I see the chickenhawks are poking their heads out (re: North Korea)

[Hugabear]

Haven't really seen any of the national right-wing warmongers on TV, but I've already seen several of their followers posting comments on CNN and my local newspaper's website. Typical simplistic, jingoistic "hell yeah, we should bomb the shit out of them, show them who's boss, FUCK YEAH" stuff. Typical chickenhawk comments from a bunch of people who likely have never seen a day of combat in their lives and who wouldn't actually do any of the fighting themselves, but have no qualms about sending their neighbor's son to his death.

Thing that scares me is if we lose the White House in 2012, these chickenhawks will be in control. I have a feeling they've been itching to live out their GI Joe fantasies, who think that Team America was a blueprint for how we should conduct foreign policy.

[MineralMan]

1. Yup. The Sarah Palins of this country would just love an

excuse to bomb some place full of darker-skinned people into oblivion. PRNK, Iran? It doesn't matter to them.

[customerserviceguy]

2. OK, so what do we do about NK?

Do we wring our hands until they discover that they need to be friends with the rest of the world? I figure they're going to sell nukes to the jihadists before that happens.

The Western world should have neutralized NK a long time ago. The fact is, the longer we wait, the more hazardous it becomes. Maybe South Korea has enough of it's shit together to figure out how to finish the sixty year old war.

[gratuitous]

3. What does it mean to "neutralize" North Korea?

Keep in mind that it has two really big countries really quite close to it that both have a history of being really nervous about the prospect of foreign incursions (and with really good reason).

[customerserviceguy]

5. At some point

civilized people are going to have to take out the regime that is in place, and provide food, shelter, and a chance at prosperity for the people suffering in North Korea.

It's all a matter of when, and the time is starting to get ripe.

[gratuitous]

6. Wait, is it "a long time ago" or soon?

Methinks you might want to have a plan in place for the post-dictatorship. Because decapitating a society through violent intervention, no matter how dysfunctional it appears from outside, often leads to an even worse situation.

[customerserviceguy]

7. The people of South Korea

will rehabilitate their North Korean bretheren, the same way the people of West Germany did when the communist leadership of East Germany fell.

[IDHow]

8. No, as China will do whatever it takes to make sure that US troops stay

away from the Chinese northern border just a few miles from the Chinese capital. It is strategically unacceptable for China, just as it would be for the US if China had thousands of troops and bases in Mexico.

[customerserviceguy]

9. That's fine with me, if US troops withdraw from the Korean peninsula

The South isn't the fragile state that it was at the armistice, sixty years ago. It can handle re-absorption of the people of the North, once the Kim Jung Il regime is thrown out of power.

[IDHow]

10. But the problem is that China does not believe the US will withdraw

So China supports the North Korean regime as it is seen as a lesser evil than having thousands of US troops on its borders right next to Beijing. If North Korea collapses, then China will invade North Korea and demand that the only way for it to withdraw its troops is if the US withdraws from the South. Let's be honest here, the US would do just the same if China had large amounts of troops in Mexico.

[customerserviceguy]

12. We need to make a deal with the Chinese on this

The US withdraws to it's Japanese bases (on second thought, Japan can defend itself), China, the US, and SK take out the dictator, SK supplies food and aid to the newly freed NK people, and China leaves a united Korea alone.

What's not to love about that deal?

[RZM]

23. I'm not sure that's their main concern

Obviously you're right, they wouldn't want US troops on their border, but I doubt we'd put them there. We'd acquiesce on that one. I think they are more worried about dealing with millions of starving refugees if the North collapses. A lot of people in the South feel the same way. It's sad but, I think there are plenty of people in the region who may feel sorry for the North Koreans, but don't want to have to take responsibility for them.

[RZM]

21. I think there are a lot of S. Koreans that would rather not

Reunification in Korea would make the German process look like a cakewalk. From what I know it's somewhat of an open secret that many S. Koreans don't want the hassle. Though they don't like N. Korea, they'd rather not jeopardize their own prosperity. Not everybody thinks that way, but I gather a fair number of people do.

[Hugabear]

11. We tried that fifty years ago...didn't work out so well, did it?

How exactly would we have gone about "neutralizing" North Korea during the Cold War? How exactly would we go about doing it nowadays? Don't forget that they have one of the world's largest militaries. Their artillery is within easy range of Seoul, putting over 12 million people in constant danger of bombardment. There's also the problem of North Korea's chemical and atomic weapons.

[customerserviceguy]

13. So, do we deal with those chemical and nuclear weapons

while they're still in NK, or do we wait until they distribute them to radical Islamists?

If not now, when?

[Posteritatis]

14. I rather doubt North Korea's going to give a nuclear weapon to The Terrorists. (nt)

[customerserviceguy]

17. Give, no

Sell, yes.

[marmar]

18. What's with the John Bolton talking points?

'Radical Islamists'. Juheezus.

[customerserviceguy]

20. Ok, if you prefer

Fundamentalist Muslims. Same thing, different name.

[tjwash]

16. What's this fucking "WE" shit?

And WTF is this "I figure they're going to sell nukes to the jihadists" and "The Western world should have neutralized NK a long time ago" crap?

Is DU started hotlinking to you tube comments or something?

[customerserviceguy]

19. It's called leadership

If nobody does anything, NK turns the world into total shit. The US, China, Russia, Japan, and SK all realize that, but nobody's done anything for damned near sixty years, just hoping to 'manage' the problem with treaties that the NK regime breaks.

Yeah, we might keep that up for another half decade or so, but eventually, NK will destabilize the whole damn planet. None of the five parties mentioned above want that. It's all a matter of when action is taken. Maybe they'll wait for the Dear Leader to croak, but they might want to agree on something before his kid can get a firm hold on the NK military.

[donco6]

24. Do go on.

I'd love to hear more about "neutralizing" North Korea.

[somone]

4. It's easy to forget that North Korea could level Seoul in two hours today:

See
http://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-the-day-how-north-korea-could-destroy-seoul-in-two-hours-2010-5#north-korea-has-the-worlds-largest-artillery-force-1
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?162240-Bluffer-s-Guide-North-Korea-strikes!-%282009%29

[tjwash]

15. You mean our ally?

:silly:

North...south...all them asian places look the same you betcha...

[Zax2me]

22. I think we should worry more about the North Koreans

And the kooks over there, than those here.
Don't think the chickenhawks here bombed anyone in North Korea.