The North Koreans have dropped a video demonstration of their military’s might and, I’m sorry, but America does not appear to be in any shape to take them on.

After an incredibly disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which fell in mere days after we spent two decades there, and with the American military seemingly more focused on equity and social justice, and generally getting in touch more with one’s feelings than desire to protect the homeland, it does not seem like we’re going to be ready to take on guys who can dropkick the absolute hell out of stone blocks.

This demonstration at the Defence Development Exhibition was bit intense. Video broadcast today on North Korean TV. pic.twitter.com/zehpI6EAEd

— Martyn Williams (@martyn_williams) October 12, 2021

Look at that terrifying, hostile circus performance. The North Korean military is, at the very least, able to take on our best professional wrestlers (who are also paid actors), and it’s clear if we ever got into armed conflict with them, they would throw absolute haymakers at us. And that’s the best-case scenario.

The North Koreans are feeling emboldened to show off men whose arms are so strong that they can Superman Punch through rocks or take sledgehammers to the fist without breaking. The American military still feels like it’s in a pretty chaotic way with the fallout from the Afghanistan withdrawal still fresh on a lot of people’s minds. And while this incredibly silly video should be just that, it’s also a stark reminder that a military force is meant to be as much a representation of its country as it is a fighting force.

Given how furious some of our allies are at our handling of Afghanistan, and how quickly things went south both for military leadership and our armed forces who were there, it’s clear that our military is not doing so hot in the PR department on the world stage.

Some people, particularly on the left, might be fine with that, as it takes America out of the forefront on global issues – many of these people subscribe to the Barack Obama school of thought that a stronger America is bad for the world and a weaker America is good for the world – but emboldening those hostile to the U.S., who are not afraid how we might retaliate, will continue to be aggressive in all sorts of ways.

The Russians and the Chinese have already been ramping up cyberattacks, and these will only continue. The North Koreans will conduct more military showcases of (crappy) missiles and possibly metahuman soldiers. The Taliban will allow Afghanistan to become a haven for anti-American terror organizations once more.

That is ultimately not a good situation.