"It's a cry for help, in my view," says Mohammed El—Baradei, speaking warmly and compassionately about the reason Kim Jong—Il exploded his first—ever nuke three weeks ago. El—Baradei heads the world's prime  organization for stopping nuclear proliferation, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Kim's Big Fizzle was an enormous slap in the face for the IAEA and the whole international anti—proliferation effort. For one thing, Kim probably got a lot of help from the A.Q. Khan network, which the IAEA totally missed. But El—Baradei doesn't seem embarassed. After all, he was awarded last year's  Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo

"for efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes ...." 

Imagine that, a Nobel Peace Prize just for trying. Actual results not guaranteed.

Mohammed El—Baradei is the consummate international bureaucrat, a professional Kumbaya crooner.  He does not live in a world of cause and effect. So he sees no inconsistency between accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and simply whistling at the blue sky while the NoKos set off their big one in 2006. He didn't return his Nobel medal with apologies. He didn't even say "Oops! We blew it!" He just doesn't see any connection at all.

When the mullahs get theirs, it'll be no different. You see, it's never his  fault. Mr. El—Baradei is the Alfred E. Newman of nuclear proliferation: "What, me worry?" 

You know who is to blame.  Yep, it's that Satan guy from Texas.

Don't believe it? Read El—Baradei's Nobel Prize speech. It's a lovesong —— a serenade to the international elites who awarded him the big Prize. In his lovesong El Baradei makes it very clear who is to blame for all the troubles in the world. Surprise! It's America and rich Western nations.

Mr. El—Baradei shows no inkling that Mad Hatters with nukes are a lot more dangerous than sane nations with the identical technology. You see, Mr. E—B, it's not whether you possess nuclear weapons, but whether you kill millions of innocent people with them.

And who is more likely to do that? Have you listened to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lately? How about Osama Bin Laden? Kim Jong Il? Hugo Chavez?

Instead, El—Baradei calmly justifies the spread of nukes to madmen. For Kim Jong Il it's just "a cry for help" ——— the therapeutic approach. Well, let's send Kim a bottle of Prozac then. But will he take his pills?

If it isn't "a cry for help," it must be world poverty and deprivation, according to our chief anti—proliferation honcho.

"... It's the plight of the poor ... offset their insecurities ...they may be tempted...  loss of hope. ...  human rights abuses ... a lack of good governance and a deep sense of injustice. ... breeding ground  ... extremism ... no one should go to bed hungry  ... as long as some of us rely on nuclear weapons... "

You know the rest. "We're depraved 'cause we're deprived," is how the teen gangsters put it in Bernstein's West Side Story.  This is Third—World elite envy parading as deep insight.

All the feel—good hoo—ha about world poverty has nothing to do with El—Baradei's job. That job isn't getting done. In fact, the IAEA will exist even when nukes are spread around the world; it's perfect job security.  The guy in charge at the IAEA isn't even talking sense about the biggest threat to world peace since Hitler and Stalin. He doesn't seem to be concerned about the direction it's going. And nobody is going to fire him for mooning about world poverty while nuclear bombs go off.

Bottom line: There are only a few adult nations in the world, with the ability and williingness to fight nuclear threats. Russia, China, France and Germany are not among them. The UN isn't among them.  They just carp from the sidelines. There are other decent nations that are just too small to be effective. 

The United States is the Big Daddy of responsible powers —— keeping the peace for the last half century. Britain under Tony Blair has also acted responsibly, but Blair is now on his way out. Who else is there? Try to think of a single responsible actor on the world scene, in the face of spreading nuclear toys for sky—hooting maniacs.

As for the "international community," you can fuhggedaboudit.

James Lewis is a frequent contributor to American Thinker.