We can't let North Korea get away with murder, but even winning a war that spirals out of control from such a crisis leaves us with the prize of that piece of Dark Ages misery in our possession. So I sympathize with trying to keep a crisis from escalating to war:
"South Korea's original plans for retaliation were, we thought, disproportionately aggressive, involving both aircraft and artillery," Gates wrote in his memoir.
"We were worried the exchanges could escalate dangerously," he added.
South Korea returned fire in kind.
But I admit I fully expected a big air strike to follow. That's certainly what South Korea intended to do.
I also fully expect that the next time (and there will be a next time) South Korea will strike back harder than they get, even if South Korea needs to use aircraft.
