Reply #33: Now that I'm not at the office, a final go....

[Snow]

glad we're basically in agreement. I'm not arguing, though, that you don't acknowledge the wrong a person does, or his wrong-headedness in so doing. I would not argue for that in your hypothetical case, not would I argue that for Kim Jongil. But to simply call him 'evil' is first, not really descriptive, like calling the sky blue, but highly subjective and relative to one's perspective, and further, it reduces him to a single idea, which he is not.

I think you're setting up a straw man with your remarks about how aid would fail - you surely realize there are ways to ensure that high-jacking doesn't occur?

Your comments on why people are starving in North Korea over-simplify - there is some of Kim's evil in there, but there also have been documented crop failures, floods, typhoons, and the fall of the USSR - all those play into the situation, along with the Kims' incompetence. I don't know your sources - be careful if it's US media - but mine include some people who see North Korea regularly, and that's what they report.