Not crazy, says Bush-era diplomat Victor Cha – just calculating:
(It) is possible to be both rational and belligerent. In North Korea’s case, belligerence is part of a calculated effort to win concessions of food, fuel and political recognition – an effort that has repeatedly paid off. A study I recently directed at the Center for Strategic and International Studies examined negotiations dating back to March 1984 and found that every North Korean provocation has been followed, sooner or later, by talks, many of which led to goodies for Pyongyang.
In the cool light of retrospect, there is time to wonder how the rabid dog got rabies. When he’s at your throat, however, the most compelling question is, how do we put him down?
Whiteman AFB, B-2 bombers, SSGNs…
Or maybe send Michael Vick
At the risk of sounding a bit cantankerous, what do you mean, “we”, white man?
What Cha says makes sense. The ROKs need to respond. Let the kids fight instead of playing, “My daddy can beat your daddy.”
Ask a parent: Is it a good idea (i.e., ‘good parenting’) to reward your child’s bad behavior? When your 15-kid throws a fit about not being allowed to stay out beyond midnight drinking, do you say ‘OK, go ahead and stay out, but just don’t drink too much”? Why can’t our representatives, the ones who deal with the NORKs, not understand this basic fact?
Spare the LGB, spoil the tyrannical dictator starving his country into oblivion?
I’m all for giving humanitarian aid, but that said I’m still OK with letting them starve in the dark. There’s nothing that says humanitarian aid has to include food and fuel. Why can’t it include seeds, some small tractors, and maybe medicines? Used to be that if the kid wanted a fancy toy you made them earn it, through an allowance paid at the end of a series of tasks. Petulant brats were turned away from the others at the dinner table, sent to their rooms, and otherwise shunned or ignored. Those who showed positive social skills like a work ethic, responsibility, and polite behavior were rewarded.
Dr. Spock! Paging Dr. Spock! State Department on line 3, Dr. Spock!
You know, that old saying “Give a man a fish he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish he’ll eat for a lifetime” is supposed to be Chinese in origin. And the Norks are their little brat. I suggest we re-start negotiations with a question, “Why are you thinking I give a damn?”
Probably a good thing I’m not president.
– Max
I always heard that the saying went: Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for today, set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
LOL! Thanks Badger . . . now I can go to sleep on a positive note
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you have a drinking buddy for life.
On that note, teaching a boy to fish, given that fishing also involves the spinning of certain types of yarns, might be contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The Korean issue will likely go bad one day as the ability for the NORKS to restrain themselves has a shelf life….
The actual conflict will go something like this; BANG BANG FLASH FLASH followed by the middle 7 miles of the peninsula disappearing in a blinding flash of weaponry….as that sea rushes in, the newly formed ISLAND of South Korea will be visible, just south of the new passage between China and South Korea…..the remnants of the NORKS will then reside at the bottom of the sea…..where they belong.
I like what a previous poster said (can’t remember who) that if the NORKS claim to be a nuke power, then tell the Red Chinks we are giving nukes to Japan and the ROKs and then tell them what they have to do to have their own nuke programs based on the latest technology (e.g., laser enrichment is far more efficient than gaseous diffusion).
I’d warn the Red Chinks that I would do this if they don’t get their dog tied up and keep him that way.