Freedom Rider: Talking to North Korea

Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist

14 Mar 2018

“Kim’s country may be punished by sanctions but he has a measure of security he would not have had if he had not persevered in his goal.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly referred to as North Korea, has every right to develop nuclear weapons. It is a sovereign state and should be able to produce weapons that the United States or other nations already possess. In any case the Koreans would be very foolish not to have the protection that may keep the empire at bay. The DPRK is acutely aware of the fate that befalls nations that do not possess these arms. Iraq attempted to create a nuclear program but it was destroyed by Israel in an airstrike. Libya didn’t have a nuclear program and neither did Syria. All were attacked by the United States and NATO because they were naked in the face of aggression. American hysteria over North Korean nuclear development is a fraud that must be ignored. The DPRK’s right to self-determination must be defended.

It certainly must be defended now in the wake of a possible meeting between Donald Trump and DPRK supreme leader Kim Jong Un. Trump is as dangerous as any other American president. His pronouncements can’t be trusted, even if they appear to align with the correct position. One moment Trump declares that he will rain “fire and fury” on the DPRK but later takes credit when that government engages in peace talks with other nations. No one can forget his bizarre “rocket man” remarks in a speech at the United Nations.

“American hysteria over North Korean nuclear development is a fraud that must be ignored.”

Now there is the possibility of talks between Trump and Kim. But as soon as the announcement was made Democrats made clear that they love the American empire as much as Republicans do. Hillary Clinton, whose miscalculations and hubris put Trump in the White House, was first out of the gate. She warned of danger should Trump speak to Kim. She was joined by Democratic hawk pundit Rachel Maddow who sputtered her disapproval of a possible rapprochement. Maddow pointed out that no other president had ever met a North Korean leader and in Maddowland that means it should never happen, especially if a Republican might get the credit. Elizabeth Warren, another faux progressive, added her disapproval and warned of giving Kim a “prize.”

Democrats are partly motivated by fear of a Trump success but they are also firm believers in American imperialism. They happily go along with the notion that the world belongs to Uncle Sam. They take umbrage only at Trump’s ignorance and unpredictability. But they have no problem with the DPRK or any other nation being constrained by U.S. foreign policy dictates. None of them oppose sanctions imposed on the DPRK and all of the critics insist that Kim promise to give up weapons he obviously wanted.

“Democrats happily go along with the notion that the world belongs to Uncle Sam.”

Of course Trump and his team are amateurish, distracted by Mueller’s Russiagate investigation, and uninformed about the rest of the world. No one knows what they will say or do and no one should be shocked if the meeting never takes place. But it is clear that the corporate media and foreign policy establishment are unhappy at the prospect of progress.

Only Trump would call a foreign leader rocketman and publicly threaten to destroy his country, but his feelings about the DPRK nuclear program are shared by Democrats and their friends in corporate media. None of them acknowledge the DPRK’s sovereign rights. All of them call Kim crazy, erratic, a despot, a killer. Foreign leaders who won’t do as Washington demands are always vilified and demonized. The invective proves little.

Democrats are no better than Republicans in this regard. They always conclude that only the United States and its friends have rights. Everyone else should happily accede to their demands or else be threatened with destruction.

Of course Trump is still Trump. There are reports that he didn’t inform his own foreign policy staff before accepting the offer to meet with Kim. He may renounce himself by imposing demands the DPRK cannot accept. Only time will tell but one thing is certain. America cannot be trusted with the safety of the world no matter which party is in charge of its foreign policy.
“Foreign leaders who won’t do as Washington demands are always vilified and demonized.”
Those courageous few who speak out in defense of other nations are sidelined and ridiculed. It is a given declared by the duopoly that something must be done about the DPRK. In fact there is nothing for America to do. The dangers of North Korean missile testing were all a bipartisan creation. But Kim’s determination paid off. His country may be punished by sanctions but he has a measure of security he would not have had if he had not persevered in his goal.

Nuclear proliferation is a serious issue but the United States is a big part of the problem. Its ally Israel has an unacknowledged arsenal yet demands no other country in the region acquire what it has. Israel works with the Trump administration to undermine the nuclear agreement with Iran but neither Republicans nor Democrats say anything about the subversion of that hard fought diplomatic effort.

The American political duopoly, corporate media and military industrial complex are the cause of every serious problem in this country and in the rest of the world, too. Kim Jong Un and other leaders can only try to defend themselves from the onslaught. World peace depends on their ability to achieve security. That is what we must always defend.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com . Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.

More Stories