As happy as I am that former President Bill Clinton was able to bring journalist Laura Ling and Euna Lee back to the United States after a tumultuous five months in North Korea, there is one question I am still grappling with that I can’t seem to find an answer to- why did it take so long?

No, I’m certainly not blaming President Clinton, I’m sure he went as soon as the North Koreans asked for him and as soon and our government permitted it. What I want to know is why exactly we let North Korea hold Americans captive for five months and then reward them with a presidential photo-op. Kim Jong Il sure was happy to see President Clinton stop by one of the worst places on Earth and take a few pictures. If the tyrant wanted to show people he was still in charge, still healthy enough to take command, and still savvy enough to get placed on equal footing as an American President, then mission accomplished.

But why did the Obama Administration let it get this far? Why do foreign, belligerent governments now know they can take US citizens hostages and use them as bargaining chips? This is disgraceful and reminds me far too much of the Iran Hostage Crisis. The comparisons between former President Jimmy Carter and President Obama are becoming easier to make. During Carter’s Administration, foreign leaders knew they could walk all over our President. It comes as no surprise that the Iran crisis ended as soon as Ronald Reagan arrived in the White House. Some presidents you just don’t mess with.

Apparently for foreign tyrants, President Obama is not one of those Presidents. Now Iran is holding three Americans in custody for mistakenly crossing their border while hiking and may even charge them with spying. One may be an accident, but two is a trend. If President Obama ends up making concessions to North Korea it will set a horrible precedent. The fact that he left American civilians in a prison camp in such a brutal country alone is enough to make other tyrants smirk. What is to stop Hugo Chavez from arresting a few unassuming American tourists for espionage and making a huge monkey trial out of it? How long will it take us to obtain the release of the Americans in Iran?

These are questions we shouldn’t have to be asking our Commander-in –Chief. President Obama has certainly been speaking softly to our enemies. Now he needs to carry a big stick.

Last 5 posts by Abel S. Delgado

• Let’s Support the Cantwell-McCain Bill - January 6th, 2010
• Deeds Gets Dirty, Doesn’t Win Anyway - November 2nd, 2009
• Obama & The Berlin Wall - October 25th, 2009
• The Nobel Prom King - October 11th, 2009
• Bureaucratizing Interrogations a Horrible Idea - August 28th, 2009