Post Right » Sponsoring Sponsoring-Terrorism Lists

Post Right » Sponsoring Sponsoring-Terrorism Lists

There are no pleasant options for dealing with North Korea, but one proposal being tossed around in the Obama administration is particularly unwise for the long-term: adding (once again) the Pyongyang regime to the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.



The idea is bad because it underscores how politicized and dishonest the state-sponsors list is. After all, what has changed from last year, when President Bush removed the North from the list, to now? Well, North Korea launched its second nuclear test, of course. More recently, the country sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory and other “hostile acts,” convicting them with the usual no lawyers/no due process/no transparency brand of justice the country trades in.

These moves are dangerous and provocative, but they don’t count as terrorism. The U.S. is using the State Department list as a diplomatic weapon against hostile countries, essentially branding them as outlaw states. The problem with using the list this way is it makes a mockery of the government’s claims about terrorism. If every state that acts against U.S. interests is guilty of terrorism, then what do we call the countries that actually sponsor terrorism? And how we can have a reputation for honesty if we’re knowingly drawing up false charges against foreign nations? While putting NoKo on the list seems like a good tactic in the short-term, in the long-term it undermines US claims to fairness, consistency and honesty.