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(CNN)The North Korea crisis is deadly serious and President Donald Trump is pursuing a dangerous path, escalating tensions with his "fire and fury" and "locked and loaded" comments. His unpredictable behavior is being met with predictable criticism from the left.
Even as, according to news reports, the United States has been engaging in back-channel diplomacy with North Korea for months, we appear to be moving disconcertingly closer to the possibility of a nuclear exchange. To this, I say: brutal talk is just what a brutal dictator like Kim Jong Un needs to hear."