In the wake of North Korea's nuclear test, it's worth looking at a recent Congressional report. Republicans on the House Committee on Intelligence are yet again neglecting their responsibility for oversight to put out a partisan screed on an issue that Republicans have alternately neglected and mismanaged. The subcommittee on intelligence policy turned its myopic eye to North Korea, releasing a report (PDF) that hypes the North Korea threat while ignoring the very reasons it has become one.
The report is a political document with the false imprimatur of the Intelligence Committee that is belied by a partisan slap right in the introduction:
I am disappointed to report that following participation in initial drafts of this report, the Minority staff earlier this month chose to no longer participate in producing this valuable [sic] report. While the decision of the Minority is regrettable, I believe the report can make a useful contribution to the ongoing debate over this critical national security issue.Good for the Democrats on Intel for refusing to legitimize the report with their participation. For the terrorism report, Democrats expressed some important minority views, but when reality-based views are being excluded, sometimes refusing to participate is the best option. And if the political nature of the document isn't clear enough already, the first quote on the report is this:
'The United States should consider the danger that we could transfer nuclear weapons to terrorists, that we have the ability to do so.' – North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-Gwan, April 2005That's right, North Korea equals terrorists!! Anybody who's not still living the Cold War understands that there’s a big difference between states and non-state actors. Non-state actors, which most terrorist groups are these days, don't have a power apparatus consisting of borders, armies, or an economic system. They don’t have the institutional wealth and power of dictatorial leaders, and you tend to see them in caves rather than palaces. The state leaders, conversely, tend to really like being filthy rich and all-powerful. I mean, according to the report, Kim Jong Il is the world's leading purchaser, at as much as $720,000 per year, of "Hennessey" cognac (and yes, all you really need to know about this report is summed up by the fact that they spelled Hennessy wrong), and rich and powerful dictators generally tend not to do things that will instantaneously result in their being toppled by a pissed-off foreign power. For North Korea to hand weapons to terrorists would be suicidal, and Pakistan has already proven that the U.S. will sit idly by if nuclear technology is sold to state actors, so they’re pretty safe on that front.
Aside from crass politicization and hypocritical terror-hyping, though, it's also full of poor analysis. First of all, let's call North Korea what it is: a part of President Bush's Axis of Failure. Since he bizarrely linked North Korea, Iran, and Iraq nearly a half-decade ago, North Korea has almost certainly acquired nuclear capabilities, Iran has become more militant and more powerful, and we've turned Iraq into a terrorist-producing failed state. Axis of Failure. North Korea is the product of miserably failed policy, and saber-rattling isn’t going to help any.
The subcommittee report lists many problems we face with North Korea without once acknowledging the source of these problems: failed Bush administration policy. North Korea's actions increasingly seem like a big cry for help (via international aid and deals), and its government is probably wondering why it can't get the kind of sweet diplomatic deal we've already offered countries like Libya and Pakistan.
In the face of this test, though, we aren't left with good options. Only consistent and effective diplomacy can begin to remedy this bad situation, and it's not like this administration has proven adept in that area. North Korea has a despicable regime, and I'd be very happy to see Kim Jong Il go the way of Saddam and Milosevic, which makes it even more important that the intelligence committee do something other than partisan shilling. A little oversight would be nice, and the way she's been going since the primary challenge, I'd be very happy to see Chairman Harman start to sort this stuff out.
