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It seems that Americans, the govenment as well as the people, have a really short memory. We keep repeating the exact same foreign policy mistakes with each and every country we face. Isn't it about time that someone woke up and realized what we're doing?
"Asleep at the switch" seems to be an apt summarization of the situation.
Background
North Korea
The North Korean nuclear missile crisis has been prominently in the news for at least a month now. Most people seem to have forgotten where it all started. After clicking through about 1,000 articles on Wikipedia, I finally found this:
The Agreed Framework between the United States of America and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was signed on October 21, 1994 between North Korea (DPRK) and the United States. The agreement largely broke-down by 2003. The main provisions of the agreement are:
- DPRK's graphite-moderated nuclear power plants, which could easily produce weapons grade plutonium, would be replaced with light water reactor (LWR) power plants by a target date of 2003.
- Oil for heating and electricity production would be provided while DPRK's reactors were shut down, until completion of the first LWR power unit.
- The two sides would move toward full normalization of political and economic relations.
- The U.S. would provide formal assurances to the DPRK, against the threat or use of nuclear weapons by the U.S.
- The DPRK would take steps to implement the Korean Peninsula Denuclearization Declaration.
- The DPRK would remain a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- IAEA ad hoc and routine inspections would resume for facilities not subject to the freeze.
- Existing spent nuclear fuel stocks would be stored and ultimately disposed of without reprocessing in the DPRK.
- Before delivery of key LWR nuclear components, the DPRK would come into full compliance with its safeguards agreement with the IAEA.
There are also some confidential minutes supporting the agreement, which have not been made public.
In the late 20th to early 21st century, North Korea began to defy this treaty. That ended up with North Korea eventually pulling out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act and starting to enrich Uranium. Now we have what we have.
Iran
I'll spare you the long lesson in the history of Iran and just quote some important parts of the History of Iran article in Wikipedia.
After many months of popular protests against the rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee the nation on January 16, 1979. After a period of internal competition over the future of Iran, the contest was eventually won by the alliance led by the Ayatollah Khomeini who supported making Iran a theocratic state. On February 1, 1979, Khomeini returned from France (after 15 years in exile in France, Turkey, and Iraq) overthrowing the shah's government on February 11 and becoming Iran's Supreme Leader.
The new government was extremely conservative. It nationalized industry and restored Islamic traditions in culture and law. Western influences were banned and the existing pro-West elite was quick to join the Shah in exile. There were clashes between rival religious factions and brutal repression quickly became commonplace.
President Rafsanjani was re-elected in 1993 with a more modest majority; some Western observers attributed the reduced voter turnout to disenchantment with the deteriorating economy. Rafsanjani was succeeded in 1997 by the moderate Mohammad Khatami. This led the country into a dangerous rift between a government seeking reform and moderate liberalization against a clergy still extremely conservative. This rift reached a climax in July of 1999, when massive anti-government protests erupted in the streets of Tehran. The disturbances lasted over a week before police and pro-government vigilantes dispersed the crowds. Khatami was re-elected in June of 2001 but his efforts were repeatedly blocked by the religious Guardian Council.
After Khatami's reelection, conservative elements within Iran's government moved to undermine the reformist movement, banning liberal newspapers and disqualifying candidates for parliamentary elections. This clampdown on dissent, combined with the failure of Khatami to reform the government, led to growing political apathy among Iran's youth.
In June 2003, anti-government protests by several thousand students took place in Tehran. Several human rights protests also occurred in 2006.
The ultraconservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was elected president in 2005 in an election that saw the disqualification of over 1,000 candidates by the Guardian Council.
...and so Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the leader of one of the countries in the 'Axis of Evil' came to be.
Mistakes
North Korea
Our first mistake with North Korea was even believing that they would follow the 'agreed framework' between us and them. They obviously didn't.
Next mistake: Trying to impose useless sanctions -- that obviously don't scare them and won't work (and that Russia and China oppose). Actually, running to the UN for anything seems to be a mistake in the last few decades.
How can it look to anyone that sanctions or six-party talks will work for these guys?
Iran
The US and EU are trying to offer incentives to Iran so that they don't enrich their own Uranium and can still produce enough energy. All well and fine, except we've already seen a precedent: North Korea. What makes our administration think that Iran will act any differently than North Korea? Ahmadinejad may be pretty handsome, but we shouldn't fall for his Iranian charm.
Yes, Iran has the right to produce Nuclear Reactors under the NPT for peaceful purposes (such as energy creation), but a country that has a president that has denied the holocaust and said Israel will be "wiped off the map" can hardly be trusted to do so.
The solution?
North Korea
The President should give the order tomorrow to take all of our bombers and bomb any North Korean launchpad. What exactly is there to be afraid of? If we are to believe many prominent Democrats, the US apparently has no credibility around the globe so there's really no reason to try to preserve any at this point. China can't do anything in the current time because their economy needs us. We have to show that we won't just idly sit around when people are threatening us. No, violence is not always the best option, but it's also never good to be a paper tiger.
Why is it that North Korea builds these missiles in utter defiance of all treaties and agreements they've signed in the past? Because they know nothing will happen. The US will talk about "diplomatic solutions", the EU will talk about "co-operation", and I'm not quite sure what the UN will talk about but it won't be productive.
Iran
Now the Iran situation is something that really baffles me and I'm not sure what to do about it. I challenge the readers of Newsvine to think of something.
In my opinion we should at least establish a few permanent military bases in Iraq and have some bombers patrolling the Iraq-Iran border to turn up the heat and let Iran know that we can do anything at the drop of a pin.
I see Iran as North Korea was in the early 90s. It's in practically the same situation. Now, do we want to have Iran testing nuclear missiles in 10 years too? Or will it matter, since North Korea will keep launching theirs as well?
Thank you for reading this slightly guided mind dump.
All content from Wikipedia is released under the GFDL. Any other uncited text is mine; feel free to quote from it, but please ask for permission before reproducing in its entirety.
