conversationpc wrote:It doesn't matter what this supposed scholar says, that is the way some radical Muslims interpret it. I know of people who have been sentenced to death because they converted from Islam to Christianity.
One would think that those previously in an uproar over Obama’s so-called “appeasement” would similarly object to Bush’s N. Korea’s deal.
That is, unless their self-righteous ire was actually nothing more than trumped up partisan chest-thumping?
Appeasement is appeasement no matter who it's done by. Anyone who believes that North Korea will actually stick to this deal is naive at best.
This is actually a stroke of genius. Consider this...South Korea would NEVER have given $20 billion (approx. half that of the U.S.'s $39 billion) in aid if they thought North Korea would become more dangerous.
This will go a long way in showing the world, especially Iran, that the U.S. does not just have it out for every dictatorial regime in the world. We really do not want to provoke Iran into doing something foolish.
This deal with NK shows that we actually have learned something from the Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, the Vietnam War, and now the war in Iraq. The eventual success of any regime change undertaken by the U.S. depends on the people of those countries actually wanting Democratic reform. Trying to convert the people to more democratic leanings is either a slow or impossible task depending on the degree of ideological brainwashing that they received under dictatorial rule. Right now, much of the North Korean population is on the verge of starvation, a starvation that has always been blamed on U.S. sanctions. This deal for aid is a WIN for the U.S.:
1.) The U.S. gains a symbolic backing down by NK without any over-reaching military action (which gives us a better chance in Afghanistan and Iraq).
2.) This aid in food, medicine, etc. will help convince the NK people that the U.S. is not the enemy, and that we do not have imperialistic intentions for North Korea.
3.) Lasting change will only come in Korea (or perhaps anywhere else) if it comes from the people living there (which I believe will be our only hope down the road if we do not want North Korea to be taken over by China).
4.) That opportunity may come when their leader dies (see the intriguing changes taking place in Cuba, which had mostly been left alone militarily by the U.S. for some time).
If the U.S. with all of its weapons and agressive foreign policies was incapable of changing the world, maybe a different approach would now be more effective?
