The Hill:
Over the weekend, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg reportedly said North Korea’s nuclear program “is a global threat and requires a global response.” Stoltenberg declined to say whether an attack on Guam would trigger Article 5, NATO’s collective defense pact, which says that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all.
This occurred as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un just authorized the country’s sixth nuclear test, its largest by far. Coupled with its recent long-range missile tests and threats to Guam, it is clear that Congress must meet Kim’s threats with a realistic response as well as a robust defense.
As Congress gets ready to reauthorize defense spending for the year, it is time for lawmakers to evaluate defense policies along with our weapons systems to decide what is truly working.
The power to decide how federal monies are spent is granted to Congress under the Constitution, and the defense reauthorization bill is a good chance for Congress to prioritize the country’s defense spending needs. Inter-continental missile defense is one way that the U.S. can defend itself from an increasingly bellicose North Korea without antagonizing the hermit nation. This fact isn’t lost on nations in the region as the Pentagon’s number one weapons supplier reports that it is fielding missile defense systems requests from countries caught in the crosshairs of the hot rhetoric.
