It is really difficult for me, generally a supporter of W, to discuss some of his administration's policies without squirming in my chair.

And now with the North Koreans plumbing their mothballed reactor with fresh nuclear rods and throwing out the international inspectors, it's getting even worse.

It's like a return to the Cold War or something. Not exactly what the world needs right now.

But I know why North Korea is doing that. They're playing a little one-upmanship game with us because of the whole Iraq situation. And they're probably not really fond of the recently approved Missile Defense System, either. Not to mention our research into Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator missiles.

And then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld tells the world that the U.S. is perfectly capable of carrying on a war against Iraq and North Korea at the same time if need be.

Now I am not trying to rationalize or justify what the North Koreas are doing, but it seems hawkish U.S. policies are motivating them.

I just think that's too bad.

We've made good progress when it comes to nuclear weapons proliferation, I just really hate to see it go the other way.

On top of that, U.S. policy is making plenty of people mad around the globe.

A couple weeks back, there was a presidential election in South Korea. (They are, ostensibly, our friends.)

The guy who won, Roh Moo-Hyun, is no big fan of W's policy on North Korea.

In fact, Roh once suggested moving U.S. troops out of South Korea. Roh believes in the "sunshine" policy of engaging a dialogue with North Korea and lifting sanctions and other barriers. He thinks dialogue is the best way to deal with concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The guy who lost, Lee Hoi-Chang, said the "sunshine" policy won't work. He prefers a tougher approach more in line with that of W. And it seems that's a significant part of the reason Lee lost the election.

Many South Koreans believe W is an obstacle to reconciliation of the two Koreas.

W has said he won't talk with North Korea unless it dumps its nuclear program. And that was before it started firing up the previously off-line nuclear plant, which, as I understand it, is capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.

AP quoted a South Korean: "Bush is a trigger-happy man"' said Kim Han-sik, a 32-year-old voter. "We need a leader who can say no when we think we should say no. Our country has been too subservient to the United States."

I don't like reading stuff like that about our friends. I expect it from Iraq, but South Korea?

So now both North Korea and South Korea are upset with us.

And then there's China.

Here's what China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao had to say about W's missile defense system announcement:

"We worry about the possible negative impact on regional stability of a missile-defense system. We hope the relevant parties will act prudently," Liu said.

"Only through the good cooperation of the international community can we effectively solve the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The missile-defense system should not undermine the security and stability of the world. Neither should it undermine global and regional security."

Liu wouldn't say whether China would add missiles to its arsenal or change its military deployments because of the announcement.

"China, in accordance with its national defense needs, will make the appropriate deployments," he said.

Great.

Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokesman Phan Thuy Thanh said his government is concerned "over actions which may lead to a new arms race.

"Vietnam's position is that all nations should have efforts aimed at comprehensive and complete disarmament, especially nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction," he said.

India had no official comment, but India has nukes. Will they gear up production like North Korea?

If India does that, Pakistan will be really mad and Pakistan has nukes of its own.

Japan isn't really happy about any of this because North Korea has missiles pointed its way. So Japan might decide it needs to build a few more big bombs.

And Iran announced just this week it will build a nuclear power plant. The Iranian president, Mohammed Khatami, says the plant will be used only for electricity.

Iran says all their nuclear facilities are used only for electricity, but we don't believe them,

The United States is highly critical of the new nuke Iranian plant, saying it could advance an alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program, which Iran says it doesn't have.

Of course Israel reportedly has a nuclear arsenal but has never acknowledged possessing any nuclear weapons.

Do you get the sense that there is some serious nuclear proliferation going on around the world?

I consider myself a conservative. Socially, fiscally and ideologically.

But some of these W policies really have me scratching my head. It's like the U.S. is trying to enrage half the planet.

I fully support the "hunt-down-al-Qaida" policy. Yeah, let's do that. That's just fine. And frankly, most other nations are OK with that policy, too, including Arab nations. They're even arresting and detaining some of those al-Qaida guys.

But I have a tough time swallowing the "run-Saddam-out-of-Iraq" policy. I really don't see the two as the same thing.

I know Saddam is a bad man and I know he has ignored U.N. resolutions. But there are plenty of other countries run by bad men and good men that have ignored U.N. resolutions.

And other Arab nations aren't exactly on board with the run-Saddam-out-of-Iraq policy, either.

On the one hand, we're alienating Arab nations with our Iraq policy. On the other hand, we're alienating Asian nations with our defense policy.

I realize we are a big, powerful nation and can pretty much do whatever we please.

But is it really necessary to make so many enemies? To start a war?

Maybe so, but I really am surprised at the relatively low level of dissent among Democrats and the public. One would think the left, at least, not to mention the average Joe, would be hammering away on some of these issues.

Maybe people are afraid they will be labeled unpatriotic in the post-9/11 era.

But one thing is sure. Very little good can come of all this nuclear saber rattling. [[In-content Ad]]