N. Korea rattles a nuclear saber

Re “Kim may have his legacy in mind,” May 26

Apparently Kim Jong Il is trying to solidify his legacy for the history books. It’s a nice coincidence, because he joins former Vice President Dick Cheney in that exercise. Just so no public relations opportunity is missed, they should network and talk philosophy.

As George W. Bush would say: “They’re doin’ a heckuva job” -- we get it.

Donnie Dale

Altadena

Let’s hope President Obama does not blame President Bush for the recent nuclear and missile tests conducted by North Korea.

The Bush administration recognized the threat and understood that the first priority of any administration is to protect and defend the U.S. This does not mean delegating it to the United Nations or others.

Don Black

Rancho Palos Verdes

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I just read the story about nuclear testing in North Korea.

At a time when Dick Cheney is on the attack and insisting that he knows best how to protect the U.S. from the threat of terrorism, it’s worth pondering how terrible a job of protecting us the Bush-Cheney administration did.

In 2002, President Bush made a speech identifying a so-called axis of evil: Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

We then proceeded to attack Iraq, with consequences that are still not fully known.

One can hypothesize that both Iran and North Korea must have feared they might be next.

Certainly they are both bigger headaches for the U.S. now.

Glenna Matthews

Laguna Beach

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North Korea’s recent nuclear saber-rattling reminds me of the 1950s book and movie, “The Mouse That Roared.” A fictional, tiny, backward country declares war on the U.S., expecting to be conquered and then be eligible for foreign aid. Accidentally, this tiny country gets possession of a doomsday weapon, and the U.S. is terrified.

North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling is its own perverse way of asking for help without losing face. For more than half a century, North Korea has been kept in the dark ages by paranoid tyrants.

President Obama must seize this moment and aggressively push for diplomacy with the emerging new leaders of North Korea if he wants to win this nation as an ally in the war on terror.

Mark Tackett

Anaheim

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Re “Penalties threatened for N. Korea,” May 26

Regarding North Korea’s nuclear tests, let us remember recent history.

It has been seven years since the Bush administration included North Korea in the “axis of evil” and vowed to protect the world from another mushroom cloud. But what did the administration do? What did it accomplish?

Members of the administration failed to negotiate anything meaningful with either North Korea or Iran because, of course, the United States does not “negotiate” with terrorists -- yet they didn’t take the military action they were always threatening.

They didn’t use our allies’ influence, perhaps because most of them were not “with us” -- most of our allies opposed the invasion of Iraq.

After seven years of tough talk and chest pounding, both Iran and North Korea are now more of a threat.

Bob Loza

Burbank