ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Harry & Helen Highwater are the cranky headmaster and mistress here, between us sharing duties as the site's editor, webmaster, cook, and janitor. Nothing much to say about us. We're the American working poor, two of many millions. Our email is xoxounknown@yahoo.com.
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Bush knocks on Armageddon's back door
by Helen & Harry Highwater Oct. 28, 2002
According to NPR News, it's a "crisis" that North Korea has violated a treaty on arms proliferation, and developed a few nuclear weapons.
First off, as a reader correctly points out, North Korea's withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty was actually something that nation was perfectly entitled to do, under the treaty's terms — so long as it was announced, which it was. So it's not a violation at all, just a change of policy.
And then, of course, this is the same Non-Proliferation Treaty the United States abrogated almost as soon as Bush was sworn into office. Was that a "crisis"?
Bush knew about North Korea's nuclear program long before the public knew, so apparently the "crisis" is just that the public now knows, too.
In this article, we see North Korea quickly taking advantage of its newfound status as a nuclear power, by spelling out the terms under which it's willing to negotiate. You may have noticed that Iraq hasn't been quite so able to define the terms of debate swirling around that "crisis." Bush and America have defined that debate, and while it's all been about Iraq, nobody from Iraq has had any say.
It is clear that when such a "crisis" arises, the US has two rulebooks. There's one set of rules for dealing with nations that have the bomb, and another set of rules for dealing with nations that don't.
By pursuing these two separate and clearly unequal policies, Bush has brought us to Armageddon's back door. He has almost literally issued invitations to nuclear proliferation. Memo to all the world's tyrants:
Get nukes, or get the Iraq treatment.
Nations without nukes are handled with contempt. Nations with nukes are handled with care. Which group do you want your nation to be in?
As more and more of the world's worst leaders accept this invitation and start waving nuclear weapons around, it's more and more likely that one of these bozos will lose his temper. When that happens, a few million or billion people will go poof, while everyone else gets to breathe the cancinogenic dust left behind.
If American foreign policy was foursquare and fair, if there was only one rule book and the US treated all nations with respect, there would be little incentive for small nations to spend the money to develop or purchase nuclear weapons. As long as there are two sets of rules, though, there is every incentive. There might as well be a billboard, and an ad campaign on CNN:
Got nukes? Then America will treat your country with respect. We'll send in the diplomats.
If you don't have nukes, we'll send threats, assassins, coup plotters, missiles, bombs, and troops.
Thanks, JS. © 2003, by the author.
Comments? newsuneed@yahoo.com
There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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Memo to all the world's tyrants:
Get nukes, or get the Iraq treatment.
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