North Korea Calls Cheney a Bloodthirsty Beast

Responding to recent critical remarks by Vice President Dick Cheney, North Korea lashed out at Cheney saying the VP was "hated as the most cruel monster and bloodthirsty beast as he has drenched various parts of the world in blood."

What did Cheney say to illicit such vitriol? He said North Korean leader Kim Jung Il was “one of the world's most irresponsible leaders“ who runs a police state and leaves his people in poverty and malnutrition.

Doesn’t Cheney know that truth and diplomacy never mix well? And that's the problem with North Korea. If we speak the truth about their horrific oppression, they threaten to call off all talks. But if we ignore their crimes, how do we work to end them?

The Bush Administration has shown a preference for using threats of war and actual war to resolve or at least drastically alter conflicts with enemy nations. But with the likelihood that North Korea has nuclear weapons and the raw fact that we don’t currently have the military resources available* to wage another full-scale war, what can the Bush Administration do?

I don’t know. I’m not sure they know. There is no foreign policy playbook for a situation like this. First we have to ensure they produce no more nuclear weapons and that the ones they likely already have are never deployed. Second, we need to promote the kinds of pro-democracy, pro-capitalism changes that are vital for the wellbeing of the North Korean people.

But achieving either of those goals will be inordinately difficult. Let’s hope the Bush Administration and our allies in Asia are up to the task.



* In 1994, when President Clinton had his generals draw up plans for a war with North Korea, the plan included sending “50,000 troops to South Korea--bolstering the 37,000 that had been there for decades--as well as over 400 combat jets, 50 ships, and additional battalions of Apache helicopters, Bradley fighting vehicles, multiple-launch rockets, and Patriot air-defense missiles.”