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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rascal who wrote (107354)	7/23/2003 6:46:09 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

The citizens who eat regularly are in the army. That's why they are there. People do what they have to do to live. (Maslow's hierarcy of Needs.) And giving N. Korea more food is tantamount to feeding its army, n'est pas? Giving it fuel oil is tantamount to supplying its armed forces.. But some day, N. Koreans, including the families of those military soldiers, will tire of not having what its partners in the south possess. And they will demand change. But show weakness on an international, and/or regional front, and Kim might get some crazy ideas through his head that he might be able to get away with invading the south. Diplomacy, engagement, the supportive Sunshine Policy favored by the SOuth are alternative tactics which can be played out over time which would negate a compulsion to think " War is imminent.". I'm all for an H&M approach. But caving in to Kim's blackmail sends the wrong message. The message to be sent is play by some basic rules, stop the bluster and nuclear program, and we'll be willing to investigate improving relations over time.. But do you think he's a fool? He knows that he has to come up with a pretext for obtaining economic concessions to stave off the inevitable, and maintain his ability to pay off his underlings. Bribing him only delays that economic day of reckoning, not advance it, which is necessary to bring change. Don't forget that messages are getting passed to N. Korea's general leadership by the Chinese (I'm almost positive about that), telling them what will befall them all should they permit Kim to "miscalculate". I wish you folks would spend more time getting the UN and regional partners involved than in trying to make the US perform a solo negotiation. Y'all might have had a valid argument about criticizing Bush for not letting the UNSC take the lead in initiating regime change in Iraq, though I might disagree with it. But here you're all doing an about face and trying to push us into negotiating from our weakest position. When you're playing strategic poker, the last thing you want to do is fall prey to being bluffed. We're not backing Kim into a corner. He knows the route out... All he has to do is walk down it. Hawk