[The Facts] The Washington Post reported that the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to enact a U.S.-drafted sanction on North Korean finances and weapons activity. North Korean U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon has said the U.S. sanctions constitute a "declaration of war." Are the U.N. sanctions a proper deterrence for North Korea's nuclear program?
U.S. should back off hard-line policies\nScott Leadingham\nis a graduate \nstudent studying public affairs.
North Korea has responded to a U.S.-drafted resolution that imposes sanctions on the communist country with typical flair. Pak Gil Yon, the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations, says his country would consider any further U.S. pressure a "declaration of war." Should we expect anything less from a country that is backed into such a tight corner? \nThis situation has all the ingredients to get ugly, and this underscores the need for the United States to back off its overbearing position. \nChina, Russia and Japan have the ability to exert regional influence on North Korea, as all three hold seats on the U.N. Security Council (China's and Russia's seats are permanent). The United States would be well advised to let China, which has an interest in keeping North Korea stable, be the leader in this situation. We can still play puppet master, but the United States should take a less visible role. Who knows? Stability might ensue.
United Nations lacks teeth\nAbrahm Hess\nis a senior majoring in chemistry.
From Bosnia to Rwanda, the United Nations has an ignominious history of passing empty resolutions and watching wars from the sideline. The latest resolution against North Korea is resoundingly symbolic of global disapproval but has done nothing to alter the present course that will inevitably lead to armed conflict.\nKim Jong Il might be crazy, but he's not stupid. He knows the United States is the United Nations' hired muscle and that all of that muscle is currently busy in Iraq and Afghanistan. He saw his opportunity and seized it. When the cat's away, the mice will play.\nKim Jong Il has shown himself impervious to sanctions and unwilling to negotiate. If this remains the case, the only option left to avert future disaster is military action. Whether it's China, Russia or Japan, someone has to put teeth in the United Nations' paper tiger, or North Korea will only grow as a threat to global security.
