North Korea: the bloggers' view...
North Korea claims it has carried out a nuclear test in an undisclosed underground location. Here's the blogosphere's response.
Catallaxy says: "I'm not a gun-slinging Texan intent on 'bringing democracy to the world', but I am a libertarian and am thus fundamentally against the North Korean autocracy."
James, meanwhile, is still in disbelief: "What is North Korea thinking?? Why make their people suffer? North Korea had every chance to surrender its nuclear ambitions and receive aid for its citizens, and now its people will suffer because of Kim-Jong Il. I just don't understand that idiot!"
Criticism of the America's foreign policy abounds.
John Ling says: "Posturing has obviously backfired. The Bush Administration has provoked North Korea. And now, unlike Saddam-era Iraq, we are faced with a runaway regime that really does have weapons of mass destruction."
And Boring Old Man isn't feeling too positive about Bush either: "Whatever Bush wants to do about North Korea will be wrong - wrong because we've effectively taken ourselves off of the world stage as competent by his last six years of inept bravado."
But, strangely enough for the blogosphere, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of conspiracy theorising going on. Tyler says: "To any of my readers who think it's a bluff, a 4.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded in that area at 10:35 local time by the US Geological Survey."
As for what to do about it, Oswald Bastable says: "Sanctions don't seem to work and all the money spent bribing these nutbars has been wasted. I'm picking an attack by stealth aircraft on nuclear facilities."
A Tangled Web also believes in the heavy-handed approach: "I believe Condi Rice sprang into action by making an urgent phone call to the Japanese and South Korean foreign Ministers. What next - a strongly worded statement of condemnation? You cannot appease tyrants like Kim Jong - you wipe them out."
Bob has a different approach: "Let's just accept No. Korea as a nuclear power, try not to piss them off, hope the rest of the world that has nukes doesn't get pissed off at anything, and live our lifes in acceptance of each other."
And finally, on a practical note, Dave's Wagon says: "I'm crossing Pyongyang off my list of possible destinations for my November week of free travel."
More on North Korea here.
Thanks for the plug, and I'm glad someone picked up on my advice.
Posted by: Dave | Saturday, 14 October 2006 at 08:58 AM