Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly for the first time, 71-year-old Donald Trump got down to brass tacks, exposing the promises and limitations of the United Nations. Trump took North Korea by the horns, warning the world body that if needed the U.S. would “destroy” North Korea to prevent it’s 34-year-old leader Kim Jong-un from threatening the U.S., its allies with nuclear war. Trump told the General Assembly, Kim had a choice either give up his nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles for face the wrath of the U.S. military. “If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, the evil will triumph,” said Trump, referring to the past menace of Nazism, coming up-to-date with the regimes of North Korea and Iran, both working on developing nuclear weaponss. Trump told South Korea President Moon Jae-in that “appeasment” wouldn’t stop Kim Jong-un.
North Korea’s official KCNA News Agency reported Sept. 13 that it would use nuclear weapons to reduce the U.S. “to ashes and darkness,” “sink” Japan and “wipe out”
South Korea. Making repeated nuclear threats against the U.S. and its allies, Trump let the world body know that U.S. patience is growing thin. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission,” said Trump, referring to Kim’s nickname, for showing his reckless use of ballistic missiles, firing them over Japan whenever he gets the urge. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it force to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump told the General Assembly. Unlike other U.N. speeches prone toward political correctness, Trump delivered a stark warning that if U.N. sanctions on North Korea don’t stop his nukes and ballistic missiles, then something else will.
Trump saved some of his harshest language for Iran, telling the world body that the Islamic Republic hides behind democracy but is actually a brutally totalitarian regime, cracking down on its own citizens and sponsoring terrorism around the Middle East. Mentioning Iran’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Houthi rebels in Yemen, Trump signaled he would re-evaluate the P5+1 [U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany] Iranian Nuke Deal, calling it an embarrassment, the most one-sided deal ever negotiated by the U.S. Trump cited Iran’s role in supplying arms-and-cash to Hexbollah, Hamas and other terror groups in the Middle East. Speaking in plain language, Trump’s warnings-and-promises put on onus on the United Nations to fulfill its mission of collective action to keep the peace. Trump asked the U.N. to end North Korea’s nuke program.
Trump’s critics had plenty of problems with his speech to the General Assembly. Criticizing his overly stern warning to North Korea, Trump hoped to rally the world body to heap more pressure on the hermit kingdom to stop its nukes and ballistic missiles program. Expressing little confidence in the U.N.’s ability to apply strict sanctions on Kim’s regime, the U.N. doesn’t have the means to enforce any of its resolutions, especially calling on Kim to stop his nukes and ballistic missiles program. “We meet at a time of both immense promise and great peril,” Trump told U.N. members, calling on all parties to do more to preserve world peace. Comparing the North Korea crisis into pre-WW II appeasement of Nazi Germany, Trump asked U.N. members states to step up to save the world from another war. Trump didn’t know whether the world body could step up to the challenge.
Concerned about mass casualties on the Korean Peninsula, Defense Secretary James Mattis told reported that the Pentagon had plans to deal with North Korea. Asked whether or not he could avoid mass casualties in Seoul, a city of 25 million, 35 miles from the DMZ, Mattis said he had plans in place without elaborating. When asked by a reporter if he meant “kinetic” action, Mattis admitted it’s under advisement, referring to the most lethal of Pentagon attack strategies AKA “kinetic.” Mattis continues to reinforce the idea Trump’s warnings to North Korea are not idle chatter. When Trump talks of preventing Kim from getting an operation nuke-tipped ICBM he’s not kidding. U.N. sanctions have done next to nothing to stop Kim from developing his nukes and ballistic missiles. Kim’s nuclear threats to the U.S. and its allies have consequences, as witnessed in Trump’s speech.
Criticism has flowed in from the U.N and Capitol Hill on Trump’s blunt speech. China hoped Trump could strike a more conciliatory tone but instead used his first speech as a reality check. Stripped of diplomatic niceties, Trump’s speech offered a stark warning to terrorists and rogue regimes. “The potential of the U.N. is unlimited,” Trump told the General Assembly, while facing limitations from the Security Council where every member wields the veto. When the Security Council approved watered down sanctions Sept. 11, Trump knew that it increased the prospects of war. Without biting sanctions that could bring Kim to the bargaining table, there’s little hope things can be resolved amicably. “Do we love our nations enough to protect their sovereignty and to take ownership in the future,” Trump asked rhetorically, knowing the latest U.N. sanctions made matters worse.
