—
North Korea’s third underground nuclear test confirms that no matter what the rest of the world thinks, the country is developing nuclear weapons.
President Barack Obama has condemned the actions.
“The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community,” Obama said in a statement hours after the test. “The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies.”
But now comes the question “what next?” What more should be done to prevent North Korea from developing and manufacturing more nuclear weapons?
We have been having exactly the same conversation for about a decade over the same issue with Iran. All that has happened so far is seemingly a continuation of the development of nuclear weapons by Iran, but as of yet no testing of such weapons. What should we do if Iran actually tests a nuclear device?
The objective of United States policy has long been to prevent the development and production of nuclear weapons by any nation. The strategy to implement that objective has been diplomacy and economic isolation of such nations attempting to gain nuclear weapons. But that strategy has failed for North Korea and perhaps will fail for Iran.
In our view, that leaves us with one option, the strategy of nuclear deterrence to prevent the use of nuclear weapons by any nation. Like it or not, it worked during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
For various reasons, the United States could not prevent the Soviet Union from gaining access to nuclear weapons or a few other nations, such as India and Pakistan, from doing so later on. Until policymakers can find a way to actually prevent the production of such weapons, we must keep nuclear deterrence firmly in hand as a primary policy to prevent the use of such weapons.
Opinion
Related Photos
Discussion
Our View: Line in the sand
- Opinion
-
-
Our View: Spying on us
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
-
Our View: Pass on the legacy
Forty hungry members of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry began gathering corn at the Rader farm near the village of Sherwood when they were ambushed by a guerrilla band of about 70 Southern sympathizers.
-
Our View: Big Brother looms large
The federal government, working under the cloak of secrecy, has been having a heyday at the expense of all Americans.
-
Our View: Disgraceful military assault
We want to make one thing clear: A sexual assault is not a sex scandal. Nor can the rise in sexual assaults in the military be justified in any way.
-
Elliott Denniston, guest columnist: Right-to-work laws only hurt workers
Middle-class workers have been fighting an uphill battle for the past 30 years.
-
Your View: Food drive efforts
Branch No. 366 of the National Association of Letter Carriers along with the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, the American Postal Workers Union and the U.S. Postal Service would like to thank all the area communities that participated in the 2013 Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
-
Your View: More about tax credit
The Globe’s editorial in “Our View” (May 10) may have left readers with a few inaccurate impressions.
-
Other Views: Sickening disparity
Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand the wide, sometimes huge, discrepancies in fees hospitals charge for the same procedure. Or if you don’t understand the arithmetical magic the hospitals use to arrive at those fees.
-
Carol Stark: America in need of more 'momisms'
Several years ago, I attended a writing workshop where one of the sessions was called “Tell it to Mom.”
-
Our View: Keep learning
Donna Maus, a biology teacher from St. Mary’s Colgan High School in Pittsburg, Kan., told a group of top students, their parents and their teachers something we think everyone needs to hear.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
