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Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Two Koreas

Meanwhile, over on the Korean Peninsula, we have the ROK (South Korea) standing up to the DPRK (North Korea).  This is a change in the way things have happened in the past and the bully (DPRK) is not taking kindly to it.

Today's focus is on a planned artillery drill from the island of Yeonpyeong. North Korea is promising dire consequences if this goes on.  China and Russia have been counseling moderation and the avoidance of confrontation.

Here is the view from Night Watch.

I realize it is wrong for me to think this way, but if North Korea were to again shell Yeonpyeongdo, as they did on 23 November of this year, killing several South Koreans, I would like to see the US support South Korea by conducting an exercise using the USS PUEBLO (AGER-2) as a target ship, sending it to the bottom and allowing it to be decommissioned and stricken from roster.  It is currently located in Wonsan Harbor, in North Korea.  But, maybe there is some secret protocol that prevents such a thing.

But, that won't happen and North Korea will continue to try and bully the rest of the world into helping it meet its economic, including energy and food, requirements.  And, we will continue to help them out, but given their government and its hermit kingdom approach, it will never get up on the step and speed forward.  And the cycle will repeat until North Korea does something really stupid to get attention, or implodes, or our side does something really stupid in response to some provocation.  Let us, as citizens, encourage our government not to overreact, like taking out the USS PUEBLO.

Regards  —  Cliff

2 comments:

Jack Mitchell said...

I would like to see the UN authorize China to send 500,000 or so troops into N.Korea on a humanitarian mission.

Let's explore the concept of "R2P."
http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/

C R Krieger said...

Jack

I agree with the idea of Responsibility to Protect, but there are limits there as elsewhere.  We did act, albeit slowly, in the breakup of Yugoslavia, but I don't think we were ever going to intervene in Rwanda.

And I don't think China will send troops in to North Korea.  I think they will stand at the border and control refugee flow.  Otherwise they will try to foist it off on South Korea.  Not right, but the realpolitik way.  And that is unfortunate.

And, unfortunate though it may be, President George Bush's initial instinct against "nation building" was probably the proper one.  There is only so much we can do in that area, because moving forward for a nation is about changing culture and learning to compromise.  Fixing Haiti, as an example, would probably require that we bring the 10 million Haitians in Haiti to the US for 40 years, let them pick up new habits and ways of doing thing, while their nation heals in terms of reforestation and other such activities and then letting those who wish to return to Haiti do so.  Otherwise it is going to stumble along like it does today, with little progress.

But, when people are killing people as a genocide, of any sort, then the UN should sanction intervention, but not try to micromanage it from Turtle Bay.  The US should offer strategic and tactical lift and logistical and command and control support, but not troops for the actual intervention.

As an aside, it might benefit UN reactions to problems world wide to have its own "Unified Command Plan", with small planning headquarters in various parts of the world; sort of like a mini-staff college for the various militaries in each of the regions.  If things are tense, but it on a retired cruise ship.

Regards  —  Cliff