Like ravenous sharks, the neoconservatives have smelled blood for years in the Korean Peninsula, encouraging presidents to stage a military intervention and oust Kim Jung-un from power. From The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the dyspeptic neocons, perturbed by recent events, have embarked upon an open campaign to rouse hostilities in the region and fight against peace. The only component missing from their malevolent pursuit of conflict is the iconic John Williams leitmotif from Jaws.
Case in point, National Security Adviser John Bolton recently appeared on Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday. He discussed the events unfolding in North and South Korea, President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with the despotic leader from Pyongyang, and if the U.S. can trust Kim moving forward.
But there was one interesting revelation made by the moustache-sporting warhawk. Bolton told both networks that he is aiming to adopt the “Libya model” for denuclearization in North Korea. He revealed that the White House has “very much in mind the Libya model from 2003, 2004.”
It’s improbable that Trump came up with the proposal by himself; Bolton conceivably inveigled the Oval Office to accept his warped premise.
Does Bolton or the occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue not remember what happened in Libya and to Muammar Gaddafi? It’s an elementary matter of oblivescence or denial of reality on the part of Bolton and his neocon brethren.
The Libyan Affair
Muammar Gaddafi
Tripoli had the materials necessary to construct nuclear bombs for several years. In 2003, Gaddafi, facing duress from sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, ended the nation’s nuclear ambitions. In exchange, Gaddafi was promised improved relations with the West, a guarantee of security, and zero penalties. This changed eight years later: Libya is now a dysfunctional state and Gaddafi is dead.
It’s possible that North Korea would be apprehensive in agreeing to such a model at this month’s powwow. The government has said as much, stating in 2011:
“It has been shown to the corners of the earth that Libya’s giving up its nuclear arms was used as an invasion tactic to disarm the country by sugarcoating it with words like ‘the guaranteeing of security’ and the ‘bettering of relations.’ Having one’s own strength was the only way to keep the peace.”
This is only one factor in North Korea’s repeated agitations to the West and beefing up its arsenal.
The nuclear standoff of today really started in October 1983, when the U.S. invaded Grenada. The Kim family believed this was a warning sign that the U.S. could declare even the tiniest of islands as a threat. Without a significant deterrent, any country would be absorbed by the American military juggernaut.
The foreign policy record of each U.S. administration of the last 60-plus years is the reason for North Korea’s magniloquence.
Bolton Risks Trump’s Nobel
After years of posturing, belligerent rhetoric, and international isolation, Kim has pledged to abandon the country’s nuclear weapons program to reach a peaceful conclusion with neighbors to the south. This is a positive development and it should be lauded by all.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is so determined for peace that he even believes President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize.
“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. What we need is only peace,” Moon averred at a meeting of senior secretaries.
John Bolton
If former President Barack Obama, who expanded the aggressive adventurism of his predecessor, was the recipient of this prize, then why not Trump? If the real estate billionaire mogul is at the forefront of nuclear disarmament, peace in the Korean Peninsula, and a more open North Korea, then he should be at the top of the list of worthy contenders.
Unfortunately, Bolton’s Libya model concept could very well endanger the entire peace process. It is already apparent that Bolton and the neocons are beginning to threaten the integrity of the meeting by laying out preposterous terms and conditions that the Kim regime would unlikely agree to. This could then renew tensions and prompt Kim to return to his antagonistic manner.
Of course, the neocons would be adamant in shouting, “I told you so!”
In the end, Bolton is the man who risks President Trump’s chances of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. There’s a reason Lawrence Wilkerson, a former U.S. Army colonel and chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that Bolton is one of the most dangerous Americans he had ever met. Bolton has promised administrations too many times “the head, the tail, the whole damn thing” a la Quint from Jaws. It’s time to stop believing his grandiose statements and be done with him. The world would be better off.
Do you agree with John Bolton’s Libya model? Let us know in the comments section!
