A Question for Governor Richardson
So how does it feel to be a propaganda piece?:
The North Korea colonel who served as Richardson’s guide smiled as he told the governor the ship was an example of continued U.S. aggression toward his country. Richardson and his traveling companion, former Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, were then shown bullet holes circled in red paint and a video describing the maneuvering of "brazen-faced U.S. imperialists."
(…)
Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate who is in North Korea this week to collect the remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War, said the tour of the ship was "unpleasant."
Why in the heck was he touring this ship to begin with and allow himself to be used for propaganda purposes by the North Korean government? He should have told his minders to shove the USS Pueblo tour up their collective asses.Â
The seizure of the USS Pueblo was overt act of aggression against the United States with the murder of one crew member and the imprisonment and torture of the rest of the crew for nearly a year. The vessel remains the only commissioned US Navy ship still remaining in enemy hands today. I have always maintained that any negotiations carried out with the North Koreans should include the return of the USS Pueblo. If the North Koreans want to make demands such as the return of the $25 million ill gotten dollars that was not in the Agreed Framework 2.0 than how come the US government cannot demand the return of the USS Pueblo?
What a disgrace to the memory of the former crew members of the Pueblo, that the only thing that Richardson can say after being used as a propaganda tool by the North Koreans is "unpleasant".Â
You can read more about the USS Pueblo at my prior posting here.
HT: Ironically enough to Richardson
Personally I think that, as U.S. property, we should go ahead and retire the Pueblo. With either a (conventional) cruise or ballistic missile. What are they going to say; it is U.S. property, after all.
I mentioned this at Richardson's blog — I have an itch in the back of my mind that we might see some kind of clash or Pueblo incident soon against either the US, Japan, or South Korea.
With the US in retreat, and with Iran doing what it did recently, this is a time when I think Pyongyang thinks it's a good idea to push.
I'll be very interested to watch what goes on for about the next 2 to 3 weeks.
They won’t mess with a US or Japanese vessel because the likelihood of retaliation is to high. However, as history has shown if NK kills ROK sailors President Roh could care less. However, if NK did something like this now it would totally ruin any chance of a liberal winning the presidential election this year. If they were going to do something like this they would wait till after the presidential election to test the response of the new president.
… Possibly we might ask for the return of the axes that they grabbed from the joint ROK/USFK tree-trimming detail in the JSA and used to murder two Americans and four ROKs.
The bastards actually have the axes on display in a glass-case in a building on their side of the line at Panmunjom.
Ya just gotta love 'em.
[…] [GI Korea] A Question for Governor Richardson Published: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 09:51:46 +0000 So how does it feel to be a propaganda piece?: The North Korea colonel who served as Richardson’s guide smiled as he told the governor the ship was an example of continued U.S. aggression toward his country. Richardson and his traveling companion, former Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, were then shown bullet holes circled in red […] Read More… […]
First a quick note on what Michael wrote — I've been watching a lot of the documentaries and other video material on NK to work on the video edits I'm doing —- and I noticed North Korea has also been using the helicopter shot down in the late 1990s for propaganda purposes.
If you You Tube for North Korea Great General or Songun (military first policy) – you will get a brief glimpse of either the pilot or other person in the US attack helicopter holding his arms up and shaking from the fear and adrenline rush as he just apparently stepped out of the crashed bird. They also show a quick shot of his dead partner laying at his feet in the wreckage.
I remember when that incident happened. A US chopper strayed over the DMZ and into NK and was shot down. The Koreans held him for a couple of days then released him. I remember some in the media tried to portray the airman as a hero, but he didn't particularly go for it, and that made me admire him even more than i did for his willingness to serve. He or the other crew member made a tragic mistake, and one of them paid for it with their lives. I would welcome him home, but not so much as a hero.
Anyway….I saw on some shots of Panmunjong that the Norks have also put up a display of him holding up his hands at the crash site there as well.
On NK not striking at the South before the election – I think that is a possibility, but I'm not sure if it's really or true than not.
You would think naturally NK wouldn't do it, but NK hasn't done much at all for years to strengthen the pro-Sunshine policy South Koreans.
I am also not sure it is a given that South Korean society would rise up in arms and swing strongly toward the conservatives after an attack. They already don't favor Uri or Roh —
—- but the bigger factor could be how much they like to dislike a "cold war mentality."
The opposite of Uri and Roh to the masses is not a direct opposite. They might not like Uri and Roh and want to swing more conservative, but they also like to "work again" a "cold war mentality" and they want to believe in the Sunshine policy. They don't trust the conservatives much more than they do the Roh progressives.
Back in the 2002 West Sea Clash, the society was incredibly mute in its criticism of North Korea. They took their anger out on the SK military for not know the strike was going to come.
I think there is a significant chance a strike against a South Korean patrol boat would be handled similar to how it was in 2002.
In light of the distinct possibility that the event was staged with the knowledge (and approval) of the highest levels in Pyongyang, and that 'normal' people might consider this to be a calculated insult:
1. Did the North Koreans offer Governor Richardson a handkerchief to remove the spittle from the Governor's face … or did the Governor have to use the sleeve of his own jacket?
2. Does the Governor have the balls that he was born with …or did he leave them at home?
[…] Fiction: Deserting from Combat Stress Return of Japanese Imperialism “Let My People Go” A Question for Governor Richardson Korean Females Addicted to Cell Phones April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month BBC Will Not Show […]
It's sad to see a reportedly savvy politician like Richardson being used for political propaganda. It's also sad to see the USS Pueblo still languishing in captivity lashed to a dock on a river in a dispicable country like north Korea. I'm a big proponent of getting the ship back and putting it on display in the U.S. to honor the memory of a crew that was left to languish in captivity by their government after being sent out on an ill-advised and ultimately ill-fated mission.
Tim in Angeles sendzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[…] this week I criticized Governor Bill Richardson for allowing himself to be used as a propaganda piece by the North Korean government with his […]