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US record of regime change hurts NK diplomacy

May 24, 2017

By REP. TULSI GABBARD (D-HAWAII)

OPINION CONTRIBUTOR | THE HILL

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.

2 Comments

  1. S.A. Ortiz

    Tulsi Gabbard needs to be the Democratic nominee in 2020. She opposes the TPP, opposes regime change, served in the military and represents Hawaii in Congress. We need to create a coalition of progressives, democratic socialists, Green Party voters, Independents and disenfranchised rural voters. Bernie’s ideas receive to this day a warm welcome in Trump Country and having a Berniecrat like Tulsi Gabbard as the nominee would allow Democrats to achieve a landslide victory in local and state elections. She can and will beat Trump/Pence in 2020.

  2. Bryan Blakely

    Well said, cogent and rational–no wonder El Trumposo and the Republiscams won’t pay it any mind.

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