The Only Answer To North Korea’s Missiles That Won’t Make War More Likely (From Forbes)

North Korea’s successful test of a long-range ballistic missile on July 4th signals that Washington is running out of time to deal with the danger. While Pyongyang does not yet have a nuclear warhead compact enough to deliver by missile, eventually it will. So what should the Trump administration do? Any overtly military moves to remove Kim Jong Un or his missiles would likely lead to horrendous carnage on the Korean Peninsula. Millions might die. With economic and diplomatic sanctions appearing to have failed, missile defense looks to be the one solution that won’t bring on war. The U.S. has a Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system deployed in Alaska and California that is capable of intercepting intercontinental-range ballistic missiles. In fact, it did so successfully in a May 30 test.  But it needs to be upgraded and expanded to cope with the emerging threat. That means spending more than one-quarter of one-percent of the defense budget on missile defense of the homeland. It’s a small price to pay when you consider the cost to America of even one North Korean warhead exploding over a major U.S. city.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.