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Right now I would say the only recourse is to pull a Somalia and get a covert team over there to extract them. It's obvious they aren't willing to mediate anything.
Just like he (Obama) did nothing about the Somali pirates. And then when he did do something, some of the RWs complained he was being a bully. Can't win for losing!
I think doing nothing will be seen as unacceptable. But it not as easy as dealing with the pirates. They didn't have nukes. They didn't have a dictator with delusions of power and every indication he'd do anything to get it. As NK has a history of kidnapping people and arresting them for illegal entry, the timing is highly suspecious. He needs pawns. He's got them now. Two young women, one with a medical condition which means she isn't very likely to survive.
If they hadn't wanted pawns, they would have used the espionage charge. They wanted something justifiable to the world. They were arrested in NK so it could be said they entered illegally. The world would want some proof they were spies.
They've been given access others weren't, a phone call home, and letters. NK is using them for their own ends and chucking them away in a labor camp and dissapearing won't work. So now it rests in Obama and his state department's hands. This is just as much a power play as the bomb and the launches, and its been perfectly plain what NK wants.
Obama has to make some move, but what is the question. And what of China? They are "allies" but do not trust NK anymore than the rest of the world. It's already being discussed if we will send some kind of envoy (which is the recognition NK wants) to try to deal with the situation. He can't just send in the gunboats like with the pirates. NK is a tinderbox and everyone knows it, including their dictator.
But if they come home, these two young women will be traumatised the rest of their lives. And no matter what is done, they will be the ones who pay for it.
from what I have read there is a lot of optimism that they will be released without harm. I hope that is the case. Journalism in these areas is extremely risky business!
Obama has to make some move, but what is the question.
I don't think it would be wise for him to be advertising the "what" at this point in time, but rest assured he's got a lot of people working on this. One of them is former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson, who was instrumental in negotiating the release of U.S. citizens from North Korea in the '90s. And as he said earlier today, the way it works with North Korea is that absolutely nothing can happen until the trial process is over, so we had to wait until now before making any official moves.
Last edited by Jill61; 06-08-2009 at 09:53 PM..
Reason: grammar helps
So Al Gore has two American reporters from his media agency enter North Korea to illegally film an underground investigative report on the Korean Govt. Reporters get busted and sentenced to hard labor. Now it's all over the news. No word from Gore.
Is it me or doesn't your average joe know North Korea is not the place to go especially if it is to spy.
My opinion is who cares. They got what they deserve. Quit trying to get my sympathy.
It is not at all certain that they are guilty of what they were charged with. For one thing, the story I heard on NPR said the charges were very vague.
Re: Gore, as another poster said, it's not a good idea to go about advertising your sensitive diplomatic efforts. You don't know what Gore is doing.
No one is trying to get your sympathy. There are others on this board who are willing to be more open-minded, though.
If in fact these journalists crossed the border illegally, it reminds me of the young woman who tried unsuccessfully to stand down an Israeli bulldozer. Darwin's law is applicable here.
It is not at all certain that they are guilty of what they were charged with. For one thing, the story I heard on NPR said the charges were very vague.
Re: Gore, as another poster said, it's not a good idea to go about advertising your sensitive diplomatic efforts. You don't know what Gore is doing.
No one is trying to get your sympathy. There are others on this board who are willing to be more open-minded, though.
The North Koreans don't invite American journalists into Korea.
The Journalists worked for Al gore's media company.
Gore sent them in and with the Global warming propaganda that he has been spreading it's safe to assume he was up to no good.
Instead of the term "open minded" I think it would be safer to say "gullible"
Gore sent them in and with the Global warming propaganda that he has been spreading it's safe to assume he was up to no good.
Al Gore did not send those women into North Korea. Period. Al Gore is not their boss, they don't report to him and he doesn't hand out their assignments. Just because he was one of the company's founders, doesn't mean he has any knowledge of where their reporters go on assignment. These women went to China to interview North Korean refugees about escaping to find food. Their assignment had nothing whatsoever to do with global warming.
Not to mention the fact that whether they were even actually in North Korea is unknown.
Quote:
. . .
Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee were on a reporting assignment from Current TV, a San Francisco-based media company co-founded by Al Gore, the former vice president, when they were detained by the soldiers. The reporters were working on a report about North Korean refugees — women and children — who had fled their homeland in hopes of finding food in China.
The circumstances surrounding their capture remain unclear.
Do some of you people even bother looking into the facts surrounding things before you jerk your knees? It really doesn't reflect well on you, you know.
If in fact these journalists crossed the border illegally, it reminds me of the young woman who tried unsuccessfully to stand down an Israeli bulldozer. Darwin's law is applicable here.
These are the people who risk their lives to expose these terrorist regimes, these women are heroes in my book.
Are you saying that a firefighter who risks his life to rescue someone is also trying to test Darwin's law? These women are the eyes, ears and hope of the countless that are oppressed by the terrorist regime, we need to do all we can to bring them back.
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These women are the eyes, ears and hope of the countless that are oppressed by the terrorist regime, we need to do all we can to bring them back.
