The on-again, off-again relationships used by North Korea to play China off against Russia is a familiar pattern used quite effectively over the years to keep both at arms length and from gobbling up the DPRK as a satellite country.
And with Russia’s announcement that they will continue to supply fuel oil shipments to the DPRK may show that Russia is now “on-again”.
If North Korea follows through on some speculations of wanting to cause a renewed sense of crisis in the Obama administration by testing another Nuke, the relationship with China will definitely be “off-again”.
To, put an exclamation point on the legacy of the unpopular outgoing US President, an Iraqi journalist gave the ultimate arabic insult by throwing - and very accurately I might add - both of his shoes at George Bush.
Every action has a reaction and this appears to be the latest and most memorably symbolic reaction to the Iraqi war.
We’ve already opined on the diminished standing of the USA in the world’s eyes, but this is adding insult to injury.
The Maliki government will most likely prosecute this journalist to the fullest extent of whatever laws may apply, but in the end we also know that many other Iraqis probably share this man’s feelings toward the US and specifically, George Bush.
Here in China, some locals are watching with keen interest on what will become of this journalist, for if such a thing happened here, that would most likely be the last we would see of him - ever…
Should we be prepared to see barefoot journalists at all official press conferences now?
Release the Balloons!
All this talk of balloons floating over North Korea and all the roil it is causing, reminds me of Nena’s #1 hit single “99 Luftballons” from the 80’s. It is balloon warfare at it’s best.
The original song in German was a protest against the nuclear missile stand off between western europe and eastern europe; the United States against the Soviet Union.
As Korea is today, Germany was then a divided country. The song reached #1 in West Germany in 1983.
It portrays a fictional account of how a cloud of balloons mistaken for an aerial missile attack might touch off an apocalyptic war.
Could the recent cloud of balloons over DPRK, each carrying thousands of leaflets, radios and sometimes dollars, cause a war? Or, could it cause a different type of an end?
Each of those packets contain not just mere words, but information. And the one thing that an authoritarian regime like North Korea fears the most is that it’s people will start to open their eyes to receive and believe in information from the outside.
Could this be the time when the masses are actually receptive to information? The military seems to think so and wants it to stop.
North Korea just stuck it’s thumb in the eyes of the US by re-assembling it’s nukes, disregarding the terrorism blacklist, testing missile engines and George Bush’s response - nothing.
Russia kicked sand in America’s face and marched into the sovereign country of Georgia and NATO’s response - nada.
US tried to clean up Al-Qaeda that Pakistan seemed unable to do and Pakistan’s response - get the heck out of our land and don’t let the front door of the Marriott hit your ass on the way out… What is it with these people? Aren’t we fighting the same bad guys?
On the US home front: Wall Street greed and greedy home owners all consorted to conjure up the worst set of toxic debt ever and US government’s response - bail out the schmucks, reward their promiscuity and save their golden parachutes.
How will the US pay for this bailout? By printing more money and selling more US government bonds. Who will buy them? You guessed it - most likely foreign investors. What affect will this have on US foreign policy? Unknown, but I’m sure the US will have to take all this into account before starting any new wars. The picture of an America tip-toeing around the world seems sad…
Let’s face it, the US is turning into a land of irrelevance.
I caught the CNN interview of 5 former secretaries of state and their recommendations for the next president. The diminished standing, power and influence of the US was palpable. The strong, silent confidence of America seemed hard to find -many of the recommendations seemingly centered around “collaboration” and “co-operation” with other nations.
With credibility in the world diminished from the War in Iraq, the US is now having to reap what it sowed.
Obama or McCain - it doesn’t matter which one - you have some serious diminishment to deal with…
“Every major intelligence agency across the world does the exercise. Call it the ‘hit by the bus’ scenario. If leader X of important/sensitive/unstable country Y drops dead tomorrow, what happens? Who takes over? How might that change things? For some countries, the exercise is simple. For others, it’s murky and complicated. Then there’s North Korea.” - www.time.com
Well, hand it to North Korea, Kim Jong-Il has again set the news media chattering away about the future of the DPRK and the implications of a nuclear North Korea without the “Dear Leader” at the helm.
Timing is impecable: all eyes were on the fashionable military parade to see if the Chairman would show. When he didn’t, it touched off a firestorm of speculation and North Korea arm-chair analysts had a field day.
Today, North Korea (DPRK) marks it’s 60th anniversary of it’s founding on Sept 9, 1948. To cap the celebrations, the North holds a large-scale military parade to display unity and military might.
We are all familiar with those menacing-looking, goose-stepping soldiers marching in incredible unison. What many people don’t know is that these guys have been practicing those high steps since Spring. I watched on with fascination at their dedication and the droning of their incessant cadence. Everyone had a number and whoever was out-of-line or out-of-step was rebuked.
It’s interesting the timing of a barrage of news coverage on rumors of the health of the “Dear Leader”. There was one from the left-field, as a Japanese “expert” opined that the “Dear Leader” had died in 2003. Then another more plausible one from South Korea stating Chinese doctors were in the North to treat high-level officials. CNN and many other reliable sources are starting to pick up on this chatter. Undoubtedly, there will be many eyes scouring the videos of today’s military parade for any clues.
My personal guess is that he won’t show.
What will the next 60 years hold?
Many people have said that perhaps more than one generation on both the North and the South would have to pass away before there is a true reconciliation and possible re-unification.
Since an average generation (time between generations) should be about 30 years, we should already be into our 3rd generation after the Korean War. Those born around 1948 (1st gen) would likely have kids around 1978 (2nd gen) who will likely be starting to have kids around 2008 (3rd gen).
As for the old-farts that still remember the war - they are fading fast. If you were fighting age in 1948, you would be well past 75 years old now. Remember, Kim Jong-Il was only about 7 years old at the founding of DPRK.
One could take a cynical view and wonder if, after generations apart, the Korean people could ever re-unite. I prefer to take the optimistic point of view and think that we are long over due for a breakthrough. I’m all in for something big to start happening in the near future.