Pushing the wrong button Jan. 13 for an emergency missile alarm, a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency [EMA] employee sent out a statewide alert warning residents of an impending incoming missile strike. Panicked tourists and civilians rushed into-and-out-of buildings, not knowing what to do with the false information. It took Hawaiian officials 38 minutes to correct the false alarm, raising disturbing questions about the state’s Emergency Management Agency. “The employee who issued the alert has been temporarily reassigned pending the outcome of our internal investigation . . . “ said EMA spokesman Vern Miyagi. “This is not a test,” read the email or text warning going out to millions of state residents and visitors. Whatever went kerflooey, the real issues of an imminent North Korean nuke-ready ICBM launch has been obscured in the mainstream media.
All the media’s chatter blames 71-year-old President Donald Trump for cracking the Congress out of its coma-like state when it comes to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Trump isn’t the one to blame for Kim’s nuke and ballistic missile program, getting dangerously close to an operational nuclear ICBM. When you consider the panic that took place in the Hawaiian Islands, one of the world’s premier resort destinations, it makes you question the EMA’s snafu but gets to the real brass tacks of the issue: North Korea can never be allowed to get an operational nuclear-ready ICBM. If Kim gets his weapons of mass destruction, the U.S., its allies and territories will never be safe again. U.N. Security Council officials ignore the gravity of the situation, especially for the U.S. Meeting in the Demilitarized Zone [DMZ] for bilateral talks Jan. 9, North Korea refused to deal with the nuke and ICBM issue.
Hawaii’s panic could spread across the United States if Kim develops his nuke-ready ICBM, capable of hitting anywhere in the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and territory of Guam. South Korean President Moon Jae-in demonstrated a willingness to accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, allowing Pyongyang to send a delegation at the Feb. 8-25 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Placating Kim Jong-un won’t achieve disarmament on the Korean Peninsula. Trump’s set a red line, telling world leaders that he expects China and Russia to do more to disarm Kim. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jingping have said there’s only so much they can do to prevail on Kim to disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles. Trump faces some tough decisions once the international community has clears out of South Korea after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Whatever went wrong with Hawaii’s EMA, it pales in comparison to dealing with North Korea’s nuclear threat. No U.S. city would be safe if Kim gets an operational nuclear-ready ICBM. Getting the Federal Communication Commission or any other federal agency involved won’t stop Kim from completing his nuclear-armed ICBM. Kim’s Jan. 1 New Year’s greeting warned Trump that he had a nuclear button on his desk ready to push. With nuclear threats like that, and the ones made before, Trump no longer has the same luxury as former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama to placate Kim. Hawaii’s panic is the tip of the iceberg if Kim gets a nuclear-tippled ICBM. Hawaii can clean up its act but can’t do anything to stop Kim’s feverish march toward weapons of mass destruction. Only panicked tourists and Hawaii residents know the chaos of an incoming missile strike.
Hawaii’s liberal Summit Magazine publisher Ikaika Hussey blamed U.S. militarism for placing Hawaii in the crosshairs. If hosting the Pacific Command and Navy’s Pacific Fleet puts Hawaii in harm’s way, then what’s Hawaii’s responsibility as the 49th State? Hussey acts like Washington brought this on Hawaii, when the North Korean dictator is clearly at fault for threatening the U.S., its allies and territories with nuclear strikes. When North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Hong-ho said Sept. 23, 2017 that at the U.N. that a missile strike against the U.S. was “inevitable,” you’d better believe it’s high on Trump’s priority list. “Militarism is reducing, not enhancing, our security,” Hussey said. Instead of blaming Kim, Hussey misdirects his ire at U.S. officials, not realizing how he’s off-the-wall. Trump must deal with Kim once the South Korean Winter Games end Feb. 25.
Telling Hawaii tourists and residents on Twitter that the missile alarm was false 38 minutes after the fact, Rep. Tulsi Gabbards (D-Ha.), a decorated Iraq War veteran and member of the House Armed Services, got the word out. Hawaii Gov. David Ige apologized for the false alarm but had no answer how to prevent another one in the future. Whatever Gabbards does to work with Hawaii’s EMA, she must also deal with the imminent North Korean threat in the House Armed Services Committee. Cleaning Hawaii’s EMA protocol won’t stop today’s anxiety-ridden circumstance of dealing with North Korea’s nuclear threats. Whether or not they have the means to hit the U.S. or its territories now, Kim can’t be allowed to develop the long-range nuclear ballistic missiles. Taking the North Korean threat seriously requires more than placating a madman seeking to deliver nuclear weapons.
