The Case for Starving the People
I noticed this interesting graf in a story about the effect of the luxury items sanctions in UNSCR 1718. For reasons that escape me entirely, some people believe that it’s counterproductive to bar Kim Jong Il from buying sashimi, S-Class sedans, and Omega watches while his people are starving – to – death, some seem so quick to forget.
Over past years, U.S. leaders have described the North Korean regime as an axis of evil, an outpost of tyranny, an outlaw regime, and most recently a kleptocracy. Bush released a statement on it on Aug. 10 that said it was a U.S. objective to muster international cooperation to defeat kleptocracies.
His statement did not pinpoint North Korean leaders as the target of this new maneuver, but his undersecretary for economics, business and agricultural affairs, Josette Sheeran Shiner, told reporters in Washington, D.C., on the same day that the Stalinist state is “something very central” in Bush’s new scheme.
That’s an encouraging statement, considering where Ms. Sheeran is headed in the near future. Let’s hope that the talk will translate to effective action. Now listen to what a pro-appeasement academic draws from this:
“It means the United States has no willingness to negotiate with Kim Jong-il, because Washington thinks he is not a leader to talk with but a bandit who should be expelled,” Paik said. “So the United States and Japan are joining forces to use all kinds of measures to pressure the Kim Jong-il regime.”
This is precisely the point that Paik and those of like mind do not grasp: pressure is not inconsistent with effective negotiation. Sometimes, it is impossible to have effective negotiations without putting pressure on your interlocutor. It’s also an odd point for any Korean to forget, when you consider that in Korea, you can hardly buy a fish for your dinner without at least a medium-pressure negotiation. And this:
“It is tantamount to define Kim Jong-il as a bandit who extorts money from the poor,” Paik said.
The horror. ht: Richardson, who has more comment, and don’t miss the quote from Adrian Hong, which I hope isn’t wishful thinking.