The spin over at The Blog Queen surrounding the recent announcement about North Korea has been pretty pathetic. The Vodka Pundit also took a swipe at Clinton. It is blame Clinton 24/7 with these people all over again. Jeez, can't these guys come up with anything new? I have emailed Mr. Sullivan many times and asked him why the Bush Administration chose to keep this info silent until after the Congressional vote. But he has yet to provide me with an answer. I find it very disturbing that no one from the Right is talking about this, or even trying to justify it. This information quite possibly would have changed the vote.
More importantly, I have also been trying to figure out why the Bush Adminstration has created this crisis. I am a frequent reader of STRATFOR as most of you know. I read their take on this whole thing. Generally, I find their information very reliable. It isn't politically correct information, to be sure, but it is very value neutral. They do not, as far as I can tell, have any axe to grind. They are simply analysing the global situation from a hard-nosed realistic position. Becuase STRATFOR is a pay site I will post the most important sections of their North Korea crisis post here:
Through the timing of the statement, Washington has made the status of North Korea and its weapons programs a key element for the Jiang-Bush talks. This renewed U.S. focus on North Korea is in part a tactic toward getting China's cooperation on, or at least acquiescence to, a United Nations resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. In essence, Washington is telling Beijing that if the United States doesn't get to deal with Iraq, a key member of the so-called axis of evil, then it will turn its sites on North Korea, another evil axis charter member.
Plausible, yes. But I am still not convinced. Rumors have it that the Bush Administration also "told" the Japanese a similar story. Basically that the Japanese and the South Koreans need to take care of this issue, as it is in their neighborhood.
But the release of this information (aside from the obvious delay to prevent Congress from knowing) is just disturbing. Why would the Bush Adminstration broadcast information to our European and Arab allies that possibly indicates that we will deal with identical threats in a wholly inconsistent manner? The Bush Adminstration is not making the job of U.N. approval any easier. Unless of course, and I shudder to say this, the Bush Adminstration is actively trying to undermine the U.N. I just do not see any logic in this. Anywhere.
Posted by Sean-Paul @ 10/18/2002 02:34 PM
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