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Korea, of all places, is possibly the most crystal-clear example of the success of American intervention. The unparalleled success of South Korea is a direct co
by Chevalier 12y ago
Korea, of all places, is possibly the most crystal-clear example of the success of American intervention. The unparalleled success of South Korea is a direct contrast to the horror of North Korea.
Perhaps I shouldn't say unparalleled -- Germany succeeded under American guidance, as did Japan despite a radically different culture and people. There was a time when we could rebuild countries successfully.
Notably, of course, Germany was full of Germans and Korea was full of Koreans. Cultural values allowed these countries to succeed, just as they ensure the failure of secular states in the Middle East. I don't advocate intervention everywhere -- and I think it's idiotic to try to set up democracies, even puppet ones, in countries hostile to essential Western values -- but the success of South Korea displays the huge loss the world has suffered from the Communist domination of North Korea.
It's simplistic to declare that "there is a zero chance war will result in any good." We sacrificed American lives to save Europe and much of East Asia from hellish regimes, and those were the right calls. It would have been the right call to save Korea as well. War hasn't helped Afghanistan -- because nothing will help Afghanistan -- but we used to have the wisdom to know when intervention was worth the cost.
- ewzimm 12y agoDo you realize that North Korea didn't develop by itself but was created by agreements between the US and the Soviet Union? The US even blocked democratic elections that would have avoided the split. North Korea is just as much a product of American intervention as South Korea. Perhaps it didn't have American guidance, but it was a deliberate creation of America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_Korea
- saosebastiao 12y agoIts development absolutely was by itself, even if its borders and autonomy were not. In fact, you can probably say that more about North Korea than any other country, given its policy of strict isolationism.
- ewzimm 12y agoI'm not saying the North Koreans didn't directly influence the development of their country, but they were absolutely influenced and trained by the Soviet Union. The UN passed the American resolution for elections in 1947 but without Soviet Support. It was obvious this was going to split the country indefinitely when only the American half participated. There was momentum and international support at the time for a country-wide election, but due to the Cold War, it never happened. I don't know anyone who says that the developments in Korea were anything other than Cold War proxies.