North Korea Has Nuclear Weapons So It Won't End Up Like Libya

North Korea Has Nuclear Weapons So It Won't End Up Like Libya

North Korea has learned from the Qaddafi regime the importance of maintaining its nukes.

Like Qaddafi, Kim need not respond conventionally to American action. Pyongyang has engaged in terrorism in the past and is not above assassinating individuals who oppose the regime. The most recent example is Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of the North Korean leader, who was killed in Malaysia by DPRK agents using the VX nerve gas. North Korea has also demonstrated competency in cyber-warfare, notably in the 2014 computer attack on Sony Pictures. In fact, it appears Kim may possess a broader array of unconventional warfare abilities than Qaddafi did. Fears of unconventional warfare both motivated and likely restrained the Reagan administration’s approach to dealing with Libya; it would be prudent for the Trump team to make similar considerations.

Perhaps the most useful lesson to learn from Reagan’s war with Qaddafi is that it was ultimately inconclusive. The Libyan problem spanned the entirety of Reagan’s two terms; by the administration’s end, Qaddafi was still in power. Nearly a full decade of sanctions and overwhelming force notwithstanding, the U.S.-Libya saga demonstrated decisive actions do not necessarily lead to decisive results. Reagan learned this the hard way, as he was said to have become frustrated by the limited impact his confrontational policies were having. It would take over two additional decades and four administrations more before the “Mad Dog” was finally put down.

As his national security staff completes its North Korea review, it is hoped that “the Donald” will learn the hard line leads to uncharted territory. More importantly, the forty-fifth president would do well to accept there are no obvious solutions to this crisis; using force does not always lead to the desired outcome. Regardless of which path he takes, Trump may very well be dealing with Kim through the totality of his presidency. Sobering as it may be, it is a reality worth contemplating now rather than later, for as the old song goes, “we’ve only just begun.”

Edward Chang is a contractor-mariner for Military Sealift Command. When not at sea, he is writes on military history and national security-related topics. Any thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s and do not represent the official position of any government agency.

Image: A B-1 Lancer awaits a pre-flight inspection. Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Air Force