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North Korea arming Iran is a consequence of limited foreign policy objectives
By: J.P. Freire
Associate Commentary Editor
08/31/09 12:51 PM EDT
According to this report from Deutsche Welle (h/t InfidelsAreCool):
… The Australian-owned cargo ship is reported to have been carrying grenade launchers, detonators, and munitions falsely listed as machine parts on its shipping manifesto.… According to news agency AFP, US experts believe North Korea has earned hundreds of millions of dollars by exporting military technology until recent sanctions. North Korean ships have previously been intercepted as they headed to Myanmar.
The report describes recent relations between North Korea and the rest of the world as thawing, but that's hard to parse. In order to release two American journalists, North Korea still had to capture them in the first place. They then demanded a high-level diplomat. Shipping guns to Iran is not simply an effort to prop up yet another aggressive nuclear aspirant, but subsidizing Iran's efforts to destabilize Iraq. If it's "thawing," that's because it's getting heated.
Things on the Iranian nuclear front are certainly looking bleak as well:
... The Vienna-based IAEA agency said that Tehran had not suspended its nuclear activities as required and was particularly alarmed by the alleged role of an unidentified foreigner who had experience with explosives.
It is curious that it would be necessary to mention that this person had experience with explosives, or that whatever the case, the person is foreign and obviously notable for said experience.
That any of this is surprising ignores U.S. behavior in the last few months. John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations, described Obama's foreign policy as myopically focused on negotiations as an end result. Perhaps we should be emphasizing American security.
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