作者別: RG21管理者

By Bill Lee

Along with the North Korea problem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is as vexing a geopolitical problem as there could be. Playing to his political base in America, President Trump again threatened to spark global turmoil by declaring that the US government would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy to the divided city.

Pundits say that the reason for Trump’s decision was to bolster his support among evangelical voters in America. Die-hard evangelicals believe that Jerusalem must be the capital of Israel so that Armageddon may eventually happen and Jesus can return as the true savior accepted finally by the Jews and bring about a millennium of peace.

To me, what was disturbing was Trump’s reaction to the UN resolution declaring Trump’s decision on Jerusalem “null and void.” At a Cabinet meeting, Trump said he would be “watching those votes,” and all but threatened to cut off aid to countries that voted for the resolution and against the United States. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the Trump administration would be “taking names” of countries supporting the resolution. This shows that Trump and his minions view extending foreign assistance as nothing more than an excuse to buy votes at the UN. One of Trump’s traits is his tyrannical demand for fealty from his subordinates, which means just about everyone. Trump wants to cut foreign aid; China is more than happy to fill the void and provide more aid. Which country will end up benefitting more?

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Photo by Francisca12av1 via Flickr

By Bill Lee

North Korea launched another ICBM on 29 November, this time a Hwasong-15, its most powerful missile to date. Soaring to an altitude of 4,500 kilometers on a lofted trajectory, the missile, if its trajectory were normalized, could have a range of more than 8,000 miles, putting all of the continental United States, as well as the rest of the world’s major cities, within North Korea’s sights. Reaction to the launch in Japan and the United States seemed muted at first until officials figured out the capability of the missile.

The statement put out by the Korean Central News Agency was very telling, however. The statement, purportedly issued by the government, made the amazing claim that the DPRK had basically completed its missile and nuclear development. The Hwasong-15, the statement said, “meets the goal of the completion [boldface mine] of the rocket weaponry system development set by the DPRK.” Kim Jong Un was quoted as flatly saying, “We have finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power.” Very significantly, the statement also claimed that the missile carried a “super-large heavy warhead,” clearly a reference to a mock nuclear warhead. North Korea has completed its missile and rocket development.

Or has it? The three remaining technical questions are whether the nuclear warhead housing could survive the re-entry into and fall through the Earth’s atmosphere, whether they have an accurate guidance system (seems they do), and whether a nuclear device would actually detonate. To ascertain the last question, an above-ground nuclear test would be necessary.

However, the KCNA statement also struck a conciliatory note and had none of the bluster of past statements. North Korea’s development of a nuclear arsenal is to “defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country from the U.S. imperialists’ nuclear blackmail…and therefore does not pose any threat to any country and region…That is our solemn declaration.” That’s as good as it is going to get from North Korea.

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Photo by BipHoo Company via Flickr

By Bill Lee

The rapidly growing list of powerful and rich men charged with sexual harassment, misconduct, and assault in the United States and elsewhere recently is astounding. Starting with beloved television star Bill Cosby, going on to Fox News giants Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, snaring legendary movie producer Harvey Weinstein, and then recently bringing down the likes of film and theater star Kevin Spacey, liberal politicians Al Franken and John Conyers, ultra-conservative senatorial candidate Roy Moore, television news icon Charlie Rose, and others, the list disregards race, age, political creed, and sexual orientation. The necessary conditions for inclusion on the list seem to require that the harasser/attacker be male and in a position of significant power. And of course heading the list, but not suffering any of the consequences befalling the others, is the sexual predator in the White House, who, according to a recent New York Times report, has suggested, unbelievably, that the Access Hollywood tape in which he boasts about his sexual assaults, is “fake.”

The causes of the sexual predatory behavior are not obscure, but the consequences are not self-evident as they include, according to accounts from victims, (repressed) feelings of trauma and terror. And on a cheaply political level, will all of these revelations reduce the pool of future male political candidate who may be apprehensive that some inappropriate behavior done 20 years previously will come out? That reduction is a good thing, some will argue.

A controversy of sorts was sparked in China by an article in the China Daily in the wake of the allegations against Weinstein that claimed that sexual harassment does not happen in China because of cultural traditions. That caused quick and sharp repudiations of the claim, and the newspaper removed the article.

In the United States, the obtuse may shrug off the tsunami of allegations as part of the unravelling fabric of American culture or of a deeper strand of human nature, but many will see them as a learning moment that should be taken very seriously.

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Photo by Cummings Franck via Flickr