U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently told CNN's Jake Tapper that his diplomatic efforts would continue "until the first bomb drops." This echoed sentiments shared by Sen. Lindsey Graham, who says the United States needs to threaten North Korea with a "credible military option" if the regime continues its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program. The senator from South Carolina has even said U.S. officials and military experts are "wrong" to think that no good military options exist. "There is a military option to destroy North Korea's program and North Korea itself," Graham said after one of the North's missile tests.
The problem with these statements is that there is no good military option. Too often America's foreign policy vision ends at the tip of its nose. Today's debate needs to be about more than just "taking out a bad guy." As the U.S. learned in Iraq and elsewhere, if it pursues policies without an essential and achievable political end-state, it backs itself into costly and unproductive wars that don't enhance its security.
A strike on North Korea would unnecessarily jeopardize the lives of millions. It would also have consequences that could very easily spiral out of control. And the U.S. risks being seen as the aggressor, even by its regional allies, which would be catastrophic for its standing in the world and for its national security.