North Korea and Iraq are currently the military hotspots filling the newsprint these days. It seems as if there is a clock slowly ticking down to war in Iraq. Recent estimates cite that around 250,000 U.S. troops will be stationed in the Persian Gulf by mid-February. As for North Korea their admission to the world that they possessed nuclear weapons has sent Washington scrambling diplomatically. A rogue state with nukes that could possibly be for sale has made a tricky global environment even more so.
Imagine the worst-case scenario. War in Iraq and North Korea drops a nuke on Seoul or Tokyo thinking it has nothing to lose and everything to gain by rattling the U.S.
The problem right now for the United States is that it has a limited volunteer army that runs the risk of being overstretched and proving ineffective if forced to fight conflict in two theatres. Paul Kennedy put it best in his book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers when he drew this parallel, “As the British and French military found in their time, a nation with extensive overseas obligations will always have a more difficult “manpower problem” than a state which keeps its armed forces solely for home defense.”
Doctor Kurt Schlichting of the Sociology Department offers this question, “Are the North Koreans taking advantage of vulnerability to confront conflict on two fronts?”
He goes on further to cite how he feels that we, as a nation, do not expect multiple conflicts at once. The simple fact is that the nearly-unilateral stance of the United States with regard to policing the world will be ineffective if forced to deal with a crisis in both the Pacific Rim and the Persian Gulf.
Bush may be playing tough with the North Koreans but really he is playing with fire. North Korea has already launched test warheads over Japan and into the Sea of Japan. It clearly has the range to wreak havoc. Seoul is a city of 10 million well within its range. Bush talks tough to the Koreans while continually flexing his muscles to show the Iraqis the possible wrath they may soon incur.
So lets say Bush and Rummy (Donald Rumsfeld) get their wish and bombs reign over Iraq. What is to stop a desperate Saddam from launching a warhead (possibly chemical or biological) into Israel. Remember, Israel has promised to retaliate. This all would seem to be a good time for Iran to possibly invade Iraq or Israel being as they aren’t the biggest fans of either one. Viola! Now, you have a genuine World War III with a C student as Commander-In-Chief of the world’s greatest superpower.
As college students this scenario is certainly one of utmost importance. We have already seen a war resistance movement brewing on campus and if any bombs drop the movement is sure to grow and fear of a possible draft is sure to arise. With a nation not fully behind his agenda in Iraq and a stagnating economy at home President Bush is running the risk of dropping the ball and losing the massive support the nation afforded him after 9/11. He is also risking World War III with this current posturing. Dangerous times indeed.
It is important that both faculty and we, as students, rally around sensibility and do everything we can to keep another war at bay. Our future is at stake. The destruction that is quite possible is just a risk we cannot afford to take. Violence begets violence. Why not as world leaders use our position on the global stage to encourage dialouge and diplomacy before we invite destruction and depravity?
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