Thanks to shortsighted politicians addicted to regime change wars, my constituents in Hawaii and the American people are on the verge of a stark new reality. As the United States faces an increasingly hostile and dangerously capable North Korea, we are spending billions on strengthening our missile defense systems, leaders from my home state are discussing reopening and restocking 1950s fallout shelters, and plans are in the works to teach a new generation of children how to “duck and cover,” inflicting upon them the same nightmares many baby boomers faced throughout the Cold War.

Like his father, Kim Jong Un is a terrible tyrant that pursues his own grandeur at the expense of his people who starve and languish in isolation. Kim Jong Un’s latest missile tests follow a long history of North Korea’s strengthening and building up its nuclear weapons program. But we must recognize that their actions have not taken place in a vacuum. Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un learned lessons from the U.S. toppling other evil tyrants — like Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi.

Every time the U.S. embarks on a new war to “rid the world of a monster,” it deepens the resolve of other “monsters” who believe the only way to protect themselves from our penchant for regime change wars is to have nuclear weapons as a deterrent.

To read the rest of the op-ed from The Hill, click here.