Stay the course

By Creature

Looks like the Bush administration has decided to stay the course with North Korea as well.

In Washington, President Bush said the missile tests have further isolated North Korea from the rest of the world, which he said was "sad for the people of North Korea." In a low-key response to the tests, he called on the Pyongyang government to "verifiably abandon" its nuclear weapons program and indicated that the United States would continue to work with other nations -- including China and Russia -- to find a diplomatic solution to the issue.

So, the president gave a "low-key" response. I guess The New York Times gets the president much more riled up than a little missile launch. You know, call me crazy, but maybe the Bush administration should try a different course in North Korea since the present course of more nukes and missile tests is working out so well. I don't know what the change in course should be -- I make my cash Bush bashing, not figuring out foreign policy -- but maybe even face to face talks could be an option. I'm not saying it's the best idea, and I do believe it's really up to China to rein in Kim Jung-il, all I'm saying is change the damn course already.

I also find it interesting that the Bush administration is trying so hard to portray this as an international incident, where diplomacy is key. The difference between the march to war in Iraq and the stumbling to talks in North Korea is truly striking.

Mr. Bush's remarks, delivered as he met in the Oval Office with President Mikhail Saakasvili of Georgia, seemed calibrated to point out a failure in the North Korean experiment while reiterating the United States' concern over the launches. [emphasis me]

If Saddam had launched these missiles, whether they failed or not, the administration would be touting the launch as Armageddon. There would be mushroom clouds on Meet the Press. And there would be a Secretary of State addressing the world with a no-options-but-war message. But no, this is crazy Kim Jung-il, he's the uncle you have a laugh over, but war, nah. This crazy ol' uncle has no oil.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)