Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Some people have no clue. Regards a quote from a South Korean human rights advocate..

Zeld2.0 · 06-24-2004, 08:55 AM

I'll give a few things from history books on the Cold War and other things (including Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger and We Now Know by John Lewis Gaddis)

North Korea's leader Kim Il Sung planned the invasion of South Korea by himself. He went to Stalin for authorization. Stalin, the head honcho of course, said okay but the Soviet Union would NOT intervene should the U.S. intervene. He authorized it only after Kim Il Sung reassured him that the U.S. would not get involved.

Kim then went to Mao in China for authorization also. Mao was not fully in support of Kim for he also feared American intervention. He was afraid America would use that as a screen for invading the rest of China and taking it back from the communists as they had failed a year earlier to support the Nationalists. Reluctantly, he also agreed based on the promise that America would not intervene and that Stalin had given approval to Kim.

In essence, Kim used Stalin and Mao to authorize an invasion on the premise that the U.S. would not intervene. He had good reason to believe that was true given that the majority of Americans did not even know there was a place called Korea. Furthermore, months earlier, Secretary of State Dean Acheson in a poorly worded speech left out Korea from the defensive perimeter in the Pacific. This led Kim to believe that the U.S. would stay out of its affairs.

Unfortunately for him, Truman and others were very passionate about containing communism by now after seeing events unfold in Czechoslovakia and Berlin and felt this was part of a global conspiracy for the spread of communism. They went to the UN and they overwhelmingly voted to support action against N. Korea.

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Now refering to the original post - if they don't care, then who cares anyways? They can believe as they will as we will believe as we will. People have different opinions and ultimately its what the governments and officials do. If their people all vote against the war, what can you do? They're a democracy that we helped built and if thats how it is, then so be it.

06-24-2004, 08:55 AM	#13 (permalink)
Zeld2.0 Cherry-pickin' devil's advocate Location: Los Angeles	I'll give a few things from history books on the Cold War and other things (including Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger and We Now Know by John Lewis Gaddis) North Korea's leader Kim Il Sung planned the invasion of South Korea by himself. He went to Stalin for authorization. Stalin, the head honcho of course, said okay but the Soviet Union would NOT intervene should the U.S. intervene. He authorized it only after Kim Il Sung reassured him that the U.S. would not get involved. Kim then went to Mao in China for authorization also. Mao was not fully in support of Kim for he also feared American intervention. He was afraid America would use that as a screen for invading the rest of China and taking it back from the communists as they had failed a year earlier to support the Nationalists. Reluctantly, he also agreed based on the promise that America would not intervene and that Stalin had given approval to Kim. In essence, Kim used Stalin and Mao to authorize an invasion on the premise that the U.S. would not intervene. He had good reason to believe that was true given that the majority of Americans did not even know there was a place called Korea. Furthermore, months earlier, Secretary of State Dean Acheson in a poorly worded speech left out Korea from the defensive perimeter in the Pacific. This led Kim to believe that the U.S. would stay out of its affairs. Unfortunately for him, Truman and others were very passionate about containing communism by now after seeing events unfold in Czechoslovakia and Berlin and felt this was part of a global conspiracy for the spread of communism. They went to the UN and they overwhelmingly voted to support action against N. Korea. --- Now refering to the original post - if they don't care, then who cares anyways? They can believe as they will as we will believe as we will. People have different opinions and ultimately its what the governments and officials do. If their people all vote against the war, what can you do? They're a democracy that we helped built and if thats how it is, then so be it. Last edited by Zeld2.0; 06-24-2004 at 08:58 AM..