If, as the old saying goes, there’s a reason why “bukkake” is a Japanese word, then there is a reason why The Manchurian Candidate is based on the mind control / torture experienced by American GIs during the Korean War.
I can’t help but think about such stuff now that the DPRK seems hell bent and determined to test an A-bomb, giving it not only an obvious wish to own WMD, but through its ICBM efforts, have the ability to strike the mainland of the United States with such technology if pressed.
What the hell is the DPRK up to? I’m starting to share The Marmot’s blase views on the matter. The DPRK pushes and pushes and nothing happens. The DPRK will soon be the very WMD nightmare that American President George W. Bush used to spook the American public into invading Iraq. Look, ma, no yellow cake!
Going forward, it looks like we’re going to have a ICBM & A-bomb owning DPRK very soon, lurking in its dark cave of dispair. And there is not a damn thing we can or will do about it, given the millions that could potentially die. And the children of the DPRK have another dark, hungry Korean winter ahead of them. And, I, for one, see that as the biggest nightmare of all.
9 Comments
Shelton, don’t worry about their missiles; we’ve got something for that. Nobody’s going to die from these nukes.
Now your cell phones, computers, iPods, and satellites…that’s another story.
The Marmot is blasé? Pfft, that’s nothing. I’m upset that you didn’t add an hypetext link to the word “bukkake”.
I thought you all might find it interesting that CNN thinks Taro Aso is the FM of South Korea. I wrote them an email yesterday correcting their error, but they chose to ignore my fact-checking. See: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/.....a.nuclear/
“South Korea raised its security level after the announcement, news services reported. South Korean Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Pyongyang has followed through on threats before.”
As long as the US maintains a belligerent stance against North Korea and maintains a significant military presence in NE Asia, then NK will keep doing what it is doing. But if, hypothetically, the US no longer had bases in Korea/Japan, and adopted a more neutral stance, then what is NK going to do? Want to change the status quo and avoid stalemate? Then change the fundamental underlying variables and eliminate the prime motivating rationale for NK’s behavior. If all that is said and done and NK keeps making trouble, it will become primarily China and possibly Russia’s headache rather than that of the US. And believe me, China and Russia doesnt want this headache anymore than the rest of the world does. They will do something about it. But, unfortunately, the blockheads in our current Administration lack any imagination and it may actually be somewhat too late for a reverse course, which in itself would be regarded on all sides as a major loss of face on the part of the US, especially in the wake of much prior tough talk and bluster on the part of the Bush Administration.
Bluejives, what do you think China will do about it? I think they will force a collapse in NK and setup a sattelite state. Is this desireable for anyone in the region? Also why should we have to abandon our ally Japan to pacify an enemy?
US soldier who defected to NKorea tells story in new movie
“They are human here,” Dresnok was quoted as telling the makers of “Crossing the Line” in a 2004 interview in the North Korean capital.
“The US military teaches you they are evil communists, they have horns, they have fangs, they have red faces.
“I never believed such bullshit. Of course, there is an ideological difference but that is the only difference.”
Bluejives, what do you think China will do about it? I think they will force a collapse in NK and setup a sattelite state. Is this desireable for anyone in the region? Also why should we have to abandon our ally Japan to pacify an enemy?
Right now, the way things are setup, NK and KJI’s antics are actually useful for China’s ulterior motives. It is because of NK that the US is forced to be nice to China, despite the fact that certain factions within the US are looking to groom China as the next Evil Empire. NK also provides a handy foil to the Taiwan issue for the PRC.
For the record, I do not believe China is or should be the next Evil Empire, whether real or imagined. I also believe that with the rate of China’s development, the time will definitely come, in the near future, that America’s heavy Cold War relic presence in NE Asia will produce a considerably amount of tension in a zone that China will inevitably consider (rightfully so) its own sphere of influence. It is the same kind of tension that would result, hypothetically speaking, if China maintained a significant military position in Mexico, Cuba, or Venezuela. In other words, China will someday draw up the Chinese version of the Monroe Doctrine, commensurate with their risen status as a major power, staking a claim in East Asia, which basically says “this is OUR backyard.”
Right now, the onus is on the US to contain NK. China can just sit back and reap the benefits of NK’s prodigious ability at trouble-making, keeping Uncle Sam constantly hot and bothered by it all. Unfortunately, the US does not currently possess any effective diplomatic means of genuinely influencing NK toward positive ends, other than outright military intervention. The only nation that enjoys the most influence over NK is China. The situation is ironic. The nation that is most troubled by NK (US) has the least influence while the nation that is the least troubled by NK (China) has the most influence. This is ass-backwards. We want the reverse. The reverse that we want is that NK becomes primarily China’s headache and the US should be working towards that particular end, rather than stupidly confronting NK directly and exacerbating the situation.
Of course, all of this also means that Sino-US cooperation and understanding must rise to new heights. But, in the backdrop, America is just as nervous about the rise of China as she is about NK missiles and nukes. But you cant have it both ways. The NK puzzle is as much a Chinese puzzle as anything else.
Bluejives is not paying attention to events or is misreading them. The US is exactly NOT “stupidly confronting NK directly and exacerbating the situation”. The major criticism of the six-party talks, and a plausible reason for North Korea’s latest exacerbation of the situation, is that the US is failing to directly deal with North Korea, but rather subcontracting matters to China.
The Cold War is over, North Korea lost and it is time to wind up that little DPRK experiment and get on with unification under the taugukki.
Bluejives,
Interesting viewpoint, and you don’t need a hypothetical for the tension when it comes to military presence in the US backyard, it’s already been seen with the cold war Russian presence in Cuba, a la Bay of Pigs etc…
As to ironic re influence, can’t see any at all, its natural that you are going to worry more over what you have no influence over, after all if you had a strong influence to move their opinions and actions then you would have less to worry about.