“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make counter-measures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country,” said North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, according to BBC News on Sept. 25.

The last time our country faced such a diplomatic issue was in 1961 with the Cuban Missile Crisis, so why is it that the world’s countries cannot come to a diplomatic agreement on how to deter such an unnecessary conflict? 

When Kennedy was president and Russia had placed missiles in Cuba in a repercussion to the United States placing missiles in Italy and Turkey, the only solution was a public announcement of removal from both sides.

What have we done in the past several months to de-escalate any form of our present situation? Barely anything. Instead of doing their best to meet with the United Nations and calmly discuss reasonable outcomes, North Korea accuses the U.S. of starting a war based on President Donald Trump’s tweets. 

According to CNN News, the tweet stated, “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!” On the other hand, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders may have been the only person to try any missile deterrence by stating, “We have not declared war on North Korea and, frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd,” according to Politico.

I must agree with Sanders on the idea of absurdity. In fact, the entire crisis is absurd. The president is simply tweeting out the thoughts that pop into his head as though there are no consequences to anything he says or does. For instance, the man has dropped so low as to become a small child that points his finger and calls someone a “Rocket Man.” 

Ever heard the phrase “don’t poke the bear while he’s sleeping?” Because I’m pretty sure Trump does not understand what the phrase references. On Oct. 1, President Trump stated on Twitter, “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” This, Trump, is not helping the situation at all.

North Korea, however, takes everything at face value. If someone said the world was flat, they may take it to heart and do everything in their power to prove you wrong. Let me ruin our relationship or whatever little we have to prove to you I have what it takes to prove you wrong. It is all a match to see who can outsmart and impress the other.

Yet, this process and these words are only worrisome for the surrounding areas of the world, such as China, Russia, Japan and the United Kingdom.  

According to BBC News, China’s Ambassador, Liu Jieyi, stated at the United Nations, “We want things to calm down. It’s getting too dangerous and it’s in nobody’s best interest.” He even went as far as stating, “Fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings.” 

Fatality is all that will become of this indeed. We are on the brink of starting a third world war simply because of the harm of words.

Whoever believes that words cannot be deadly, they very well just may prove the deadliest weapon of all.