The Importance Of Being Strong

These are dangerous times for America.
Nothing exemplifies that statement more than the recent decision by North Korea to fire half a dozen missiles (one of them of the long-range variety that could theoretically reach our western states) in our general direction. Granted, these missiles didn’t get very far – they all landed in the Sea of Japan – but that fact is irrelevant. These were test firings aimed at identifying problems with the missiles. Even in failure these launchings have brought the North Koreans closer to being able to deliver a nuclear payload within our borders.
What is America doing in reaction to this threat from North Korea? As I write this our response has not yet been made entirely clear by our leaders, but for the sake of our country’s safety (and international stability) I can only hope that whatever we do is both a strong and decisive rebuke of that country’s actions. And by “strong” I mean something more threatening than a strongly-worded statement issued from the UN Security Council or even directly from the White House.
Anything less makes America look weak in the eyes of it’s enemies, and appearing weak to our enemies makes Americans less safe.
You’d think that the wisdom of the above statement would be self-evident, but unfortunately not everyone in America gets it. Instead many advocate for a softer, gentler approach to foreign policy. They feel that all problems can be solved through diplomacy and that displays of American military strength and prowess only serve to unite our enemies against us.
This, to my mind, is a dangerous manner of thinking. I’ll not argue against diplomacy as I firmly believe that we should avoid war when we can, but I also believe that in recent years we have been far too soft in our foreign policy.
Historically, North Korea is a good example of this. In August of 1998 that country fired a Taepdong-1 missile (the predecessor to the longer-range missile I mentioned above) over Japan. What was America’s reaction under then-President Bill Clinton? Three months later America initiated diplomatic talks with Pyongyang, which ultimately resulted in the lifting of sanctions against North Korea and a contract for delivery of two power plant nuclear reactors from the United States.