Allison Kilkenny vs. John Bolton

Kilkenny may not like John Bolton, but she looks pretty foolish bashing him in her “Unreported” piece which was published today – especially since Bolton’s Wall Street Journal article accurately predicted nuclear intentions coming from Iran. To add to Ms. Kilkenny’s dismay, Bolton is also anticipating another North Korea nuclear test, something she feels Bolton is foolish for simply suggesting.

Kilkenny writes:

Experts on North Korea say Kim Jong-il’s motives center around receiving aid, and fear of the United States, since they bombed his country during the Korean War. B. R. Myers, a researcher of North Korean ideology and propaganda at Dongseo University, recommends America ignore Kim. South Korea’s new president, Lee Myung-bak is badmouthing Kim (and his nuclear program) enough as it is, and everyone in the region is slowly realizing the great leader is gravely fallible. A dictator only has a few options to show he’s still hot shit, and one of those is to blast a missile into the ocean. But it’s not a threat to the United States. It’s actually just pathetic. Call it the official countdown of Kim. He’s also sick, weak, and may have had a stroke.

And yet all of these facts couldn’t soothe the nerves of our  mustachioed  maverick, John Bolton. Get Ready for Another North Korean Nuke Test he hollers at the top of the page. Bolton recycles the argument that Kim got everything his tiny dictator heart  desired  by bullying the world into six-party talks, which “gave [him] cover to further advance his nuclear program.

Sorry to break it to you, Ms. Kilkenny, but Bolton is probably right – at least in his predictions that the North will conduct another nuclear test – that’s what I’m hearing, too. And yes, you are right, it is unlikely the DPRK’s next test will threaten the United States, but that is still no reason not to take the possible consequences of another nuclear test less seriously. Even an unsuccessful North Korean nuclear test will cause unease, if not in the States, definitely in Northeast Asia. (Think Japan.) (As a reminder to you, Ms. Kilkenny, the U.S. is not the only one affected by North Korea’s actions.)

Bolton may have his faults. While there were times I appreciated his bluntness on North Korea’s behavior during his stint as UN Ambassador, I admit, his comments were at times not very diplomatic considering the diplomatic role has was supposed to fulfill. But I’m not ready to write him off just yet. If you can sift through all the stuff he says that you don’t like, you may actually find that some of his comments are spot-on – unless, of course, you’ve already made up your mind to dismiss him altogether.