North Korea Warned

Secretary of State Condi Rice has warned there will be consequences to a scheduled missile test by North Korea. Frankly I doubt North Korea is shaking in its boots at the warning. The Commies from Korea have whined and temper tantrumed their way to extortion successfully in the past. Success breads a game plan that is executed until it does not work. At this point I cannot think of any unilateral solutions that would change North Korea.

The ONLY diplomacy that would be effective is a united multilateral confrontation from America, Russia and Red China. The later two have been having a hay day in doing what is possible to be a thorn in America’s side for their own national interests.

The West’s (i.e. Japan, America, South Korea, Canada and Australia) unilateral choice is an option that “Appeasers” in the West are not willing to take. The fear of confrontation is too great.

So what is left is the waiting game. The strategy of waiting for your enemy to make a move so that a decision can be made excluding fear mongering “Appeasement” mentality.

The inspiration for these thoughts have come from CATO, a libertarian oriented think tank:
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North Korea Warned

"Governments opposed to North Korea's apparent plan to test a long-range missile stepped up a diplomatic drive to stop the launch, issuing a barrage of warnings to the reclusive nation and threatening retaliation if it goes ahead," reports the Associated Press. "North Korea appears to be on the verge of test-firing a missile capable of reaching the United States, a prospect that has alarmed Washington and put the region on alert. Pyongyang was silent on the launch, but vowed to bolster its military deterrent."

In "Keeping Our Eye on the Ball Regarding North Korea," Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, writes, "North Korea's continuing development of nuclear weapons is one of the most serious security challenges the United States faces. Ending Pyongyang's emerging nuclear-weapons capability is an important U.S. interest. That is why it is so critical for American policymakers to keep their priorities straight."

Carpenter continues, "Washington's policy should focus like a laser on achieving a settlement that would excise North Korea's nuclear-weapons capability. Improving the abysmal human rights situation in North Korea, or achieving regime change in that long-suffering country, may be desirable in the abstract, but U.S. leaders cannot let those goals interfere with the more crucial objective of nuclear disarmament. If it is possible to conclude an agreement for the complete, verifiable and irreversible end to that country's nuclear threat, we would be foolish indeed to spurn that opportunity."