North Korea is upset, and the United States needs to do something to repair our relationship with the country, regardless of who is right.
It's time for the United States to get down on its knees because, in the nuclear-weapon relationship game, you can't just make up later.
With North Korea publicly boasting on Thursday that it has "nukes," and with peace talks nonexistent, we need to give up the stubborn, tough guy act and start playing to North Korea's interests. That means first removing the bans on free fuel oil shipments to the country and, most importantly, trying to be a little more tactful.
Although it's been a while since President Bush has labeled North Korea as part of the "axis of evil," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently managed to call it an "outpost of tyranny." To say the least, both were damning public relations moves on the United States' part.
Officials in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, didn't take these statements lightly, considering their latest message seems boastful and lacks thoughtfulness about the consequences of unleashing doomsday weapons upon the United States or South Korea.
At least prior to this, during the Clinton administration, we were at the bargaining table. Korea hasn't been part of nuclear proliferation talks since early 2003 - right after sanctions were imposed.
Oh, and while playing nice with North Korea, the United States might want to at least begin some sort of peaceable discussions with Iran about its weapons capabilities.
The European Union has been making efforts to communicate with Iran, which claims not to be arming. Unfortunately, the message from the White House is a subtle reference about not ruling out any option when trying to stop Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
It's sick to think this country could be plunged into another war when there is a concerted European effort to established a nonaggression pact. All of these nuclear fears are frightening enough to evoke a Cold War atmosphere. What's more scary? The country that brags about having nukes or the one that pretends not to?
It's preposterous that Rice would downplay the significance of North Korea's threats by calling it "rhetoric." With the hopes of simply saying, "Oh, don't look over here," the Bush administration is trying to pull a fast one on the American people. Hello, nuclear weapons, city-flattening explosions, radiation-soaked wastelands, incomprehensible amount of carnage - don't be fooled.
North Korea is a country with nothing to lose. It develops nuclear weapons while its people live in poverty.
Needless to say, we're not in military position to go after North Korea or Iran. The United States can't find enough troops to station in Iraq. As it should have been before the Iraq war, negotiation is the only choice. Considering that North Korea does have weapons, and the possibility Iran might, the United States needs to be the bigger country.
