Communist China's close-to-the-vest diplomacy, which has long served it so
well, now lies in ruins. Beijing had sought to preserve a dependent North
Korea as a buffer against the example of a prosperous and united Korea
emerging on its long border along the Yalu. But now Little Brother is out of
control, and soon enough the whole neighborhood may be.
Washington, which has tried everything from appeasement to confrontation to
just ignoring the problem, now does little but worry - and relies on, of all
weak reeds, the United Nations. Even without Saddam Hussein in power in
Iraq, the axis of evil still spins. North Korea has exploded a nuclear
weapon, and Iran's mullahs are about to.
At this late date, not all the speeches at the Security Council may help -
nor all the irresolute resolutions being proposed. The crazy aunt in the
attic is now doing chemistry experiments, and the whole house is shaking.
How adopt a rational policy when confronted with the irrational? What is to
be done now that the most precious of commodities in diplomacy, time, has
been squandered?
Taking forceful action at last, beginning but only beginning with economic
sanctions, may be the most dangerous option left except one: continuing to
dither.
As a lapsed journalist and fiery old backbencher, Winston Churchill would
warn the House of Commons after Munich: This is only the beginning, the
first sip of the bitter cup we will be asked to drink from year after year.
Now, unless the world changes North Korea's mad regime, it will change the
world, or as much of it as it can reach with its nuclear-tipped missiles.
And just think of the rogue states and terrorist outfits that even now must
be lining up to order nukes direct or indirect from Pyongyang.
There are no good choices left, only the best of the worst. That is the
usual fruit of apathy in diplomacy.
This era's Daniel Patrick Moynihan is named John Bolton, and he, too, is
ambassador to the United Nations. But not all his candor, nor all his
warnings, will avail if the world responds only with more words. The clock
is ticking - like mad.
The most foolish of all the foolish theses propounded by academic "experts"
in our time may have been The End of History, with its confident assertion
that the future belonged inevitably to the world of liberal democracy.
Somewhere that same, forgettable academic is probably still writing and
publishing and - another frightening thought - molding the minds of the
young.
As we should have been reminded on the morning of September 11, 2001, which
was the real beginning of the 21st Century, history is neither inevitable
nor yet over. It is overtaking us even as Americans debate another political
sex scandal, and our intellectuals express the gravest concern lest some of
the most dangerous terrorists in the world, combatants in all senses except
the lawful one, might be deprived of habeas corpus.
Instead, these defendants would have to settle for military tribunals with a
right to a full review by a federal appellate court, specifically the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and, after that, the U.S.
Supreme Court. This is called a grave injustice and a constitutional crisis.
Yes, the world grows crazier. And ever more dangerous.