MSNBC’s Chris Hayes interviewed Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.) for nearly six minutes last night about North Korea—following Senator Ed Markey. I love Senator Markey but when he compared yesterday’s alarmist rhetoric between Trump and Kim as akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, I figuratively furrowed my brown: not quite yet.
Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s chief of staff when he was Secretary of State, is pretty insightful. His first words: “I think we need to calm this down a bit, Chris. This is not an existential crisis.” He offered concrete proposals for dealing with North Korea (and Kim) that would lower tensions: negotiate and address North Korean fears. Let them save face. Wilkerson even quoted JFK: let us not negotiate out of fear but never fear to negotiate. He was (of course) completely dismissive of Trump’s history of negotiating with his business deals.
Wilkerson did allow that Trump’s rhetoric is a real threat to peace, and that IS a cause for alarm.
It’s well worth a listen.