Too Little Too Late

(Governor Sarah Palin visiting the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska)

Well, Defense Secretary Gibbs came out today warning North Korea not to try and attack anybody.

'Bout time.

Unfortunately, you're only about two years too late.

President Obama is also out there trying to convince the UN Security Council to impose sanctions, etc.....

Overall, not a bad strategy, but there's two points of contention that I have with this whole thing:


1. Hello! North Korea already has the weapons!

Any sanctions imposed now will be seen as aggression by the North Koreans and they will retaliate...with firepower! The time to implement sanctions was a while back, when the weapons weren't finished yet. Duh.

Sanctions may be a good idea, but it's really too late for that. Imposing sanctions at this point is the equivalent of declaring war.

The only alternative is to sit back and wait for North Korea to attack somebody, at which point there will be war anyway.

Conclusion: There will be war.


2. While you're working on diplomacy, you might also work on defense.

Look man, nobody wants war. If we can negotiate our way out of this, that's great. But it's foolish to rely on that at this point. What was it your mother always said? Oh, yeah, "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

While we're talking, we better be beefing up, especially in Alaska. Governor Palin has again called on Obama to restore money that he cut from facilities in Alaska that aid in missile defense.

Since missiles from North Korea headed to America will most likely be pointed toward Alaska (they're in range), the Governor is understandably concerned.

She sent out another statement today, the latest in a long line of requests urging Obama to reinstate funding:

“The United Nations sanctions have failed to stop North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, and the Obama Administration cannot afford to be playing catch-up to an irrational dictator like Kim Jong-Il,” said Governor Palin. “Missile Defense Agency funding must be fully restored in the federal budget to guarantee our protective measures remain the best in the world. Fort Greely plays a crucial role in the nation’s security.”

The entire press release can be found here.

Now, I'm just a stupid lowly ordinary citizen, but here's an idea: how about we make sure we can defend ourselves if diplomacy fails and a WMD is headed straight for our northern neighbor? Is that too much to ask?

I'm just glad that we've got somebody up in the wilds of the North who gets it and who will do whatever it takes to protect her state, and this country.