out atomic weapons - Nov 30, 1950 - HISTORY.com President Truman’s statement of “active consideration of its (nuclear) use” shocked the world and even sent British Prime Minister Clement Attlee to Washington to express his serious concern. "
That is called nuclear blackmail by some historians and others call it a form of extortion. When those threats were issued the United States had far more bombs than China or Russia. We did hold the upper hand, if there is such a thing in this situation. That isn't the case now. Will this bully tactic work? I hope so. And this isn't about Trump, this is about what to do about North Korea. Truman, Ike and Trump ? History does have its' strange twists and turns. All we can do is wait.
I'm no historian or authority on the Korean war or just what North Korea was trying to accomplish other than the spread of communism. It was a political war. The United States agreed to help South Korea keep its' independence from communist rule and so joined the fight. With our help we had pushed the commies back to the 32nd parallel and China was getting worried that we would invade their territory. China joined in to help there communist brothers. At the time we were still calling our involvement a police action. I'd say that is the position we are taking right now, acting like the police as far as North Korea building any more nuclear capability. Technically we are still at " war " with them as no peace treaty has ever been signed. That's right, it is still just a cease fire. All of this is just a repeat. They say history repeats itself and I can certainly see evidence of that. I was there for Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm when we drove Iraq out of Kuwait. Then ten years later we were right back there , in the middle east, fighting those Iraqis again. Fact is, we still are fighting in the middle east.
I just don't know what to think about this latest development. Sounds like Trump is saying we will strike first and strike decisively if North Korea doesn't knock it off. Will the threat work again ? I can't see any sane man willing to enter into a nuclear conflict. No doubt it is the most powerful weapon one can wield, but do you ? It is a strategic problem of monumental magnitude. When we used our bombs in WW2 no one could retaliate in kind. It was a knockout blow and the rest of the world, namely Japan, had to utter those words, " no mas. " Certainly any reasonable people would say that about the use of nuclear weapons in general. We should use them " no more. " But the cat is out off the bag in a manner of speaking, Pandora's box is open. So just what do we do about that ?
If the United States decides to strike I can only pray that it is with conventional weapons. We certainly have the capability to unleash " fire and fury " like the world has never seen before with conventional weapons. As I said, I was there for Desert Shield/ Desert Storm and saw a little bit, first hand, of what we are capable of doing with conventional missiles, rockets, bombs and naval gunfire. I don't think China would stand idly by however and what about Russia ? It is all a very complicated situation when dealing with world politics. I am praying that no action is necessary and cooler heads will prevail. Just how North Korea can " save face " is the most difficult piece of the puzzle.
Like I said, I'm no historian and certainly no expert on world politics. It just struck me as rather ironic that Trump should hint at using nuclear weapons as a means to stop North Korea developing its' nuclear arsenal any further. General Dwight D Eisenhower was the president when I was born and used that threat to end the " police action " and the memory of that destruction was still fresh in the minds of the world. Have we forgotten ? Has North Korea and China forgotten ?
" Both Truman and Eisenhower quite seriously issued nuclear threat against China. On Nov. 30, 1950, President Truman announced at the news conference that "he is prepared to authorize the use of atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea". Truman refuses to rule out atomic weapons - Nov 30, 1950 - HISTORY.com President Truman’s statement of “active consideration of its (nuclear) use” shocked the world and even sent British Prime Minister Clement Attlee to Washington to express his serious concern. "
That is called nuclear blackmail by some historians and others call it a form of extortion. When those threats were issued the United States had far more bombs than China or Russia. We did hold the upper hand, if there is such a thing in this situation. That isn't the case now. Will this bully tactic work? I hope so. And this isn't about Trump, this is about what to do about North Korea. Truman, Ike and Trump ? History does have its' strange twists and turns. All we can do is wait.
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