How to write anything about North Korea at this juncture that isn't utterly banal? What is there left to say? That the momentum of the threat is accelerating weekly now? That the decision comes down to whether to save the 20 million people of the greater Seoul metropolitan area or consign them to an artillery barrage that will have the same effect as a nuclear bomb? That it's impossible to tell how impulsive Kim is or is not?
We're learning an important spiritual lesson here. We can now see that there is a point at which evil gains such a foothold that there is no course of action in addressing it that isn't ruinous.
You do see articles by credentialed strategic thinkers who say that we'll be living with this knife-edge state of extortion for decades. How many decades, we can't be sure. We have no idea how much, if any, of a desire among military leaders and top planners of North Korean society to see the Kim dynasty overthrown exists. But a thirty-year wait to see how the twists and turns of world affairs might open some such avenue is almost certainly not possible. There's that accelerating momentum of the threat.
Yes, it's true that North Korea has no expansionist designs beyond the peninsula on which it's situated, which is unusual for a belligerent rogue state. What designs it does have, however, tell us everything. The Kim dynasty has always deeply resented the terms of the 1953 armistice. It considers the very notion of a South Korea to be an imposition by the imperialist US on an otherwise unified Korea. But taking outward expressions of that resentment to this apocalyptic level indicates that, whether the word "insane" fits or not, we are dealing with a unique peril.
And so we all wait for the next development.
There's not much to do, beyond resolve that if we squeak through this, we learn the relevant lesson. You know the one I mean: pull out of the JCPOA with Iran, and right now.
Banality Alert! Head for the Hills! Now!
ReplyDelete"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to us"--JFK
ReplyDeleteI'd love to think we know how to do that, but history provides no evidence. And I know from scripture that we're not perfectible.
ReplyDeleteOne thing life has taught me -- you don't deal with a child throwing a tantrum by screaming at her. Our current posture is catastrophically inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a posture you'd recommend? Broad outlines are fine, not asking for anything so specific that it precludes flexibility, if that's called for.
ReplyDeleteNo, bloggie appears to prefer to contemplate "saving" 20 Mil people in the Greater Seoul metropolitan area at this time.
ReplyDeleteIs it supposed to comfort us that our strong man, our Cruzin' Prexie is leaving the nuclear option vs. North Korea "on the table?"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-nuclear-test-trump-call-japan-2017-9
Talk until you can't talk no more. Then use sign language. I suppose stricter sanctions approved by the UN are not the answer then, huh? The Republicans are mostly running their mouths like we last saw with their shock k& awe. And now is not the time to trash the UN like you did in another thread on this topic here.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in that other thread, the UN is utterly worthless
ReplyDeleteAs I said in that other thread, the UN is utterly worthless
ReplyDeleteLet's take the Security Council, for instance, since it's the relevant UN body here. China and Russia sit on it, and they propose a quod pro quo, whereby North Korea would stop testing stuff if the US and South Korea stopped their joint preparedness drills. Nikki Haley was spot on when she said that was insulting.
ReplyDeleteNikki Haley did not state that the UN was worthless. There is a whole lot of the ink of the entrusted in the UN over the past 60 years, and blood of the humans on all sides over this war and armistice that backing out of the UN at this time is only something a mad man like Trump (or you?) would do at this time. But of course by his tweets we shall know him....
ReplyDeleteI didn't say she said the UN was worthless. She said the China-Russia proposal was insulting.
ReplyDeleteDiplomacy has and will not work in N Korea, it is other nations responsible here, Iran, China, Pakistan, and to degrees India and our own partner Iraq... The nuclear hostage theory is ineffective. So is any form of imperialism, whether ours or our subtle advisories.
ReplyDeleteStrength as it has meant internationally is changing,we need to stay abreast. Our aggression needs to be very measured currently from my perspective..
You do not need a rocket to deliver fissionable material to a target, just a good unnoticed commercial athe targets worries.
ReplyDeleteMaybe our I phones might have radioactive sensors.
ReplyDeleteI know she did not state that the UN was worthless. You did. And I'm listening to her, not you, bloggie.
ReplyDeleteWell, Michael Mitchell, you say diplomacy has not worked and will not work in North Korea, yet the armistice has held for over 60 years without a resumption of the hostilities. When China entered the conflict back in 1950 it proved to be just too much, way too much. Do you blame China and North Korea for holding their ground? Can you answer why matters have reached such a crisis point within 6 months of Big Bully the Trumpman's admin? A hawk like Cruz calls it strength.
ReplyDeleteI do not think strength matters here. I am certainly not for a aggressive posture. Actually I would be for just leaving the entire eastern area with the exception of business. It is not really our affair, unless directly provoked.
ReplyDeleteShows of strength aka tough talk is all bloggie's and his ilk thought was lacking from Obama and they pissed, moaned and bewailed his efforts every step of the way and even before his first step. Nope, tough talk is not strength, nor is empty talk. Kim can do that.
ReplyDeleteThe US has obviously not had an effective North Korea policy for at least 30 years.
ReplyDeleteMichael: How are we supposed to "leave the entire area w/ exception of business" with the momentum of North Korean provocations now to the point where, within a week, it flies a missile right over Japan, and tests a hydrogen bomb?
It sure as hell is our affair, and we have been directly provoked.
ReplyDeleteWar mongers love being directly provoked. Do not be deceived thereby.
ReplyDeleteIt is Hell for us if we think we are so important as to continue to police a globe militarily. Protect Asia, right. Beyond business what has Asian done for us, let us spend our resources protecting there assets?
ReplyDelete