Long, long piece at Foreign Policy, the newsmagazine of hopeless, unrealistic wonks who obtained their degrees during the higher education bubble. Excerpt:
Simply put, North Korea represents the very worst of humanity -- a nation ruled with impunity, where several thousand key leaders live at the great expense of 24 million or so others. It represents atrocities and human suffering on a staggering scale.
The writer than goes off the rails with his proposed 'solution' to the 'worst of humanity' -- sanctions! Rigorously enforced sanctions! China and Russia cooperating with sanctions!
Yeah, right Sparky, let me know when China and Russia sign on.
The writer than believes we should 'shine a light' on the bad, bad behavior of the Norks. He fails to understand that the world knows. And doesn't care enough, and isn't willing enough to risk a potential nuclear war and a war with China, to intervene.
But not to worry: we 'can reason with China'. That is cluelessness and sophistry of the highest order.
It is a moral obligation of the highest order that the international community intervene. What can be done, we must do -- and now is the time.
It's too bad the author just offers more platitudes. Now, to put my money where my mouth is, here are my proposed solutions.
1) Stop all aid of every kind coming into the North Korea from the West.
If North Korea is to be China's lapdog, then China may support it completely. No food aid, no humanitarian assistance of any kind comes in from the West. Make China responsible. That will hurt people, and that in turn will cause discomfort in the West. We do the people of North Korea no favors by assisting their thug-rules in Pyongyang in maintaining their control.
2) Instant refugee status to every North Korean citizen who gets out and to the West any way possible.
Reward countries such as Mongolia and Vietnam who covertly assist. They don't like China. Give them reasons to help us out quietly.
3) Bombard North Korea with broadcasting.
Use Christmas lights, hot air balloons, radio, leaflets, everything to get the message in. One of the most important points in maintaining a successful dictatorship is that the dissidents must believe they are alone and atomized. Start to change that.
That also means supporting Nork dissidents as we identify them. North Korea is extremely insular; we won't have American agents running around covertly in that country. But we can work to help dissidents.
4) Intercept all North Korean exports that have any potential for trouble.
Make it clear that arms, terrorist support, etc will not be allowed out. We'll find and seize them even if they go through friendly countries (e.g., Burma). That also include the drug-running and counterfeiting operations. Hurt the Norks on their money-making operations. Make no mistake: such actions risk war. We will be prepared.
5) Seize all assets that the Kimmies have hidden around the world. All assets.
We've been too nice. Go after every dollar, and make every bank, brokerage and country aware that they have a choice: you're with us or you're with the Norks. You don't want to be against us. Russian, Chinese and other banks friendly to the Norks: cough up the assets or risk being frozen out of the world financial markets.
6) Rather than cut a deal with China (thus emphasizing our weakness), start to punish the Chinese for their association with North Korea.
China is vulnerable right now. Their economy is beginning to teeter. The Chinese do not want to lose their export markets. They'll rave and rant, but they can be maneuvered. We should start by being subtle, but we don't have to be nice about it. It's time to apply some power politics.
7) Make clear to China that we will allow South Korea to arm up.
The ROK wants to have longer-range missiles. Good idea. The ROK might feel the need to develop nuclear weapons. Okay. By the way, China, how's about dealing with your lapdog now?
8) Make clear to China that we will allow Taiwan and Japan to arm up.
As unhappy as they'd be to see the ROK arm up, they'll be even less happy to see Taiwan gain access to modern weapons. I'm sure we can generate an export version of the F-18E/F at a price favorable to Taipei.
That's a start.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
China will totally resolve the DPRK's woes only iff China formally annexes the whole of the DPRK, which it is unlikely to do short of major war because it likes having a buffer = no man's land netween its borders + US allies ROK + JAPAN, + of course USFK.
China prefers to MINIMIZE a AMAP ALAP ny contact between border Chinese + Western-styled outsiders
Read, REDUCE THE CHANCE OF REFORM + DEMOCRACY-MINDED VIOLENT DOMESTIC REVOLUTIONS + CIVIL WARS AGZ THE COMMIE SYSTEM. Beijing knows that as the Chinese national economy + quality-of-life steadily improves + modernizes, it will have to face the music one day.
#2
BY most accounts, Beijing has way better odds of avoiding collapse in NT or LT than Pyongyang does - THEREIN LAYS THE DANGER FOR BOTH THE US-ALLIES + CHINA.
#3
China views North Korea as 'historically' part of Greater China, whether as a province or a client state. If the quarter million ComChi army that was unleashed upon the peninsula had succeeded in their objective during the Korean War, the entire place would look like North Korea today. It has no interests in 'helping'.
#5
Or we could quietly contact China and tell them, curb N. Korea or we inform S. Korea, Japan, & Taiwan that we plan to pull out of the region within 18 months & we suggest they develop their own nukes.
Posted by: Cincinnatus Chili ||
12/22/2011 12:04 Comments ||
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#6
Those cheapo one-shot pistols the OSS used to drop behind Nazi lines might make a nice present...
#8
It may be news to academic innocents and incubator-raised policy wonks, but history tells us NKor is pretty much the natural state of the world when events are left to unfold on their own. The only thing that changes it is determined men and the force of arms. Yeah, that sometimes means guns, you wankers.
[Dawn] IT was an extraordinary spectacle in Minto Park at the foot of the Minar-i-Pakistain on Sunday: jihadists, sectarian warriors, orthodox mullahs, Islamic revivalists, all banding together under the banner of the Difaa-i-Pakistain Council (Pakistain Defence Council) and vowing to 'defend' Pakistain against external aggression.
Aren't they all pretty much the same anyhow, getting together every Wednesday down at the pub for a game or several of darts?
Headlined by Hafiz Saeed, leader of the Jamaatud Dawa, widely perceived as a front for the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba, Sunday's event was a massive show of right-wing strength and has come in the wake of a heightened public profile by the JuD in recent months.
Was the PDC rally, then, meant to signify the entry of Hafiz Saeed into national politics, though perhaps not of the electoral variety?
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
all banding together ...and vowing to 'defend' Pakistain against external aggression.
A classic example of "we have met the enemy and he is us". Paging Walt Kelly to the white courtesy phone.
[Dawn] CURBING certain sorts of crimes is as much about bringing them into public focus as it is about successful prosecution. This is particularly true for practices such as honour killings which, despite being counted as murder according to the letter of the law, continue to take place because they are underpinned by the medieval mindset of some who defend them as being part of tradition. Such a stance has often been reported from Sindh, where the practice is referred to as 'karo-kari'. It is therefore worth noting that the issue was brought up before the provincial assembly on Monday. Nusrat Bano Seher Abbasi of the Pakistain Moslem League-Functional told the house that 43 women have been killed under this brutal custom in December alone, while the year's toll for the province has reached 577 so far.
While it is praiseworthy that hard facts and figures are being discussed by the province's politicians, it remains unclear what, if anything, the government is doing to curb the practice. Legislation in this regard has been in place for many years. The Criminal Law Amendment Act 2004, which amended sections 299, 302 and 325 of the Pakistain Penal Code, specifies the criminalisation of offences "committed in the name or on the pretext of honour" and mentions "karo-kari, siyah kari or similar other customs and practices" in this context. The question, then, is how many arrests or prosecutions in courts of law have been made. This is where the state's performance has been extremely poor. In many instances, legal loopholes allow the victim's next-of-kin to 'forgive' the killer, circumventing legal proceedings, and in others there is either no prosecution at all or the case built up against the alleged killer is not strong enough.
This is the area that the state and its politicians must work on if the practice of honour killing is to be stamped out. In every reported case, it is incumbent upon law-enforcement authorities to pursue and prosecute the suspected killers, thus sending out a strong message that regardless of tradition or culture, the crime will not be tolerated. Moreover, the media must continue to highlight all such incidents. Sindhi-language newspapers have been particularly active in this regard; their lead must be followed by other media outlets.
Crimes of honour are generally shrouded in the secrecy of domestic relations. Bringing them out into the glare of public attention is an important step towards changing the societal mindset that allows such excesses to continue to be committed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/22/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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CURBING certain sorts of crimes is as much about bringing them into public focus as it is about successful prosecution. This is particularly true for practices such as honour killings which, despite being counted as murder according to the letter of the law, continue to take place because they are underpinned by the medieval mindset of some who defend them as being part of tradition. Such a stance has often been reported from Sindh, where the practice is referred to as 'karo-kari'. It is therefore worth noting that the issue was brought up before the provincial assembly on Monday. Nusrat Bano Seher Abbasi of the Pakistain 
