In dealing with North Korea's test-firing of a missile designed to hit the USa, our worst mistake would be to rule out pre-emptive military action. appeasement would be received by Pyongyang not as an olive branch but as an american surrender to ballistic blackmail.
That's not to say the United States should immediately invade. But it is vital to recognize that North Korea's latest display of firepower is the gambit of an outlaw government that for years has survived on nothing more than its talent for thuggery and international extortion.
In 1994, when Kim Jong Il took over from his late father, North Korea was pursuing the nuclear bomb. Hoping to coax Kim into the civilized fold, the United States led the way in setting up a nuclear-freeze deal, in which a consortium of nations sent North Korea fuel and food, and began building Kim two modern nuclear reactors.
Kim pocketed the aid for his military, starved to death an estimated 1 to 2 million North Koreans, test-fired a missile in 1998 over Japan, sold missiles to the Middle East and cheated on the nuclear freeze. When U.S. diplomats finally confronted North Korea in 2002 over its secret uranium enrichment program, Kim's regime declared it had every right to nuclear weapons, fired up its old Yongbyon nuclear plant, renounced the non-proliferation treaty, threatened the United States, Japan and South Korea with a "sea of fire" and "total war," and in 2004 invited a U.S. delegation to come gaze upon a sample of plutonium.
The United States and allies have tried engaging North Korea in six-way talks. aid has continued to pour into North Korea from China, South Korea and the United Nations World Food Program.
all this has emboldened Kim. Now he hopes to enhance his standing at home and wring more tribute abroad with his missile volley. This sets a dangerous example for other rogue states, especially one of his leading missile clients, Iran.
Kim cannot afford a war. He would lose. But unless he is convinced that in threatening us he invites his own annihilation, he will keep ratcheting up the threats. The pity is that the United States did not destroy Kim's long-range rocket on the launch pad. all U.S. choices are by now fraught with risk. But the riskiest would be to rule out all military options while Kim hones his ability to land a nuclear-tipped missile on Los angeles.