Anju, April 21, 2012

IF JIMMY CARTER HAS LOST RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH, HE’S LOST … well, upper Westchester County I suppose, but still, it’s good to see things like this in the Huffington Post:

So why haven’t we done more to help the innocent people of North Korea who must live under fear and tyranny, and who suffer the specter of state-organized famines? Many will say that our hands are tied due to the fact that the North has nuclear weapons, which just reinforces how important it is to stop Iran from acquiring nukes lest we be forced into the same inactive posture. But there still must be more that we as a nation can do to stop millions of people from dying. As powerful as the United States is, we seem to sit back as the UN puts its flags at half staff when Kim Jong-il died, and it seems like diplomacy as usual when Jimmy Carter sent his condolences to North Korea’s newest dictator Kim Jong-un over the loss off his father. Carter, whose real condolences should have gone to the people of North Korea when yet another tyrant was placed over them to brutalize them, may be a national embarrassment. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to follow suit by remaining silent while a new and bloody bully slaughters his people.

Oh, and Shmuley’s running for Congress, too. Small quibble: the good Rabbi says that North Korea used enriched uranium to build nukes, but he’s probably a few weeks ahead of his time if he plans to back that assertion up.

LEON SIGAL SAID WHAT? Until now, Leon Sigal has been about as extreme an advocate of appeasing North Korea as you could possibly be and still be taken seriously by anyone. That’s why it was a bit of a shock to see him say this:

These actions suggest Pyongyang no longer cares about improving relations with the United States, the premise of its willingness to restrain its nuclear and missile efforts. Unbounded nuclear and missile development by Pyongyang would gradually erode the security of all of its neighbors and the world at large. The only prudent course is a robust strategy of containment: denial of its weapons-related trade by tougher inspections of suspect cargo and tighter overflight restrictions.

Funny thing about that — I doubt Sigal would be saying this now if McCain had won the last election, just as I doubt that North Korea’s behavior would have been materially different. It’s too bad that for some, a frank assessment of North Korea’s character can only be viewed in the mirror of American politics. To some people, it’s always about us.

I CAN’T RESIST LINKING just one more story about the recent media fiasco with North Korea:

It seemed like a reasonable assumption: Score a rare media invitation to North Korea this week, and in all likelihood, you’ll get to break the news when the reclusive regime eventually launches its Kwangmyongsong-2 rocket. But that’s not how it worked out for the dozens of foreign journalists still rubbing the sleep from their eyes in a Pyongyang hotel when the rocket’s launch and flameout took place Friday morning.

“We learned about the rocket failure from our foreign news desk who called us in our hotel rooms,” Ed Flanagan, a producer for NBC, said in an email interview. “As news broke it was just pandemonium in the hotel with journalists running … between the newsroom and the live-shot positions. During the scramble, Flanagan said, one of his government minders grabbed him and told him to get ready –“ not for any news conference on the launch, but for a music festival scheduled for that day. “He had no idea that the rocket had failed and when I told him what had happened, he looked astonished and walked away,” said Flanagan, who was furiously relaying the peculiar developments on Twitter.

The deflating scene appeared to be repeating itself across the closely guarded Yanggakdo International Hotel, located on an island and therefore nicknamed Alcatraz. BBC reporter Damian Grammaticas, who’d been up all night working, was awakened by his Beijing bureau chief, Jo Floto, to learn of the news. “The rest of the world knew but nobody in North Korea knew that the rocket had launched,” Floto said.

I wonder if Barbara Demick, who contributed to this story, is still allowed into North Korea. I’m guessing she’s been P.N.G. ever since she published the best book about North Korea I’ve ever read. Maybe the L.A. Times could borrow the AP’s method and co-sponsor a performance of Arirang, or Sea of Blood. Then again, the disfavor of some people is best viewed as an honor.