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May 16, 2005
Missed points, and opportunities
For all its royal wit, the Economist can sure be daft:
Should either or both of these events [Iran and/or North Korea going nuclear] come to pass, note please that it is the world and not just America that will have to rise to the challenge. A lot of Mr Bush's critics will not see it that way. They will take satisfaction in his failure to achieve an aim he put at the forefront of his foreign policy in 2002—and they will argue that the example America made of Saddam Hussein turns out to have fed rather than curbed the nuclear appetite of Iran and North Korea. But that argument is magnificently beside the point. The point now is that both Iran and North Korea are unpredictable regimes whose possession of nuclear weapons would be dangerous in its own right and might also persuade other countries in their neighbourhoods to go nuclear as well. [emphasis mine]
Well, yeah. But the point is also that the Bush administration's behavior thus far has probably had a lot to do with the Iran and North Korea situations getting so out of hand. Instead of reminding readers that Bush may have been prescient in defining an "axis of evil," the Economist could have pointed out that the president's prophesy was in no small part self-fulfilling. And history helps inform the present, and the future. Should the delivery of a half-clever, historically-mixed metaphor three years ago suggest a diplomatic confidence in him for the next three years? The Europeans and others should not feel obliged to address the Iran and North Korea issues because Bush shamed them into doing so. They need to address these nuclear issues, in part, because Bush has so exacerbated them. Going forward, Bush deserves no deference and admiration for his handling of the two countries. Rather, he must demonstrate humility, focus, and patience if he hopes to get the job done, in concert with others.
Indeed, the Economist goes on to make the case that dealing with Iran and North Korea requires a multilateral approach, and that's all well and good. But somebody has to keep their cheeky editors honest. Pithiness can dig almost any argument out of logical quicksand -- almost.
Posted by Daniel Widome at 10:18 PM to U. S. Politics
