Bill Clinton: Causing Political Drama? [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:05:30 +0000

As is now common knowledge, Bill Clinton ventured to North Korea and brought back the two Current TV journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, with an official Kim Jong-Il pardon for the two American citizens who had been sentenced for 12 years for murky reasons and with a questionable trial. While the results are great, a few questions remain.

First, former President Bill Clinton traveled as a “private citizen”, not as an American emissary of any kind, and on a Shangri-La Entertainment owned jet. It’s understandable that Clinton would be concerned for the journalists and curious as to his potential ability to help, but his actions were clearly not sanctioned by the Obama Administration or the Federal Government at any level, and would likely be seen as overstepping lines of power if he were not a former President – what if Angelina Jolie had gone in his stead?

Second, Clinton’s presence in North Korea could have been interpreted in two very different ways by Jong-Il: as an American admission of willingness to cooperate with a vile regime, regardless of Clinton’s nonofficial capacity, or as a so-called “act of war”, which is exactly what the DRPK has been hunting for months. If Jong-Il interprets Clinton’s presence as a validation of his actions, the future will not be quite as bright as some pundits are predicting. But if he had taken the action as military in nature, which he obviously did not, Clinton could have been imprisoned for very much the same reasons as the journalists – not exactly a happy outcome.

Third, the fact that a former President from the last decade accomplished this feat, and not current President Barack Obama, is an embarrassment to the Administration, if not a complete undermining in the realm of foreign policy. Obama has been pushing an intense agenda to restore America’s image abroad to its former glory, to great success, but a private citizen acting in such an officious capacity could suggest that other citizens or individuals without power may speak for the country – to countries like Iran, this is highly dangerous in an already tense situation.

Fourth, and finally, Bill Clinton has not only embarrassed his wife, Hillary, who is Secretary of State, but also weakened her position in the foreign arena – North Korea called her names, but her husband is a welcomed savior. For a woman who was devastated in the Presidential race, then hired by her former enemy months later, legitimacy and power is something she often lacks – not to mention her lack of experience for a job so large as she holds. Until this event with North Korea, she had been at least maintaining a good public appearance, if not making diplomatic progress, but now all of that is threatened: how seriously will foreign countries take a Secretary of State that has less power than her private citizen husband?

The release of the journalists from North Korean incarceration was a welcome surprise, but their return to the United States is just the beginning – only time will tell how Kim Jong-Il will manipulate this “act of diplomacy” into aid, food, or money, and whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be able to retain her hold on the position. If one thing can be learned from any previous dealings with Jong-Il’s regime, it is that nothing is given for free, not the least of which is freedom.

Update (8/6/2009 5:20pm PST): I've been getting alot of flack for this post, and I don't retract or regret any of it. Regardless of what is being said by Obama and the Administration now, there was a definitive "no comment" position prior to, during, and immediately after - which is an obvious clue to Clinton's trip not being sanctioned, even in an "official unofficial" capacity.

OpEd pieces are published on Mondays and Thursdays, and usually have to do with politics or other pressing and relevant issues in America.

The Marginalization of North Korea [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:05:07 +0000

North Korea, Kim Jong-Il specifically, is known for its blustery antics in the world theater, and the past few months have not been unique. The anti-Western rhetoric and threats of war tend to come at times when North Korea needs something it can’t provide for itself: food, money, or other forms of aid. The country itself is very poor, and the people outside of the military have a restricted and stringent existence, even compared to other totalitarian regimes.

Theirs is a culture of extreme disinformation where the United States is an “imperialist regime” interested in adding their country to a roster of conquered peoples, any so-called “journalism” is state sponsored and controlled, and their military might is both considerable and formidable. In reality, Kim Jong-Il has succeeded in only embarrassing himself militarily, proving time and time again anything more than short range missiles are beyond their technological reach, especially after having a satellite launch fail spectacularly in the public eye. Still the tirades against the American way of life continue, most recently celebrating the anniversary of the Korean War while openly threatening to bring war to the Western World – the American military believes a long-range missile may be launched towards Hawaii on July 4th as “test”, and is acting proactively no matter how laughable the threat.

In the past, sanctions have been imposed only half-heartedly, as North Korea toys with the idea of nuclear weaponry and the sale of such munitions to other unfriendly parties, with aid eventually being given in exchange for concessions – likely what they wanted in the first place. This time, however, things may be different: China is actively decrying the actions of their Korean neighbor. China and Russia have long given North Korea the blind eye, with Russia often encouraging their communist brethren – but China is now interacting heavily with this problem country in terms of trade, and perhaps due to extra scrutiny from outside eyes, are interested more in their own red state future than needling bothersome Americans via proxy.

All seemed to be progressing as best as could be expected, considering the circumstances, until last week – the United Nations was once again criticizing North Korea, America and her allies declared embargoes as well as intentions to inspect ships if necessary, and, as previously stated, China publicly sided with the rest of the world. Kim Jong-Il had the attention he wanted, but perhaps not the intended results since no aid was forthcoming. But due to a slew of celebrity deaths in America, Michael Jackson in particular, and the potential revolution in Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea largely faded from the public eye.

This is, as shown by numerous occasions throughout modern history, quite dangerous. All out war is not to be desired with the DPRK: the Western Allies are decidedly superior in military prowess, and could likely end any conflict via air support only, but disaster would undoubtedly ensue as South Korea, Japan, and potentially even China receive military strikes in one form or another, destabilizing the entire region. The DMZ in Korea remains a particularly hostile location, but armed conflict hasn’t been seen in decades despite almost constant threats - the U.N., American Presidents, and other international leaders have all acquiesced to demands of aid for fear of military retaliation over the years, all at times where North Korea had appeared to fade from all modern global relevance.

Once again, the DPRK seems to have faded quietly into the political background, only a few short days after threatening war on one of the most powerful countries in the world. This, perhaps, is not the best place for the global media to be placing such stories, since Kim Jong-Il is nothing if not attention hungry. Less than a week remains until July 4th, where actions will speak louder than words – will North Korea launch a weapon, targeting a region within the borders of the United States? If so, will such a launch even be successful, thanks to their proven three-state rocket booster failures?

Time will tell whether or not the ailing dictator will try to be remembered with a memorable final-days military conflict against his most hated enemy, but America is ready – it’s not as if such an attack would be a surprise, either calendrically or technologically.

Kyle Brady: Blog » North Korea

Bill Clinton: Causing Political Drama? [OpEd]

The Marginalization of North Korea [OpEd]