North Korea
Something to think about...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6951629397402742053&q=north++korea&pl=true
What really pushes my buttons is how the international aid is diverted to feed the army.
posted by Ben Ferreira at 10:55 PM
5 Comments:
It's really creepy how empty those giant cities are. It's like something out of a science fiction movie.
The part about the "camps" is really disturbing too.
4/27/2006 10:58 PM
This is absolutely heartbreaking. I'm not sure how KIM Jong Il sleeps at night. I'm equally angered by the misuse of NGO food assistance (same situation in Somalia and Darfur). I wonder if a revolution is coming soon, though.
Mao's dictatorship led to the death of millions by starvation or political martyrdom, but it was so bad that the China was virtually relieved of all its troubles when Mao died and Deng took over (Wild Swans by Jung Chang was an excellent biographical account of China throughout the 20th century). I'm continually amazed at how a "party for the people" ends up being a dictatorship to serve the elite. In the case of Mao, a revolt was not possible. When he died, though, it was almost a unanimous decision to change.
Can we do anything to change this? Diplomacy isn't going to work. Do we have the balls to do anything or will we say, "we're not going to fight other peoples' wars," or "it's none of our business." I think it is our responsibility to ensure human rights are not offended, and that people will have access to food--otherwise we will be guilty of what some accuse the US of being--haughty, and self-serving.
5/02/2006 4:33 PM
You have to keep your goal in mind. If your objective is to help the people who are currently suffering, I doubt a prolonged war with one of the largest military forces in the world, which may or may not have nuclear weapons, will achieve that objective. Iraq had a very small military compared to the one in North Korea and look at the problems they are having.
I would be much more supportive of some form of military action against North Korea except that a war would only hurt the people we would be trying to help and that South Korea and Japan would be the victims of horrendous retaliation. Agreeably diplomacy is not working well with North Korea but I doubt a military response would be any better if not far worse.
When facing a lunatic with the capability of murdering millions of people, balls are not what is necessary, foresight and intelligence should be used.
5/03/2006 12:55 AM
It's definitely not as black and white as you paint this picture. Eddie Izzard comes to mind. "We're fine with people murdering their own people...Pol Pot, Mao, they lived long and died honorable deaths. Hitler, oh no...poor poor man..."
As a country, we're lukewarm, and too passive. Even though Saddam murdered thousands, we didn't go to war until terrorists a war to us. I fear the terrorists in the Middle East know that if they can appeal to the emotions of the general American public then they've one the war--we'll withdraw when the war becomes unpopular. Have you seen Blackhawk Down? I love that movie. It's so striking to me that, even though we were helping Somalians, we had to pull out when the going got tough. A civil war is one thing, but using food as a weapon is against human rights!
Strategically, it's scary because DPRK probably has nukes (even though they agreed to disarm) and they aren't afraid to use them. I also agree that if we weren't ready to fully commit to the war, it would spell big trouble for South Korea and other democratic Asian states. Why can't everybody just play nice?
5/03/2006 9:42 AM
If everyone played nice we wouldn't have anything to talk about :)
5/03/2006 10:31 AM
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