Obama down by three, Mukherjee in the lead

Barack Obama lost points in my book today: One for hypocricy, one for foolishness, and one for downright cowardice.

With North Korea’s successful launch of a satellite Sunday, the world has turned its attention to the East, as they fear the rocket launch implies the expansion of North Korea’s missile program or that the rocket itself could have been a nuclear weapon in disguise.

Obama has made it quite clear that he is not at all happy about this overt breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows only five countries to possess nuclear weapons (and guess who made the cut?). But Obama was foolish to think that countries who had been forced to sign the treaty would agree to abide by the rules in the first place.

I remember when India tested its first nuclear weapons, and at the time, Bill Clinton imposed sanctions against India, as punishment for surreptitiously developing a nuclear program which exploded into one of formidable proportion. I thought it unfair at the time, and my views haven’t changed since then. The bottom line is the U.S. has enjoyed the privilege of being the playground bully, and you know what they say about bullies–they’re cowards in disguise. Americans can’t deal with fear or insecurity, so they opt for censure, the next best thing. Obama’s response, “security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons,” is easily the most hypocrytical statement. What makes it okay for the U.S. to possess nuclear weapons and not others? And who decides in the first place? Surely, the U.N. Security Council has got its favorites, and Obama’s got charm enough to tip the scales his way. But if there’s one thing that bothers me, it’s when the U.S. expects the entire world to follow the rules it writes. For once in my life, I find myself agreeing with India’s stance instead:

I applaud the fairness and neutrality of Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who noted that the countries who have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty are only those countries who had them in the first place and didn’t want any other country to procure them: “We disagree with the gross discrimination with which these treaties make with nuclear power states and non-nuclear power states.” So are these treaties or threats?

The U.S. shouldn’t be shocked or feel as if they’ve been stabbed in the back. Even the U.N. Security Council notes that North Korea has not violated any treaty, as it already withdrew from the treaty in 2006 after the test of its first nuclear device.

If Obama had merely expressed concern, I would have called him practical.
But his expression of condemnation has forced me to call him presumptuous instead.

The U.S. should start getting used to the fact that there are bigger bullies on the playground to deal with, and they’re playing with more than just waterguns.