A time for talk

Recently removed White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s throwaway remark on a potential military “solution” to the North Korean issue is revealing. He stated there is no military solution, “forget it. They got us”. Hence the need for dialogue.

These last words, “they got us”, are significant and belie a widespread attitude of mind in the US.

This US need to dominate and throw its weight around has been and still is the cause of so much strife today. The media refer to the North Korean “threat”, but is that all there is or are we forgetting the fact that there is also an American threat? The frenetic overreaction to North Korea is misplaced. It is only OK for the US and its “allies” to test missiles and weapons of mass destruction, retain and upgrade nuclear weapons.

As Steve Bannon clearly states, a military response is no solution to the current scenario. No military solution is ever clean and surgical. Escalation usually follows initial intervention, for whatever reason.

The US reaction at the UN, stating that North Korea is “begging” for war, is a childish turn of phrase! The register here is naive, risible and bordering on the hysterical.

It is time to get back to reality and de-escalate the mad rhetoric, instead of thinking that “they got us”. Thinking back to Vietnam the US “got it” then, but they accepted the reality and moved to accommodate and engage and build future links with the Vietcong.

It is time for cool heads and sane minds to engage constructively again and step back from inflammable and reckless rhetoric.

JOHN EDGAR Merrygreen Place, Stewarton