Most of the world is focused on events occurring on a daily basis in Iran. While that is certainly understandable, there is another dangerous situation going on that we all must pay attention to. North Korea presents a real threat to the security of the world.
Kim Jong-il, the present leader of North Korea is clearly mentally unbalanced. He heads a secretive, communist regime which tolerates no dissent. North Korea’s economy is in shambles. The country has been hit by natural disasters, poor planning and a failure to modernize. Aid agencies have estimated that up to two million people have died in North Korea since the mid 1990s because of severe food shortages.
In 2002, the tyrannical Kim-Jong-il, added to the misery of his people by announcing that he had decided to reactivate a nuclear reactor and to expel international inspectors. The United Nations has made feeble and weak attempts to deal with the continuing threat of North Korea to become a nuclear power. As the United Nations spends time drafting a really strong letter in its traditionally meaningless and misguided dysfunction, the burden remains on the United States and China to find a way to contain the growing threat posed by North Korea.
North Korea has nothing to lose. Vice President Biden said that President Obama would be tested by foreign leaders within six months of becoming President. It hasn’t taken that long. It’s a dangerous situation to have a nation such as North Korea hold the capacity to launch a nuclear weapon. It’s equally dangerous when that country is led by a maniacal dictator, who is accountable to no one, even his own people. When both are present it becomes a crisis.
Today the United States Navy is tracking a North Korean ship, believed to be carrying dangerous nuclear materials. Unfortunately, our Navy is being restricted from taking any action by the inept United Nations, which has adopted language requiring any Government wishing to inspect a cargo, to ask permission to do so. The UN resolution says that vessels suspected of breaking the embargo must undergo inspection, either on the high seas or at port. But any inspection depends on the cooperation of a ship’s captain.
How the Obama Administration handles this situation will tell the American people a lot about what we can expect from the President in dealing with foreign crisis. We can only hope that while President Obama is busy running car companies and banks he doesn’t forget that the world is a very dangerous place, especially when an unbalanced dictator is launching missiles and setting off underground nuclear tests just because he wants to.
Kim Jong-il, the present leader of North Korea is clearly mentally unbalanced. He heads a secretive, communist regime which tolerates no dissent. North Korea’s economy is in shambles. The country has been hit by natural disasters, poor planning and a failure to modernize. Aid agencies have estimated that up to two million people have died in North Korea since the mid 1990s because of severe food shortages.
In 2002, the tyrannical Kim-Jong-il, added to the misery of his people by announcing that he had decided to reactivate a nuclear reactor and to expel international inspectors. The United Nations has made feeble and weak attempts to deal with the continuing threat of North Korea to become a nuclear power. As the United Nations spends time drafting a really strong letter in its traditionally meaningless and misguided dysfunction, the burden remains on the United States and China to find a way to contain the growing threat posed by North Korea.
North Korea has nothing to lose. Vice President Biden said that President Obama would be tested by foreign leaders within six months of becoming President. It hasn’t taken that long. It’s a dangerous situation to have a nation such as North Korea hold the capacity to launch a nuclear weapon. It’s equally dangerous when that country is led by a maniacal dictator, who is accountable to no one, even his own people. When both are present it becomes a crisis.
Today the United States Navy is tracking a North Korean ship, believed to be carrying dangerous nuclear materials. Unfortunately, our Navy is being restricted from taking any action by the inept United Nations, which has adopted language requiring any Government wishing to inspect a cargo, to ask permission to do so. The UN resolution says that vessels suspected of breaking the embargo must undergo inspection, either on the high seas or at port. But any inspection depends on the cooperation of a ship’s captain.
How the Obama Administration handles this situation will tell the American people a lot about what we can expect from the President in dealing with foreign crisis. We can only hope that while President Obama is busy running car companies and banks he doesn’t forget that the world is a very dangerous place, especially when an unbalanced dictator is launching missiles and setting off underground nuclear tests just because he wants to.
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