North Korea and its Violation of the NAP

By
Gary St. Fleur
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4
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North Korea - NAP - Being Libertarian

I recently spoke to a seasoned libertarian and expressed to him my concern regarding North Korea’s actions and provocations. I  explained how war with North Korea seemed inevitable. He began to tell me that there was no justification for such a war, but on this I actually happen to disagree: attempted aggression is just as bad as the very act of aggression. Failing doesn’t absolve the perpetrator.

 

North Korea Has Attacked
When North Korea develops weapons systems and claims that they will attack South Korea or America, they are in effect making clear their intentions. When they launch a missile toward the U.S.A and then claim that it is just a test, it becomes quite clear that it is a test in attacking the U.S. mainland.

Now, imagine if I told you that I had a gun, and I happen to shoot at someone but miss. Can I claim that I did not attack them because of my inability to hit my target?

North Korea is adamantly claiming that they are developing weapons systems to target America, and are acting in accordance with this very claim. How is this not a clear violation of the NAP? Does the U.S.A have to wait for someone to successfully attack before it mounts a proper offence? Do I need to wait for an assailant to shoot me, before I shoot him?

Of course, this is not something that I advocate without reluctance. The situation in Asia is fraught with tremendous risk.
We have players who are bent on increasing antagonism because of legacy policies that no longer reflect our current world. For instance, China will back North Korea because a united Korea would be against its interest.

Why does China fear a united Korea?  It is well understood that without Chinese patronage North Korea would have been attacked by the US and/or South Korea long ago. The only thing keeping these countries at bay is China. Furthermore, Japan is a wild card that often gets left out of the discussion. Remember Japan, the former imperialist empire that almost conquered the entire south pacific? Japan may very well take North Korea’s actions as a justification to develop their nuclear weapons and military defenses.

Japan has only been allowed to have a defensive military since World War 2. I am sure libertarians will argue that this is a violation of their natural rights to self defense. I would somewhat agree but I am also glad that they do not have a military.

 

The Result
Given the players in this current arrangement of political brinkmanship and ancient rivalry, how do we avoid an all out war?

North Korea has already created the conditions to justify American allies mounting an attack against them. Can we really say that the international community has no business being involved in whether or not North Korea or any other country has nuclear weapons? Such a position denies the reality that it is fundamentally impossible, given the current scheme of geopolitics, to apply a true isolationist position.

America is in fact an empire, and as the ancient Greeks have taught us, it is dangerous to let go of an empire once it is obtained. Thus, it appears that the only way this situation ends is with North Korea being attacked.

 

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Gary St. Fleur

Gary St. Fleur is the founder of Save Scranton, an organization that campaigns against the corruption and malfeasance in the North Eastern Pennsylvania area, by utilizing grassroots efforts to enact reform.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. I agree with you.

    Except America is not an empire. Not by any definition of the word. Any and all additions to our land mass since the original 13 colonies happened through gradual settlement and land purchases. Even the Philippines, an American territory, are pretty much free of American rule.

    And any time we’ve captured territory, we’ve given it back.

  2. Sorry but I wholeheartedly disagree. First off, where is the actual intelligence reports confirming these to be admittedly intended to target the United States by North Korean officials? I have yet to see any direct translation outside word of mouth.

    Secondly, we have seen several pictures of these big scary bombs North Korea has, but we know for fact nuclear capability need not be nearly that size.

    Now considering that with the fact they are residing under a fascist dictatorship of socialism, it’s hard to imagine they have much competitive innovation when it comes to military technology. Their economy, the way it operates, may strain the citizens at the benefit of their republic’s strength, however that doesn’t give any real competitive influence on their scarce resources for designing new technologies.

    So basically my point is that if these pictures of giant bombs we have seen paraded through North Korea are legitimate, my most logical deduction comes down to them more likely being no more than attempt of intimidation, if that.

    I mean they could just be emboldening their self-defense after all. It’s not hard to imagine it that way given what everyone in the world can clearly see happening from middle Eastern, African, and South American military interventionist blow back. The North Koreans may not have free access to this knowledge, but their leaders do.

    Lastly I want to mention that we have yet to see any sort of evidence that these weapons are even attempts at going nuclear. Whenever the reference is made, it has no credible backing. All we know is that they dropped bombs that we are concluding as “failed nuclear attempts” because they failed to reach atomic thresholds. It is nothing but assumption that they are trying to go nuclear at all. The distance the projectiles have traveled are clearly no match for US defenses.

    Therefore I conclude that there is a good chance they are merely preparing national defenses. Not to completely disregard the possibility of spontaneous warfare, however this would not be the first time our “intelligence” has mislead us about a country’s actions.

    It has been the game of military monopoly for centuries to keep the public on the State’s side. For instance, no one seems to remember that we were putting economic sanctions on Japan in WW2 which is what provoked them to attack us. It’s not like they couldn’t teach that in school, but they don’t.

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