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July 07, 2006
North Korea and Iran Problems - A question
by Jack Lee
TODAY'S QUESTION:
Ok, so now North Korea says, "Any economic sanctions against us will be considered an act of war."
Question to the readers: If you were suddenly to become the President of the United States, what would be your next move? Diplomacy, take out the ICBM once it leaves Korean airspace or hit it on the launch pad? How about calling their bluff and announcing economic sanctions and daring Kim to do something about it? There are a lot of moves that could be made and I've only mentioned a few....now what would you do?
A little of my perspective......We know Iran is watching this situation intently. In the past, they've seen us frequently insulted by Kim Jung IL, and then we turn right around and we play nice?
We gave North Korea assistance in the nuclear energy program (Clinton years) based on an agreement to not pursue nuclear weapons. Iran was watching as North Koreans broke that agreement almost before the ink was dry. For years since then, the North Koreans have been thumbing their nose at the USA and saying the most provocative and outrageous things. All that rough talk has been met very diplomatically by us.
Now we have these recent ICBM test firings, made on the 4th of July, presumably to send us a message and I believe it goes something like this: "We don't care what you think - we hate you - we're not afraid of you and we now insult you with this grand gesture... an ICBM missile launch, aimed at your state of Hawaii and on your nation's birthday!" (I added in the Hawaii part, that is only speculation given the course of the missile, but the rest is probably pretty close).
This launch, as you know, was done despite many diplomatic appeals from many countries. Absent from these appeals were two major players, China and Russia, but then they supplied the rocket fuel and guidance system and continue to supply North Korea with many things.
Consider now that for a short time after 9/11, the world shuddered as the United States declared war on Islamic terrorism and anyone who was their ally in terror. We backed it up by force as Afghanistan and Iraq had a sudden change in government.
During this time, the Iranian's were suddenly without much to to say and we didn't hear much out of North Korea at this time either. That was then, this is now. And it must appear to these two nations that the USA has resumed its roll as the "paper tiger". Afterall, Bush is weak in the polls, Iraq has been weighing on the American people and we look overall much weaker and less decisive than we did around 9/11. And for good reason, I think its true and that reality is reflected in these words when Bush stressed the importance of the "six-party talks" and UN action to send off more resolutions to North Korea. He said, "I won’t get caught in the trap of sitting alone at a table with North Korea. " And said diplomacy takes longer, but its the way to go.
Posted by Post Scripts at July 7, 2006 06:34 PM
Comments
Our President's already made his next move: he's backed right off. And we have to be patient with Kimmy, we are told.
Frankly, I think we should put the little extortionist on the dole, like he wants. I know it's terribly Chamberlinesque, but the object of the game is to put the carnage off for as long as possible.
And there's nothing really wrong with feeding a nation of horribly malnourished people.
Posted by: libby at July 7, 2006 08:43 PM
I'm not sure I agree with all of your premise. For instance, I don't think Bush should engage in one on one talks with Kim, "trust but varify" wouldn't work with him...he has no honor. Witnesses and a world stage make sense to me. It also makes sense to support the countries in the area in taking responsibility for handling this despot. it's time for othjer countries to step up to the plate. We do have international agreements and associations that are important to keep in tact, we want allies in this war. One of the things I admire about this president is that he demonstrates tremendous respect for the leaders of other countries. Unlike Bill Clinton, it's not all about him, the man rarely uses the word "I". (He shows the same respect to members of congress and the judiciary-he honors the position of leader in himself and in others. Years from now he will look good and his enemies will look small and petty) All that aside...
The first thing I would need to know is what is legally and physically possible and what information the intel might reveal. I'd want advice from everyone, including the Man upstairs. I can sit here in my home and think that taking out the N. Korean's capability would be the thing to do but the reality is my choices would be guided by limitations i'm not even aware of.
Emotionally? "Blow his A** up!" to quote a comedian on Reagan's handling of "Qadafi" (sp?).
Question. Do we look weaker? I was thinking today that it isn't just America that is divided. The left in countries all over the world are very vocal and LOUDMOUTHED about how much the world hates us and the president, and their media has been as bad as ours but...Canada just took a right turn, Mexico held on to the more conservative candidate, and Germany did the same recently. The people in those countries and others are waking up to the lies of liberalism just as we have...and, they too are threatened by terrorism.
Second question...do we look less decisive? Some responses are less dramatic than others but I find the president as filled with resolve as ever...and it blows me away. I don't expect any president to have all the answers or always make the right decisions. That would be rediculous. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have to wage a war and have to defend against your own media at the same time.
Posted by: Tina at July 7, 2006 09:06 PM
The President rarely makes a public policy decision without a whole lot of advice. Thats a given and it's also a given that some of that is extremely confidential. That is often an important distinction between our opinions and his because we didn't understand the whole story, even though our hearts share the same space.
I have a more direct answer to the question posed, but I don't want to accidentally steal anyones thunder, so I will give it a few days... then respond.
Libby, your answer overlaps what I said about our codependency in policy making. You might find that article food for thought. It was posted about 3 weeks ago.
Tina, two words, spot on. ; )
Posted by: Jack Lee at July 8, 2006 08:26 AM
Libby, Where have you been for the last 30 years? You may be the last person on the planet to find out that food, medicine and cash sent to despotic countries NEVER gets to the people who are starving and dying. Communism, socialism, marxism...all the favorites of the left...always end up this way. Elites at the top party hardy and the rest of the folks parish slowly!
Posted by: Tina at July 8, 2006 09:06 AM
Jack and Tina:
As I am perhaps your only contributor who has actually been to Korea and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the North Korean guards at Panmunjom, I may have a special insight into the minds and attitudes we are dealing with. They remind me of the Terminator in the first Terminator movie. You can't talk to them, you can't negotiate with them, you can't reason with them. They want to kill you, and they will never stop trying.
Posted by: DB at July 8, 2006 02:00 PM
DB, And there you have the real reason that we dropped the big bombs on Japan to end WWII. The huge ego of Hirohito would not allow him to back off. And it took TWO.
Sounds like this puts you in the "blow his a** up camp?
It may come to that if his ego is a match for Hirohito's.
Posted by: Tina at July 8, 2006 07:09 PM
The maxim of the terrorists is "we only have to get lucky once, the target has to be lucky 24/7/365. Kim understands this, the Neville Chamberlains do not. They think they can apply a reasoning western mindset to a problem promulgated by an unbalanced, cruel, eastern, mass murderer.
Posted by: Ron Acevedo at July 8, 2006 09:01 PM
Call the bluff, or be prepared to see this type of extortion take place over and over again.
If times where principle ruled supreme are a myth, I will still rather believe that they once exsisted. To believe in such a thing may be nieve, but it seems a productive fantasy.
Posted by: Nick Freitas at July 10, 2006 10:43 AM
Nick, I love your idealism, we all need a few drops of it to ensure that we remain human and hopeful. We cannot expect it to be the norm, however, or we will be gravely disappointed at every turn. I also happen to believe we'd have to be from another planet. That ideal world includes zero conflict...and lots of boredom. Someone once said that life is perfect...and we should stop lying about it.
Posted by: Tina at July 10, 2006 08:03 PM
DB, you have said it better than anyone because you know what we are up against. Thank you for your service to your country.
Posted by: Madhatter at July 11, 2006 10:36 PM
Thanks, Madhatter. Most people know nothing about the unit I was in, JSA --the Joint Security Area, or the place I was at, Panmunjom, which is actually north of the DMZ, all the way into North Korea. Just after my tour was up, JSA was renamed Camp Bonifas after Captain Bonifas got his head cut off by North Korean soldiers posing as a gardening crew. It has now been abandoned as too dangerous. You can see some photos and read some history at this site:
http://members.aol.com/panmunjom/panmunjo.html
Posted by: DB at July 14, 2006 03:39 PM