More dialogue, less rhetoric

N provoke the US, and only the US, promptly announc Japan and into the waters 30 to 40 kilometers from Guam. said he would unleash on Pyongyang for its endless nuclear threats against the world’s only remaining superpower.

such missiles, which could give the US leader a great source of anxiety until possibly the end of his presidency.

Washington could only resort to rhetoric to counter the to spell out its own game plan, like perhaps send over

In playing cat- and- mouse not only with the United States but the entire democratic world, Pyongyang has once again pushed the envelop by targeting this time the tiny American island territory of Guam (population:

for one, it is home to 6,000 or so American soldiers and other military personnel and, for another, Guam is a staging ground for US stealth bombers that, according to a report, could be used to attack Pyongyang.

It appears that the much-hyped threat to possibly obliterate at least a part of Guam may be a preemptive strike.

ceaseless warmongering, Washington could only try to get its allies behind its cause of keeping the world safe from nuclear annihilation through the power of the spoken word and not much else.

In so doing, it would prevent a scenario straight from “Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) could be a strategic ally of the US in containing the nuclear bombast association not being known to host US military troops, more so, nuclear weapons.

Such troops and weapons would have raised the hackles of Pyongyang. In the case of the Philippines, no US soldiers least their presence here has been denied by Manila and between the Philippines and the United States.

China, however, could be a stumbling block but only if the Philippines continues to press its claim to territories in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Beijing.

Perhaps only Beijing could stop Pyongyang from nuking Guam now. Perhaps Asean could also help, if Manila and mouths shut over supposed minerals and other riches in the contested waters of the South China Sea, at least until North

For now, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is right in allaying fears over the possible effects on the country of

That the Philippines could be affected by the nuclear strike is “remote,” AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. said on Friday.

presence of Pyongyang’s foreign minister at the Asean meeting in Manila last week as a “positive sign.”

- ing] appropriate contingency plans, alerts and warnings for the awareness and protection of our civilian population.”

It always pays to be on the side of caution.