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It's amazing that the author acts like no one knows that the North Koreans are starving to death, it's in the news all the time. I would love for things in Nor

by phaus 14y ago

It's amazing that the author acts like no one knows that the North Koreans are starving to death, it's in the news all the time. I would love for things in North Korea to change, but you can't do that without getting rid of their current government. If we tried, we'd end up with a mess much larger than the one we have in the Middle East. Like North Korea, Iraq was run by a ruthless dictator who enslaved his people and squandered the nation's resources. He raped children, used biological weapons on minorities, tortured and imprisoned millions, and murdered hundreds of thousands. You don't hear about it much on the news, but there are mass graves in Iraq similar to the ones used during the holocaust. Even though the world knows all of this, the U.S. is still looked at like we are the world's biggest assholes for trying to change things in Iraq. You might say that's because the Bush administration lied about the evidence. Did Iraq have nuclear weapons? No. Are nuclear weapons the only thing that Qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction? Of course not. The U.S. and over 2'dozen of our allies' intelligence agencies believed that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons before the war started. After the invasion, everyone else pretended that they had always disagreed with us. In reality, Iraq most likely did have biological weapons. After all, it's not that hard to hide/dispose of/ move chemical weapons when you are surrounded by countries that hate the Western world. You might also say that things went to shit in Iraq, and that we didn't really help. Well you might be right about that. It's pretty heartbreaking to see how fast things got worse after we left. Like a day or so after the last troops moved out, There was a story in the news about 90 children being rounded up in Iraq, who were smashed to death with rocks for wearing jeans and t-shirts. So that brings us back to North Korea. Yea we could dethrone the false demigod, probably in about 3-6 weeks if we wanted, but without the military support of the entire world, we'd just end up turning North Korea into another hell hole.

Zimahl 14y ago
I think a free N. Korea would be different than a free Iraq. While it would be a burden on S. Korea, I would imagine that a unified peninsula is of interest to them. China is something else and continues to prop up that government. N. Korea would've broken up by now without China, much like the communist bloc countries did without the USSR.
- phaus 14y ago
  It's a weird relationship that they have with China. China props them up and gives them stuff, but at the same time they wish that N. Korea would quit fucking with their number one customer, the United States. There are a lot of people in N. Korea who would probably embrace change, but at the same time, there are probably millions that are so brainwashed that a significant insurgency would grow there as it did in Iraq. Once again, look at the middle east. Logically, there's absolutely no reason that a woman would want to buy into fundamental Islam. It offers them nothing but violence, abuse, and a lifetime of being treated like livestock. That doesn't stop women who have already been indoctrinated from becoming suicide bombers.
  - Zimahl 14y ago
    Very true, but fundamental Islam is different that Communism. N. Koreans are currently offered nothing by their country. I'm not sure who is being served by it. I would think the people might be more interested in regime change when you start bombing them with masses of bread and rice. I don't think there would be much insurgency, especially if the Chinese and the S. Koreans helped. The people have no weapons and you wouldn't see an influx of foreign fighters into the country (like we did with Iraq and Afghanistan). The real question is: who cares? The humanitarian in me does but my pragmatism isn't willing to trade 1 American life for the entirety of N. Korea. Although, I feel the same about Iraq and, partially, Afghanistan.
markyc 14y ago
>> Yea we could dethrone the false demigod, probably in about 3-6 weeks if we wanted maybe not, since China is right there, and they will definitely NOT sit idle as the US tries to mess around in their back yard (this has happened before, and it didn't go that great) actually, I think China is the main supporter of the situation in NK, had it not been for the Chinese protection, the NK dictators wouldn't have made it so long, IMO
- phaus 14y ago
  They are allies, but the relationship between them has changed quite a bit since the Korean War. A few years back, when N Korea was launching missiles in Japan's direction, China was actually going to impose sanctions on them if they didn't stop. They definitely don't want us in their back yard, but I don't think they are eager to rush to N. Korea's defense this time around. In the end, China only cares about what's in China's best interests. Here we are, the Unites States, buying trillions of dollars of stuff from China. Meanwhile, all they ever get from N. Korea is instability in the region and propositions for handouts.
  - markyc 14y ago
    >> all they ever get from N. Korea is instability in the region and propositions for handouts that and a perfect proxy for shady stuff, should they ever need it. proxies can be quite helpful in this age
philwelch 14y ago
> The U.S. and over 2'dozen of our allies' intelligence agencies believed that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons before the war started. Yes, but not strongly enough to start a war over it until there was some other motivation. Opinions aren't a binary thing. You can have 55% credence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, but at that point it's not necessarily a good idea to start a war over it. If you have 95% credence it's a different story.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

by phaus 14y ago

Zimahl 14y ago

I think a free N. Korea would be different than a free Iraq. While it would be a burden on S. Korea, I would imagine that a unified peninsula is of interest to them. China is something else and continues to prop up that government. N. Korea would've broken up by now without China, much like the communist bloc countries did without the USSR.

phaus 14y ago
It's a weird relationship that they have with China. China props them up and gives them stuff, but at the same time they wish that N. Korea would quit fucking with their number one customer, the United States. There are a lot of people in N. Korea who would probably embrace change, but at the same time, there are probably millions that are so brainwashed that a significant insurgency would grow there as it did in Iraq. Once again, look at the middle east. Logically, there's absolutely no reason that a woman would want to buy into fundamental Islam. It offers them nothing but violence, abuse, and a lifetime of being treated like livestock. That doesn't stop women who have already been indoctrinated from becoming suicide bombers.
- Zimahl 14y ago
  Very true, but fundamental Islam is different that Communism. N. Koreans are currently offered nothing by their country. I'm not sure who is being served by it. I would think the people might be more interested in regime change when you start bombing them with masses of bread and rice. I don't think there would be much insurgency, especially if the Chinese and the S. Koreans helped. The people have no weapons and you wouldn't see an influx of foreign fighters into the country (like we did with Iraq and Afghanistan). The real question is: who cares? The humanitarian in me does but my pragmatism isn't willing to trade 1 American life for the entirety of N. Korea. Although, I feel the same about Iraq and, partially, Afghanistan.

markyc 14y ago

>> Yea we could dethrone the false demigod, probably in about 3-6 weeks if we wanted maybe not, since China is right there, and they will definitely NOT sit idle as the US tries to mess around in their back yard (this has happened before, and it didn't go that great) actually, I think China is the main supporter of the situation in NK, had it not been for the Chinese protection, the NK dictators wouldn't have made it so long, IMO

phaus 14y ago
They are allies, but the relationship between them has changed quite a bit since the Korean War. A few years back, when N Korea was launching missiles in Japan's direction, China was actually going to impose sanctions on them if they didn't stop. They definitely don't want us in their back yard, but I don't think they are eager to rush to N. Korea's defense this time around. In the end, China only cares about what's in China's best interests. Here we are, the Unites States, buying trillions of dollars of stuff from China. Meanwhile, all they ever get from N. Korea is instability in the region and propositions for handouts.
- markyc 14y ago
  >> all they ever get from N. Korea is instability in the region and propositions for handouts that and a perfect proxy for shady stuff, should they ever need it. proxies can be quite helpful in this age

philwelch 14y ago

> The U.S. and over 2'dozen of our allies' intelligence agencies believed that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons before the war started. Yes, but not strongly enough to start a war over it until there was some other motivation. Opinions aren't a binary thing. You can have 55% credence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, but at that point it's not necessarily a good idea to start a war over it. If you have 95% credence it's a different story.

deleted 14y ago
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