Further Q&A on the Recent Korean Doings
Posted By Russ Emerson on June 11, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Queried late last night by one of my oldest friends, I banged out a quick response.
Q: Do you agree with this administration’s response – or what you consider the response to be?
A: Well, I haven’t noticed what the response has actually been. There may have been a response, I just haven’t noticed it… or the response was deliberately intended not to be noticed by anyone other than the Norks. And even if there was a public response, I wouldn’t be at all certain there wasn’t a hidden response at the same time. Layers….
Of course, you may have sussed out that I am no fan of Obama. I think he’s completely out of his depth. I just hope the adults are in charge on matters such as this.
If I were POTUS, I would have done something like surge the Pacific sub force to cordon (at a distance – international waters) the North’s naval bases – not to actually sink anything (yet) but to let them know we *could* put every single one of their hulls on the sea bed in a matter of minutes, and roast much of their land and air forces (via SLCM) at the same time.
I don’t think anyone seriously doubts we have that capability; the question is one of willpower.
Of course, Kim is a lunatic, always has been. The kind you have to handle with kid gloves. Most despots are intensely interested in their own self-preservation; Kim, though… I seriously wonder if he really believes he’s impervious, and might act without regard to his own long-term prospects. I have no doubt, though, that like virtually all despots, he’d cheerfully let his country burn if he thought the ends were justified.
To be honest, I’ve always kind of wondered, after his father died, why the generals didn’t immediately off the SOB and take power for themselves. On the other hand, the North is as heavily propagandized and indoctrinated into the cult of personality as anyplace you could imagine – the generals might not survive a *successful* coup. I’ve seen what the regime feeds its own people on the one state-run TV station. It’s utterly appalling.
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