Is that a launch-pad in your pocket?

By Chris Stevenson

Don’t expect Bush to invade nations that have the bomb (and leaders as looney as himself).

I don’t often listen to Al Franken-not that I don’t like him or his show, he is actually better than I anticipated, kind of like a talk radio version of the Grateful Dead-but one Sunday morning I was listening to a repeat, and a caller suggested that all middle eastern countries be given a nuclear bomb. His theory was this would foster mutual respect and detonante among nations with each other, no doubt part of his vision was based on the fact that the US has many bombs, and other nations knowing this, would be enough to prevent them from using their one or two on us. Even Franken himself thought the idea was insane, but Joe-six-pack (a legion of mostly blue collar White males with simple answers on the most complicated issues) has always missed the point on current and historical affairs. Remember during the ‘60’s Joe felt the best way to end the Vietnam war, was to nuke Vietnam (north and south). He didn’t realize the Soviets were backing the North Vietnamese, which would have put us in big trouble. Even today Joe-six-pack still thinks Vietnam was a war on communism, and the American occupation in Iraq is actually a war on terrorism (Joe also thinks there’s a “war on drugs,” but that’s a subject for a different column). What did Joe say when back in ‘03 George W. Bush pledged to concentrate on Iraq even though North Korea had just sent two UN weapons inspectors packing? What did Joe say this past 4th of July when North Korea fired seven medium-range missiles, and one long range Taepodong-2 missile (said to be capable of reaching the US west coast). Joe’s penchant for oversimplification on that missile firing is probably right on target however, because there is little doubt that its ruler Kim Jong II was sending a message, a deadly message that began long before July 4th.

The 1/13/03 “Time” magazine feature on Jong II revealed some pretty II quirks: “Kim likes to stage surprises, not receive them.” Others simply dismiss him as a madman, blaming him for the death of millions of his own people in a terrible famine brought on by drought and economic mismanagement. And then there is the time he ordered the kidnapping of two Korean filmmakers; Shin Sana-Ok and his wife, Choi Eun-Hee, to make pro-communist flicks in 1978 (including his own adaptation of Godzilla).

Others like Jerrold Post of George Washington UniversityClinton advisor Derek Mitchell as saying, “people talk about North Korea being crazy, but its not. Its purely rational for a nation with no assets being threatened by the world’s major power, to develop insurance against attack.” But those words were back in ‘03, is it rational to even fire duds toward the USNorth KoreaUSSouth Korea. W’s father then-president George H.W. initially agreed and kept his end of the bargain. In ‘98 North Korea broke the agreement by firing a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan without warning, and by withholding information regarding secret nuclear labs. At some point the US stopped shipping fuel oil to North Korea. Issues with Israel, Iraq and Iran say “he’s crazy like a fox.” The “Time” article quotes former on Independence Day? Some time ago before was tagged as part of the “Axis of Evil,” they signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and demanded the withdrawal its nukes stationed in evidently take more priority with the Bush administration. Jong H’s 7/4 Taepodong-2 wasn’t scheduled to be ready until 2015. How much time do we really have?