Friday, April 10, 2009

Krauthammer Nails It/Obama's Nuclear Fizzle

Here's a terrific Op-Ed by Charles Krauthammer on the Obama administration's recent foreign and defense policy pronouncements. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/its_your_country_too_mr_presid.html

Among other things, he notes the juxtaposition of three events:

1) President Obama's call for the elimination of nuclear weapons. As Krauthammer notes, the President announced that:

"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something."

2) North Korea's nearly simultaneous open and notorious launch of a ballistic missile in clear violation of a UN Security Council Resolution.

3) The Security Council's completely feckless response to North Korea's violation. As Krauthammer notes, the Russians and Chinese blocked any sanctions or even condemnation of North Korea's brazen violation.

If President Obama cannot convince the Security Council to vote to condemn North Korea's missile launch, how, pray tell, does he plan to convince every nation in the world (including, by the way, North Korea) to forsake their quest for nuclear weapons ? Like Krauthammer, I doubt that unilateral disarmament by the United States and its allies will convince India, Pakistan, China, etc. to beat their atomic and hydrogen bombs into plowshares !