Dealing with WMDs

So, let me get this straight:

• We shouldn't have gone to war to depose Saddam, because we weren't absolutely sure that he was developing weapons of mass destruction. Even if he thought so. Even if we had underestimated his progress before.

• We shouldn't go to war with North Korea, because we are quite sure they've developed weapons of mass destruction.

Hmmm....

As Claudia Rossett points out:

"One might be tempted to conclude, then, that our only window for intervening in the quest of a threatening, terrorist-linked regime dabbling in WMDs is in that precise time window when there is irrefutable evidence that the rulers are developing WMD capability, but before the wares are ready to be handed out to terrorists or brandished in jelly jars as a "deterrent" to extort concessions from the free world. Except that this seems to be precisely the turf occupied at the moment by Iran, with its nuclear program, and while the clerics there are obviously rushing to get their bombs into production, no one genuinely seems to be preparing to stop that, either."

Yeah, I've kind of noticed that. For some people, there never seems to be a good time to take a stand. But of course, they'll assure you of their firmness. They're just waiting for the right moment. Like, maybe sometime around 2150 A.D. or so.

"We seem to be heading for the surreal conclusion that it is all right to be a murderous tyrant who only thinks he is pursuing weapons of mass destruction--even if he apparently believes it himself strongly enough to take the risk of kicking out U.N. arms inspectors for four years. Somehow, I am not comforted by the vision of a Saddam presiding over a country where he is allocating resources for WMD, terrorists are traipsing through, and whatever is really going on is anyone's guess, including Saddam's."

Me neither - but it seems that many Democratic Party Presidential candidates have a different comfort threshold for foreign dictators with ties to terrorism, a long history of diastrous miscalculations, and sons even worse than he is poised to succeed him.

After all, our excellent intelligence organizations would tell us if sanctions et. al. were failing, so we'd still have time to protect ourselves... oh, wait.

Of course, these same candidates and their apologists get very indignant if people accuse them of being less than serious about protecting their fellow citizens. Can't think why.

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