Kim Jong II: Hard Negotiating With Elvis Presley Mini-Me
Robert Paul Reyes
October 03, 2005
Kim Jong II, the communist dictator of North Korea, doesn't cut a very imposing figure -- he's a dead-ringer for Elvis Presley's "Mini-Me."
But he is no joking matter, Kim's disastrous agricultural and economic polices have caused his people to suffer under one of the world's longest and deadliest famines.
The little tyrant poses a threat not only to his country, but to the world at large, unlike Saddam Hussein he really does possess Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
Like his father, Kim Jong Il is the center of a very extensive personality cult within North Korean society in which Kim is constantly praised and honored as a tremendous hero, great statesman and god-like figure.
Because the tiny terror possesses WMD and the means to deliver them to our shores, military action against North Korea is out of the question.
Therefore we are forced to negotiate with Kim, but how do you negotiate with a tinpot dictator who fancies himself a deity?
There are some who say that Kim is not playing with a full deck, but it seems that he is playing with more than a full deck, just when you think you have negotiated him into a corner, he pulls out another ace from his sleeve.
No sooner had the U.S. celebrated a new nuclear nonproliferation agreement with "axis of evil" member North Korea than Kim reneged, saying Americans "should not even dream" of a nuke-free North without further concessions.
The diminutive crackpot is now demanding that the U.S. give North Korea a nuclear reactor for civilian energy generation. If you believe that this megalomaniac would use a nuclear reactor for civilian energy generation, then you would also believe that your 18-year old son will invite only members of his chess club to his new "bachelor pad."
The United States must not give up in frustration, the stakes are too high. China is a critical player in these negotiations, it's the only country that has any real leverage with the Elvis Presley wannabe.
In a perfect world Kim Jong II would be a nobody crooning along to "Hound Dog" in a two-bit Karaoke Bar, but we don't live in a perfect world, and Kim is a leader we must deal with.
We must continue the multi-national dialogue with North Korea, until common sense, patience and China's leverage finally prevails.
But he is no joking matter, Kim's disastrous agricultural and economic polices have caused his people to suffer under one of the world's longest and deadliest famines.
The little tyrant poses a threat not only to his country, but to the world at large, unlike Saddam Hussein he really does possess Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
Like his father, Kim Jong Il is the center of a very extensive personality cult within North Korean society in which Kim is constantly praised and honored as a tremendous hero, great statesman and god-like figure.
Because the tiny terror possesses WMD and the means to deliver them to our shores, military action against North Korea is out of the question.
Therefore we are forced to negotiate with Kim, but how do you negotiate with a tinpot dictator who fancies himself a deity?
There are some who say that Kim is not playing with a full deck, but it seems that he is playing with more than a full deck, just when you think you have negotiated him into a corner, he pulls out another ace from his sleeve.
No sooner had the U.S. celebrated a new nuclear nonproliferation agreement with "axis of evil" member North Korea than Kim reneged, saying Americans "should not even dream" of a nuke-free North without further concessions.
The diminutive crackpot is now demanding that the U.S. give North Korea a nuclear reactor for civilian energy generation. If you believe that this megalomaniac would use a nuclear reactor for civilian energy generation, then you would also believe that your 18-year old son will invite only members of his chess club to his new "bachelor pad."
The United States must not give up in frustration, the stakes are too high. China is a critical player in these negotiations, it's the only country that has any real leverage with the Elvis Presley wannabe.
In a perfect world Kim Jong II would be a nobody crooning along to "Hound Dog" in a two-bit Karaoke Bar, but we don't live in a perfect world, and Kim is a leader we must deal with.
We must continue the multi-national dialogue with North Korea, until common sense, patience and China's leverage finally prevails.
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