Is North Korea next on the United States’ hit list?

Recently, North Korea admitted that it is in the process of making weapons of mass destruction, and it seems fairly safe to say that their confession wasn’t exactly friendly. In times like these, I only wish we had a president I could trust. However, I am simply unsure of what is going to happen next.

Allow me to draw out some of the implications of North Korea’s confession, as I see them. First, Bush has bitten off more than he can chew. In the case of Iraq, he and his administration staunchly advocate making war on any nation that is thought to be developing weapons of mass destruction. However, does he or anyone in his administration honestly expect the United States to attack both Iraq and North Korea at the same time? Their policy calls for it, and to simply let North Korea go unpunished would be hypocritical, embarrassing, and wrong.

But say we do attack both nations, what then? Can we practically sustain a war against both of them, especially when we have so little support in the rest of the world? Would it be prudent to involve ourselves in what could far too easily become the third world war when we only have the express support of Britain? Yet good old George W. still seems to be gung-ho on rushing headlong into the war with Iraq.

We all know that any war with Iraq will not be easy. Hussein has already said that if we attack, he will make us fight in the streets of Iraq, and that will be bloody as all hell. It will be Vietnam without the jungle. With that in mind, I do not see how we will have the resources to go to war with North Korea at the same time. And just for fun, consider what will happen if another nation admits that they too are developing nuclear weapons. What then?

For the benefit of this country, and indeed the whole world, we need a president and an administration that do not ignore the sentiments of the rest of the world and rush into wars. We need a diplomat, someone who will pursue every avenue to peace and disarmament until war is quite literally the last option. Unfortunately, we do not have such a leader or such an administration.

I fear for this country. I fear for the world. We are fighting countries that hate us and would have little problem garnering widespread support in their regions to destroy us. It is simply not smart to pursue this situation with such a heavy handed, might makes right mindset.

As ridiculous as this may sound, I am actually counting on Bush to have enough intelligence to back off just a bit. I know he really wants a war to take the country’s mind off of his deplorable domestic policy, but I desperately hope that he will make the right choice for the good of the world.

Travis Atria is a junior majoring in English Literature.