Trump’s UN Speech: More Timely Than People Think

On September 4th this Blog posted a piece on North Korea which ended with this:

Unless the United States manages to convince North Korea that the next time it fires a rocket or tests a nuclear bomb it will be attacked and wiped out. If that message sinks home, as in Kennedy at Cuba, talks can deliver an outcome which works for both sides. But so long as the US allows itself to be pushed just a little further down the road of talk and no action, while Kim Jon Un follows one provocation upon another, the road to calamity remains open. The lesson of the Cold War was that in order to prevent it you have to be ready and willing to fight. At a moment’s notice. Loaded and locked was a statement then of fact, not as now, a rhetorical flourish.

Yesterday Trump stunned the United Nations by making it clear that if America had to defend itself or its allies it would in response destroy North Korea. This was exactly the right thing to say. What now matters is whether North Korea believes him. If Pyongyang signals that it does, then America must move swiftly to start talking about a peace settlement for the Korean Peninsular and some kind of guarantee of the continued existence of North Korea. That is now, and always has been, the only rational way forward. China holds the key to many doors in this crisis and it should redouble its efforts to unlock the door to the conference room.

As for Trump’s speech to the UN which was listened to by a stunned and silent audience, this Blog heard good things and bad things. Less abuse of Iran would be welcome, but much of the rest of it needed to be said. There are times when the Citizen President is the most alarming person on the planet, but there are others when he is a breath of fresh air. Yesterday at the UN was one of those.  Let us hope some good will come of it. Because out there is a lot of very bad, much of it getting worse.