No matter where you stand on any other issue, self-preservation is usually high on everyone’s list. That’s why Sen. Cory Gardner’s actions on North Korea are so important. Over the past 48 hours or so, Kim Jung-Un, the completely crazy dictator from North Korea, has said that he will have a nuclear missile strike plan ready by mid-August that could target Guam, a U.S. territory in the South Pacific.
Um, what? Why did President Obama allow him to become so irrational and powerful? Good thing we have Sen. Gardner, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, cleaning up Obama’s (other) mess. Here’s Gardner’s response to North Korea’s clear confusion about its role in international affairs:
“Our policy toward North Korea should be straight forward – we will deploy every economic, diplomatic, and if necessary military tool to deter them. I will continue to call on this administration to fully implement my sanctions legislation that is currently law, in order to dramatically ramp up pressure that can bring Kim Jong Un to his senses and to stop what would be a dramatic loss of life on the Korean Peninsula and a direct threat to U.S. military personnel stationed in the region.
“We can only negotiate with this rogue regime from a position of strength, and I firmly believe the best option to stop North Korea goes through Beijing. China is responsible for 90% of North Korea’s trade, a tenfold increase in the last 15 years. It’s time to hold China accountable for their refusal to shut off trade with North Korea, and if they do not take the necessary steps to help us prevent a nuclear war, it must mean that business as usual is over between the United States and China.”
Between Gardner and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson getting tough on China to get tough on North Korea, the threat to the United States is nil. In fact, Tillerson told the people Guam, where he had a scheduled visit, that Americans “should sleep well at night.” Indeed.