Obama's Multilateral Approach to North Korea: Are You Kidding Me?

Two guys walk into a bar … No wait. Two presidents (dressed identically, of course) walk into the White House Rose Garden. Both of them – that is, Barack Obama and South Korean leader Lee Myung bak – express concerns about North Korea’s nuclear capability. Lee thanks the United States for its “selfless sacrifice” in protecting his home country, but it’s Obama who gets to drop the punch line:

“On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that called for strong steps to block North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” he said. “Now we must pursue a sustained and robust effort to implement this resolution together with our international partners.”

Never one to shy away from a witticism, Obama must understand how deliciously farcical it is for the U.S. to invoke any sort of compliance with international law in its policy announcements. He must know that we Americans don’t, in fact, “do” the whole multilateral cooperation thing.