Are things going badly on the Korean peninsula because of strategic/tactical errors

[International Machine Consortium]

Wow, you add up all the Republican failures, it's astonishing anyone will vote for these clowns. Anyway, the article presents an interesting idea, one that deserves further exploration.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2404009,00.html

Debt saps world power of America
IRWIN STELZER
American Account
NORTH KOREA?s ability and willingness to set off a nuclear device of some sort is being blamed on a failure of American diplomacy. Never mind that Kim Jong Il?s survival depends on the continued support of China, or that Russia has consistently refused to support moves to pressure North Korea to end its bid to become a nuclear supplier to the world?s jihadists. When it comes to failed diplomacy, there is blame enough to go around.

But when it comes to failed economic policies that produce failed diplomacy, the buck stops in Washington. It is the economic policy of the Bush administration that has hobbled its efforts to veto North Korea?s application to join the nuclear club.


Let?s start with fiscal policy. It is indeed true that the Bush tax cuts were key to ending the recession the Republicans inherited from the Clinton administration. And it is also true that some of the tax cuts have proved to be revenue generators for the Treasury. That has enabled the administration to gloat over a 22% reduction in the budget deficit from last year's $319 billion. But in a booming economy, a continued deficit of $248 billion is hardly chopped liver, as the analysts in New York?s delis are inclined to say. And when those deficits result in stacks of IOUs held by China, America?s diplomats are forced to walk softly lest they antagonise so large a creditor.

No wonder Bush kow-tows to the Chinese. Sheesh. I hope the guy has knee-pads. Chamberlain's got nothing on him.

 

[f95toli]

To answer the question in the topic: No. it is going badly because north Korea is a closed country which has been a one party state ruled by the military for the past 50 years, has a leader worshipped as a demi-god who inherited his position from daddy and seem to have developed a craving for international attention which borders on megaomania.

Add to that the fact that both China and Russia are doing their best to make sure that the country doesn't collapse complettely, not because they like the current regime but because they both share a border with NK meaning IF (or more likely: When) the country collapses they are the ones that will have to deal with many of the problem (refuges etc)

Yes, the US could have handled the situation better and so could the rest of the world. However, while I am no fan of the current US administration saying that this is their fault is stretching it too much.

 

[EagleKeeper]

It has to do with not wanting to create another massive war in Asia.

China is not the issue except to involve them within a ground war - to be avoided

Economics has nothing to do with the type of sanctions. Unless the US was going to go with a blockage alone, they needed UN support. It was obtained.

Multiple administrations failed to prevent NK from continuing down the NK path. Because the cumulation of the NK effort may have occurred under Bush is not a condemnation of his policies.

 

[Pabster]

Once again we have a "dag nabbed Librul!" trying to spread FUD.

The truth is that the current problems with North Korea can be directly attributed to the failed Clinton 1994 "Framework" which provided NK both the money and technology to be where they are now.

 

[Lemon law]

I disagree on this blame Clinton bull---this is GWB policy blowing up in his face due to total negligence.

The USA had a Korea policy stretching back to Carter---and N. Korea was member of the Nuclear non-proliftion pack. Then GWB unilaterally decided to scrap 20 years of US policy and formulate his own. Which is a fancy way of saying he ignored them while they screamed we have nukes. And at the same time ignored requests for direct talks with the USA alone---instead saying he would only deal with six parties ganging up on N. Korea. And in responce to GWB, N. Korea withdrew from the nuclear non-proliftion pack.

Now lets look at it from N. Korea's standpoint---you have a country estranged from the west---whose only semi-allies are China and Russia--both of which have interests in the continuation of N. Korea, but neither want to see N. Korea economically strong---and want to see N. Korea under their thumbs
jumping to their bidding. Meanwhile the N. Korean economy is the laggart of the region--producing only arms for export---unable to feed their own people due to peristant droughts---while their capitalistic neighbors S. Korea and Japan have strong economies producing consumer goods for a world market.---and with the wherewithal to buy raw materials on the open market---and the skilled work force and machine tools to transform those materials into products that puts bread on the table.

And its simply not in S. Korea's or Japan's interests to have yet another competitor.

A smarter leader than GWB would consider this an opportunity to pry N. Korea away from communism and a failed system.---GWB knee jerk kicks them deeper into isolation---with no hope of ever getting back up---all stick and no carrots---has not your mother ever told you---never back a wounded animal into a corner?---and then poke it with sticks. Bottom line---N. Korea now has an incentive to stregthen its nuclear program as its last hope.

If nothing else---I would hold direct talks---and at the same time deal with my allies on this.

I don't know exactly what Kim Jong ll game is---he is regarded as a smart man---maybe its time to try to understand.---instead of totally demonising him.

 

[ProfJohn]

Lemon, do you understand that the reason we gave up on the policy of the past is because the North Koreans had been cheating on their agreement not to enrich plutonium.

Having an agreement going back 20 years is meaningless if only one side if following it.
You don?t negotiate with dictators because they will never follow their agreements.

Check out this statement by Jimmy Carter

JUDY WOODRUFF: ?. Are you absolutely persuaded that the North Koreans are going to honor this agreement, that while the talks are going on that it?s not just a matter of buying time on the part of the North Koreans, that they will not secretly pursue the program they were pursuing earlier, nuclear program?

JIMMY CARTER: Judy, I?m convinced. But I said this when I got back from North Korea, and people said that I was naive or gullible and so forth. I don?t think I was. In my opinion, this was one of those perfect agreements where both sides won and got what they wanted and there were no-nobody blinked, nobody had to yield?. I think the most important lesson is that we should not ever avoid direct talks, direct conversations, direct discussions and negotiations with the main person in a despised or misunderstood or condemned society who could actually resolve the issue. And we went through this for ten years when nobody in our government would meet or talk to Yasir Arafat. The Norwegians did, and they were the ones that brought the peace agreement last summer

Link
It was a perfect agreement for the North cause they got billions in aid and were still able to work on their Nuclear weapons program.

As for your comments about isolation and economics etc, you need to educate yourself on how N Korea works. Lil Kim keeps his power by keeping his people totally in the dark about the outside world. You are foolish if you think he wants to open up his country. What he wants is to blackmail us into providing him with food and money so that he can keep his own personal power.
Why else would a country spend as much as 25% of its GDP on military spending when it can't feed its own people?

The country has the 5th largest military in the world, despite ranking 48th in population.

Check out this pic, says a lot. North Korea at night

Educate yourself on N Korea and its Nuke program here Agreed framework
and here NK and WMD

 

[OrganizedChaos]

north korea will be a problem for my generation because my grand parents generation did something to screw up korean conflict 30 years before i was born.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
north korea will be a problem for my generation because my grand parents generation did something to screw up korean conflict 30 years before i was born.

Your grandparents generation chose to stop NK from taking control of the Korean pennisala.

They also decided that drawing China into a full blown fight over that peice of land was not worth the lives of the military and civilians that would be affected.

The world just came ouit of a full blown conflict; no one wanted to restart another one especially when the memory of nukes was still fresh.

China had demonstrated that they had no value of life for their soldiers and they had many more that they could trhow at the Un troops to keep them from controlling all of Korea.

Yes it would have been nice to march up to the boorder, but at what cost. Drawing Russian and China into a conflict that would serve no purpose?

 

[Genx87]

Wow they go from NK right into those darn tax cuts!
And the left wonders why their msg falls on deaf ears.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Wow they go from NK right into those darn tax cuts!
And the left wonders why their msg falls on deaf ears.

Speak for yourself!

Most people in this world can rapidly switch from one concept to another, thanks to the wonderful human brain; others quickly become confused when attempting to grasp more than one concept at a time.

Read it more slowly, sound out the vowels, you'll probably get it eventually......

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: feralkid

Originally posted by: Genx87
Wow they go from NK right into those darn tax cuts!
And the left wonders why their msg falls on deaf ears.

Speak for yourself!

Most people in this world can rapidly switch from one concept to another, thanks to the wonderful human brain; others quickly become confused when attempting to grasp more than one concept at a time.

Read it more slowly, sound out the vowels, you'll probably get it eventually......

ADD is a condition you know.