I was reminded this past week about one of the worst times of my life; when death by fire seemed imminent. It wasn’t only my own demise but everyone I knew. Hell, everybody in the world. It was 1962, I was 16, and President Kennedy was on TV showing grainy images of what he said were Soviet missile installations in Cuba with more on the way. The United States wasn’t about to allow enemy nuclear weapons so close to our shores. It was an act of war and could not be condoned. But the Russians basically denied everything and scoffed at our instance that the bases be taken down and ships loaded with nuclear weapons turned around for home. It was to become the most terrifying game of chicken in world history. Eventually, Soviet Premier Khrushchev decided he didn’t want to be the one who started the first nuclear war in which mutual destruction was assured, so he called his missile-laden ships back and agreed to supervised dismantling of those already in Cuba.
So, what has happened to conjure up those awful recollections?
That baby-faced, disco-lovin’ Dennis Rodman admiring, saber-rattlin’ little punk, Kim Jong-un who..by accident of birth..is the undisputed exalted ruler of Communist North Korea. At age 29 he is the youngest head of state in the world; inheriting all power from his recently deceased lunatic father, Kim Jong-il. He stands as master over the fourth largest army in the world and, even though it has made him an outcast among civilized nations and brought about worldwide economic sanctions, he’s been testing nuclear weapons and publically threatening war with the U.S. and South Korea including a preemptive nuclear attack against America.
David Gewirtz is a distinguished lecturer at CBS Interactive, is an author, U.S. policy advisor, and computer scientist. He recently wrote that this real life, Dr. Evil, might actually be good for the U.S.
Hmmm, really?
Then he explained that Kim Jong-un, with his idiotic rhetoric, will eventually unite Americans as only an attack or threat of an attack can do. Suddenly, all the political posturing over the economy and other seemingly critical issues become trivial and secondary to us and we revert back to the mantra of our founding fathers; “Don’t tread on Me.” How many have to learn this lesson?
Now, I know some of you, including a few of my friends, would insist that we put an end to such threats by sending a nuke in their direction. That’ll shut ‘em up. But, of course, we can’t do that…nor should we. The people of North Korea should not be held accountable or blown to smithereens because of this twisted dictator’s in-bred childish notions of how to win power and influence people. Surly, someone has told him how other megalomaniacs have fared after such threats against us; Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Osama bin laden just to name a few.
He must realize that we now have ways of blasting his missiles out of the sky and bypassing his grand armies with a few unmanned drones equipped with enough fire power to apply surgical air strikes sending he and his grey leisure-suited buddies scurrying to the hills or permanently ending his lineage of domination and terror.
Apparently there was a plot to assassinate the rotund young dictator the other day..so there’s a chance his own people will save us the trouble.
Make no mistake, there, Kim…it will take a lot more than political posturing and a sequester to divide this country against threats..real or imagined..from a pip squeak like you.