@StevieQ:
I think what offends a lot of people about this is the suspicion that Laura Ling and the other journalist intentionally sneaked into North Korea so they could "report undercover" and then caused the U.S. a huge expense and, more importantly, legitimized North Korea by forcing Clinton to go in and save the day, and after causing all that trouble Ling is now profiting from her mistake at our expense.
@Big Poppa: If I may, on a couple of points:
1) It can be argued the whole affair probably didn't cost much of any US money. The plane trip and the like was paid by Bing as well as the theatre by which the coming home celebration occurred and the people who physically went over there for "negotiations" were volunteers, including Bill.
2) One could also argue that this episode opened the door in regards to US/N. Korean relations in which it afforded an opportunity for Kim Jung's regime "get to know" the new administration and their response to such batshittery by them. I'm thinking that under Bush we would have either bombed them or in recogition of their threat, tried to bribe them with something while calling them names in public.
@The Real JR: Thanks for your response. My only point is that by sending the former U.S. president it does tend to legitimize the North Korean dictatorship and creates the perception at their end that we will negotiate with them at any cost. Remember this is the same dictator directly responsible for the deaths of millions of his own people--if he is capable of starving his own women and children to death he is fully capable of lobbying a nuclear bomb over Seoul.
@StevieQ: I don't think Hamilton is being snarky at all.
The Mail on Sunday (dailymail.co.uk) has quoted Ling's husband as saying, "I’m afraid I can’t say anything. No one is allowed to talk. We are in the process of doing deals and I don’t want to mess anything up. Everything is being handled by our media adviser."
The newspaper goes on to say that "according to Professor Han Park, an American academic who was visiting North Korea at the time, they were housed in a guest villa designed for foreign visitors outside the capital of Pyongyang. Professor Park said that Korean officials laughed at any suggestion that the women were receiving harsh treatment. ‘We are not Guantanamo,’ he was told. [Commenter's note: Touche.] The women were allowed to receive daily letters from their husbands and parcels from home."
Now, I have been taken to task previously for quoting the Daily Mail, but what if their reporting actually has a few facts sprinkled in it? Would that be snarky?
And I will continue to bang the drum for the (gasp) National Geographic's February 2009 article, "Escape from North Korea." Their writer and photographer were clearly in the thick of it all, did not get captured, and produced the gut-wrenching story that Ling and Lee were sent to get, namely, the death-defying escapes of people who have sometimes had only grass to eat.
Why do I get this feeling that this is either in direct conflict with what was agreed to in order to get them freed OR will be a watered down bone soup version of the actual events? I'm sure in either/or both women will be portrayed the victims, despite their violations of international laws.
I wonder if she was thinking of how much money she was going to make when she was sitting in that jail cell? Did she already know she was going to cut her fellow conspirator out of the picture?
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I think what offends a lot of people about this is the suspicion that Laura Ling and the other journalist intentionally sneaked into North Korea so they could "report undercover" and then caused the U.S. a huge expense and, more importantly, legitimized North Korea by forcing Clinton to go in and save the day, and after causing all that trouble Ling is now profiting from her mistake at our expense.
08/12/09
08/12/09
1) It can be argued the whole affair probably didn't cost much of any US money. The plane trip and the like was paid by Bing as well as the theatre by which the coming home celebration occurred and the people who physically went over there for "negotiations" were volunteers, including Bill.
2) One could also argue that this episode opened the door in regards to US/N. Korean relations in which it afforded an opportunity for Kim Jung's regime "get to know" the new administration and their response to such batshittery by them. I'm thinking that under Bush we would have either bombed them or in recogition of their threat, tried to bribe them with something while calling them names in public.
08/12/09
08/12/09
The Mail on Sunday (dailymail.co.uk) has quoted Ling's husband as saying, "I’m afraid I can’t say anything. No one is allowed to talk. We are in the process of doing deals and I don’t want to mess anything up. Everything is being handled by our media adviser."
The newspaper goes on to say that "according to Professor Han Park, an American academic who was visiting North Korea at the time, they were housed in a guest villa designed for foreign visitors outside the capital of Pyongyang. Professor Park said that Korean officials laughed at any suggestion that the women were receiving harsh treatment. ‘We are not Guantanamo,’ he was told. [Commenter's note: Touche.] The women were allowed to receive daily letters from their husbands and parcels from home."
Now, I have been taken to task previously for quoting the Daily Mail, but what if their reporting actually has a few facts sprinkled in it? Would that be snarky?
And I will continue to bang the drum for the (gasp) National Geographic's February 2009 article, "Escape from North Korea." Their writer and photographer were clearly in the thick of it all, did not get captured, and produced the gut-wrenching story that Ling and Lee were sent to get, namely, the death-defying escapes of people who have sometimes had only grass to eat.
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
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