295개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Since the start of the year, North Korea has been mounting a kind of peace offensive. But despite Pyongyang's (ongoing) "charm offensive", A. Lankov (one of the most prestigious experts on N. Korea) is very pessimistic about a coming inter-Korean "peace process" in 2011, as you can learn from his following article (published in Asia Times, 1.11):
Push could soon turn to shove
2010 was a hard and dangerous year in Korea. Alas, 2011 might become even worse.
At first glance, this statement might appear excessively pessimistic. After all, in the last weeks the tensions on the Korean Peninsula were decreasing, North Korea suggested negotiations, and South Korea also said that talks might be a good idea.
However, the appearances are misleading. If one has a better look at the recent crisis, as well as at the current mood in Seoul and Pyongyang, there is little ground for optimism. It seems that both
North Korean strategic calculations and South Korean assumptions about ways to handle its uneasy neighbor will bring the crisis back - and with a vengeance.
What we have seen throughout the last year was another exercise in the habitual North Korean brinkmanship – yet another attempt to apply tactics which have been used many times and usually with great success.
When North Korean strategists want to squeeze some aid or political concessions from other side, they follow a simple but efficient routine. First, Pyongyang manufactures a crisis, and does everything to drive tensions high. The missiles are launched, islands are shelled or nukes are tested, while the usual verbal bellicosity of the North Korean media reaches almost comical heights. Sooner or later both the "target audience" and international community begin to feel uneasy, and when this point is reached Pyongyang suggests negotiations. Its neighbors and adversaries alike feel relief and start talks, which usually end with Pyongyang getting what it wants - in exchange for restoring the status quo.
In the past, this tactic has worked well (for example, this is how in 2007 North Koreans managed to push the George W Bush administration to switch to a soft line and resume aid). However, this time things are different. So far, North Korea is not getting what it wants.
But what does the North want to achieve with this seemingly dangerous (but actually very calculated) military/political theater? As usually is the case with Pyongyang's foreign policy, it is about money. In 2008 South Korea and United States dramatically reduced the amount of unilateral and unconditional aid to the North.
It had to turn to China instead. China obliged, and it seems that the North Korean economy - while still very poor by current East Asian standards - is in better shape than at any time since the early 1990s (albeit this modest recovery seems to be, first and foremost, brought about by domestic transformation rather than by Chinese aid). However, this made North Korean leaders excessively dependent on China, whom they do not like and whom they do not trust (this seems to be a mutual feeling).
So, they want the US and South Korean aid back. First, it will increase the size of the entire aid pie, controlled and distributed by the regime. Second, it will provide Pyongyang with ample opportunities to distance itself from dangerous China, and acquire a number of sponsors whose contradictions can be used to North Korea's advantage. The North Korean diplomats are very good at this game, which they learned in the 1960s when they exploited the Sino-Soviet schism with remarkable success.
The North decided that this was a time to exercise pressure on both Seoul and Washington (actually, this is what it has been doing since 2008). It is not often noticed that North Korea actually conducts two separate, if related, blackmail programs - one aimed at the US and another aimed at South Korea. The ways of exercising pressure should be different, because the concerns of these two countries are dissimilar.
In the case of South Korea, the North decided to take advantage of Seoul's dependence on the international markets. Foreign investors and trade partners of South Korean firms are not going to be amused by the newspaper headlines which talk a war "which is going to erupt on the Korean Peninsula".
These tensions are likely to have a negative impact on the South Korean economy, making the South Korean voter worse off. On top of that, the average South Korean voter does not usually care too much about North Korea, but still expects its government to be capable at handling the North, in order to avoid major confrontations. Therefore, the North Korean leadership expects that sooner or later South Korean voters will penalize an excessively stubborn government by supporting the opposition.
To the US, the North's selling point is its ability to proliferate. Since for the Americans the major (almost only) reason they care about North Korea is its potential for nuclear and missile proliferation, the North Korean regime demonstrated to Washington that even without aid and in spite of the international sanctions, North Korean engineers and scientists managed to make considerable progress in areas of military significance.
In mid-November, just before the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, a group of American nuclear scientists led by Dr Siegfried Hecker from Stanford, was shown a state-of-the-art uranium-enrichment facility whose scale and sophistication exceeded what the US experts believed to be possible. This is a major step towards a full-scale military uranium program, which is, incidentally, more difficult to control than the old plutonium program.
Now, after a few months of tension building, the North Koreans decided to test the ground and check whether the adversaries (and potential donors) are ready to give in. Frankly, Pyongyang's decision seems to be surprising, since the answer is obvious: neither Washington nor Seoul is ready to make concessions.
Why didn't the old tactics succeed this time? In short, because the attitudes in both Washington and Seoul changed in recent years.
Talking about the US side, the main reason why Washington was in past willing to give concessions and unilateral aid, was the once widespread (albeit unfounded and na๏ve) belief that this was a way to facilitate the denuclearization of North Korea. It was assumed that Pyongyang could be persuaded/bribed/pressed into surrendering its nuclear program. This belief evaporated in 2008, after the second nuclear test.
American policymakers have finally realized that North Korea is not going to surrender its nukes under any circumstances. North Korean leaders are ready to talk about arms control, not about disarmament. In other words, North Korean leaders hope to get paid (generously) for freezing their nuclear program while still keeping the existent nuclear devices. The US is not ready to discuss this yet.
With South Korea, the situation is more complicated. The Lee Myung-bak government was in favor of a hard line from the very beginning. After the Cheonan sinking and Yeonpyeong shelling, the South Korean public, usually cautious when it comes to matters of peace and war, switched to support of the hard line.
In a poll in late November, some 80% of participants said they were in favor of a massive military retaliation in the case of the next North Korean attack (and a considerable minority even said that they did not mind a war). This unusual bellicosity of the public, reinforced by the even harder position of the military, puts additional pressure on the government.
Paradoxically, the events (or rather non-events) of early December contributed towards Seoul's shift to a hard line. Then, soon after the Yeonpyeong shelling of November 23, the South Korean military staged large drills in the disputed waters near the North Korean coast. Before the exercises, the North Koreans threatened a mighty counterstrike, but when Seoul decided to go ahead on December 20, nothing happened.
North Korea's decision not to execute its threats was seen as a sign of weakness. A triumphant South Korean official said in a private conversation: "They are with their tail between their legs now. This is what we should have done from the very beginning."
Therefore, the dominant view in Seoul now is that if North Korean leaders know that their new strikes will be met with a mighty response, Pyongyang will not dare to stage another attack. So, Seoul politicians believe that harshness is the best option, since North Korean leaders will surely duck a fight.
This seems to be an illusion - and, perhaps, a dangerous one. Like it or not, there is no valid reason why Pyongyang strategists should be afraid of a Southern counterstrike. It is true that North Korea does not want a full-scale war, but due to the peculiarities of its political system North Korea can sustain a minor military confrontation far more easily than its southern counterpart - or, to be more precise, in the case of such a confrontation the domestic consequences for the North Korean government will be far less serious.
Needless to say, even if a South Korean counterstrike kills many hundreds of North Korean soldiers or sailors, the leaders will not feel too sorry of them (and children of the leaders do not serve in the North Korean military). The loss of a few pieces of rusty military equipment of 1960s vintage will not upset them too much, either.
It is sometimes stated that an efficient counterstrike will at least lead to a loss of face for the North Korean leadership, and that fear of such humiliation could serve as a deterrent against future attacks. Unfortunately this seems to be wishful thinking as well. The North Korean government is in full control of the media, so such a defeat will remain unknown to almost everyone outside the military elite.
If this is the case, why did the North avoid a fight in December, after so many threats and bellicose statements? Because there is no reason why it should agree to fight at the time and place chosen by its adversaries, when these adversaries were ready to strike back. It makes much more sense to wait for a while and then deliver a sudden and powerful strike when the North Korean political leadership decides that the time is ripe.
It seems that we are not going to wait for long. Recent events leave little doubt that the North Korean charm offensive will be ignored by Seoul (and, perhaps, by Washington as well, even though signals are slightly mixed). The first sign of this position became visible on January 6 when the US and South Korea rejected North Korea's call for unconditional talks with South Korea as "insincere" and repeated their usual set of demands, which are, alas, clearly unacceptable for the North Koreans.
The North Korean leaders will probably do what they did before in similar situations: they will stage a provocation or two in order to increase pressure on the stubborn Americans and South Koreans, in hope that sooner or later they will give in. After all, contrary to what Seoul wants to believe, the associated political risks for the North Korean elite are small and rewards in case of eventual success are significant.
This coming round of military/diplomatic might be more dangerous than usual, largely because of Seoul's newly acquired belief in the power of counterstrikes. Now it seems likely that in case of another North Korean strike the South will retaliate mightily. This counterstrike is likely to trigger a counter-counterstrike, and there is even a probability (albeit very minor) that such an exchange will escalate into a real war or at least some intense fighting.
Far more likely, though, is that the situation will remain under control. In this case, the excessive reaction by the South Koreans is likely to amplify the message their North Korean adversaries want to deliver.
North Korean strategists want to damage the South Korean economy as well as create domestic tension, which will eventually turn the South Korean public against the current South Korean government and its North Korean policy. However, if such an exchange of fire happens we can be certain that the international media will not be merely writing about a "war that is about to start in Korea" but rather will declare that a "war started in Korea". The impact of such reports on the world markets and, eventually, on the South Korean economy is easy to predict.
The South Korean government should not be misled by the current bellicose mood of the voters. This mood is not likely survive a major confrontation, and once the situation becomes really tough, the same people who now cry for revenge are likely to start blaming the government for its inability to maintain a stable and secure situation on the peninsula.
Alas, not much can be done now. The North is likely to follow the usual line of a professional (and usually successful) blackmailer: since pressure has not worked, even greater pressure should be applied. The South, confident in the power of deterrence, is likely to over-react, thus further aggravating the situation and increasing the scale of the next crisis.
Well, it seems that the year 2011 will not be especially tranquil in Korea. And the subsequent few years might be even worse.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/MA12Dg02.html
Related articles:
☞ Seoul to push for Pyongyang's apology (K. Times, 1.21)
☞ North Korea set on third nuclear test (A. Times, 1.21)
At least the "war of words" between S. and N. Korea is continuing...
And y'day it was - once again - MB's turn to give proof that he's a "trigger-happy agitator", according to the following Yonhap(via K. Herald) news report:
Lee says S. Korea not afraid of war with North Korea
President Lee Myung-bak said Monday that South Koreans should not fear war with North Korea although his government is eager to keep peace on the peninsula.
“If (we) are afraid of war, we can never prevent war,” Lee said in his biweekly radio address, the last of this year.
His remarks represent Seoul’s firm stance to deal resolutely with the communist neighbor’s provocations down the road.
The conservative Lee administration came under harsh public criticism for being too feeble and passive in handling the North’s deadly artillery attack on the Yellow Sea border island of Yeonpyeong last month. It was the North’s second major unprovoked attack on South Korea this year following the torpedoing of a naval ship in March that killed 46 sailors.
“North Korea committed the provocations without reluctance, misjudging our patience and desire for peace,” Lee said. “We have clearly realized the fact that only strong counteractions to military provocations are able to deter war and safeguard peace.”
He said the South had tolerated the North’s belligerence in hopes of maintaining peace on the peninsula, but he stressed that his military should cope with any future attacks without mercy.
Lee also reiterated calls for the South Korean people to boost unity in dealing with the North, a longstanding source of ideological rifts.
“There can’t be ‘you’ and ‘me’ separately when it comes to national security with our life and the country’s fate at stake,”
Lee said, adding the North’s goal is to split public opinion here.
“If our people become one and show united power, North Korea can’t dare to challenge us,” he said. “We learned valuable lessons from the Yeonpyeong incident.”
Concluding his speech, the president said South Korea aspires to reunify with the North peacefully.
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101227000746
Holy shit!!! Synchronized to the "Christmas season" Pyongyang threatens with...
NUCLEAR JIHAD!
Yesterday's Guardian (UK) about the current situation on the Korean Peninsula:
Tensions on the Korean Pensinsula were at their most dangerous level since the 1950-53 war today when North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons in a "holy war" (*) against its neighbour after South Korean tanks, jets and artillery carried out one of the largest live-fire drills in history close to the border...
While LMB claimed y'day "Counterattacks neccessary for peace" (But of course! What else?^^), on the same day North Korea's armed forces minister, Kim Yong-chun, also lifted the pitch of the sabre-rattling: "To counter the enemy's intentional drive to push the situation to the brink of war, our revolutionary forces are making preparations to begin a holy war at any moment necessary based on nuclear deterrent"...
Dec.22/23: KIJ and LMB on 'PEACE MISSION'(^^), resp. preparing the next showdown:
Related articles:
☞ N. Korea 'may conduct' nuclear test (Al-Jazeera, 12.24)
☞ 'North Korea capable of hitting Seoul with nukes' (K. Times, 12.24)
* N. Korea should apply for admission in the 'Global Jihad Network' (aka AL-QAIDA)!!!
Anyway, please enjoy a nice weekend/peaceful "Christmas"(^^)
Well, there was no counter-attack from the North Korean military (thankfully!!) to Monday's resumption of the S. Korean artillery exercises on Yeonpyeong...
KPA's chief of staff explained: "This was nothing but a childish play with fire of cowards... The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK did not feel any need to retaliate against every despicable military provocation like one taking revenge after facing a blow." (^^)
So the crisis of a large-scale armed clash between South Korea and North Korea appears to have been avoided for the time being...
But, dear audience, please stay tuned!(*)
Related articles:
☞ The day the guns were silent (Asia Times, 12.21)
☞ N. Korea doesn’t respond militarily... (Hankyoreh, 12.21)
☞ KPA Supreme Command: World Should Know Who Is Provoker (KCNA, 12.20)
* Because it might well be that the coming "holiday season" is/will be a f*cking great opportunity to initiate large-scale armed clash, resp. to declare war!! Yesterday's K. Times: "S. Korea ready for surprise attack ahead of Christmas"...
S.K. armed forces were put on the highest alert around Aegibong, a mountain peak located just three kilometers from the DMZ, as S.K. Christian maniacs, supported by the gov't and backed my the military, held a ceremony last night to turn on Christmas lights:
Looks like a superb target for N.K.'s short-range artillery...(^^)
Related "news report":
☞ S. Korea lights up Christmas tree on border with N. Korea (Yonhap, 12.21)
PS: It seems that the S. Korean armed forces - like their "colleagues" in the North - are already geared up for the "final battle", i.e. the forcibly reunification...
Written on the S. Korean soldiers' headbands: “Tongil”(통일) means “unification” and
“Myeolgong”(멸공) means “eradicate the communists.” The (f*cking stupid) message
being, “Let’s unify Korea by eradicating the communists!”
Actually we get used to headlines in the int'l media like "N. Korea threatens the South with War", "North Korea threatens with nuclear war", "Korean peninsula on 'brink of war', Pyongyang says" or statements from N.K. like "Seoul will be the next target. It will be a sea of fire", "The army and our people are ready for both an escalated war and an all-out war" etc...
Well, we get used... And who gives a shit?
But in yesterday's Asia Times Kim Myeong-chol("Pyongyang's unofficial spokesman") defined N.K.'s latest war threatening more precisely:
Acting for supreme leader Kim Jong-il, the Young General (i.e. Kim Jong-eun) is only one click away from issuing a long-awaited order to the Korean People's Army's (KPA) shiny and sleek, quick-response global strike force. This would see the torching of the bulwark of the US empire, the skyscrapers of New York City and other centers of metropolitan America.
Crack front-line units of the KPA are ready round the clock to bomb Seoul, turning it into a towering inferno before moving in on the ground to complete their mission.
Japan's cooperation with the US would invite retaliatory nuclear missile attacks on their nuclear power plants, with the result that Tokyo and other major cities of the Japanese archipelago are rendered unhabitable...
It will only take Kim Jong-eun a couple of minutes to turn Seoul into a sea of fire, five minutes to torch Tokyo, and 15-20 minutes to evaporate New York and Washington in a "day-after" scenario...
The moment of truth will come sooner than originally expected, vindicating the validity of the military-first policy mapped out by Kim Jong-il and demonstrating how wise the Korean people are in selecting Young General Kim Jong-eun as heir to the supreme leader.
Kim's complete "article"(MUST READ!!) you can check out here:
☞ When North Korea’s threats become reality (A. Times, 12.14)
Related stuff:
1. Some of today's headlines regarding the current situation on the Korean Peninsula:
Danger of War in Asia - South Korea Threatens the North
(Die Welt, German conservative newspaper)
North Korea in 'semi state of war'
Seoul vows naval, air strikes on NK
(K. Times)
Related articles:
☞ South Korea: despatch from the frontline of World War Three (Telegraph, 11.28)
☞ S. Korea deploys more artillery, rockets on Yeonpyeong Island (K. Herald, 11.29)
☞ South Korea cancels Yeonpyeong island drills (Guardian, 11.29)
2. As you probably know '2MB' (aka the S. Korean president) addressed the S. Korean public this morning regarding N. Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeong-do. Here you can read the full text of Lee's "address to the nation".
3. While since the end of last week thousands of S. Korean conservative/reactionary 'activists'(^^) are protesting...
...against the "ongoing pacifism" of the S.K. gov't and its military, the S. Korean 'peace movement' is - once again - in the state of shock.
Y' day evening in downtown Seoul: only 150, according to Tongil News (VoP: 300),
'peace activists'(^^) demonstrated (or just prayed??) for a "peaceful
coexistence on the Korean Peninsula"
Today's "left-liberal" (according to wikipedia "nationalist"/"pro-NK" according to the S.K. conservatives..) Hankyoreh newspaper published the following remarkable editorial related to Tuesday's KPA attack (i.e. terror bombing!!) against the civilian population on Yeonpyeong-do:
Time for Pyongyang to take responsibility for attack
It has finally emerged that civilians were indeed killed in North Korea’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island. Yesterday afternoon, a joint investigative team conducting recovery efforts at the scene discovered the bodies of two people who perished at a construction site during the shelling. Workers there had fled the scene after a shell fired by the North Korean forces landed on the site, but two of them ultimately lost their lives. It is truly a tragic development.
North Korea’s attack is unacceptable, for the obvious reason that it is the first attack on South Korean soil since the armistice that ended the Korean War, but even more so because artillery was fired indiscriminately on civilian residential areas. This is a truly inhumane and barbaric outrage that cannot be justified on any grounds. And it ultimately produced the worst-case scenario of civilian fatalities.
In spite of this, North Korea seems not to understand the gravity of the situation. Yesterday, the United Nations Command proposed a general-level meeting with the North Korean military to investigate the incident, but it has not yet received a response. Judging from its current attitude, Pyongyang does not appear likely to agree to talks readily. Observers had already predicted this type of attitude.
In a report the evening before last, the Korean People’s Army Supreme Command said, “Beginning at 13:00 on Tuesday, the South Choson puppets carried out the military provocation of artillery fire on our territorial waters in the area around Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, in spite of our repeated warnings.”
This is the typical false accusation and refusal to take responsibility. This brazen attitude from North Korea is nearly as infuriating to South Korea’s citizens as the unexpected military provocation itself.
If Pyongyang really wishes to pass responsibility on to Seoul, it should provide irrefutable evidence of the so-called military provocation. According to the Defense Ministry, the South Korean military’s artillery firing exercises were directed toward the southwest, away from North Korea. If North Korea is confident of its claims, it should appear at general-level talks and present evidence to back them up. It is cowardly to reiterate charges about a military provocation by South Korea without presenting any clear evidence to support them.
Beyond everything else, North Korea should at least make its position clear regarding firing artillery at civilians. It needs to clarify whether civilian residential areas were always a target, whether the target deviated, or whether this was the result of willful negligence regarding the possibility of civilian casualties. Attacks on civilians constitute a serious crime that is prohibited by international law. When civilian fatalities occur, even during war, the proper response is to apologize to the other nation and the international community and promise that such an incident will not happen again. Feigning ignorance after dropping bombs on civilian residential areas in broad daylight and killing people is something that simply cannot be passed over in silence.
It is difficult to even imagine what North Korea must have been thinking in perpetrating such an extreme act. There is no way of knowing whether it stemmed from an internal political need to solidify the Kim Jong-un succession system, the rogue actions of hardliners, or a high-intensity strategy to bring the United States to the table for bilateral negotiations. Whatever the intent was, however, what is clear is that such a provocative action in no way benefits North Korea. With the international community moving even farther away from the country, Pyongyang can no longer expect any of its help in sustaining its regime or resolving economic issues.
The problem that remains now is how to resolve the situation wisely in a way that does not escalate matters and further threaten security. This will require efforts from both North Korea and South Korea, but the greater responsibility lies with North Korea. It needs to show a readiness to fix the problem it created now that attack it initiated has led to civilian deaths. If necessary, it may be wise to resume the suspended inter-Korean general-level military talks. Now it is necessary to find a way to ensure that such an unfortunate incident does not happen again.
The ultimate responsibility for this incident lies on the shoulders of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Questions of whether he authorized the attack directly or failed to control the hardliners in the military are of no importance. He must assume full responsibility for a tragedy that took the lives of South Korean civilians and take active measures to resolve the situation. Feigning innocence amid such circumstances is not the attitude of a leader responsible for one half of the Korean Peninsula. We urge him to show resolution.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/450650.html
Yesterday's Hankyoreh cartoon:
Inter-Korean peace on fire
North Korean heir apparent Kim Jung-un, general and vice chairman of the Workers Party of Korea’s Central Military Commission, points to the blaze on Yeonpyeong Island, and shouts, “Merciless retaliation!” as a North Korean military commander stands beside him.
North Korean artillery shells cause casualties and set homes ablaze on the island that reads, “Peace between North Korea and South Korea.” (Hankyoreh , 11.24)
“I was at my house and I suddenly heard a ‘bang,’” said a 35-year-old Yeonpyeong resident. "I went out to see what was going on and I saw all my neighborhood turned into a sea of fire..."
24 hours after KPA's attack Yeonpyeong village looked like Jabalia (refugee camp in Gaza/Palestine) after a massive strike by the IDF!
Today's Korea Times reported the following:
North Korea’s firing of artillery shells on Yeongpyeong caused severe property damage to the island community, as illustrated by photos of the devastated houses and buildings in the otherwise peaceful fishing island.
The artillery attack burned scores of houses to the ground...
With several wildfires continuing to rage on, due to a lack of fire-extinguishing equipment and personnel, more homes and other properties will likely be destroyed, inflicting significant monetary damage on the residents.
Firefighters and residents battled a wildfire caused by the North’s attack Tuesday, which burned substantial portions of the hills and farmlands on the island. But they were not able to contain the fire entirely because of a shortage of equipment and manpower.
A dozen homes were also unable to be saved, with some 1,700 island residents scrambling to either take shelter in an underground bunker or flee to the mainland.
The artillery attack left nearly 70 percent of the forests and fields on the rural island charred, according to Incheon Metropolitan City...
Related stuff:
☞ [Photos] N.K.'s bombardment on island (K. Herald/Yonhap)
☞ A ‘terror’ island, as residents take cover in shelling (JoongAng Ilbo)
☞ South Koreans wake up to possibility of attack on capital (Guardian)
☞ Koreas on 'brink of war' because of Seoul, Pyongyang says (CNN)
Today's TOP STORY in the S. Korean and int'l media: Pyongyang's latest "Peace Initiative for the Korean Peninsula":
In one of fiercest attacks in decades, North Korea fires at least 200 artillery shells at South Korean island(*), killing two soldiers and setting dozens of villagers' houses ablaze, Reuters reported this morning (GMT).
Just few minutes after the attack a source from Beijing (cited in today's Guardian) reported the following:
The artillery attacks are a "totally justifiable act of self-defence" in response to the South's sea drills, an unofficial spokesman for North Korea has said, warning that nuclear war could follow "at any point" unless the exercises stop.
"We repeatedly warned South Korea to stop its dangerous war games. If the South continues its dangerous behaviour, Seoul will be the next target. It will be a sea of fire. Nuclear war could start at any point," said Kim Myong-chol, executive director of the Centre for Korean-American Peace. He said it was fair to describe him as speaking on behalf of the North's government.
Related reports:
☞ North Korea fires on South Korea – live coverage (Guardian)
☞ 2 Koreas exchange fire across border (yNet/Reuters)
☞ North Korean shells aim to shock (Asia Times)
☞ N. Korea threatens additional attacks (Yonhap)
☞ S. Korea may strike N. Korea's missile base (K. Herald)
* Yeonpyeong-do(island), the location of the...
Last week's 'top story' in the int'l media...
...commented in Israel (via Yedioth Ahronoth, 10.24):
Finally, those hypocritical, self-righteous Americans are screwed. As always, the greatest joy in Israel is the one over someone else’s downfall, and now it’s the turn of the Americans – the ones who have been preaching to us for decades. This time, we’ll show them who’s right.
The tens of thousands of documents exposed by Wikileaks portray an awful picture of a brutal American thug: In the morning, he rapes a few Iraqi women for his pleasure, by noon he kills dozens of civilians, and what happens in the evening? He eats their livers or raw flesh?
As of yesterday, and for some days to come, America is under attack. It’s being blasted from every direction. This is the same America that was aiming to teach us a lesson; the same America that failed to understand (and will continue to fail) that war does not work in line with the 'noble vision of our Biblical prophets'...
Related stuff:
☞ Iraq War Logs 2004-2009 (Spiegel)
☞ The Secret Iraq Files (al-Jazeera)
☞ Iraq: The War Logs (Guardian)
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