Looking For Nukes in All the Wrong Places?

Note: This post also appears on the blog But I Can Hear You.


Lately the focus of nuclear concern has been concentrated on North Korea. While North Korea is certainly a concern lately have we lost sight of the bigger picture? Yes North Korea is a threat. Yes North Korea is an enemy of the United States. But they're not Muslim extremists. They're still afraid to be nuked back. Unlike Iran. That's right Iran, you know, the country that was on the verge of creating a nuclear weapon a while back. Has America lost focus on Iran?

There's a huge difference between North Korea and Iran. For one thing we know North Korea had nuclear weapons, no surprise there. We are more likely to detect an attack by a country that we know to be dangerous. For another thing North Korea is not run by a Muslim extremist. North Korean culture, like almost all cultures on Earth, is ingrained with the fear of death. Middle Eastern culture does not have this fear. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be happy to suffer a nuclear attack for Allah. Iran is much more dangerous for these reasons.

Yet all the focus lately has been on North Korea. This is almost certainly due to the media's enthusiasm to find something new, which is understandable. They have a job to do, and part of that job is to find new things to talk about so people will watch them. But we, the American public, have no such obligation. We must focus on North Korea yes, but we must not lose our focus on Iran. Iran is a bigger threat to the Republic than North Korea, and if we forget this then we could be in some serious trouble.