The Bush policy: If we ignore the problem of North Korea, perhaps it will just go away.

After three years and 2500 U.S. casualties, it seems clear that the primary reason for invading Iraq, the WMD threat, did not exist. Yet during that same period, North Korea has repeatedly defied the international community in their actions and rhetoric regarding their nuclear weapon and missile programs, and the United States has done virtually nothing to deter or reverse this trend. So my question to President Bush is this: How do you reconcile your administration’s apparent policy of going after the wrong dictator, and what is your plan to address the real and growing threat of a nuclear North Korea?

Cause it sure looks to me like dubya has no plan to deal with North Korea, nor apparently, any intention to develop one. Is this another case of a .22 caliber mind trying to wrap itself around a .357 magnum world? Curious (and deeply concerned) minds want to know. Here’s a hint George, you’re not playing “Risk”, you’re in the real world, and you’re supposed to be making real world decisions. Or didn’t your daddy tell you what being President was all about – wait, I forgot, there’s a “higher father.” (BTW, I have to give credit where credit is due – the gun reference was paraphrased from a West Wing episode.)

Several Republicans have pointed the finger at the Clinton administration, suggesting that this whole mess was somehow Clinton’s fault. I’d like to point out to these pass-the-buck Republicans that during Clinton’s watch, IAEA inspectors were on the ground in North Korea. On Clinton’s watch, NO NEW FISSIONABLE MATERIAL WAS PRODUCED by North Korea (unlike during this, or daddy Bush’s admin.). During Clinton’s administration, there was a moratorium on missile testing by the North Koreans, which they adhered to. But most importantly, on Clinton’s watch, there was a dialogue between the United States and North Korea. You know, “diplomacy”. You might want to try it sometime. Oh, and while you’re at it, stick to being obsessed with Clinton’s penis, cause your hero dubya’s administration can’t come close to matching the real accomplishments of the Clinton admin.

Of course there are some on the left who have suggested that perhaps the admin. wants this crisis to escalate, to drum up oil prices, and to sell the American people on the oh-so-stale “Republicans are tough guys” reputation in advance of the fall elections. Personally, I think that’s giving this crowd way too much credit, given their track record of botching just about every scheme they try to pull off.

So here we are. In the real world, dealing with a REAL WMD threat in North Korea. This is the time that the Bush administration can once and for all show that they’ve got what it takes to sit at the adult table. Cause up until now, this crowd has demonstrated that they are rank amateurs when dealing with real world diplomacy. Saber rattling isn’t going to do it this time. “Wanted dead or alive” or “bring it on” isn’t going to do it. We need solid, competent leadership and skilled diplomatic skills to deal with this serious issue. And what do we have? Dubya and company. God help us all.