Greetings Readers,
This past week the left-wing magazine Counterpunch had on its pages an interesting and controversial article titled: The Problem is Washington, not North Korea. If I was a lawyer on behalf of the egotistical flaky Kim jong Un I could make a formidable case for North Korea’s current and often irrational position.
We in the West have had an extreme prejudice against the Korean puppet regime since its founding in 1945 when it had no choice but to join Russia and other counties in a Communist Iron Curtain alliance and shortly on its guided course to become fanatically anti-capitalism and anti-American. Immediately after World War II the Russians and Chinese installed Kim ill Sung in the north as leader and the U. S. Syngman Rhee in the south as president. The American public and the media soon forgot the hermit kingdom, but history and the historians did not. The North invaded the south in June 1950 on the flimsy pretext of a fabricated provocation largely, and thoroughly, hatched and supported by Stalin and Mao. Dean Acheson had mistakenly excluded the peninsula from the Asian defensive security boundary for important nations marked for U. S. defense in case of conflict. This appeared to give North Korea a green light to invade.
Often unreported and undisclosed during the Korean War the U. S. and its allies had complete air superiority, and virtually a free hand to raid over the entire peninsula without opposition. The result was massive in-discriminate bombings of the North and the killing of more than a million and a half people. The entire conflict cost the lives of from three to four Koreans on both sides, and overwhelmingly civilians of both north and south. As of August 1951 there were no creditable targets in the north, but the bombing continued targeting cities, towns, and small villages killing nearly, (est) 850,00 people. By the time of the signing of the armistice not a single significant structure, or large house for that matter, was left standing in the North while in the South below the DMZ citizens were safe from any American or allied bombing.
The stated mission and the objective of the American Air Force was to ‘destroy all infrastructure and the morale of the enemy’ which was effectively accomplished by General Curtis Le May of WWII Strategic Air Command fame.* The current elderly military and political leaders of North Korea and the nations propaganda machine have not forgotten those dark days when many innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered by air strikes. (carpet bombing) It is then no wonder the North, led by the powerful elite, continue to hate and despise the U. S and its allies.
Other than punishable frightening rhetoric what have the North Koreans done to the U. S. and its trading markets allied in South Korea and Japan, despite their nuclear capability. Has it invaded another country or it’s so-called brother state to the south? No missile has landed on the soil of another country to include Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and heaven forbid the United States.
Kim Un’s propaganda threats are a version of America’s bully pulpit hogwash for the benefit of their leaders to keeping, hold on to power. It is totally nationalistic, done and aimed at Un’s military, and to retain the loyalty of the starving peasant mass desiring food, freedom, and independence that never will be acquired under the present regime. The United Nation reports 60% of its population is undergoing starvation or malnutrition. Should the leader and his gang of culprits be eliminated? Yes of course in one way or another but in due time. Another round of negotiations is advisable, hopefully one that will be a face to face between China, South Korea, North Korea, and the United States. For some unknown South Korea has venementally opposed similar group meetings, as well as the U. S. and often Communist North Korea. This is the time they must find common ground and become insightful and reasonable.
Kim Jung Un, with the advice and guidance of China must understand his present course is suicidal. In case of war it will likely be destructively conventional and the regime may live on to fight another day by means of insurgency. In the event of nuclear war the country will undoubtedly become a death pool.
All the Best.
Ron Miller
* Curtis Le May may be noted as the Air Force Commander of fame, or infamy, for overseeing the incendiary bombings of Dresden, Germany where 225,000 died and the fire bombing of Tokyo killing of over 100,000. Le May was disappointed in Korea after a several months assigned there with the lack of legitimate targets. Le May is credited with saying ‘We will bomb them into the stone age’ which he denied saying, but admitted philosophically commenting a simple truism, ‘In time of war we kill as many of the enemy we can and once we kill enough of them they stop fighting.’