North Korea: Iran is Watching to See How We Respond

A very interesting post from http://bigpeace.com/ about North Korea and Iran. This follows this post about a proposal to pull jihadi videos from YouTube and this article  about the recent news about the former ban on offshore drilling which would encourage American energy independence. This is a key issue to prevent money from going to hostile countries such as Iran and Venezuela. For more that you can do to get involved click HERE!



North Korea: Iran is Watching to See How We Respond


Posted by Herbert I. London Nov 24th 2010

Secretary of Defense Gates noted any question about North Korea has only one response: “I don’t know.” There is indeed so little we know about this barbarian kingdom with nuclear weapons. Hence almost anything one does say is speculative.

As I see it, the nuclear facility recently disclosed is designed to be inflammatory. What it means is that North Korea can increase its supply of weapons and use them as negotiating instruments. Since there is nothing of value in North Korea, since the economy is moribund, since the government cannot supply basic necessities for the population, nuclear weapons – at least the threat of deployment – is a negotiating wedge for foodstuff, oil and hard currency. By any measure, this is an extortion ploy.



In a curious way, the Chinese government is complicit. China has the ability to clamp down on this backward kingdom, but it averts its gaze. From a Chinese perspective North Korea is an effective pressure point on the United States and its allies in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan. What the stalemate with North Korea demonstrates is the relative ineffectiveness of U.S. diplomacy and the obvious fact that the U.S. is an unreliable ally, perhaps even an untrustworthy ally.



What the U.S. cannot deliver – a stable east Asia – emerging Chinese military prowess in the region may. In other words, China uses North Korea as a tool to promote its regional dominance and, in the process, undermine U.S. influence.

This strategy has its advantages for China at the moment, but it could backfire. If Japan uses North Korean sabre rattling and Pyongyang’s deadly artillery barrage on a South Korean island to dismantle Article 9 of its Constitution and start producing nuclear weapons, China’s military dominance could be challenged. Anti Chinese sentiment in Japan should not be underestimated.



North Korean gamesmanship and Chinese cleverness are proceeding down a dangerous path in which an escalation scenario is quite plausible. The world waits to see how this situation will unfold with baited breath and the Iranian regime watches with intense interest. What the U.S. does in North Korea – or doesn’t do – is regarded as a portent of the U.S. position on Iranian nuclear weapons as well.