What the MSM are missing about Trump's foreign policy

The mainstream media don’t seem to be able to wrap their minds around strategic missile strikes. They assumed the U.S. was going to war with either Syria or Russia or both because Trump approved missile strikes in response to a chemical attack. They’re making the same mistake regarding North Korea.

Surgical strikes have a rich history in American warfare. Ronald Reagan bombed Libya after our intelligence showed Muammar Gaddafi was behind the bombing of a discotheque in Germany frequented by U.S. soldiers. Clinton bombed Kosovo. George H.W. Bush attacked Saddam Hussein’s forces in Kuwait and drove them back to Baghdad. Neither incident resulted in our invading the country and taking it over. Yes, years later, Bush’s son would see fit to run Saddam from power, but the point is military use of force doesn’t have to result in regime change.

I think it’s inevitable that shots will be fired in North Korea. We will either shoot down NoKo missiles or we will determine where these missiles are coming from and take them out before they’re launched. With all the blustering going on with Kim Jong-un it’s probably the best course of action.

Too many people don’t understand Kim’s motivations either. This guy literally inherited a country. It’s a dump of a country but a country nonetheless. People are starving. The economy is in shambles. Eventually internal pressures reach a point where a coup is inevitable. How does one stave off a coup? By fabricating a common enemy. It’s the oldest trick in the dictator playbook.

Kim says they have to develop nukes to keep the United States from invading. The U.S. has no interest in invading North Korea. Heck, we’d have to knock half of it down just to make it inhabitable. We haven’t had an interest in invading North Korea since the Korean War. Kim knows this, but he also knows the best way to get his countrymen’s attention off their growling stomachs is to create a boogyman.

If you understand this, you understand that there’s no way this guy escalates a strike by the U.S. Quite the contrary. He uses any strike against his country to prove his point to his own people that an invasion is imminent. He knows that if he attacks South Korea or U.S. ships he leaves us no choice but to depose him. He also understands he’s got the best gig in the world. He just has to rattle his saber loud enough to rally the North Korean people behind him. 

With all that in mind, Trump can take out any perceived threat and not have to worry about escalation.

Here’s something else to think about. And don’t misinterpret this as saying this is being done on purpose. Trump’s approval ratings are rising. Just as, I’m sure, Kim’s approval ratings are rising in North Korea, public opinion tends to rally around a country’s leader in time of military conflict. Trump is doing what he thinks he needs to do to keep us safe. And he’s right. Allowing NoKo to develop precision-strike missiles does not serve the best interest of the United States.

But there’s a side benefit to keeping us safe. Military strikes will almost certainly bolster Trump’s popularity. He can use that new capital to get some things done in Congress that have been more difficult with his approval ratings below 50 percent. That may sound cynical, but it’s the political reality.

Trump can kill two birds with one stone. Make America safe again and make America great again in one fell swoop.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.