October 10, 2006
With congressional elections less than a month away most attention has been focused on the chaos in Iraq and the increasing chaos in Afghanistan and former representative Foley’s scandal on the Hill.
While attention has been focused on these topics we now have North Korea proclaiming the fact that they have successfully tested a nuclear weapon underground.
President Bush has the opportunity to pull off an October surprise by actually having a success in foreign policy. If he can come up with a workable plan acceptable to other world leaders – especially the Chinese, Russians, South Koreans and the new government in Japan – of getting North Korea to re-think their policy of becoming a nuclear power the president and the Republican party could go into next month’s congressional elections with something quite positive to show voters.
The president should look back at the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962 and take a page from former President John F. Kennedy who was successful in having the Soviets back down in Cuba and avert a nuclear showdown. And, President Kennedy accomplished this within two weeks – also right before a congressional election.
Working with a group of senior diplomats – in and out of the government – he gave the Soviet leader a way to back down without losing face.
Hopefully, the current president and secretary of state have read and studied the Cuban Missile Crisis and can learn some valuable lessons from this famous diplomatic accomplishment in American history.
Having written my graduate thesis on the Cuban Missile Crisis years ago I do not see the same type of leadership in the current administration as I did in the brief Kennedy presidency.
And, having just finished Bob Woodward’s new book State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III, I would have to sadly come to the conclusion that this administration may not have the ability to pull off a successful foreign policy accomplishment over the North Korean underground nuclear test. If even a third of what Woodward writes in his excellent book is true it is a terrible indictment of the people we now have running our foreign policy.
But, the Bush administration now has its October surprise with the North Korean nuclear test and if they can seize the initiative and come up with a successful solution they could possibly turn around the latest polls.
It would be heartening to the world to see results in a foreign policy crisis from the Bush Administration that was a success.
It would be heartening to American voters to see that the Bush Administration could do something correct in its foreign policy.
A nuclear North Korea makes the scandal on Capitol Hill look rather tame by comparison. This is a very serious issue and an Administration that hasn’t done so well with the other two members of the Axis of Evil now has a chance to have a success with the third – and possibly – most dangerous member of the Iraq-Iran-North Korea axis.
Democrats, Republicans and Independents would all like to see something positive happen with regard to this administration and its failed foreign policy. Working with all of our allies and finding a diplomatic solution to North Korea’s nuclear test would give Americans and people around the world a bit of hope and optimism that the Bush Administration knows how to conduct a sensible and workable foreign policy.
The ball is in President Bush’s court. Let’s hope he can solve this latest crisis. His track record in foreign policy could certainly do with a boost. And, by looking at how JFK successfully reacted to the Cuban Missile Crisis, this president could learn a thing or two and possibly turn around the outcome of the upcoming congressional elections.
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