Thursday, October 12, 2006

French Claim NK Nuke Test Failed: Meanwhile The Blame Game Continues

The AP is reporting that France is claiming the North Korea Nuke test was a failure.


France said outright for the first time Wednesday that North Korea's proclaimed nuclear test produced such a small blast that it must have failed, and analysts warned such challenging talk could lead Pyongyang to try again.

Now, many on both ends of the spectrum are not completely understanding that this is a sticky issue. As usual, both ends are pointing fingers at each other, ad nauseum. But if we stop and think about it for a minute, it really doesn't matter. This is not going to bring about a resolution to this.

What makes this so sticky is illustrated, by the snippet I cite from the article. France made their findings public and critics have a valid point. The point being, saying that they know the test was a dud, may incite them to try again. One cannot argue with this rationale, especially knowing how erratic this guy can be.

But there is another side to this argument that those same critics must also understand. It is critical that governments speak to their people frankly to dispel fears when necessary, and only if that be the truth. By not informing the public, there is that chance that fear and panic could set in, and affect a lot of things that could cause more problems than what we already have.

Sometimes you have to weigh this thing out, there is no cut and dried right answer here. If nothing was said (by anyone that knew) and people were to go into a panic, what kind of anger would that provoke? How upset would that make you, if you found out the government knew something that could alleviate your fears in the face of a real and present danger, and they didn't tell you?

The bottom line here is this, it matters not that the French went public with this information. Kim Jung Il is going to do what he wants to do, at least until countries like China and Russia get tough with him. They desperately need to communicate the fact that if they continue to threaten the US, Japan, and South Koreans, it will be a serious mistake.

The Chinese and the Russians have to understand that by letting this go on, it will disturb the world markets everywhere, eventually. That means that both nations will suffer, as well. Doing nothing is only going to reinforce the behavior.

In this country, finger pointing will not work either. The right is blaming Clinton for allowing Kim to blackmail the United States. The left is blaming Bush for not adhering to the deal. Clinton and Carter worked out a deal in good faith, Kim reneged on his part of the deal (plain and simple). Bush is not Clinton nor Carter, and is choosing not to allow Kim to blackmail us.

The person(s) to blame here is (are) not Bush, not Clinton, and not Carter. Kim Jong Il is the person to blame. But since it's an election year, the finger pointing is rampant. It's time to stop the petty childish blame game and move towards a solution. Instead of tearing down, it's time to put some heads together and come up with some real options.

7 comments:

All_I_Can_Stands said...

China and Russia also play a game. Every chance they get to stick it to the US, they do. Now AP is reporting that they are opposing sanctions. Nor do they propose any solution except more diplomacy.

I think that China has enough pull over Il, if they chose to exercise it.

I do think that sanctions against a dictatorship is not effective. The power hungry ruler is fine seeing the people suffer as long as can keep doing what their ego drives them to do.

LA Sunset said...

AICS,

China and Russia also play a game. Every chance they get to stick it to the US, they do.//

They want us weakened. Their goal is to overtake the U.S. in every department. That's been clear since 1949 for China and before WWII for Russia. If we are not careful, China will do it, too.

Mark said...

Kim Jong Il is just a ronrey guy, no that Madeline Chamberlain (or is that Neville Albright...) doesn't come to visit him anymore.

On a slightly more serious note, this recent CNN article doesn't even mention Kim Jong Il by name.

The Clinton News Network seems ready to place blame.

LA Sunset said...

Mark,

CNN has a way of depersonalizing the news, among other things.

Σ. Alexander said...

As on the Islamic terrorists issue, Clinton needs to explain his policy to North Korea. This is not a blame game. Just to satisfy political accountability, and learn lessons for the future.

LA Sunset said...

Shah,

//learn lessons for the future.//

It's hard to learn lessons for the future, when people insist on re-visiting the past. Never forget the past, but we cannot live in it. We have to look at the "here and now" aspect in all of this. We have to see it as, "this is what we have (or where we are), and this is what we need to do about it".

Easy French said...

Only time will tell...