Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Clinton bought time during which North Korea stopped enriching plutonium.
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There is about a 1% chance this statement is true. I highly doubt it is the case that they stopped during that period and then, magically, started again after Bush takes over. But I don't want to argue this with you because we will go round and round and none of us really has a good handle on the facts.
The policy had good intentions, but it, like many of Clinton's foreign policy decisions, was merely a short-term, bandaid approach to a very serious problem. See Spanky's post. Trying to make deals with psychotic dictators is a no-win proposition, because they don't live up to their end of the agreement.
That said, there is no good solution to the problem of nuclear proliferation. It is going to happen, the speed at which it is going happen, like all developments in technology, is going to quicken, and there is little we can do about it directly.
In my mind, we have 2 options, both of which should be pursued simultanously. We need to develop a truly effective missle defense system. We have a start, although a dissappointing start given the amount of $ we have sunk into it, but I think a reasonably effective system is possible in the medium term.
We also need to encourage the spread of democracy, so that once a country obtains the technology, and they will if they are seeking it, the weapons are in the hands of hopefully rational people that value life above all else.
