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Before War In North Korea, A National Debate Is Essential

Walt Rubel

 

  Commentary: Should the United State start a war against North Korea if it’s leaders refuse to give up their nuclear weapons program? And, should that decision be made by just one man?

Those are questions that our nation’s leaders, including those in Congress, should be urgently and publicly debating. But, the fact that they are not shouldn’t be surprising.

When President Donald Trump launched missile strikes in Syria following chemical weapons attacks by the Assad government, he became the third president to take military action under the Authorization for Use of Military Force passed by Congress in the days following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Congress has completely abdicated its responsibility since then. The consequences of that were not as grave when Barrack Obama was president as they are now.

When John Bolton was named national security adviser, a CNN reporter tweeted that he had promised the president that he wouldn’t start any war. Those close to Bolton immediately struck down that report.

When has Bolton ever served in public office when he wasn’t clamoring for war? Outside of public office, he spent his time as a political commentator clamoring for war. What possible service can Bolton be to the president if not clamoring for war?

Before being named national security adviser, Bolton went on Fox News and suggested that Trump should meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un as quickly as possible in order to prove the futility of diplomacy and allow the war to start as soon as possible.

In the days of hope and optimism, when people were talking about Trump winning the Nobel Prize, Bolton went on the Sunday morning shows and said the United States would be pursuing the “Libya Model” in its talks with North Korea.

That was a two-step model. In step one, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed to give up his country’s nuclear weapon’s program. In step two, Gaddafi is found hiding in a drainage pipe and killed.

Responding to the controversy, Trump said Bolton was wrong. We won’t kill the North Korean leader if he goes along with us, but we will if he doesn’t.

“In Libya, we decimated that country,” Trump said. “That model would take place if we don’t make a deal, most likely.”

Trump is clearly staking a lot on the June summit. But, nothing in North Korea’s past or current behavior suggests he will be satisfied once the summit is over.

Then what happens?

Normally, there would be a robust debate between the State Department and the Defense Department. But the State Department was hollowed out under Rex Tillerson and is now led by a hawkish Mike Pompeo.. James Mattis, the secretary of Defense, may be the only voice in Trump’s ear not calling for war.

Trump has made so many public threats and has drawn so many red lines that he will surely feel compelled to back up all that bluster at some point.

History should tell us that war on the Korean Peninsula will not be quick or easy. If we are to head down that path, it should only be because a united nation believes it is vital to our security. Not to soothe the feelings of an emotionally wounded leader.