1. According to an international investigation, North Korea has sunk a ROK warship. Now the North has issued a warning. The protesting South is to refrain from provocations. By this standard, even registering an attack is warmongering. At the same time, so Pyongyang, retaliation, such as international condemnation and economic sanctions against the handout takers, will result in a military reprisal. Pyongyang talks about an “unlimited retaliatory blow, a merciless strong physical blow”. This is a threat of nuclear war. It is to happen in case that the warmongers of Seoul respond to the policy of peaceful unification pursued by the Dear Leader’s torpedoes. Apparently, if the DPRK says it is innocent then it is insolent to pretend otherwise. Those who trust their facts more than Kim’s word of honor, are hostile. Hostility is to be countered by retaliation. Therefore, the doubters are warmongers. If there is a war, their intransigence will have caused it. Imagine the international reaction if any other state would threaten another member of the international community with imminent nuclear war. (Make an exception for Iran’s references to the “Zionist Entity”.) That we try to overlook the threat and its implications demonstrates that North Korea has grabbed the world by the throat, then encircled it and is about to floor it. The otherwise so sensitive peace movement is paralyzed. It should not be fully blamed. It is specialized on easy cases such as chiding apologetic democracies for daring to defend themselves. The case demonstrates that you get your way if you commit the unimaginable. The international order can be subverted if you call the bluff of its posturing defenders. Meanwhile, North Korea has confiscated ROK-owned components of a resort that is jointly operated by the two states. Among the reasons, there is a gem. The South has desecrated the April 15, that commemorates the birthday of Kim the Elder. The deceased happens to be serving as the “Eternal President”. North Korea also justifies the seizure of South Korean properties to compensate for the losses incurred because the South suspended tours to the resort. The South prevents its citizens from spending real money there because it wants an investigation of the 2008 shooting of a tourist by North Korean soldiers. This has an, at the time this is written, ignored detail. Some South Koreans, employees at the Kaesong project, are in the North. Will the People’s Republic let them stay or will they be evicted? The latter might be a pleasant alternative. The unpleasant scenario is that some of them might be detained either as spies or, under duress, as “refugees”. It is unpleasant to admit, but the South is partly to blame for being stewed in the cauldron in which it finds itself. In the past, its “Sunshine Policy” has reacted to the communist state’s hostility by making soothing concessions. After every atrocity, such as the 1987 destruction of a passenger plane, Seoul reacted with a “new beginning”. The resort in the North, which made the ROK subject to the confiscation, illustrates the point. Concessions that help to finance aggressive adventurism against itself have not placated Kim’s Stalinists. The largesse failed to convince Pyongyang that Seoul is not its implacable enemy. What the policy of conciliation at any price achieved was confirmation that the ROK is not to be taken seriously. Donations made under pressure convinced the aggressor that violence pays. Pushovers tend not to be respected. Their actions, intended to demonstrate good faith, are booked as tribute. 2. Meanwhile, on a visit in China, Clinton is trying to convince her hosts of the validity of the investigation’s revelations. The hope is that Peking will pressure Kim, who cannot survive without Chinese, -and the now waning South Korean- support. In reality, Peking will hardly need information to place the blame. What China needs is not the proof of a misdeed. China must conclude that as a protégé, Baby Kim is of less use than is his worth as a thorn in American and South Korean wounds. 3. Under-reaction in the face of aggression is not unique to Koreans. A kid close to where your correspondent lives has wiped out his family. He got nine months. Suspended. Guess what dissuasive conclusions will be drawn. 4. More about sending soft signals that aggravates a bad condition. “Anything but Arizona”. Obama – “anything but Arizona” – wants a comprehensive immigration reform. One suspects that the process is the purpose of the exercise. During the debate, time is gained and action will be postponed. Congress can legalize the illegals. Does that solve a problem? Not quite. Legalizing illegal immigration is not the end of the book, only the conclusion of a chapter. The question is what happens to those who, after the amnesty, get the message and enter the country illegally. Because of the reform, doing so will become safer and therefore, more attractive. The lesson conveyed will be that illegal immigration forces legislation that solves the problem of enforcement by endorsing law breaking. Tongue-in-cheek, some solutions can be suggested. One: make a law that periodically legalizes whatever goes on. The gist of the proposed statute: “Every ten years illegal residents are given legal status and citizenship.” (A later, election-season reform, could reduce the limit to five years.) Two: Mexico annexes the US or the USA incorporates Mexico. In this case worried Canada south of the Arctic Circle, will protest. Third: switch countries. It begins with the illegals staying where they are now. They are rejoined by their brothers left behind. In exchange, a commitment is to be extracted. After the completed rotation, unapproved North-to-South migration is to be prevented. Illegals are to be treated as such and shall be repatriated. Wrapped in this seemingly American affair is a warning. It pertains no matter where you live. With their own consent, developed countries are losing control over their immigration policy and over aliens in their territory. Calderon’s visit and his admonitions – make any law that pleases but do not enforce it – topped by Obama’s courting, underline this allegation. 5. Why can you sleep well regardless of the atomic weapons of Britain, France, Israel, Russia and some others? So then, why worry about Iran acquiring such petards? Why not continue dozing? The listed inventories serve a limited purpose. It is, also in the case of India and Pakistan, to prevent an attack upon the holder of such weapons. As means of dissuasion, nuclear capacities have prevented since 1945 several large and small wars. Iran and her likes – whether states or movements – have an offensive purpose in mind for their craved nukes. This is no secret albeit some do not like to hear what they hate to admit. It is to liquidate the “Zionist Entity”. This represents is a departure from past patterns. The nuclear peace of seven decades has no bearing on the emerging situation. There are reasons not only for waking up but also for developing insomnia. The weapon craved is not an instrument of a state meant to serve as the ultimate guarantee of survival. The lack of a defensive purpose and a new type of access is a source of danger. It frees future first users from retaliation and of the concern of risking the destruction of what the weapon is meant to protect. An Iranian bomb might be the product of a nation state. However, it is not meant to serve national policy. Iran is ruled by extremists that serve an idea. This elite sees itself as the spearhead of a supranational movement on a global mission. Even now, Iran supports terrorists. Once she attains the Bomb it could be put at the disposal of elements with a global calling whose tentacles can act without leaving the sender’s home address. The exponents are people that – witness suicide bombings – are irrational. As such, they are inclined to pursue bizarre goals while disposed not to care about direct and collateral damages. 6. Iran had agreed in a circus show with Lula da Silva and Erdogan performing high-wire acts without a safety net, to have them enrich its uranium. The product will go for medical use. This will give Tehran’s famed medical research top world ranking. Specifics are lacking. How much uranium will remain in Iran? What means of enrichment will continue to convert these holdings to weapon’s grade? Tehran’s record suggest that only a part of Iran’s stash will be involved and that the nuclear project will continue. This means that the theater’s main purpose is to gain time. Also, it is to avoid or to moderate sanctions whose real worth is anything but crushing.Entertainment and Fireworks
Entertainment and fireworks by Kim. China to the rescue? Illegal immigrants and the medicine. Losing sleep over nukes. Peace, Israel and the bomb.
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