BRATTLEBORO — Some thoughts:
• Kim Jong-un knows we are not going to initiate a nuclear war with North Korea.
• And he is not going to initiate a war with us. He knows the consequences for him would be catastrophic.
• In fact, the purpose of his nuclear weapons and saber-rattling is not to defend North Korea from us. It's to distract his oppressed people from their oppression. Our bellicose reaction is his script.
• Even if his nuclear weapons were a real danger to the U.S., we should not react by ourselves. Any threat of nuclear war is a threat to the world. Reaction should be international.
• Meanwhile, we should focus on the ultimate goals: liberation of the North Korean people, reunification of Korea, and an end to the Korean war.
• And, if working toward those goals means temporarily overlooking Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons, we should overlook them. They can be dealt with when his script has failed.