July 10, 2006 at 00:35:20

Does Kim Jung Il read the newspapers?

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By Mike Whitney (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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The media focuses exclusively on the bizarre personality of Kim Jung Il rather than historical facts which might clarify the real issues. What possible difference does it make if Kim is an oddball or not? The lazy media is simply demonizing him to divert attention from the facts. In 1994 the Bill Clinton committed to the "Framework Agreement"; a deal which promised to provide food, fuel and 2 light-water nuclear reactors in exchange for North Korea's abandoning its nuclear weapons programs. The North agreed to these terms but the U.S. HAS NEVER HONORED ITS OBLIGATIONS. This isn't information that we should expect to read in the newspapers since it clearly shows that America is responsible for the current standoff.

When Bush took office in 2000, he rejected the idea of any engagement with the North and derided the Clinton plan as "blackmail". The consequences of this reversal in policy are obvious. The intelligence agencies now believe that the North has enough fissile material for between 2 to 8 nuclear warheads and is currently developing the required delivery-systems.

By any standard, the Bush policy has been an utter flop. Now, the "war president" has decided to maximize his failure by pushing for tough sanctions at the Security Council. The prospect of cutting of food and energy supplies to starving civilians never seems to lose its appeal for the plutocrats and corporate kingpins in the Bush administration. The human suffering it creates is never even seriously considered.

Fortunately, Russia and China are blocking Bush's attempt to get a resolution passed in the Security Council. The bumbling Bush diplomatic team has not been able to get support for "punitive action" and will have to settle for a presidential statement which has no real binding authority. It is an innocuous slap on the wrist without meaning or consequences.

Bush was looking for broad consensus, but ended up looking foolish and impotent once again.

Increasingly, nations are drifting away from Washington; a phenomenon that would cause concern among serious political heavyweights, but leaves the blockheads in the administration completely clueless. Washington's "soft-power" has eroded more rapidly than its "moral authority" and without any tangible reward. It has been jettisoned as extra-baggage, unnecessary for the world's greatest military. The Bush team doesn't seem to grasp that they are already bogged down and overextended in both Afghanistan and Iraq. They still see themselves as riding a wave of American invincibility, but that wave is quickly diminishing to a trickle.

The North Korea flap has further exposed the cracks and fissures in Fortress America. Bush is unable to cobble together a coalition for even the most straightforward crisis. While Condi and Bolton stomp around waving their hands in the air, China and Russia are shrugging the whole thing off like yesterday's news. The growing distrust among the allies has never been greater. America's leadership is not being challenged as much as it is being ignored. No one is marching eagerly with the superpower anymore. That's the unfortunate price that we pay for leading the world in human rights abuse and aligning with the Middle East pit-bull, Israel.

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Mike is a freelance writer living in Washington state.

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