Going Nukular

With many experts questioning the validity of reports of North Korea's successful nuclear test, but most assuming the evidence is mostly accurate for now, time to ponder how (if?) this will play out politically.

The President gave a press conference this morning, calling the test "provocative", but left without taking any questions from the press. It would seem this took some in Washington by surprise, which is a baffling thought.

Some are calling this another October suprise (the media in particular regurgitates the idea that anything involving national security helps the White House politically), but I hardly see how it will benefit the White House to hype up a situation that they have done much to ignore and downplay in the past few years, while they carried out the doomed-to-fail neocon Mideast agenda. The administration's North Korea policy began and end with branding the nation part of their 'axis of evil' five years ago.

This is a failure of U.S. policy, no matter how you slice it.

Besides, this situation hardly fits into the GOP's narrow, cartoonish definitions of what defines 'national security'. I don't know how this would play out politically- they'd blame Clinton (natch) and segue to Iran when they can- but my gut tells me they won't make this as predominant an issue as some are expecting.

The usual actions will be taken- the U.N. Security Council will address the matter, we will join with other nations in imposing sanctions, etc- but I don't expect this to be a major political issue leading into the elections.

A commenter at ThinkProgress notes that this brings the number of known nuclear countries to nine- United States, Britain, Russia, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, China, and North Korea. That's nine countries too many if you ask me.

Finally, in what may have been a preemptive rebuke to this expected news, the United States has officially nominated Kofi Annan's successor as Secretary General: South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. Annan's term expires at the end of this year.