Of course peace with North Korea would be a great thing, but it will be incredibly complicated and difficult to achieve. Kim Jong Un is a very young man, who will remain in power for another 40 years. He's going to play the long game. Trump is a very old man. He will be in power either another 2 years or (if he survives the Mueller probe) 6 more years. Kim is incredibly savvy and understands this reality. If he agrees to completely disarm, it would take the U.S. and the rest of the world years, perhaps a decade to come up with an inspection strategy and the means to achieve it. Trump will be gone before verification could be definitively established. The question is will he give away the store in the meantime. By agreeing to a one-on-one meeting, he's already given a rogue and very dangerous enemy recognition and respect. The U.S. has gotten nothing in return.
Last week Trump insulted one of our most loyal allies and walked out of a meeting with six of our other most trusted, reliable friends. He is going to need the strong, unwavering support of all of our allies in order to maintain leverage over Kim. Treating our friends like shit is not the way to make this happen. I want him to succeed, but I have to be realistic. |
