Daniel Hannan is a sensible conservative from the UK. (Is there any other kind?)
However, on North Korea, he giggles from the sideline and wonders aloud whether China is being retarded for tolerating North Korea with nukes. (link)
I hope Mr. Hannan isn’t that short-sited. Maybe he trusts that once again, as in Iraq, the US will do the right thing and lead the world to depose of yet another grave threat to everyone’s security, and so he feels comfortable saying:
I certainly don’t see any British interest in biffing North Korea which is not, by any definition, within our sphere of influence.
North Korea is in your sphere of influence, because North Korea is close to the terrorist networks throughout the world. The US, Japan, and South Korea can patrol three-fourths of the border around North Korea, assuring that nuclear and missile materials and technology doesn’t flow from North Korea through those borders into the hands of agents of the various terrorist organizations (who threaten everyone who doesn’t submit to Allah, by the way, which includes Daniel Hannan).
But the other fourth of the border, the border with China, isn’t patrolable by any ally of the UK. Materials and technology can easily flow across that border, through China, to anywhere in the world. And from there, it can end up in London.
If Daniel Hannan is ok with that, then his nonchalant attitude is justified.
If not, then one of the following scenarios have to unfold:
- North Korea abandons all of its nuclear and missile progress and opens up its country to full inspections and disarmament. (Not going to happen.)
- China allows the US, UK and other interested parties to patrol the border between her and North Korea. We can’t trust the Chinese with our security. (This isn’t going to happen either.)
- The North Korean regime is brought down to the ground to be yet another footnote in the history books, despite the objections of China and Russia, if any.
And Daniel, your childish cut against the US for leading the world in destryoing Saddam Hussein in Iraq is pathetic. You were there, you were conscious, and you have the record before you. Saddam Hussein never denied he had a nuclear program. Saddam Hussein was actively supporting terrorist networks we felt threatened by, and refused to cooperate. Saddam Hussein didn’t even try to comply with the treaty he had signed after the first Gulf War. And Saddam Hussein made the UN Security Council into a laughing-stock. Your country was just as enthusiastic as all of our partners were to get Saddam off the stage of international politics.
Yes, he didn’t have a nuclear program, but he was trying to pursue one. Nuclear scientists lead coalition troops to the machines buried in their backyard. There were stockpiles of yellowcake—not the kind you eat, of course. And he had successfully evaded international detection because he was using a method of enriching uranium that no one thought he would seriously try.
May 29, 2009 at 12:06 pm |
Pre-emptive wars and infringing other country’s sovereignty is unconstitutional. What right does the US have in telling North Korea to stop having nukes, for example? It’s not in the Constitution as you told me that most of the things I wrote about aren’t.
May 29, 2009 at 3:59 pm |
I can’t lay my finger on the section of the constitution that says we cannot infringe upon other country’s sovereignty. I do see a section where congress can declare war with a bill. Perhaps you can point to me where the war powers are limited?
I don’t see any limit to the treaties we can sign and ratify or what the president is allowed to do as part of foreign policy, either.
The US has every right in the world to tell other nations in the world to behave, and has every right in the world to lay down the definitions of good behavior, just like any other country. The question is whose version gets enforced. Thank God we are living in the country that has the ability to make the rules because we have the biggest guns. May it be forever so!
I would rather live in a world where every other country were forced to meet us on our terms (the assumptions of human rights, equality of mankind, etc…) than a world where we had to meet with them on their terms (people are pawns to be manipulated for the state, and states exist solely for self-preservation).
Might doesn’t make right, but right does make for a lot of peace and happiness for me and everyone else. If we have the might to make things right, we have a moral obligation to do so.
June 7, 2009 at 11:42 pm |
Well, you are infringing other countries sovereignties without a declaration of war. That is the problem. I wrote about it on another blog post of yours.
Actually the US has no right to tell any country what to do. It’s like saying that if your neighbour buys a machine gun he can tell you what to do. And this vision that the biggest guns make the rules is historically incorrect. Eventually, you will stop having the biggest guns or others will get allied.
And your country doesn’t give a damn about human rights or equality. It’s just a stupid thing they tell you on TV to justify acts of aggression. So tell me, if right makes for a lot of peace, how many years in which the US hasn’t been at war after WW2 exist? And to not get you to waste your time looking, I can tell you. ONE. And that’s if I’m not wrong that in 1977 the US didn’t do anything. And you’re deluding yourself that the US is making things right. Oh, and another thing. I don’t blame anyone who the US oppressed for using terrorism against the US.
June 8, 2009 at 9:56 am |
What version of history are you reading? The version I have says that whoever has the biggest guns makes the rules.
Thank goodness it is the USA today! And what are the rules we set? Trade, peace, and freedom for all. What better set of rules can you live under?
Or would you rather live under Soviet rule? Or Spanish/Portuguese rule? Or Roman rule? Or perhaps Babylon rule?
Woman, you tread dangerous grounds now. I am a citizen of my country, and I know quite a few citizens. There is nothing more sacred to us than our liberty. We thank God for it every day. We pray for the deliverance of all the people of the earth. If you think I am insincere in my beliefs in my personal liberty, or in my devotion to seeing the rest of the world as free as we are, then you are mistaken. You may have bought the Soviet propaganda, but that doesn’t make it true.
Go back to your Kool-Aid. We have done more than any other country in the history of the world, including the Muslim countries, for the Muslim religion and the people of the Middle East. Thanks to us, Saudi Arabia is a shining city of prosperity. Thanks to us, the people enjoy more rights and freedoms and privileges than ever before.
Do you understand what really motivates the terrorists or do you buy the propaganda that the left has spread here at home? Have you ever read one of bin Laden’s speeches to his people, or asked what the terrorists actually are thinking as they carry out an attack? No, it hasn’t crossed your mind, has it.
They hate us because we are not Muslim. That is all there is to it. We can do nothing short of converting to Islam or paying the jizrah tax to placate them.