RE: North Korea ready for "Holy War"
January 3, 2011 at 2:49 pm
(This post was last modified: January 3, 2011 at 2:52 pm by Autumnlicious.)
The US singlehandedly turned the tide for World War 2 with it's economic might.
If there were to be World War 3, I wouldn't know who would win, as China is now the current economic super power.
With that considered, who do you think is propping up North Korea? China.
Knocking them away from North Korea enough to let it die most likely would be ridiculously difficult. Also, the North Korea leaders have been dealing with a near mutinous populace for a long time. They dealt with it through indoctrination, starvation, mass murder and careful application of terror. I bet that even if everything to North Korea was blocked, including food, they'd still manage to find a way to keep their populace in check.
What happens to people who stand up to those with guns? Nothing good.
So no, I don't think that pure economic punishments would work, proof being current North Korea. They'd rather starve swathes of their population and blame it on the same foreigners who have queasy stomaches and sooner or later, fold and give food aid.
It's bloody convenient.
Too true. Japan was near irreparable - the atomic bomb did however contributed to instability and scared the Emperor shitless. It demoralized him and made clear that continued war was impossible. Though it is impressive how even in the face of annihilation, a group of fanatics nearly doomed the whole nation to fire.
If there were to be World War 3, I wouldn't know who would win, as China is now the current economic super power.
With that considered, who do you think is propping up North Korea? China.
Knocking them away from North Korea enough to let it die most likely would be ridiculously difficult. Also, the North Korea leaders have been dealing with a near mutinous populace for a long time. They dealt with it through indoctrination, starvation, mass murder and careful application of terror. I bet that even if everything to North Korea was blocked, including food, they'd still manage to find a way to keep their populace in check.
What happens to people who stand up to those with guns? Nothing good.
So no, I don't think that pure economic punishments would work, proof being current North Korea. They'd rather starve swathes of their population and blame it on the same foreigners who have queasy stomaches and sooner or later, fold and give food aid.
It's bloody convenient.
(January 3, 2011 at 12:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Japan's civilians were irrelevant to the equation, Sae. On Saipan and Okinawa many killed themselves rather than surrender. They were just as nuts as the soldiers. What had to be broken was the will of the military leadership ( there was no civilian government) to resist and that was easier said than done. Do you know that after the atomic bombings and after the Emperor had decided to surrender there was an attempted military coup on the palace grounds by the Imperial Guards led by a few fanatical officers? They wanted to rescue the emperor from the "evil men" who advised him to surrender. The coup failed and the leaders killed themselves but the fact that it happened at all tells you all you need to know about the Japanese mind-set in 1945. The populace was already blasted by incendiary bombings and a submarine blockade. In July, 1945 American carrier groups danced around the home islands with impunity. The war was lost....but it was not over.
The Germans, in contrast, were far more pragmatic than the Japanese. But surrender in European warfare was accepted.
Too true. Japan was near irreparable - the atomic bomb did however contributed to instability and scared the Emperor shitless. It demoralized him and made clear that continued war was impossible. Though it is impressive how even in the face of annihilation, a group of fanatics nearly doomed the whole nation to fire.
