Beyond our Borders as written on 7/29/2009

With all this debate on health care, “cap and trade”, Sarah Palin, and other topics found broadcast on the news every fifteen minutes, there seems to be lacking something. Where has the foreign policy gone? You may hear an excerpt from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton every now and then, but what happened to North Korea and Iran.

Last week when Secretary Clinton attended a meeting of southeast Asian nations in Phuket, Thailand, a North Korean foreign minister commented about Secretary Clinton, “she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping,” and also saying, she “...is by no means intelligent” and calling her a “funny lady”. To be fair, they were never kind towards the Bush Administration either.

North Korea, a nation who in the past four months has displayed it’s missile capabilities by launching short, medium, and long-ranged missiles, and who also tested it’s nuclear capability underground. Now they are name calling? Sounds like the school bully who makes fun of you, causes you to flinch, but the question is, do they have the power and capabilities they proclaim to? Does the bully have the strength to shove you in your locker?

It is no secret that North Korea has an army numbering over one-million soldiers. Let’s add it up: a lot of soldiers, can fire missiles into allied territory, may possible have nuclear capabilities, and they are somewhat provoking action with missile launches and name calling. It sounds like someone is trying to keep an enemy at bay with a show of potential force and childish rhetoric.

In 1993, when President George H.W. Bush was visiting the Middle East and there came information of a potential attack on his motorcade by Saddam Hussein. What did we do, we launched a few cruise missiles at them in a punitive attack letting him know that such behavior would not be tolerated.

Now, before anyone says I am trying to say that we should strike North Korea because they made fun of Hillary Clinton, let me say, no. But I do feel that they have gotten away with too much over the last few months when their actions have shown to be hostile to neighboring countries and the problem is just with the government there, not it’s people.

But in Iran, you are dealing with a group of people who are still rallying in the streets, protesting the results of the election, the news coverage of that also died down when the media realized there would not be a change in the Iranian government, brought on by its own people. The coverage of the rallies was somewhat historic as we were able to see the atrocities that were being waged upon the protestors. Reality is that we are still dealing with a country whose leader has called for the extermination of Israel, has the capability to wage such an attack, as it has also shows with it’s missile capabilities, and who looks to the west with disgust and abhorrence.

Domestic issues are important to us, but what is also important is what is going on outside of our borders, and how it effects our present and our future.

Article as published in the College Republicans at UTA August Newsletter