How Are Those Six Party Talks Going Mr. Bush?

George W. Bush is on a roll, making the world safer through belligerence toward and bombing of non-threats while ignoring and inciting the real ones.  With a president like him, who needs enemies?

North Korea today conducted its first nuclear weapons test, setting the world on edge and proving yet again how dangerous the Bush administration has turned out to be.  Not only did George W. Bush turn his back on diplomatic efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, he also handed Kim Jong-il the perfect basis for marketing his new toy to his country and allies.  North Korea is going with the “Bush administration made me do it” defense and who in the world won’t understand, at least in some way, the argument that nuclear weapons are the only real deterrent to an unlawful US invasion?  I’m not buying it, but many citizens of the world will and not without reason.

This is a sad day for nuclear non-proliferation efforts and peace activists everywhere.  It’s hard not to see this as the beginnings of a new nuclear arms race, but this time it will be far more complicated as it won’t be limited to two superpowers.  The idea that nuclear weapons will provide a deterrent against imperial invasion will resonate, especially in countries that possess natural resources appealing to US companies.  The citizens of the world are not as ignorant as are US citizens of the tactics used by this country to gain control of and exploit resources that don’t belong to us.  When the Soviet Union collapsed, there was a sense around the world that the US would be a responsible Super Power, that we would wield our singular power wisely, but that was back when much of the world still trusted us.  That is not the case anymore, thanks to our diplomatically challenged President.

So what happens now?  Is South Korea going to put at risk their economy by taking military action?  Is Japan going to be forced to overturn their pacifist constitution in order to join the arms race for fear of suffering again what they did at the hands of America sixty years ago?  Is Iran going to be emboldened by North Korea’s defiance?  Will North Korea provide cover for Iran?  Is it time to choose up sides and dive headfirst into the new nuclear age and World War III that the Bush administration seems hellbent on sparking?  Or will the American people finally wake up to the fact that our leader is just as crazy as Kim Jong-il?

That the world became a lot more dangerous today can be laid squarely at the feet of this president.  Bush chose to ignore the real threats in favor of manufactured ones.  He chose aggression over diplomacy and in the process destroyed our reputation, sacrificed our safety, ignited anti-Americanism around the world and caused a re-alignment of allegiances that is increasingly putting us at odds with the rest of the world.  Bush has proven that we cannot be trusted to use our singular Super Power status responsibly, how dare we be surprised that the world is reacting accordingly.  At this point, the best we can hope for is that we have enough goodwill in reserve to repair the damage, but we can only cash in on that reserve if we do something about our tyrant in the White House.  If we rein him in soon, we may still get credit, but time is running out, and fast.