Today is December 7, Pearl Harbor Day–the day America was attacked because we did not pay attention to imperial Japan’s warnings that they were planning a war against the United States.

The war had a staggering cost in lives on all sides, but might have been avoided or been far more limited had we taken the warnings seriously–we could have deployed the fleet and perhaps sunk or chased away Japan’s fleet.

The parallels with North Korea and Iran are clear. Both repeatedly declare war on the U.S. and boast they will destroy us. It is polite fiction that Iran does not have the same capabilities as North Korea because they are essentially a joint venture partner on nukes and ICBMs.

Both regimes are ‘suicide bombers’ in nature. Iran because their ideology demands Armageddon, and North Korea because Kim appears to find the glory of destroying the U.S. to be worth his life–and he’s willing to kill all his countrymen as well.

To ignore this Pearl Harbor-like threat is to risk our national destruction. Past presidents appeased Iran and North Korea, which bought them the time to build ICBMs and nukes, and helped finance their research, development and construction. Those presidents directly empowered North Korea and Iran to be able to carry out their repeated declarations of war and promises to destroy the U.S. They ignored the fact that one day they would become nuclear-armed threats and that one day we could face a nuclear Pearl Harbor.

Uniquely, President Trump understands the Kim regime must end to avoid a terrible nuclear war that could kill millions of Americans.

If China won’t use their assets likely within Kim’s inner circle (because they use the North as a plaything to restrain the U.S.), and if Trump’s statements don’t spark an internal coup by those without a deathwish against those with, then the president may be forced to take whatever action is necessary to permanently remove the threat. To continue to bury our head in the sand and pretend Kim is a reasonable and honorable humanitarian is to risk an EMP attack that could destroy our electric grid and/or destroy one or more cities, each of which would kill millions of Americans.

Doing nothing is no longer an option. Diplomacy doesn’t just not work, it buys the North the time and money to continue to build their arsenal of nuclear weapons and ICBMs.

Let’s remember Pearl Harbor and support the president’s leadership to remove the threat from North Korea–and eventually Iran.

If we do not learn the deadly lessons of history, we are indeed condemned to repeat them.

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Art Harman was the Legislative Director and foreign policy advisor for Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) in the 113th Congress, and is a veteran policy analyst and grass-roots political expert. His expertise includes foreign relations, border security/amnesty, national security, transportation and NASA/space policy. Mr. Harman developed the strategy to kill the 2013 Senate “gang of eight” amnesty bill as violating the Origination Clause, and provided policy advice to the Trump campaign and transition. He is a frequent guest on radio shows on key policy issues.