By now everyone knws that President Kim Jong-il of North Korea has decided to set sanity aside and test a weapon of mass destruction. Sadly, while the U.S. is tied up in Iraq fighting a war based on the suspicion of the existence of WMDs (only to find out that there were none, but that’s an old story) there is a country actually out there testing them. Now Bush is calling for sanctions against North Korea. Yes sanctions. A country with no nuclear capabilities gets a full-blown war, yet a country trying out their nukes to see how they fit gets sanctions. Everyone knows why the U.S. has gone with a more diplomatic suggestion, it’s not surprising that it has come to this.Â
Tonight I sit here in my home writing a blog post totally uncertain about my son’s future. I lived on a military base during the Reagan years with my parents, and I am familiar with the Cold War through studying it in school, but it feels different as the parent. I can’t go to North Korean and give Kim Jong-il a pow-pow, or a timeout, although he needs both. I can see me saying “Kim, put down those WMDs and come in the house. You’re grounded forever! No U.S. investment in the North Korean economy for you!” Unfortunately, I can’t do that. I can just watch the news, hope that cooler heads prevail (whoever they may be), and wait. I’m not particularly concerned for myself, beyond the typical post 9/11 jitters that many of us New Yorkers feel.  What concerns me is what my son’s life will be like in 20 years.   Will the world be such a mess that he’s called out in a draft (and not for the NFL)? I could go on and on. All I know is that as a father and a husband tasked with protecting his family as best he can, I hope that this bubbling conflict doesn’t boil over. Kim, don’t make me go over there!