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China-Japan-Koreas
Save the North Koreans!
2010-12-11
It's well and good to worry about Pyongyang's nuclear capability, but it also matters for reasons the West seems disinclined to think about.

By Jonah Goldberg

If North Koreans were pandas, would we have let them suffer so?
Mr. Goldberg continues in fine form from there. He's right: one day the North Korean people will be free. When they are very few of us will be able to look them in the eye.
Posted by:Steve White

#11  And that almost all of our State Department will not.

Steve, I'm afraid that you're wrong here. The SHOULD not pass. But, these arrogant bast@rd$ can't ever imagine that they are at fault for anything. In fact I'm sure they blame the military for not doing this correctly.
Posted by: Alan Cramer   2010-12-11 14:02  

#10  I have no doubt that each and every Marine, soldier, sailor and airman of our country will meet the eye contact test.

And that almost all of our State Department will not.
Posted by: Steve White   2010-12-11 13:06  

#9  I watched a National Geographic on North Korea the other day (its on Netflicks) which wasn't too bad.

A western Doctor visited Pyongyang to perform a bunch of eye surgeries and to show North Korean Doctors how to do it. Of course being Pyongyang the residents are the top of the food chain in the party and very, very, loyal.

Telling was after the surgeries, when the Doctor's and his assistants removed the bandages and the parients could see - a very emotional event as you can imagine.

All of them gave public thanks to the Kims. "Me and my descents will be loyal forever!" was a common thread. Weather they were forced, were scared to do anything else, or did it of their own free will (and it did seem like the later..) every one of them gave their thanks and appreciation to Dear Leader. None gave any appreciation to the Doctor or his staff - they were ignored in the rush to give thanks and worship to the Great and Dear Leader.

I feel sorry for the North Koreans - the vast majority of which have no idea what life is like outside of their borders. To them the entire world is even worse and Kimmie-boy really is the Great Leader which the entire world respects and admires. I don't feel that much guilt - the responsibility goes to the Kims themselves, their leadership and military, and China.

The real cost of any re-unifications won't be the starvation or poverty - it'll be the mental attitude of the newly released slaves who are so dependent on the government for everything - including what to think, that some, and I expect a lot, simply won't be able to accept anything else.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2010-12-11 11:40  

#8  Them lion's share of guilt, not that they give a crap, goes to the ChiComs, who have propped these evil creatures up for 60 years. The US and its allies under the UN banner actually tried to free these people, and got a bloody nose for it. Since then, guilt goes to all the bankers and venal nations that let these reptiles secretly trade, counterfeit and narco/weapons traffic, all the while feeding their elites and the army on humanitarian aid for their starving masses. I feel great sadness and pity for the suffering of these people, but not shame. My country has done most of the world's heavy lifting, with damn little thanks, for almost a century. Between that and amazingly stupid domestic policies, we are near broken, and certainly broke. Good luck looking to the rising Chinese for their enlightened and benevolent attitude towards world power.
Its not too late to stop the sinking of our ship of state, but the tax deal just brokered gives me little hope that we are governed at last by grownups, not petty, grasping poltroons!
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2010-12-11 10:42  

#7  It is unwise to ponder the fate of the North Koreans too long, as that nation is a museum of the worst elements of 20th Century industrial horror.

There are some of them who were born, lived their entire lives, had children and died in forced labor camps, having no knowledge of anything else.

Treatment of some who tried to escape and were captured, was so hideous that even Chinese border guards were horrified and objected to their superiors.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-12-11 10:25  

#6  I lump NORK's in the same category as these Jacked up Old cars with $1.000.00 each wheels and no food for their children, same style over necessities mentality.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2010-12-11 10:12  

#5  Actually, we 'Saved the South Koreans' from a similar fate. Look at it as the 'half full' view. It was about 300,000 Chinese in November 1951 that made it the fate of the North Koreans.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2010-12-11 08:59  

#4  Everything eventually becomes our responsibility, Grom. Everything.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2010-12-11 08:51  

#3  Evidently the man is unfamiliar with the last ten years of South Korean diplomacy.

The North is holding their population hostage. Anything that happens to them is hardly our responsibility.
Posted by: gromky   2010-12-11 07:08  

#2  I believe 50 years of commitment to that DMZ and our insistence to try to allow them in has been more than enough to look "them in the eye". This is a country that has women get pregnant, have babies, and kill them to eat. I am DEAD serious and maybe they may not be able to look US in the eye.
Never-mind their Pagan God.
Posted by: newc   2010-12-11 00:47  

#1  Doc, you can bet the percentage of people who can look them in the eye will be higher here at Rantburg than the general public, and far higher than the in the State Department and most lefty campuses.
Posted by: OldSpook   2010-12-11 00:18  

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