It is hard to believe that so many are finding so many ways to hate President Trump at the expense of the American people, peace, and general civility. Understand, that if North Korea proceeds on the course that it has for the past 3 decades and initiates war or brings this country to the point where we must be preemptive to save American citizens from a weapon of mass destruction, there is no surgical option.
North Korea is always poised for the invasion of the southern peninsula. A preemptive strike against a single or multiple missile launch sites will trigger this massive assault on the south. That means that a preemptive strike must kill North Korean combatants by the tens of thousands, making the United States appear to be a warmonger without regard for human life.
Failure to preempt a nuclear strike on our own soil or that of an ally will also result in casualties in the tens of thousands. These will be Americans and our allies.
Now that President Trump has brought the North Korean dictator to the negotiating table through American strength, let’s pray that he achieves what we never achieved with this regime. The president may have to walk away from this meeting if the North Koreas try to pull what they have always done in the past, but the North Korean leader knew that going in.
His overtures appear to be much sincerer than anything the world has see since the peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel. Should we not desire success by our president. That would be success not only for America and the Korean people, but for the region, and the world.
If you must hate the President, then hate him, but quit hating the good things that he is doing. The man has some rough edges. I get that. We have had presidents like that before, but not in the age of media addiction that we now endure.
Of all of the places where I have served, the Korean peninsula is the last place that I would actually want to fight a war. I’m too old to serve now, but my empathy is for the soldiers and Marines that would be put in harm's way because so many hated President Trump so much that they prayed for peace to fail and had so little regard for the blood of those who would advance towards the sound of gunfire.
There is a very good possibility that this summit with the North Korean leader will fail. That is the history between our nations. The odds are against success. Let that sink in. The odds are against success.
If it fails this time—and look closely and compliance and verification agreements—don’t expect spin doctoring as in the past. Expect to go back to preparing for the worst. So why not pray for, root for, and hope for peace in this region. Do you really hate one man so much that you callously put forth the blood of young men and women who will give their lives so readily?
The people of North Korea are oppressed. A war to liberate them will kill hundreds of thousands of Koreans and Americans. Liberty and a better life will come through connections made in business and commerce. Christianity moving north on the peninsula will do more than a thousand precision strikes and megatons of carpet bombing.
We can get angry with our neighbors to the north and south or in Europe and not even think about going to war with them. Why? Because we are connected on so many levels. We are connected. North Korea is disconnected from most of the world.
If you must hate President Trump by whatever it is that drives you to hate, then hate him, but quit—please quit—rooting for the failure of the good things that he is doing. Americans once—until now, always—pulled together when confronting an enemy or potential enemy. We set aside differences for a time so that we could continue to disagree at some later point. Unity took hold at the water’s edge.
Are we so petty in our hatred that we will set aside a genuine chance at peace in this region? Are we so myopic that we would rather see 50,00 American and allied casualties than see President Trump negotiate a win-win deal with a dictator that has always dealt from the bottom the deck until now?
It is hard to believe that even China has been brought into the arena that is pushing for peace. China knows that stability on the Korean peninsula lessens the drain on our resources. In a true Machiavellian sense, continued tension between North Korea and America is to their benefit. I don’t think that America and China will be friends in this polycentric world, but we are moving towards not being enemies and doing things that are for the greater good.
If hate for one man must drive your life, please get out of the lane that prays for peace, values the safety of those forward deployed and ready to go on a moment’s notice, and those that long to see America as a light in a dark world once again.
If you must hate the president, please do it without hating America at the same time.
I am not asking you to stop pursuing what you desire for this nation, only that hate does not supersede a chance for peace. I doubt that we will see another window of opportunity like the one that is before us. Strength and resolve brought us to this point. Let’s not waste it. The world will not know peace until the Lord returns, but in the meantime, let’s get behind making this one part of our planet safer for all of us.
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