Barack Obama embarrassed himself when he established his own 'red line' for Syria and failed to deliver military action when President Assad crossed it. John Delury, an associate professor in Chinese Studies, told CNBC moments after President Trump warned North Korea that they would be "met with fire and fury like the world has never seen before" that the Republican has made the same mistake as his predecessor.
What Professor Delury means is that the President's 'red line' was that Pyongyang cannot issue any threats to the US anymore. But it appears that they have done that.
The associate professor is right about one thing: war with North Korea is not likely for now. As Professor Delury said: "it is all empty rhetoric."
Pyongyang cannot continue its activities
But President Trump is right to warn that Pyongyang cannot continue its activities anymore. For the last two decades, they have already gone too far with their inter-ballistic missiles tests and fresh sanctions from successive US governments have failed to materialize into anything substantial. Otto Warmbier, the American student who was tortured for performing a "hostile act" against North Korea's regime, proves they went too far, regardless of his actions.
When George W. Bush was president, he vowed to eliminate North Korea from the "axis of evil" that included Iraq and Iran.
However, Mr. Bush was not able to deal with Pyongyang because the 2003 Iraq War caused a considerable amount of controversy that it halted the former president's crusade in his tracks.
President Trump will eventually deal with Pyongyang
There is no doubt that President Trump will eventually deal with Pyongyang. It is just a matter of when, not if.
But there is one way the US President can avoid war and that is by pressuring the Chinese into imposing fresh sanctions on North Korea that will cripple its regime entirely. But China chooses not to do this. If they did, there would be no reason for war.
Ironically, by signing into law sanctions against North Korea and Russia, the US Congress has made the job of ousting Kim Jong-un without conflict more difficult.
President Trump needs Putin's support to persuade the Chinese to issue crippling sanctions against Pyongyang that can end their regime overnight. If anything, the US Congress has made war more likely because, without Russian support, there is no way President Jinping can be persuaded to collaborate with two of the world's most powerful countries on this matter.
The Chinese know that if they dissolve President Jong-un's regime, there will be a refugee crisis on their border, and they do not want that.
Before President Trump goes to war, he should try and persuade the Chinese to support sanctions. The fate of the regime rests in their hands.
