After the actions taken by North Korea this week, it may seem that Asia is on the brink of World War III.

This issue is now in the forefront after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il made the world aware of his country’s nuclear ambitions with the detonation of a small nuclear device in a mountain range in the northern part of North Korea.

After speculation that the explosion was caused by dynamite, the United States confirmed on Monday, Oct. 16, that the atomic event did in fact occur. There is good reason to fear now that President George W. Bush and his advisors must decide on a course of action. If North Korea takes a second turn at testing nuclear weapons, which they have been threatening to do, the Bush administration will have to find an alternate way to handle its foreign policy with North Korea, since previous actions have obviously failed.

Kim demanded bilateral talks with the U.S. and was denied this demand. Why must the Bush administration call the bluff of a demonic, delusional despot hell bent on gaining respect through any means necessary? It is imperative for the world to stay unified on how to deal with Kim but it is another thing to push Kim into a corner and cause him to do something rash.
Kim has made his move toward nuclear arms and the mere fact that he has claimed nuclear power is reason enough to impose sanctions that will further isolate his country. Kim is not necessarily the threat here since the North Koreans do not currently have a ballistic missile that is capable of reaching the U.S.

The real threat is the possible sale of a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group of any kind. This must be prevented and a time in which both Democrats and Republicans spend finger pointing and not taking direct action to discover the North Korean’s nuclear activities; this makes the probability of North Korea selling a weapon to terrorists even more likely.
This issue should be dealt with diplomatically. The fact that the United States was the single hand in the removal of a weaponless Saddam, but is hesitant on taking the helm against Kim, who is tossing his weapons around for the world to see, should lead to serious questioning of the foreign policies the United States has.

Bush was adamant about Saddam’s intentions with nuclear weaponry because of evidence, which was substantiated with alleged intelligence. Saddam never claimed outright that he had weapons and several inspections by the United Nations substantiated his claims. There was a level of suspicion surrounding the claims of both sides. However, it was not one that garnered the complete abandonment of diplomacy.

Essentially, North Korea is what Bush had hoped Iraq would be.
It is time to get the talks started. Each day passes with less and less happening and it is time for the U.S. to act like a superpower rather that a power-hungry oil eater. This country needs to step to the forefront and get back some respect through diplomatic means.