The New York Times Sees Doom And Gloom From North Korea
(I know we posted last night that we were moving. Marcie's first post went up just fine, then this one--the one you're about to read--came back with an error message that there was inappropriate language in it. You be the judge. If this is Town Hall's answer to new bloggers, then we may have to rethink this idea.)
Publius II
Despite a series of gains regarding North Korea, the New York Times sees only doom and gloom.
The Bush administration has tried to ignore North Korea, then, reluctantly, to engage it, and then to squeeze its bankers in a manner intended to make the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, personally feel the pinch.
Yet none of these steps in the past six years has worked. So now, after a barrage of missile launchings by North Korea, President Bush and his national security advisers found themselves on Wednesday facing what one close aide described as an array of "familiar bad choices."
The choices have less to do with North Korea's newest missile — which, as Mr. Bush pointed out on Wednesday, "didn't stay up very long and tumbled into the sea" — than with the bigger question of whether the president is prepared to leave office in 2009 without constraining an unpredictable dictator who boasts about having a nuclear arsenal.
"We're at the moment when the president has to decide whether he wants an unconstrained, nuclear North Korea to be part of his legacy," said Jonathan D. Pollack, a professor of Asian and Pacific studies at the United States Naval War College who has spent much of his career studying North Korea and its improbable strategies for survival.
"Until now, the attitude has been, 'If the North Koreans want to stew in their own juices, let them,' " Mr. Pollack said. "But it's becoming clear that Mr. Bush may leave office with the North Korean problem much worse."
Dealing with North Korea has frustrated every president since Truman. But it has proved particularly vexing for Mr. Bush because his administration has engaged in a six-year internal argument about whether to negotiate with the country or try to plot its collapse — it has sought to do both, simultaneously — and because America's partners in dealing with North Korea each have differing interests in North Korea's future.
On Wednesday, rejecting pressure from the Bush administration, China and Russia said they would not get behind an American drive to bring sanctions against North Korea, saying they favored less punitive actions.
Nothing is vexing about North Korea other than, of course, the mess we were left with. I know the Left is going to bring up the fact that our side keeps bringing up Bill Clinton, but his administration did decide to wheel and deal with the sawed-off runt from North Korea. And it was Madeline Albright (hardly an accurate description of the former Secretary of State) who admitted on 60 Minutes that the Clinton Administration had been "duped" by North Korea.
Does the president wish to see North Korea's fall? Of course he does, but he's in a tenuous position. He's walking a political tightrope with our "allies," and he has to tread lightly. I believe his answer to their missile test boast was clear enough for the world to understand.
If it flies, it dies.
We didn't shoot the thing down, but we did laugh hysterically when the thing lifted off and about 30 seconds later it went **POOF**. Not the best way to show the world you mean business when your technology doesn't cooperate. But this is the same story the Times is writing about Iraq. The policy was a mistake. It's growing into one of hte largest "fialures" or "blunders" the world knows about. Uh-huh. And how does the media spin the fact we're winning in Iraq? Could it be the over-hyped, illicitly-inflated poll numbers showing a drop int he president's approval? Is it in the over-hyped and supposed incidents involving our troops abroad? Or is it the constantly-cited death toll in this war?
Hmmmmm .... Can I take all three doors, Monty?
The administration has tried to bring North Korea back to the six nation talks. They won't abide us. We have tried to offer incentives to get them back to the table. They're not biting. So, what would the Left like us to do? Roll over and accept the fact that North Korea is here to stay? I'm sorry, but I've never seen the United States on the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment of David Letterman's show. So, there'll be no rolling over here.
We are committed to protecting South Korea. We are committed to protecting Japan. If Kim Jong-Il has a gripe, he'd better sound off. And launching missiles isn't going to get our attention. Especially when they splash down far from their intended target, or blow up before hitting their first stage. I know a lot of people may think I'm nuts for not worrying about North Korea, but until they show the world something other than Left-leaning sandbox tantrums, the world will still look at them as a nutter nation just demanding attention.
And I honestly think that's the way the administration should continue to treat them. Don't get worked up at missiles that can't hit their targets. Worry when that missile makes it up in the air, and has to be shot down.
Publius II
(I know we posted last night that we were moving. Marcie's first post went up just fine, then this one--the one you're about to read--came back with an error message that there was inappropriate language in it. You be the judge. If this is Town Hall's answer to new bloggers, then we may have to rethink this idea.)
Publius II
Despite a series of gains regarding North Korea, the New York Times sees only doom and gloom.
The Bush administration has tried to ignore North Korea, then, reluctantly, to engage it, and then to squeeze its bankers in a manner intended to make the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, personally feel the pinch.
Yet none of these steps in the past six years has worked. So now, after a barrage of missile launchings by North Korea, President Bush and his national security advisers found themselves on Wednesday facing what one close aide described as an array of "familiar bad choices."
The choices have less to do with North Korea's newest missile — which, as Mr. Bush pointed out on Wednesday, "didn't stay up very long and tumbled into the sea" — than with the bigger question of whether the president is prepared to leave office in 2009 without constraining an unpredictable dictator who boasts about having a nuclear arsenal.
"We're at the moment when the president has to decide whether he wants an unconstrained, nuclear North Korea to be part of his legacy," said Jonathan D. Pollack, a professor of Asian and Pacific studies at the United States Naval War College who has spent much of his career studying North Korea and its improbable strategies for survival.
"Until now, the attitude has been, 'If the North Koreans want to stew in their own juices, let them,' " Mr. Pollack said. "But it's becoming clear that Mr. Bush may leave office with the North Korean problem much worse."
Dealing with North Korea has frustrated every president since Truman. But it has proved particularly vexing for Mr. Bush because his administration has engaged in a six-year internal argument about whether to negotiate with the country or try to plot its collapse — it has sought to do both, simultaneously — and because America's partners in dealing with North Korea each have differing interests in North Korea's future.
On Wednesday, rejecting pressure from the Bush administration, China and Russia said they would not get behind an American drive to bring sanctions against North Korea, saying they favored less punitive actions.
Nothing is vexing about North Korea other than, of course, the mess we were left with. I know the Left is going to bring up the fact that our side keeps bringing up Bill Clinton, but his administration did decide to wheel and deal with the sawed-off runt from North Korea. And it was Madeline Albright (hardly an accurate description of the former Secretary of State) who admitted on 60 Minutes that the Clinton Administration had been "duped" by North Korea.
Does the president wish to see North Korea's fall? Of course he does, but he's in a tenuous position. He's walking a political tightrope with our "allies," and he has to tread lightly. I believe his answer to their missile test boast was clear enough for the world to understand.
If it flies, it dies.
We didn't shoot the thing down, but we did laugh hysterically when the thing lifted off and about 30 seconds later it went **POOF**. Not the best way to show the world you mean business when your technology doesn't cooperate. But this is the same story the Times is writing about Iraq. The policy was a mistake. It's growing into one of hte largest "fialures" or "blunders" the world knows about. Uh-huh. And how does the media spin the fact we're winning in Iraq? Could it be the over-hyped, illicitly-inflated poll numbers showing a drop int he president's approval? Is it in the over-hyped and supposed incidents involving our troops abroad? Or is it the constantly-cited death toll in this war?
Hmmmmm .... Can I take all three doors, Monty?
The administration has tried to bring North Korea back to the six nation talks. They won't abide us. We have tried to offer incentives to get them back to the table. They're not biting. So, what would the Left like us to do? Roll over and accept the fact that North Korea is here to stay? I'm sorry, but I've never seen the United States on the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment of David Letterman's show. So, there'll be no rolling over here.
We are committed to protecting South Korea. We are committed to protecting Japan. If Kim Jong-Il has a gripe, he'd better sound off. And launching missiles isn't going to get our attention. Especially when they splash down far from their intended target, or blow up before hitting their first stage. I know a lot of people may think I'm nuts for not worrying about North Korea, but until they show the world something other than Left-leaning sandbox tantrums, the world will still look at them as a nutter nation just demanding attention.
And I honestly think that's the way the administration should continue to treat them. Don't get worked up at missiles that can't hit their targets. Worry when that missile makes it up in the air, and has to be shot down.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:08 PM
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