North Korean Nuclear Test Marks another Failure of Bush, Republicans and P

[stevenleser]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_061009_north_korean_nuclear.htm

October 9, 2006 at 06:29:42

North Korean Nuclear Test Marks another Failure of Bush, Republicans and PNAC/NeoCons

by Steven Leser

It is getting difficult to keep up with the negative consequences of Republican control of the branches of our government. North Korea and its unpredictable and possibly insane leader delivered another ugly consequence yesterday when they test detonated a nuclear device underground.

There are two reasons North Korea performed this test. First, they were relatively sure of no immediate military response by the United States. Like Iran, North Korea knows that the bulk of the US Military and its all important supplies and logistics are tied up with the Iraqi conflict. Second, countries look at the world the US has created over the last six years and feel that the threat of military action by either the US or other enemies has increased. Whether that sentiment and the fear it suggests is real or the suggestions a convenient excuse, we know one thing for sure. The world for the past six years under American leadership has seen a marked increase in militarism and war. The countries we identified as dangerous have become more serious threats since this administration took office.

Republicans and their blogs, like Free Republic, will likely file this article under cutesy headings like "All Bush's Fault"; categories they have created to attempt to throw ridicule at accusations they feel are unfairly directed at the President. The problem for them is, those of us on the progressive left predicted this and warned them, the administration, the GOP congress, etc. four years ago that the world would militarize in response to the US becoming more warlike.

Nothing the US does happens in a vacuum. The world watches and responds. If the US leads toward peace, the world becomes more peaceful. If the US leads to war, the world militarizes and arms itself. You cannot accuse us of inappropriately blaming Bush and the GOP if we correctly predicted this would happen because of Bush and Republican actions.

I agree with one thing the Freepers were saying a few months ago. They said that over the last few decades, administrations fall into one of two categories, administrations that put the State department ahead of the Defense department in priority, and vice versa. They identified the administrations of Nixon, Ford, Carter, George H. W. Bush and Clinton as being 'State Department' focused, and the administrations of Reagan and George W. Bush as run from a Defense/military standpoint. That may be an astute observation. Of course, I differ with the Freepers as to which is preferable. They admire Reagan and 'W.' for seeming to put more emphasis on Defense and war making. I admire the other Presidents for trying to make peace.

This administration is reaping the rewards of its many mistakes and a fully nuclear North Korea is but one of these. The GOP Congress was along for the ride with the administration at every turn and also must be held accountable. If you are keeping count, we have the cover up of Foley's pedophilia, the Abramoff scandal, failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now a nuclear North Korea and those are just off the top of my head. It is no wonder the American people are poised to make a change.