The Conservative Bulwark

"History is replete with turning points."

Words spoken by a fictional character...but they ring true, nonetheless.

Most of the grandest events in our world's history were born from a butterfly's wings. The smallest, most inconsequential moment, slowly but surely, transforming into one cataclysmic event. Minutes, hours, and days, become years, decades, and centuries.

The situation in Iran could become one of those moments. One simple push at the right moment, at the right place, could lead to the downfall of the Mullah regime. While the country is ruled by a select group of terrorists just itching to crack their cultural whips, the population of Iran conceals of a lot of potential dissenters...and most of them are young, intelligent, revolutionaries with an itch to change their country once and for all. I hope that this latest fiasco will provide them with the willpower and fortitude to see that change through. Unfortunately, despite decades of promising otherwise, I don't think they'll get much help from the United States. Lets hope and pray that we don't witness another Tiananmen Square.

North Korea is also using the times to flex their 'lets rock the boat' muscles. They indicated yesterday that they're planning on launching their newest kind of missile at Hawaii on the fourth of July as a show of thier defiance. To date there have been numerous warnings from the UN Security Council aimed at reining in a very volatile N. Korea. Like most UN resolutions, however, they haven't worked. On May 26th this is what we got:

"The United Nations Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea's nuclear test as a clear violation of Security Council resolutions, and said it would begin work immediately on a new, legally binding resolution addressing the violations."

I don't know about you...but if I were North Korea, I wouldn't exactly be deterred from my current course of action. The lack of strength in the UN is a completely different topic for another day, however. What we have to worry about now is who we have to handle these two potentially enormous problems.

Our current President.

Remember back in the campaign, when Joe Biden let slip that the world would test Barack Obama should he be elected President? Here's exactly what he said:

"It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

For once, Biden hit it on the head. Now I'd bet my right arm that his intent wasn't to air silent concerns. It was a subconcious, veiled warning which can loosely be translated as: This is our guy and we need your help...and when he's in office, the $h!# is gonna hit the fan. We're gonna look like idiots in the beginning of the crisis, but I promise we'll do the right thing.

Our President's actions over the next few weeks concerning these two international conundrums will shape the geopolitical landscape for decades to come. Will we ignore the plight of the Iranian people? My gut tells me we will. I do not forsee a "tear down this wall" moment. I hope I'm wrong.

Will North Korea's actions be relatively ignored again? Three years ago they tested missiles on the 4th of July. Even Bush did nothing to stem that action. Would you expect anything differently from Obama? In my mind, when a nation launches a missile at another nation's territory, it's an act of war. Sane leadership doesn't "test" military machinery by aiming the point of attack at someone else.

Those that thrive on their personal power view the political world through a different prism. They see grandstanding and bold speeches as a sign of weakness. Remember Neville Chamberlain? He, and people like him throughout history, tried to do anything to secure peace. It never enters into the minds of those that hold those same philosophies, that sometimes stands must be made and that the darkest of night is always right before the dawn. When peace is sought at any cost, then it's certain to be lost.

So how will Obama respond? Will the Mullahs in Iran be bolstered by being allowed to kill thousands of their own people? Will North Korea continue to build its nuclear missile program in plain site while the rest of the world hurls UN resolutions at them?

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."