"regarded as a failure of the Bush.. nuclear nonproliferation policy"

[rodeodance]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/09/AR2006100900047.html

Reported Test 'Fundamentally Changes the Landscape' for U.S. Officials

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 9, 2006; Page A14

North Korea's apparent nuclear test last night may well be regarded as a failure of the Bush administration's nuclear nonproliferation policy.

Since George W. Bush became president, North Korea has restarted its nuclear reactor and increased its stock of weapons-grade plutonium, so it may now have enough for 10 or 11 weapons, compared with one or two when Bush took office.


North Korea's test could also unleash a nuclear arms race in Asia, with Japan and South Korea feeling pressure to build nuclear weapons for defensive reasons.

Yet a number of senior U.S. officials have said privately that they would welcome a North Korean test, regarding it as a clarifying event that would forever end the debate within the Bush administration about whether to solve the problem through diplomacy or through tough actions designed to destabilize North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's grip on power.

Now U.S. officials will push for tough sanctions at the U.N. Security Council, and are considering a raft of largely unilateral measures, including stopping and inspecting every ship that goes in and out of North Korea.

[IamyourTVandIownyou]

1. Axis of E-vil

Published on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 by the Los Angeles Times

'Axis of Evil' Rhetoric Said to Heighten Dangers
Many foreign policy observers think Bush's phrasing, although effective on the home front, caused serious damage abroad

by Maura Reynolds

WASHINGTON -- It was a catchy phrase. Perhaps too catchy.

A year after President Bush used the State of the Union address to declare Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil," the phrase has taken on a life of its own. With this year's address scheduled for Jan. 28 and the U.S. on the cusp of war with Iraq, the legacy of the "axis of evil" weighs heavily on the speechwriters and policy-makers hard at work on Bush's speech.

Even critics agree that the "axis of evil" was a clever piece of rhetoric in explaining the president's policies to the American people. But as foreign policy, there is wide consensus that it exacerbated the dangers it attempted to contain.

"It was a speechwriter's dream and a policy-maker's nightmare," said Warren Christopher, secretary of State under President Clinton.


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0121-03.htm

[rodeodance]

2. wish it were the real headline