North Korea caused a rouse last week when it announced that it had developed and intended to produce nuclear warheads, partly as a deterrent to American invasion. North Korean officials also stated that it had no interest in continuing with the six-nation talks led by the United States and China. Instead, North Korea wants to resume bilateral negotiations with the United States – a request the White House historically has denied.
This is very serious news, but the White House has been downplaying the importance of this discovery. Many have known for a long time that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il, has been developing a nuclear arsenal. Downplaying the news is the least the Bush administration can do, after blowing several chances to put the situation in check. A series of avoidable errors from President Bush has led to this situation, and now the White House is trying to play damage control on the American people. All of the energies now expended to undermine the severity of the situation should have been used to lure North Korea from its nuclear ambition in the past.
The Bush administration’s attitude toward North Korea has been ineffective. Rather than implore North Korea to abandon its nuclear production, the United States’ unyielding aggression isolated the North Koreans and forced them to produce nuclear bombs. This apparent lack of diplomacy has continued to haunt the Bush administration.
Two years ago, in an irrational show of guts and toughness, Bush declared North Korea as one of the three nations in the “axis of evil” and then proceeded to invade Iraq, one of the partners in the “axis of evil.” It didn’t take long for North Korean to figure things out, and they hastened production of nuclear weapons. In the very least, North Korea believes that acquiring nuclear weapons will reduce the chances of their country being next on the U.S. invasion list. In his display of arrogance, Bush forgot that sometimes it is indeed wise to be slow to speak. North Korea reacted to Bush’s words by kicking out international inspectors from it nuclear plants to begin nuclear bomb production.
Considering North Korea’s unwelcome announcement last week, the eye of the storm has expanded, now covering Asia, as well as the Middle East. North Korea now becomes a problem for South Korea, China and Japan – creating another unstable situation, as is in the Middle East. Soon, these nations might succumb to the effects of their paranoia and get into a nuclear arms race.
The situation only gets worse, considering that the United States now is designing more nuclear bombs to add to its arsenal already containing thousands. It is very surprising that the United States continues to design these bombs while trying to deter other nations from doing the same. The Bush administration should know that our non-allies feel threatened when we continue to stockpile these weapons. Why are weapons being designed if there are no plans of war or invasions? This is a question nations such as Iran and North Korea want answered. The design of these new-age nuclear bombs, combined with the overt threats from Bush toward unfriendly nations, could lead to a global arms race.
Many observers have argued that the United States has no choice but to protect itself by designing more effective nuclear weapons. However, no nation would be able to survive a nuclear war. It is best to prevent any confrontation that will lead to a nuclear war – a war where the winners and losers end up the same. The number of causalities, especially civilian deaths, would be tremendous. It would mirror a situation akin to using grenades in a bar brawl.
The United States should focus its energy on making sure that other nations abandon their nuclear aspirations and on reducing the chances of those deadly weapons finding their way to the hands of terrorists through the black market. Bush should be quick to learn from his mistakes, and Americans need to know that he has a brilliant plan that they can support. We are all in this together, so it is imperative for the Bush administration to get its priorities right. It is important that we bring North Korea back to the negotiating table. Diplomacy is the only way forward, and it should be the No. 1 option for the Bush administration.
Idahosa Osaretin is a junior in electrical and computer engineering. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
