Earlier today we saw a notable sign that North Korea is falling in line regarding their nuclear program, with the demolition of a 60-foot tall nuclear reactor cooling tower [4] at the Yongbyon complex. The achievements of the six-party talks are becoming more and more apparent by the day.
After this highly-visable action by North Korea, President Bush moved quickly to lift many of the trade sanctions against the country. President Bush also will remove North Korea from the list of nations that sponsor terror.
It's hard to believe that we are less than seven years removed from President Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, where he lumped the nations of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq into the 'Axis of Evil'. In the present situation - with North Korea's removal now from the state sponsors of terrorism list - Iran now stands alone from that former 'axis' today!
Iran was once a nation that was comfortably buffered on both the east and the west by two countries that were also highly antagonistic towards the U.S. - Afghanistan and Iraq. But, due to the Bush Doctrine, Iran now finds itself a country that is geographically and ideologically isolated. To put it in simple terms, it's clear where we can find the present location of the bull's eye.
We, as Americans, should all celebrate our foreign policy success. The sad fact is that, in this day of partisanship and the politics of personal hate from the left, that will not happen.
But, to those who can recognize what has taken place on the foreign policy stage during Bush's time as President, it's obvious that our President has been playing some great 'chess' - And Iran would do well to realize, as well, it is now 'checkmate'.
