North Korean Nuclear Test and Defeating Iran

As the world now knows, North Korea has openly conducted a nuclear test. Some experts have questioned its success, but whether fully accomplished or not, the Communist state's intention is clear - to brandish nuclear bombs as an offensive weapon.

Writers from around the web have commented on the launch, from those who worry greatly, to others who virtually discount it, to yet others who write about larger implications and its relevance to American politics. Collectively, it seems, almost every viewpoint can be found.

Without too much rehashing, then, I'd like to offer my own perspective. America, I believe, can live with a nuclear North Korea. It's far from ideal, but we can likely manage the situation with proper deterrents, similar to those used against the Soviet Union.

What the U.S. also *must* do, though, is learn from its North Korea mistakes, so to stop a much more dangerous repeat with Iran.

Throughout the 1990s, as North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il announced his nuclear aspirations, President Clinton responded diplomatically, signing a non-nuclear pact with him that naively demonstrated America's trust in his promises of peaceful intentions. Of course, however, Kim lied through his teeth, commencing atomic development the moment the ink was dry. The end result, to say the least, has been that a vicious anti-American state has gained power, its democratic neighbors Japan and South Korea feel existentially threatened, the entire region risks an unstable nuclear arms race, and terrorists have gained a potential WMD supplier. To call these developments a gigantic risk to the free world is an understatement.

And if we think that's bad, we could be headed for deja vu all over again with Iran, unless America and the West approach the fanatical Mullahs much more strongly. We cannot risk such weapons in the hands of rulers who aim to be even more tyrannical than Kim.

The lesson, therefore, couldn't be more clear: Autocratic regimes cannot be trusted in negotiations, and any ruler who openly declares a desire to attack the United States holds a perfectly serious intent. Negotiating with Iran is an absolute capitulation to the Mullahs' goals. America's only choice is to push for regime change and/or attack the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities. These measures may seem harsh and risky, but they utterly pale compared to the world war that could occur otherwise.

President Clinton's foreign policy greatly failed with North Korea. President Bush has the chance to correct such mistakes. For the sake of the entire free world, he must immediately get moving.