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Former army Colonel says US needs Russia, China’s help with North Korea

TULSA — The problem of North Korea’s saber-rattling is a thorny one, and unfortunately while it’s nothing new, it appears to be getting a lot more serious.

Lt. Col. Vincent Stephan (US Army, Ret.) tells KRMG he believes the key to averting war is working with China and Russia.

Stephan wrote a paper on the subject when he graduated at the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in 2004.

He said he believes that if the U.S. has to take military action in North Korea, the result will be “mass destruction and war.”

Strategically, the best option is to avoid that costly scenario.

And that, he says, means not only working with NATO allies, but also with the remaining super powers.

“You’re talking about getting China involved, Russia involved, some other people that’s going to help us fight North Korea diplomatically. And those countries, by far, we have to have on board or it’ll never happen.”

And he’s not just concerned about North Korea; Iran still poses a serious threat as well, he told KRMG, and again cooperation with Russia and China are key to resolving the threat.

“If we can get those two countries on board, we will do fine with both Iran and North Korea, the situation with Iran and North Korea possibly having nuclear weapons.”

He approves of President Trump’s hard line with the North Koreans.

“He’s the strongest one right now that’s making a stand,” Stephan said. “No other president has done that up to this point with North Korea, no matter who was in charge.”

And he says the president’s right to err on the side of caution.

“We have to assume that all of it’s true, and that he (Kim Jong Un) is a crazy lunatic, and he will go to any means possible for what he thinks.”

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