Krauthhammer spins again
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One of the proudest achievements of the Clinton administration was the Agreed Framework with North Korea. Clinton assured us that it froze the North Korean nuclear program. North Korea gave us a piece of paper promising to freeze; we gave North Korea 500,000 tons of free oil every year and set about building — also for free — two huge $2 billion nuclear power plants that supposedly could be used only to produce electricity. Japan and South Korea were induced to give tons of foreign aid as well, Clinton being the committed multilateralist, even in extortion.
The promise, of course, was backed by inspections - inspections that George W. Bush waived! Clinton did not take the North Korean word, he “trust[ed], but verif[ied]”. Except, of course, that Bush decided not to verify. Now, we are reaping the rewards of that curious, and curiously un-remarked upon, act of appeasement by Bush.
Krauthammer knows this, of course, but why let the truth get in the way of a good screed?
Krauthammer’s point, such as it is, is that “power” is the only way to achieve anything in the international arena. Nonsense. With inspectors, it is very likely that North Korea would not have been able to get away with building its weapons, for example. The peace in Northern Ireland was brought about by diplomacy. Even if it is faltering, it has not collapsed, and the level of violence is drastically reduced. Krauthammer neglects to mention that while the talks were ongoing, Palestinian terrorism was greatly reduced. Krauthammer also forgets to mention that the Bush campaign was telling the Israelis not to ‘be prepared to walk out’ of negotiations, as it was not guaranteed to support a deal if it won.
Wars are almost always failures. There is almost always some other route that can lead to success. Not always, but almost always. Krauthammer ignores that reality, and instead wants to rush headlong into confrontation after confrontation, regardless of the situation, regardless of the cost. He wants to be tough, to project power. Reading this column is like reading the diary of a man with a giant inferiority complex. To rush to war, to kill innocents when there could be a better way, just to prove how tough you are is an act of supreme immorality.
There is no wisdom in Krauthammer’s piece. Just the same old, tired, repetitive nonsense that blood and death is the preferred first option.
