Enemy at the Gates

US to deploy more ground-based missile interceptors as North Korea steps up threats. NBC News

I've always wondered what America would be like if we truly bordered a hostile nation... or two. What if the entire region we also called home, shouted for our destruction? Israel knows what that is like. Whether you love them, hate them, or are indifferent to this tiny nation (physically) and its people, I think we can only guess about their motivations and actions unless we have also experienced a constant enemy at the gates.

Some will argue that we are already under assault, as Mexico is the gateway to America, minus getting a glimpse of Lady Liberty in New York Harbor from the ship you boarded in your homeland. Reconquista per the National Council of La Raza is certainly hotly debated, and for the record, denied by the NCLR. But this still doesn't rise to the bellicose environment that Israel exists in.

But perhaps North Korea is bringing it home for our time. Most of us remember the Cold War stand off with the USSR. But an entire generation does not remember. So hearing the threats and watching missile shields increase is alarming, in the same way nuclear proliferation was in the 80's. The difference is, the USSR for the most part was a rational nation. We stood on equal ground as super power nations and the concept of MAD, mutually assured destruction, was a viable and peaceful part of the approach that ultimately worked. The operative word here, however is rational.

North Korea and Iran are not rational. North Korea touting the party religion, and Iran drinking the Islamic Revolutionary party punch, mixed with nuclear capability is a cocktail for disaster. Sure, from all appearances both of these nations are infants in nuclear technology... for now. But despite this, more missiles were deployed to Alaska. In fact, it seems President George W. Bush ordered this additional installation in his final term in office. President Obama ordered them cancelled, then reversed his decision. So someone, is telling the President some hard truths about the world.

Appeasing irrational people is impossible. Every turning of the cheek emboldens our enemy. Letting our technological innovations slip into enemy hands will eventually catch up to us. Peace can be obtained through strength. And most importantly, someone told President Obama that no matter how much people seem to like you, one nuclear bomb detonated on American soil, would undo all the success he has had making us the equal of other nations in the world. The result being the entire world is vulnerable from a weakened United States.

I suppose I should applaud this defensive action, and give credit to the President, but it still feels hollow. I can only imagine how Israeli citizens feel with a rapidly advancing Iranian nuclear threat on their doorstep. And though the U.S. may not have an enemy at the gates, I can't help but think it might be better if we did.