TOP STORY

Brave New World

By Thomas Jeffrey

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Article Posted: Sunday October 15, 2006

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As the sun was rising this past Monday over the Eastern seaboard of the US, the world was just coming to grips with the harsh reality of a nuclear-armed North Korea. And as the White House and its minions tried to get a jump on the blame game by pointing the finger at Bill Clinton, no amount of spinning by Karl Rove will help the Bush Administration get out from under the fact that this was a massive foreign policy failure that happened on their watch.

In the six years since taking office, the Smirking POTUS and his foreign policy team have seemed content to ignore the musings of Kim Jong-il, an increasingly anxious despot who has shown his cards more than once as having a desire to destabilize the world while profiting from his overseas arms sales.

Indeed, Iran’s president Ahmadinejad recently took possession of a shipment of North Korea’s Nodong missiles— a weapon that some intelligence experts warn could be fitted with a nuclear warhead. And in light of recent events concerning Tehran, one would think that the big brains at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue might be a little more concerned about this development.

So why the hands-off policy regarding Kim Jong-il’s regime? The obvious answer could be that they’ve been too preoccupied with overthrowing Saddam and fighting an increasingly violent insurgency, the effects of which relegated Pyongyang to the foreign policy ‘back-burner.’

But giving the administration the benefit of the doubt, and assuming that they can actually walk and chew gum at the same time, a prudent nutjob would have to come to the conclusion that this eventuality was something that they were truly not prepared for nor had anticipated; a conclusion that appears to be borne out by the Smirking POTUS’ reaction to the news.

In a statement shortly following North Korea’s announcement, President Bush warned Kim Jong-il that his country would now be facing strong “sanctions,” to imposed by the world via the UN. And even though John Bolton, the United States “by default” UN ambassador, had to overcome some serious objects from both China and Russia in order to secure the unanimous vote in New York on Saturday, it remains to be seen as to whether or not the UN’s “trade, travel and other sanctions” to be levied against Pyongyang will have any effect at all—something that the aforementioned Bolton was found of criticizing prior to assuming his post.

And even if the punitive actions serve to escalate the tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world, the irony of the situation is not lost on this Leftwing Nutjob; namely that the Bush Administration is being forced to turn more and more to the United Nations for help after they’ve seen their own diplomatic clout amongst the world community wither away to almost nothing following the Iraq debacle.

So for now it remains to be seen whether or not North Korea has the weapon that they claim. And with radiation tests still being inconclusive, many questions remain about the reclusive dictator and his secret country—questions that will, for the time being, go unanswered, as President Bush continues his “my way or the highway” diplomatic policy, refusing to meet with anyone who doesn’t bend to US demands first.

It will be interesting to see whether or not a mushroom cloud on the horizon is enough to change our stubborn president’s mind.

Source:
U.N. slaps trade, travel sanctions on North Korea—CNN.com
Iran receives North Korean ‘missile shipment’—LATEST IRAN NEWS & IRANIAN CULTURE JOURNAL
North Korea: US pressure would mean war—Guardian Unlimited
McCain: Clinton’s North Korea policy ‘a failure’—CNN.com
Kim Jong-il Wikipedia
North Korea Missile Milestones – 1969-2005 Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control
Latest Test May Confirm N. Korea Has Nukes—CBSNews.com

- posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Oct 15, 10:25 AM in North-Korea Bush-Administration

 

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