2008 Woodie Awards
Dropped ball may lead to dropped bomb
North Korea now on the nuclear playing field
Kevin Major
Issue date: 10/19/06 Section: opinion
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This past week I found myself in a bit of a bind. I wasn't sure if I should spend my time working on a really nice congratulations card or fortifying my fallout shelter. Last Monday, North Korea gained status as a nuclear power with their first successful underground nuclear test, which was confirmed this week by U.S. intelligence. With this test, North Korea accomplished two major goals: first, gaining recognition as a nuclear power (which is no small feat), and secondly scaring the crap out of the rest of the civilized world.
Anyone who spends any time watching or reading the news knows all about North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, and how he's, how should I say, a complete whack job. So obviously no one in the world really wanted him to gain nuclear weapons since by all accounts he's probably crazy enough to turn D.C. into Cherynobyl if President Bush makes a crack about his hair (which I would have to agree with because it looks like he threw a dead schnauzer on top of his noggin). So, how does the world community, who so obviously wants to keep North Korea nuclear-free, fail to do so? Sure it is a sovereign state, but by all accounts they have a piss-poor economy and even worse technology, so it's not like it was "unpreventible."
The fact is, America and the rest of the global community dropped the ball. There was a window of opportunity where North Korea could have legitimately been prevented from gaining nuclear status and we completely missed it. So how did this happen? It's actually quite simple; our foreign policy sucks more than a Hoover.
First, for the past three years our government has been obsessed with Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass disappearance. While all of our resources were being spent on Iraq, Kim Jong and Co. were busy whipping up their own little plutonium brew. It still ceases to amaze me that the Bush administration worked so hard to find any trace evidence that Saddam might have WMD's when Jong-il was waving them in our face.
Anyone who spends any time watching or reading the news knows all about North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, and how he's, how should I say, a complete whack job. So obviously no one in the world really wanted him to gain nuclear weapons since by all accounts he's probably crazy enough to turn D.C. into Cherynobyl if President Bush makes a crack about his hair (which I would have to agree with because it looks like he threw a dead schnauzer on top of his noggin). So, how does the world community, who so obviously wants to keep North Korea nuclear-free, fail to do so? Sure it is a sovereign state, but by all accounts they have a piss-poor economy and even worse technology, so it's not like it was "unpreventible."
The fact is, America and the rest of the global community dropped the ball. There was a window of opportunity where North Korea could have legitimately been prevented from gaining nuclear status and we completely missed it. So how did this happen? It's actually quite simple; our foreign policy sucks more than a Hoover.
First, for the past three years our government has been obsessed with Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass disappearance. While all of our resources were being spent on Iraq, Kim Jong and Co. were busy whipping up their own little plutonium brew. It still ceases to amaze me that the Bush administration worked so hard to find any trace evidence that Saddam might have WMD's when Jong-il was waving them in our face.