October 29, 2002
Kamloops Daily News



"They have sown the wind, and they reap the whirlwind."
Hosea 8:7

Some days it doesn't pay to be right.  At least that's what
U.S. president Bush must be thinking.  In January, Bush
warned the world that North Korea was developing weapons of
mass destruction.  They were part of an "axis of evil," Bush
said. 

Now North Korea admits that yes, they are developing a
nuclear arms program. You would think that Bush would
walking around saying I told you so but he has been
strangely silent, especially considering his fondness for
bravado.

North Korea's admission is more of a liability
than it is a vindication. "It's a nightmare for George
Bush," says Janice Stein of the Munk Centre for
International Studies at the University of Toronto. 

North Korea signed an agreement in 1994 saying that they
would not develop a nuclear weapons program.  Something
obviously changed their mind.

North Korea is an unwanted distraction for Bush.  The last
thing the president wants is for attention to be diverted
from his scheme to invade Iraq and topple his nemesis,
Saddam Hussein. 

And Bush would rather that Americans don't think about the
logistics of North Korea too much, either.  Logically, North
Korea should be attacked before Iraq since they are likely
to develop atomic weapons first. 

Another problem is Bali.  It's an island state of the
largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia.  Terrorists
linked to al-Qaeda recently killed hundreds of innocent
people, most of them tourists.  "Clearly the attacks in
Bali, I think we have to assume it's al-Qaeda," says Bush. 
Right again, Mr. president.

But being right about Bali is not particularly helpful for
Bush, either.  If the elusive al-Qaeda and its Indonesian
counterpart, Jeemah Islamiyah, are terrorizing Bali then
Bush would have to admit that his war in Afghanistan failed
to exterminate the fundamentalist Islam terrorist group.  

To the contrary, the surgical strike on Afghanistan was a
botched operation.  Instead of excising the dreaded tumor,
the cancer was cut open and spread globally.  Now the
terrorists are in Bali, causing more mayhem and death of
allies.

And remember Bush's call for his friends to come to his aid
in the war on terrorism?  Once the Australians have finished
mourning the loss of more than 100 of its own citizens in
Bali, it would be reasonable for Australians to call on the
U.S. to come to their aid in revenge.  Will Bush come out
with guns blazing to support his friends, or does friendship
apply only  when it suits his goals?

Although Australians liken the massacre of its citizens in
Bali to the terrorist attack of September 11 in, retaliation
is not likely. 

In fact, some Australians think that it was their support
for Bush's war on terrorism that brought on this curse to
their citizens.  If they had not supported Bush's
misadventure, the al-Qaeda network might have left them
alone.

Bush not only underestimated al-Qaeda, he never really
understood his enemy.   He imagined that all the world's
only superpower had to do was utter some platitudes and bomb
the hell out of some country and that would be the end of
it.
 
The al-Qaeda organization not easily attacked.  "Well, first
of all you have to understand al-Qaeda itself is more
correctly described as a network of networks.  It's not a
hierarchy that we normally associate with the governments or
organizations in the west," says  former U.S. State
Department coordinator for counter-terrorism Michael
Sheehan.

It's not likely that Bush knew about North Korea's
development of nuclear arms last January.  Before his
comments, diplomatic efforts were effectively bringing North
Korea into the world community.  Bush ruined all that. 
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called the
comments "a big mistake".

North Korea was understandably upset.   "This is, in fact,
little short of declaring a war against the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea," said Korea's foreign ministry.

A more likely explanation is that Bush's comments became a
self-fulfilling prophecy - - they weren't developing a
nuclear arms program until Bush's accusation.  With their
backs against the wall, they decided to defend themselves
against a maniacal superpower by developing a nuclear
program.

Making war is easy but keeping the peace is difficult.  Bush
has made the world a more dangerous place since September
11.  He has sowed the seeds of war and we will all reap the
maelstrom.

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