NORTH KOREA. THAT CAN WE KEPT KICKING…WELL…HAS A DRAGON ATTACHED!

A few days ago, when I spoke about reopening this blog site, I mentioned one of my goals was to provide my Sons a better understanding of the world around them. As I said then, my focus would remain on the Middle East, but I am going to make a diversion to other parts of the world more often than I did in the past five years. So, here we go………Away from the Middle East tonight…well… somewhat!

In 1994 President Bill Clinton, perhaps soon to be “First Husband” of the U.S., made a hard decision that all of us knew would come back to haunt the rest of the world down the road!

North Korea was on the verge of a nuclear weapons program and everyone knew it. The tension rose to a level that rumors of pending conflict reached the evening news. The US President sent a very aggressive message with a robust show of military force and the fear of warfare had South Korea nearly in gridlock.

It seemed North Korea was actually willing to take the whole issue right to the edge of actual conflict. To make a long story short, nobody was backing down! Not the US, not North Korea, not South Korea. As for China? Well, I’m not sure we will ever know what real pressure the Dragon applied or did not apply.

In 1994, in the end, it was the West / US / that blinked and that “blink” was the preliminary act that has   now set stage for the current round of drama in the region.

Was it just President Clinton who botched this entire issue of North Korean nuclear weapons? No.   That kick the can concept was carried on by the next two administration as well; well make that three actually!

Over the past few years, I’ve commented on this whole issue of North Korean nukes and the relationship this program has with much larger issues in the world.

For years, North Korea was the wildcard the Dragon could unleash on the Korean Peninsula and just the thought of doing so gave the Dragon just what it needed; leverage! 

There has also been the reoccurring theory, one I totally agree with, of a “relationship” between North Korea and the Persians. As I posted a few years ago, what better way to text a design without having the IDF raining hell down on you then to have your “partner” work the project? Yes….. believe it!

Did the US know this happening or believe this might be taking place? Most likely. But, remember, once you start playing kick the can, it’s difficult to suddenly stopped and say, “lets solve this”. Kick the can is a great political tool when the alternative is just too difficult to figure out. “Maybe it will get better with time”.  Or, the more politically popular, “kick the issue down the street until my turn at the helm is over”.  In the U.S Army, the nickname for this concept is, “action passed is an action solved”.

As the North Korean can was tumbling along, the US and its Allies miscalculated yet again. Why would the Dragon allow its chained wild dog to obtain something that might upset the whole “Master Plan” for the region? A Master Plan designed by China. The false assumption on the part of the US was that China would be opposed to a nuclear armed North Korea. The threat to regional peace would simply be too high.  Wrong! Dead wrong!

Here is the concept that the US missed or just didn’t want to face, yep; part of that kicking the can!

Let me start by saying, if the Dragon didn’t want North Korea to have a nuclear weapons program, they wouldn’t have one! A process as complex and lengthy as the one the North Koreans have been involved in cannot happen without support. Support from friends and complacency from enemies. The perfect combination.

Why? Why would the Dragon want North Korea to have nukes?

In the past few years, I’ve entertained two theories. For the sake of time, I will keep the details to a minimum, but if you are curious, go back and search this blog site. I’ve spoken to both theories with great detail the past.

A.     In the eyes of the Dragon, a nuclear North provokes a regional conflict the Dragon has formulated. At the end of this pending conflict, the primary reason for the US being militarily deployed in the region is void. The only excuse they have left is confronting the Dragon itself and after a world crisis such as war with North Korea would create, the taste for such a follow on event would simply not exist in the West. Yes, the Dragon knows the 21^st century Western Citizen has no staying power. Look at the US today compared to just fifteen years ago. A Chines concept of temporary loses/ acceptable losses is far different than any ideology in the US.

B.     Has the Dragon designed a plan that forces the US and its Allies to fight at opposite sides of the world? Hence, the relationship between North Korea and Iran. If you don’t believe that relationship exist, then you are not digging deep enough. A shared weapons research program and an agreement that I have nicknamed, “If you go, I go”.

In both cases, the same conclusion can be made. The Dragon supports the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea. When the dust settles, who is left standing? Who is the regional power those traumatized but such a war in the region will be willing to reach out to? Yep. The Dragon!

So you see, the US has kicked a can the Chinese needed to be kicked.

The time for a regional showdown in the Pacific was not 1994 or even 2001 when the North was tossed into the bucked of “Access of Evil”.

Whatever is taking place with North Korea is more than just the actions of a fat little mad man.

The strings of the North Korean puppet are still attached to the Dragon’s wings!