Act of Desperation

North Korea. Who would've thought that a cardinal direction slapped in front of a divided country could have such an effect on the listener. I guess it must have been the same for Germany. I remember hearing East Germany in school and imagining a Stalinist, steel-like place with dismal weather. That the sun never shone over there. And in the West, it was all green pastures and tulips and wooden shoes. Oh wait, those last two are indicative of the Dutch. Well the green pastures conveys my point well enough.

In mentioning South Korea, I feel a rather modern vibe. They are the most avid cell phone users in the world and have some of the best internet connectivity from what I've heard. Then there's North Korea. Are you getting vibes from each of these countries I'm stating? Cold, desolate and Kim Jong Il. Since he's about all we see of the North Koreans, he's about 90% of 90% of the public's view of the country, including mine. I saw a special on Cinemax once about North Korea (I'm always tempted to use the phrase "the regime" like the media has pumped into me). People were starving. They were on TV eating clay and tree bark and grass, because there was simply no food. When you're hungry, you're hungry.

Now they have apparently tested a nuclear device. I will remain skeptical until the US or South Korea has irrefutible evidence that the test was nuclear. But this is not what the media would have you believe. "Nuclear or not, still unconfirmed," if they even mentioned it, is merely a footnote in most articles I've read. The fact is that there is no confirmation, thus nobody except Kim Jong Il-ville knows for sure.

I gotta say, the US did a bang-up job on this one. Let's just freeze him out and hope he goes away. The man wants to be recognized as a country and is not going anywhere. Look at his father, who posthumously was made Eternal President of the country. He wants bilateral talks and we should give it to him. Sit down like human beings and work out a solution. Maybe a little dinner, port and conversation. The US criticized him after agreeing to normailze relations. Then after seeing what President Bush does to "regimes" (ok, I said it) like his (Iraq), he kicked out weapons inspectors. I would have kicked them out too. I would have kicked them out like yesterday's trash.

But don't get the wrong impression. I'm not agreeing with North Korea's weapons policy. But I will not agree with the "act of desperation" theory. Acts done out of desperation are usually done spur of the moment. Somehow, developing nuclear weapons for 10 years and detonating one as a test somehow doesn't seem all that desperate. I believe it was a well planned act of propogand, nuclear or otherwise. If Saddam Hussein had detonated a nuclear weapon (or faked one) and test fired missles, like some malfunctioning bottle rocket super-pak, I guarantee that we would be working out a diplomatic solution, and Saddam would still be living between his many palaces. The US did invade because of 1 reason, and that was because they knew Iraq could be easily toppled, the oil under control and an a US-friendly government installed. That's why the US uses democracy to push elections. The sons of King's usually aren't subject to much pressure. It's a lot easier to manipulate a democracy than a monarchy. I'm off point on my stance against North Korea. Point is, if they have tested a nuclear weapon, they ain't gonna give it up. Not by US pressure, China pressure or sanctions.

We don't need sanctions, that'll just effectively decrease his population. We need to figure out how to nuclearly coexist.

Thanks for reading^^^^^^over^^^^^^