RECKLESS INSULTS / (letter to DENVERPOST) Your prominent cartoon on 26Oct showed North Korea's Kim trampling on Uncle Sam's hat--then, unreasonably, demanding a nonaggression treaty. In other words, insults can justify a refusal to promise not attacking; in other words, insults can justify our launching a first-strike at North Korea. (40,000 GIs could be slaughtered in the first day of such a war.)
There is a longstanding principle, outside of war, against one Head of State insulting another. Bizarrely enough, though, Pres. Bush has been hurling personal insults at Mr. Kim for several years. Gen.Boykin just said that one billion Muslims are idolators--(He couldn't have picked an insult more likely to further galvanize them into murderous rage against The Great Satan.)
-and Rumsfeld just lumped Germany together with Cuba and Libya as 'unhelpful' in the 'war' on terror.
The theory seems to go like this: it's OK for us to react violently to insults, but not for other nations--because we're stronger. However, we now know there are many ways for weaker nations to undermine 'stronger' ones; the gratuitous insults our leaders hurl at the outside world--while they may play well before Bush's Yahoo supporters--make us all less safe in this unique emergency.