Problem child

"As much as we would all like to see China play the part of peacemaker, you can't play cards with someone who always deals off the bottom of the deck. In other words, China's talk and actions are not in sync."

Imagine if you would, having a child who acts up all the time. In fact, those who read the book or saw the movie, The Bad Seed, imagine having a psycho child like that one. How do you control a child like that? Do you use a carrot or a stick? Do you try to use behavior modification, or the threaten to use physical discipline? By now you have tried just about everything, and nothing has worked. That is, except the physical discipline. 

Okay - this is not about my kids or grandson. You have probably guessed this is about the problem child who is running North Korea. So how we handle him? Do we use a carrot or a stick? We have tried to ignore him, his dad and his grandpa for decades now, just to see if they would go away. And they did not. They did however, really go to town on their weapons production. So now we sit, being threatened with nuclear Armageddon by this pup on a weekly basis, and having very limited options to stop it.

Here is one thing we could do, outside of unleashing Jim Mattis and our awesome military. True, this might be a long shot, but maybe worth it. Use the carrot. And this is a tough one - it would be rewarding this problem child for his bad behavior. Set up a video conference call between President Trump and the problem child. Face to face would never work, so this would be the next best thing.

In that conference call, have President Trump give the problem child a deal he can't refuse. In exchange for stepping back from his nuclear program, his rocket program, and a partial disarmament on the DMZ, North Korea would be rewarded with food, fuel along with some types of technology from America. Plus many of the sanctions would be dropped. In other words, try to bring them into the world of civilized nations by trading with them. And giving them some aid which would benefit his people.

Then President Trump would show the problem child the other side of the coin - the stick. Should he refuse to take this deal, an allied force consisting of the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and maybe others, would disarm North Korea by force. In other words, war.

President Trump would make it as clear as a bell this is not our choice. Living in peace with North Korea as a limited trading partner is our first choice. But one way or another, the status quo in North Korea will change or be changed this summer.

The bottom line is simply this. The UN will not do anything to help. Nobody will - that is, except us. As much as we would all like to see China play the part of peacemaker, you can't play cards with someone who always deals off the bottom of the deck. In other words, China's talk and actions are not in sync. No, the United States is the only country on this planet who can, one way or the other, make this problem child behave.

There it is. The bottom line. And the clock is ticking. More and more pundits are saying that war is just around the corner. Time for the Hail Mary pass. The pass which will fix this issue without letting tens of thousands die. But have no doubt - this issue will be fixed. It has to be.