"Meanwhile, back in North Korea..."
by Austin Bay, Strategy Page. EFL
Saddam Husseinâs regime thrived on the UNâs corrupted Oil For Food program. . . . A similar evil game of elite ritz amidst mass starvation continues in east Asia, except a wag might call North Koreaâs shakedown "Food For Fallout." While Kim Jong Ilâs strange little Stalinist clique trumpets the development of nuclear weapons, 2.7 million of its citizens face imminent starvation. Last week the World Food Program cut food aid to North Korea because of a lack of foreign donations. . . .
[T]he Cold War ended with a whimper, not a nuclear bang. South Korea had hoped for a similar break in the North Korean regime, but if thereâs a modernizer [like Gorbachev] in Pyongyang heâs in prison or awaiting execution. Kim Jong-Il is running an extortion racket. His North Korean totalitarian police state is a totalitarian crime state. Various criminal enterprises insure its Communist elites have plenty to eat. In 2003, Australia seized a North Korean freighter packed with heroin. The ship sported expanded fuel tanks for long-distance operations. The bust proved smuggling smack is a North Korean state policy, providing cash for Kimâs caviar.
Nuclear weapons, of course, are Kimâs big stick. The scam goes like this: Pay us off and we wonât make bombs. That was the deal Pyongyang offered the Clinton administration in 1994. The United States hoped that meeting North Koreaâs basic energy and food requirements would ultimately reduce belligerency. However, North Korea made bombs anyway. North Korea calls its latest negotiating gambit "the order of simultaneous action." Pyongyang will "renounce nuclear intentions" if Washington resumes food aid. The US must also provide "written security assurances." This is still "pay us, then we behave."
The schtickâs no longer working quite as slick as it once did. Saddamâs collapse is one reasonâ post 9/11 America is in the regime change business. That fact certainly spurred Libyaâs recent nuclear fold. Stories circulate that Kim Jong-Il believes missile-armed American Predator unmanned aerial vehicles are stalking him.
If Kim casts a wary eye to the sky that may promote flexibility, as the diplomats say. . . .
Posted by: Mike 2004-01-23 |