Why no liberty for North Koreans?

On the 4th of July -- no doubt as a deliberate slap at the US government -- North Korea conducted a series of missile tests. In total, seven missiles were launched, including one intercontinental missile -- a potential future threat to reach the the United States if its range and accuracy is improved -- called the Taepo Dong 2 (which exploded shortly after launch). According to an article from Jane's Defence Weekly, "While the Taepo Dong 2 failed shortly after lift-off, it is likely to still have provided the North Koreans with valuable experience and some limited data collection."

The issue of a nuclear-capable North Korea with intercontinental ballistic missiles is a major security issue for the United States, and the PR reaction was swift from the White House.


The White House keeps the rhetoric down, foregoes images of mushroom clouds

When the Administration was describing the threat of Saddam, they talked about mushroom clouds over US cities. However, the first post-launch official statement from the White House on the 4th was relatively low key:

"The United States strongly condemns these missile launches and North Korea's unwillingness to heed calls for restraint from the international community."

The statement was followed up by a Tony Snow press briefing today:

"The end state is pretty clear: What you want is a North Korea that renounces nuclear development, that returns to the table, that no longer engages in this kind of activity, this kind of provocative activity."

"There are attempts to try to describe this almost in breathless World War III terms. This is not such a situation. This is a situation in which people are working with a regime in North Korea, trying to reason with a dictator, to step back from provocative activities. "

At a press conference for President Saakashvili of Georgia today, Bush stated:

"The North Korean government can join the community of nations and improve its lot by acting in concert with those who -- with those of us who believe that she shouldn't possess nuclear weapons ..."

"One thing we have learned is that the [Taepo Dong 2] didn't stay up very long and tumbled into the sea, which doesn't, frankly, diminish my desire to solve this problem."

"I view this as an opportunity to remind the international community that we must work together to continue to work hard to convince the North Korean leader to give up any weapons programs."

Why is the North Korea nuclear "problem" not a bigger issue than democracy in Iraq?

While the Administration continues on with its ill-defined mission to bring democracy to Iraq, the North Korea "problem" becomes more of an issue. Unfortunately for the President, the test missile launches came on the same day as his 4th of July speech that outlined why American is fighting in Iraq. Bush stated:

"Our strategy is clear, our goals are easy to understand: We will help Iraq's new leaders, we will help the people of Iraq build a country that can govern itself and sustain itself and defend itself as a free nation. Our troops will help the Iraqi people succeed because it's in our national interests. A free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will make America and the world more secure." 

"Our strategy to protect America is based on a clear premise: The security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations."

"On September the 11th, 2001, we saw that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country. And we learned an important lesson: Decades of excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make it safe."

In addition, in the 2004 Republican Party Platform, party leadership made it clear that:

"We will not allow the world’s most dangerous regimes to possess the world’s most dangerous weapons." 

So, the question of course becomes, why are we not attacking North Korea instead of policing Iraq? The North Korean threat is certainly much more apparent -- the evidence is real. North Korea has a WMD program and t is working on a delivery vehicle which eventually may allow its weapons to reach the US. So, using Bush's own 4th of July comments:

• Why don't the North Koreans deserve liberty? There is obviously no liberty for the 23 million people living in Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) today. Is there something special about the Middle East -- Iraq in particular -- that makes its people more deserving of freedom than North Koreans?
  
  
• Isn't Kim Jong Il and his government one of those "failed and oppressive" regimes that makes the world unsafe? Unlike with Saddaam and Iraq, North Korea and its leader have made it clear through words and deeds that they are seeking WMD capability, as well as the technology needed to deliver warheads across oceans. This isn't about hidden programs and disguised mobile bio labs. Read a CNN.com article here for a recent timeline of the public activities around North Korea and its quest for nuclear arms.
  
  
• Isn't over five decades enough evidence that North Korea should be high up on the Bush to do list? The US fought the forces of North Korea (and China) for three years until the Korean War Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953 (it is still just a cease-fire half a century later). And given the rhetoric that has emerged over the years from the North Korea government, it's safe to say that this country, together with its nuclear and intercontinental ambitions, is a major threat according to anyone's worldview.

So why is the North Korea issue on the backburner and Iraq getting all of our limited resources? This is not an attempt to bash the President, but a real question. Is it because:

• North Korea doesn't have a lot of oil?
  
  
• North Korea would be a tough fight, a fight which might kill tens of thousands of US troops and require a draft?
  
  
• Americans know and care less about North Korea than the Middle East?
  
  
• There's no terrorist/Al Qaeda connection with the DPRK?

Whatever the real reason, it's about time the President started explaining why Iraq is so critical to our security while North Korea is given second-class threat status.