North Korean Gratuity?

From the "just-when-you-thought-you'd-heard-it-all" department, here comes a real gem:

In an extremely rare public expression, North Korea officially thanked the United States for helping the crew of a North Korean cargo ship hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast late last month, describing the rescue as a symbol of Washington-Pyongyang rapprochement.

Then we read:

This case serves as a symbol of the DPRK [North Korea]-U.S. cooperation in the struggle against terrorism," the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Just between you and me, I don't think we'll be sipping cognac and swapping spit with Kim Jong-il, anytime soon. To say they are cooperating with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism, after getting caught with supplying a Syrian (a known sponsor of terror) operation to build a nuclear development facility, doesn't exactly fit in with the characteristics of an ally.

Unless, there's a hidden deal somewhere, whereby we gave them an out. By this I mean, entering into a covert agreement for the specific purpose of destroying their material (after sending it to Syria).

(Never mind, just thinking out loud, as I often do. Forget I said anything.)

Did Israelis Hit Syrian Nuke Site?

For those that thought Israel was being a good puppet of the U.S. empire and emulating its imperialistic friend, you may want to think again.

The NYT is reporting that Israeli forces did, in fact, hit specific targets in their recent air raid.

After days of silence from the Israeli government, American officials confirmed Tuesday that Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes inside Syria last week, the first such attack since 2003. Syria has lodged a protest at the United Nations in response to the airstrike, accusing Israel of “flagrant violation” of its airspace. But Israel’s government has repeatedly declined to comment on the matter.

Looking at this with an analytical eye, we can see why the possibility of this is reasonable to consider. North Korea (NK) is trying to get back into the good graces of the world community after drawing ire from reasonable people, everywhere. They have announced that they will shut down their program. Why would that be so?

Maybe, because they have what they want, now?

With the bulk of the R&D completed, the rush to get into compliance may be precipitating a fire sale. Dumping these excess materials to someone that desperately wants to have them, would not only help them get ready for inspection, they would yield some cash for restocking Kim Jong Il's cognac inventory. When money gets tight, I guess one has to sacrifice a little luxury.

No, I am confident that Israel had a good reason to hit the targets that no one wants to talk about. They are not about bragging, they are about protecting its citizens.

But back to the issue at hand.

NK had a reaction, let's look at part of that reaction:

North Korea lashed out Tuesday at Israel for invading Syrian airspace last Thursday, its official news agency said.

"This is a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security," a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea strongly denounces the above-said intrusion and extends full support and solidarity to the Syrian people in their just cause to defend the national security and the regional peace," he added.

I cannot help but wonder if they haven't been paid for the materials yet and are trying to politically caress the Syrians here. But yet, it's been known that NK, Iran, and Syria have been missile trading partners, for awhile now. So in essence, I fail to see the big surprise. This alliance isn't new at all and it has been watched.

But watching can only take you so far. When something is seen that threatens the safety and security of a nation, it is at that point, the watching has to stop and the acting has to begin. Evidently, Israel has made its transition from observer to participant. Watching them install whatever they were apparently installing, seemed to concern them enough to act. This is something we sorely need to look at in rest of the Western world, or we may catch fire while watching.

The choice is ours.


ADDENDUM:

VDH has a new essay and as usual, he hits the ball right out of the park. It somewhat pertains to this post's topic (or it will when the world's condemnation machine for Israel gets cranked up, over this affair).