North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il proudly proclaimed that he had successfully tested a nuclear weapon, pessimistically raising many international eyebrows Monday. North Korea, armed with a nuclear missile, now poses a legitimate threat to rival democratic neighbors Japan and South Korea, potentially sparking a global nuclear arms race.
But there’s no need to worry, ladies and gentlemen, President George W. Bush is here. He urgently requested that harsh international sanctions be imposed on North Korea, slamming the North Korean government’s test as “a threat to international peace.” Thanks for clarifying that, George. Nothing gets by you.
Bush even went so far as to denounce the test itself, firing off his dirty mouth yet again by saying: “The proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council.” Kim Jong Il is surely quaking in his boots.
So what happens now? Bush, according to CNN and MSNBC, is likely to ask for the UN Security Council to impose a variety of economic sanctions against North Korea.
Economic sanctions? Is that really the best you can do? So Kim Jong Il and his buddies won’t be able to buy Anchorman online anymore and Snickers bars won’t be available in North Korean supermarkets.
Bush, like the American public, seems to be taking this threat far too lightly considering the severity of the tested weapons. Economic sanctions will not deter Kim Jong Il from keeping his face in the spotlight — no matter what the consequences to the brutally impoverished citizens of North Korea.
Is Kim Jong Il likely to fire a nuclear weapon anytime soon? Probably not. But unfortunately, North Korea joining the umbrella of the dozen or so nuclear powers worldwide, will undoubtedly have too much of a global impact to be ignored. Bush’s rhetoric of simply standing behind a wall of international sanctions will not dishearten a leader with Kim Jong Il’s mindset.
Instead, an immediate visit to the Far East should replace any other plans if world peace really is Bush’s goal. Bush’s simple presence, coupled with gaining an understanding for what North Korea’s neighbors, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia feel is the best way to intervene in this situation.
It may ultimately prove the best solution in such a muddled conflict, sending a strong and clear message that the world will not stand by and watch countries acquire nuclear weapons undisciplined.
It may not sound like much, but it’s better than, as CNN reported, a brief phone call Bush made to North Korea’s neighboring nations. An appropriate answer to the conflict is difficult to come up with, and the United States, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, should step up and take the reigns.
Sure, a couple of days are not nearly enough to judge Bush’s performance in handling the conflict, but the signals he has sent have been discouraging. If Bush can reverse his signals and act appropriately to the serious situation at hand, it will be a victory for United States foreign policy and peace.
More importantly to the United States and its allies, news of yesterday’s test may be the green light that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is so desperately seeking to fully engage in developing nuclear weapons. If Bush and the other world leaders continue to sit around and munch on popcorn while the rest of the world falls into nuclear quicksand, it is inevitable that eventually the nuclear weapons will directly strike the US or one of its allies, and Ahmadinejad’s threat may cause a backfire in the U.S’s complacent foreign policy.
If the world fails to act appropriately on the heels of Monday’s actions, Ahmadinejad likely will make his appearance on the world stage soon enough. As scary as it is to think that North Korea now has a nuclear arsenal at its hands, Iran’s nuclear weapons would dwarf any threat that North Korea poses.
Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the extermination of Israel, denying the events of the Holocaust and vehemently threatening military action against the Jewish state. Under Ahmadinejad’s watch, Iran has also began enriching uranium, a step in developing a nuclear weapon, a goal that Ahmadinejad has stated publicly he is striving for.
No matter how one feels about Israel’s foreign policy, this threat cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, and a passive approach to the current crisis may only guarantee a nuclear showdown in the Middle East.
How the world responds to the international crisis North Korea provoked Monday may dictate how safe a world we will be living in during our lifetimes. And if there’s one thing for certain, international sanctions are not the answer to peace.
Chris Bianchi is a sophomore in the College of Communication and a staff member of The Daily Free Press.