George W Bush - the gift that keeps on giving -

[hedgehog]

Would we be worried now about North Korea if he hadn't been so excited about the Axis of Evil™?

[lunatica]

1. That doesn't make North Korea benign

[hedgehog]

2. Look at it from the persecective of an isolated, paranoid ruling class:

George Bush invaded Iraq because they didn't have nuclear weapons - better get those nukes on the fast track

George Bush invaded Iraq for no particular reason and put us on the same list - better hit them before they hit us!

North Korea has been threatening war for over 50 years - but the situation is worse today than in other years when they actually were shooting!

[davidpdx]

6. True, as of lately it has gotten progressively worse

The missile and nuclear bomb tests, the sinking of the Chonnan, and the shelling of Yeongpyeong Island not to mention the bellicose rhetoric. Particularly during the last 9 years since I've been here it has worsened.

Bush's policies were for a large part of that happening. In my opinion everyone seems to focus (obsess) on what is happening in the Middle East and very little attention is paid to what is going on in Asia. Obama is having to make up for lost time by strengthening allies (even old enemies like Vietnam which is pretty cool) to counter China and North Korea.

[TwilightGardener]

3. The PNAC/Cheney/Bush crowd has completely fucked us over.

Stretched our military thin, killed our soldiers, created a mess for veterans' care, borrowed insane amounts of money, wrecked the economy, inflated the DoD budget to unsustainable levels, strengthened Iran's hand, destabilized the ME, failed to focus on Afghanistan and LEAVE. And now that we face actual, non-manufactured threats, we have to summon the will and money to deal with it despite all our problems.

[santamargarita]

4. I wouldn't call it a gift. He's the cancer that won't...

stop spreading!!!

[davidpdx]

5. I don't think his saying that directly affected the situation

But his policies toward North Korea in general didn't help. Of course neither did the policies of the North Korean or the Chinese for that matter.