Recently Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that North Korea’s nuclear weapons and long range missile programs are harbingers of a dark future. And he is probably right when he says that North Korea’s alarming activities are not a direct threat to the United States, at least not at this time. So far we have been able to peacefully manage North Korea’s military aberrations. But don’t expect this to continue indefinitely.

Were I a resident of South Korea or Japan I’d be quite concerned, especially since the actions of Kim Jong-Il, the President/dictator of North Korea, seem to border on insanity. First he does something outrageous that is quite upsetting and intimidating, something like detonating a nuclear weapon or firing a missile across the Sea of Japan in the general direction of the United States.

After his theatrics get the world’s attention, he provocatively threatens to continue testing missiles and nuclear weapons until his demands for extortion are met. Without resistance, the United States and other nations meet his political and economic demands allowing him to continue blackmailing them. Jong-Il becomes quiet for a few months, then once again resumes his saber rattling. Secretary Gates’ concern is that North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons’ tests may spiral out of control and precipitate a nuclear arms race in Asia, which could spread to other areas.

There is always hope that one day Jong-Il will pass from the scene and that his successor will not follow in his footsteps. But the chances of that happening are not good since he’s appointed his youngest son, 26 year old Kim Jong-Un, to be heir to his throne. Jong-Un has the reputation of being a hard drinker and is his father’s clone.

The world desperately needs a model for the peaceful economic and political development of Northeast Asia. To be successful, such a plan requires the full participation of China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Australia could also be a helpful contributor.

Gates says that President Obama is on top of all these developments, that he is not naïve and that the United States won’t stand idly by while North Korea builds up its long range missile and nuclear weapons’ capabilities. But Gates doesn’t really know whether Obama is naïve. No one knows, probably not even Obama knows. But it is encouraging that he is giving off indications that he refuses to be provoked by or to pay bribes to Jong-Il.  

Obama seems well-intentioned, but there is a lot stacked against him. He is inexperienced and unprepared to be President.  This is not a political evaluation; it is a true, hard fact. He has no leadership experience on any level great or small. He has never been a Boy Scout troop leader, let alone a governor or a cabinet officer.

Clearly, he has been promoted too rapidly and too hastily to the Office of President and, as a result, his mistakes are destined to be many, calamitous and immediate. Let us, for our children and grand children’s sakes, Republican and Democrat alike, attempt to help him and his Administration through the trying times to come.

Unfortunately, Obama hasn’t learned the most basic tenet of leadership, how to take full ownership of the office he has inherited. A new President, like a new military leader who has just assumed command in combat, should immediately accept full responsibility for all that has preceded him, all that is currently in process, and all that he hopes to accomplish in the future. He should instantaneously set about restoring order and boosting the government’s and the nation’s morale, confidence and self-esteem. Instead, President Obama has become a master at finger pointing and appears to delight in it.

Evidently Obama’s concept of conducting foreign policy is based on nothing more than charming dialog. He doesn’t seem to understand that there is no middle ground between good and evil and that compromise and negotiation are not substitutes for strong foreign policy but, rather, may be signs of naïve weakness. Case in point – if his meek extension of an olive branch of peace to the leaders of Iran is designed to make America safe, he should question why the experienced Israelis have not adopted a similar groveling approach as the basis of their Iranian foreign policy.

Finally, let us pray that Secretary Gates is wrong, that North Korea’s dangerous and irresponsible antics with missiles and nuclear weapons are not a harbinger of a dark future, and that our President wakes up to the need for strong, decisive action in dealing with fanatic dictators.

General Curry enlisted in the Army as a Private to fight in the Korean War. He is author of the book: From Private to General; An African American Soldier Works His Way Up Through the Ranks.