David Re..but I can't imagine Bush 41 or Bush 43 entering into the same agreement without a more intensive verifiability aspect.
Frankly, I think you are nitpicking here. Yes Bill and Margret painted themselves in a corner with their "take out the reactors" threats. When NK didn't flinch, he got desperate and called Jimmy to bail him out. This was probably as good as it was going to get at that point. To say Bush 41 would have played it differently; thats questionable. The pact may have been different, but the aims probably would have stayed the same as always; contain NK until it can be dealt with. GW is now playing the strongest hand of any preceding president, so of course he will do differently now. Bill might have also with the same circumstances.
One nuke is sufficient to allow NK or anyone else to hold the world hostage.
Hostage, possible, but unlikely. You should remember that the US has over 5000 nukes; so 1 nuke isn't all that fearsome. Without that pact, NK might have had five by now, and that would have approached hostage territory for many countries, but the US stared the USSR's 5000 down with our 7000 at one time. So in perspective, 1 is miniscule by our historical standards.
On 9/11, everything changed. Thus, the so called "Bush Doctrine", that has the liberals in a panic, is warranted and necessary. Today, we know that we MUST take pre-emptive action when necessary to protect our interests and those of our allies.
Agreed.
This is a very high stakes crap game. We don't know WHAT NK may do.
Whatever Kim IL does, it won't change the inevitable. Once China considers NK too much trouble for the benefits, Kim is history. KIm may be stupid, but not that dumb, so as to think he can go against the US and China with his one or two measly bombs. My bet is that within a month, China will put its foot down and decide the NK problem, without the US having to fire a shot. And I would be willing to say that within 2 yrs, SK will be seriously negotiating to annex NK mainly on SK terms, as that will be China's best way out. That would stem China's financial and diplomatic loses, bring in positive political accolades, and get the US troops off the peninsula, as they will no longer be needed. |
