by
Mike
on Wed 19 Jul 2006 07:35 PM EDT
From the July 19, 2006 edition of Dayton City Paper:
IS HE AN IDIOT OR A FOOL?
This
is the question that I was left with after reading D. Landon’s
June 28 Forum column (“Kim Jong-Il Tries Hand at Texas Hold’em”).
Landon has again proven his ignorance by reducing his analysis of an
impending global crisis to a black-and-white oversimplification steeped
in blustery and nonsensical partisan polemics.
According
to Landon, North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is the fault of the
Clinton administration, part and parcel. Is it that simple? Common
sense and an eighth-grade history textbook might suggest otherwise.
So
how can it be that over a decade after the United States “won” the Cold
War that we are again headed toward a new global nuclear crisis?
Perhaps it is because the people of the world learned some lessons
during the Cold War that aren’t easily forgotten. In 1945, over 200,000
people were killed by the American bombs that landed on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. For decades, the people of the world lived day by day and
minute by minute with the awareness — and sometimes even the
expectation — that we would die in a nuclear holocaust. In the 61 years
since the nuclear age began, the American nuclear arsenal has
multiplied to such a degree that our country could kill each and every
person on the planet — with or without a good reason — many, many times
over. And during the course of these several decades, the United States
has invaded and occupied countries around the world with virtual
impunity while acting on an agenda aimed at perpetuating the supremacy
of the American military-industrial complex to the collective detriment
and expense of the world’s poor and working-class citizens.
But why should North Korea feel that it is necessary to pursue nuclear technology?
Perhaps
it is because Pyongyang is only several hundred miles away from both
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Perhaps it is because they recall how Douglas
MacArthur pressed for the use of the atomic bomb against North Korea at
the height of the Korean War. Perhaps it is because the President of
the United States has declared North Korea to be a charter member of
the so-called “Axis of Evil.” Perhaps it is because America acts with a
complete disregard for the interests and welfare of others with virtual
impunity and righteous indignation. Perhaps it is because North Korea
can read the handwriting on the wall — handwriting that is written in
the fresh blood of tens of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians. Perhaps
it is all of these things.
I
am certainly not an apologist for the Clinton administration. The
implementation of NAFTA and the failure to develop and implement a
universal health care program proved that the Clinton administration
was no champion of the interests of working people in America. And the
continued embargoes of Iraq and Cuba during the Clinton years proved
that the Clinton administration viewed the suffering of civilians and
children as a simple matter of politics as usual.
But
did Bill Clinton’s failures drive North Korea to seek the bomb? Not
exactly. There’s plenty of credit to be shared by the Democrats and the
Republicans on this one. It’s the drumbeat of American imperialism
heralded by narrow-minded partisan hacks like Mr. Landon that will
distract us from knowing the truth of the matter if we continue to
succumb to their jingoism and partisan rhetoric.
Is
Mr. Landon an idiot or a fool? Does he even know for sure? Well, an
idiot doesn’t know the difference between partisanship and the truth,
and a fool wouldn’t bother to figure it out. So maybe Landon is a
little bit of both.
— Mike B.
