Disarming North Korea (Charles Krauthammer)

Townhall ^ | 10/13/06 | Charles Krauthammer

[LibWhacker]

Now that's deterrence.

Kennedy was pledging that if any nuke was launched from Cuba, the United States would not even bother with Cuba but go directly to the source and bring the apocalypse to Russia with a massive nuclear attack.

[Mr. Mojo]

This policy has a hitch, however. It only works in a world where there is but a single rogue nuclear state. Once that club expands to two, the policy evaporates because a nuclear terror attack would no longer have a single automatic return address. Which is another reason why keeping Iran from going nuclear is so important.

There's a qualitative difference between the two states in question as well. LiL Kim may be a bit nutty, but I doubt he's suicidal, and he's not saddled with cultish apocalyptic beliefs. The type of deterrence Krauthammer speaks of would work with N. Korea, in all liklihood.

Ahmadinejad and his Mullah masters, otoh.....

[quesney]

Democrats have a huge opening here (if they weren't so stupid and treasonous) to move to the right of the Republicans, as Kennedy did. Our response to NK should be exactly the response Kennedy took to the Cuban missile crisis, in addition to allowing (or threatening to allow) Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to go nuclear -- to get the Chinese to put a stop to this, which they can. We should also invite SK, Japan and Taiwan into NATO.

[ozzymandus]

I still fail to see why North Korea is a US problem. We should call in the ambassadors from China, Japan, and South Korea, and ask them, "Well, what are you going to do?" We should also make it plain to Kim, as publicly as possible, that since he wants to be treated as a nuclear power, we will do so, and respond to any attack by him on any US target by vaporizing him and his country.

[RussP]

Krauthammer is right on target, but he slipped at the end. If both NK and Iran get nukes, you just tell that they will both be incinerated if any nuke detonates in the US. Then the upside of a nuke attack in the US is that both menaces are history.

[AmeriBrit]

Let's see if I have this right. If I am it could be the answer to many of our problems.

JFK said instead of dealing with Cuba he'd go straight to the source, therefore I think we should follow his example and go straight to who is responsible for NK having nukes......I won't say who, but his initials are in the first 3 letters of the alphabet.

[Truth29]

Lost in the mists of time is the fact that Kennedy called off the air support in the middle of the exile attack and assured that Castro would win. It can be said that Kennedy lost his nerve during the landing and created the Castro that we still live with today.

[3AngelaD]

Obviously, the thing to do then would be to hold both Iran and N. Korea jointly responsible. Everyone knows they are collaborating, anyway. If an atomic device goes off in the West, we wipe out both of them.