Storms of weather, storms of war developing

Bill Knight column for Thursday, Friday or Saturday, Sept. 7, 8 or 9

Illinois’ afternoon sky was brownish-yellow from the West’s wildfire smoke on Labor Day, foreshadowing an angry-red Moon that night, an ominous image.

Indeed, no sooner had people’s responses to Hurricane Harvey restored some hope than dangerous developing storms emerged on horizons: a weather disaster and a war disaster.

The two potential catastrophes threaten devastation to the Eastern seaboard – and Earth itself.

The perils are real, and feelings of dread should cause us to act, from contacting Congress to praying.

Hurricane Irma is looming east of Florida, the strongest Atlantic hurricane in years. It started forming Aug. 30, quickly built up to winds of 170 mph, and could become an enormous tempest, rivaling Hurricanes Wilma (1935), Camille (1969) and Andrew (1992). Some computer models project Irma hitting Florida Saturday and on Monday, Washington, D.C.

There, and in New York, where the United Nations’ Security Council met in emergency session Sept. 4, another storm, war, gathers strength.

On Sept. 3, North Korea exploded a hydrogen bomb much more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, provoking a belligerent President Trump but also cooler heads here and there.

Besides escalating a long-running crisis that includes testing missiles that North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un claims could reach as far as Chicago, the detonation caused a 4.1-magnitude earthquake on the Korean peninsula. Trump, who previously warned of U.S. “fire and fury,” has now threatened military action and a halt to trading with nations who trade with North Korea, a difficult move that would harm the economy.

The occasionally liberal New York Times editorial page commented, “There is no military solution. [It] cannot be resolved by U.S. preemptive action without huge costs for both Koreas,” and even conservative Steve Bannon before resigning as White House chief strategist said there’s no military option “until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons.”

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he wants to “increase pressure on North Korea,” but didn’t mention a military attack. President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, where about 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed, told Trump that “South Korea can never accept a war erupting again on the Korean peninsula.” They were criticized by Trump, who accused them of “appeasement” with North Korea and, oddly, threatened to withdraw from South Korea’s Free Trade Agreement.

China’s foreign ministry, in the most measured language, said the test, which it “resolutely opposes and strongly condemns,” had “no regard to the general objections of the international community.

“We strongly urge the DPRK [North Korea] to face the strong will of denuclearization from the international community, earnestly abide by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, stop taking mistaken actions which worsen the situation and are also not in line with its own interests, and effectively return to the track of solving the problem through dialogue,” the Foreign Ministry said. “China will work with the international community to comprehensively and completely implement the relevant resolutions of the Securcity Council of the U.N., unswervingly push forward the denuclearization of the peninsula, and unswervingly maintain the peace and stability of the peninsula.”

Americans prefer engagement in a diplomatic manner, according to a Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey last month during saber-rattling by Trump and Kim. The survey showed that a clear majority backs diplomatic responses, not war: 76 percent of us want to impose tighter sanctions on Pyongyang while just 28 percent support sending more U.S. troops to the Korean peninsula.

The planet needs more unity, not enmity; faith, not fury.

In the days ahead – the hours – people might plan for the worst, pray for the best, and hope both storms are steered away. Maybe we can seek reassurance and, as the Psalmist wrote, see light in the darkness, salvation from being lost, and refuge from storms.