I Totally Forgot About This Crisis!
Christopher Hill was in North Korea today to discuss the nations nuclear program with North Korean officials. This was the first time in almost five years that a senior American official has visited the sequestered country. Here’s my question: how has the U.S. dropped the ball so blatantly on the North Korean front and gotten away with it? By most, if not all, accounts North Korea is light-years ahead of Iran, both in terms of a nuclear weapon and delivery systems. Despite this the Bush administration has left the North alone (or so it appears) despite numerous missile tests, which have provoked the ire of Japan.
Bush has a legitimate fear that a nuclear Iran would be willing to give a bomb to terrorist organizations that could use it against American allies or interests. North Korea on the other hand… well… that’s tough… North Korea might just be crazy enough to cut out the middleman and use nukes against the U.S., its allies and interests on its own. Kim Jong-Il isn’t the most stable and rational individual the last time I checked and leaving him to command an army with a legitimate nuclear first strike capabilities doesn’t seem to be the brightest move by the brain trust Bush has put in place. At least Iran tries to convince the world that they want a nuclear facility for peaceful, energy related, purposes. North Korea, on the other hand, already has such facilities and is openly trying to develop a weapon.
So, why then, is Bush so much more concerned with Iran than North Korea? Glad you asked, here are a three factors I think influence the White House’s approach to North Korea.
1. We don’t get oil from anyone near North Korea: Bush’s buddies back in Texas don’t see him at BBQ’s and subtly let it slip that “man, my bottom line sure would be looking a lot better if only I could drill of the coast of South Korea without worrying about an attack from the North”. I bet he also isn’t getting frantic text messages from a secret location which read “Shot another man the face today. Pension fund at Halliburton gets boosted up $10k a month if we rebuild NK. I love you- Dick”
2. Kim Jong-Il has always been crazy: As opposed to the relatively new crazy person in charge of Iran, Kim Jong-Il is one of the most phobic and paranoid people on the face of the earth… and he’s been like that for a long time. Bush probably figures that if he gets a nuke he won’t go all Dr. Strangelove on us. I, on the other hand, am not so confident in a crazy man’s ability to regulate the level of his insanity.
3. Israel: Israel would freak out if Iran got a nuke and would unleash the gates of hell against a leader who wants to obliterate Israel. I think Bush might be, in all seriousness (he talks to God remember), trying to prevent the apocalypse by getting this situation under control early… where is Pat Robertson when you need him?
What do you think? Do you think that Bush has treated North Korea differently than Iran for any specific reason or has he just had his blinders on to anything west of Afghanistan and east of Egypt? Or do you think Bush has gotten the Korean situation right and I’m the one who is way off base? Let me know!