North Korea standoff
Isn't it about time to remember that the whole issue started out as one of providing energy for energy-starved North Korea? In exchange for their putting aside the kinds of nuclear facilities that could produce weapons-grade material as a byproduct, the U.S. under Clinton offered to provide alternative (light-water) reactors or the components to build them. The calculation was -- and should remain -- that a country's threat to others diminishes as its quality of life improves.
Mr. Bush, for reasons never clearly stated but apparently determined to adopt “any policy but Clinton’s,” made it clear from the get-go that he held the North Koreans below contempt, in response to which it should have been no surprise (especially in a culture where "face" is important) that the North Koreans thumbed their noses right back.
Someone who will be heard should stand up now and say, "Wait a minute. Let's just go back to talking about energy."
Yup.
Personally I view Bush's attitude toward North Korea as one of using NK as a proxy for China. The Council on Foreign Relations and other scumbag groups are beating the drums for the future war with China even as we speak, as evidenced by an article on the front page here today.
North Korea is just an attempt to put South Korea - and US troops - on China's borders. Which is dumb, because South Korea now does more business with China than it does with the US. Emphasizing the latter would do more to better relations with China than pushing North Korea into a war. To some degree, attacking NK is also a move to prevent it from being used as a tool by China and Russia to counter other US moves in areas like Afghanistan and Pakistan and Central Asia.
But the basic notions of the CFR oligarchists - and most humans, in fact - is that life is a "zero-sum game" and therefore if somebody else gets a leg up, then you're losing and need to knock them back down again.
It's really that simple. So China is considered a "threat" and plans are being made even now for a future war to "counter" that "threat" - thereby insuring that China will be forced to respond AS a "threat", thereby insuring the "threat" and hence the war.
It's all so pedestrianly predictable for humans.
July 10, 2006 7:38 PM | Reply | Permalink