Conservative Refocus/The Examiner

By Barry Secrest

China has become uncharacteristically quiet as a US supercarrier Task Group continues operations, jointly, with both the observing South Koreans and the Japanese. There is a reason for this quietness and at least part of it lies with the daunting spector of having a significant flotilla of military power cruising around in what is normally the Chinese's unchallenged territory. But there is more to this than just the US Projection of Naval power.

The Communist North Koreans, being at it yet again, have ratcheted up the ante with a fatal artillery barrage on the South Koreans.  This is causing many to speculate at what might be afoot while China seems, of a sudden, more interested in talking than action. Many state that it's a matter of succession for Kim Jong Il's son, showing how tough or stupid he is, take your pick, while others agree that it's an attempt to leverage the US into another foolish payola plan (sue for peace, albeit gainfully, as it were) attempt.  The North Koreans did, over the summer, sink a  South Korean Navy vessel, making us wonder when the South Koreans will decide that enough is enough and lash out at the North.

In answer to this vexatious problem, President Obama insists that he will defend the South Koreans, and yet many apparently think that Obama has a noteworthy deficit of foreign policy mettle to respond with any degree of finality on the world stage, beyond verbally. Oh, and don't forget, the South Koreans were the ones who just sent Obama packing with a rejected trade agreement.  Surely the Statesman Obama would never hold that against our South Korean Friends.

When queried about these aggressive attacks, the North Koreans have stated that their reasons for the attacks were:

Multiple Choice Answers:

(A) Because the South Koreans started it

(B) Because the US is planning on holding joint-force defensive exercises with the South Koreans (because of NK aggression)

(C) Because they want to reunify the two Koreas

(D) Because they need more money from we Capitalist Pigs to continue the military suppression of their hapless, terrified subjects

Actual Answer: (E) All of the Above

An Unlikely Threesome: The Who

You see, past administrations have always offered alms to the North Koreans in order to keep the peace.  Obama and the current slate of South Koreans have had neither the wherewithal nor the ostensible interest to continue furthering this sort of "kick the can down the road" foreign policy madness, mainly because their foreign policy is one comprised chiefly of Globalism rather than Nationalism.  However, the wild-card these days is the fact that North Korea now has nuclear capability, which adds a certain "je ne sais uh-oh" to the predicament.  But consider, for a moment, the other wild-card.  Much has been made of the attack, because of North Korea's nuclear stance and the fact that the US agreed to pull out forward deployed tactical and theater nuclear weapons in 1991.  But what many fail to see is the agreement in question was predicated upon a non-nuclear power. The North Koreans now have nuclear weapons, making their off-limits nuke attack status void, as far as the US would be concerned--whether stated or not. Were I the North Koreans, I would be hesitant to test this particular hypothesis.

What is being universally overlooked, however, is the saber-rattling that the Chinese have also been demonstrating. Noting that the ChiComs remain Totalitarian Puppet-masters makes us wonder if perhaps China may be indirectly putting Obama to the test.  It would be a simple thing for the Chinese to orchestrate a three-way confrontation with America in the middle as the designated defender of the South Koreans.  But why?

Ok, does anyone remember the mystery missile launch off the California Coast, and is there a connection?  The US military insists that it was nothing, making us think that it was, indeed, something.  Further, just from the footage available, this was not some sleek, fast anti-air missile being tested off of Point Magu Naval Station. Too large and cumbersome, too much ejecta coming from the engines, too much ballistic in its ballistic.  Many experts have surmised that it was, indeed, a ballistic missile.  The next logical question would be, which Nation has the capability, motivation, and of course the nads, to launch a missile off our coast?  China seems to fit the bill nicely in virtually every case.

Economic Dualities: The Why

Remember the acid response from the Chinese over the Fed's efforts at "monetizing the debt"?  Next question would be, who holds the lion's share of our debt?  Moving along even deeper--how big is the split between the noted universal friction of a totalitarian regime's Generals, as in the Chinese Military, and the Communist Leadership? When the Fed simply prints money, which is what Quantitative Easing ultimately ends up being, who's massive investment is heterogeneously diluted?  China appears to stick out like a sore thumb in virtually every one of these scenarios, and despite the fact that they're Communists, like any good and true radical Liberals, the Chinese simply love their capital--especially when it's in the hands of someone else.  Even more importantly, the mystery missile appeared only a few days after the Fed's QE2 announcement...Hmm.

To make matters even more piquant, the Chinese have been increasingly buying up American industries in steel, automotive and even natural gas havens, while the Feds have leveled strong criticisms at the Chinese for tying their currency to the dollar's value, which causes any trade imbalance suffered by the US at Chinese hands to continue exacerbatingly.

Was this missile launch a warning?  Another test for our fearless Supreme Leader?  Maybe, maybe not, but the dash of pepper thrown into the mix would have to be China's and Russia's recent agreement to begin trading between the two countries using their own currencies rather than the dollar.  So what does that mean?

The Russians indicated some time ago that the instability in the US economy is a good reason to drop the dollar as the world's reserve currency, and we all know and understand that  both Russia and China (along with a number of other countries AND individuals which we won't mention) would simply love to see America's might as the number one economy taken down a significant notch or two.  But by quitting the dollar in Chino-Russo bilateral trade, it would seem the first step has been taken.  This might also mean that inflation could be around the corner if the world reduces its use of and dependence on the dollar.  But this also denotes a certain acrimony against the US by both Russia and China, two Regimes that have never liked playing second-nation-status to the US, while both are still dwarfs as far as economic comparisons are concerned.

Those Inconvenient Truths: The What

The Chinese GDP now stands at about $5.7 trillion for 2010, while the US GDP comes in at around $15 trillion, which is almost three times China's.  Russia's GDP is estimated at about $2.2 trillion, placing it in the same league as a pixie when compared to the United States.  So the Russians, while bold and endearing, have a long way to go, as do the Chinese, and yet, by these two nations joining together, they total about 1/2 of America's economic clout, which is not inconsiderable.

Another fact to consider is that, while the Russians were the main force behind the North Koreans during the Korean war, Russia has over time been supplanted by China as "the closest thing to an Allie" North Korea has.  The one question which keeps being asked is simply:  How did a poor,  isolated, third-world nation such as North Korea actually develop the ability to produce a nuclear weapon?  While the world unofficially "has no idea," others have come up with a different answer, that answer being the Chinese.  Ah, Morte, the plot thickens.  A Fact often neglected is simply that China has also been operative in supplying both Iran and Pakistan with ballistic missile technology that could actually aid a nuclear program,  a fact that we can actually confirm. The question then becomes what, about these particular facts which abound, can we not confirm?

The Chinese have officially stated that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons creates instability in the region. And yet, it now appears that the Chinese may have indirectly armed or--let's just say helpfully allowed--a rogue nation with similar communistic-style goals to operate as the Bad Cop to China's controlling Good Cop.  Now, in that light, we have a range of caustic possibilities to play around with in China's extremely duplicitous nature, and that seems to be where we are.  Make no mistake, if the Chinese willfully aided the North Koreans to gain nuclear weapons while publicly stating that such a thing would create instability in the region, then is it not reasonable to deduce that China might see an advantage to achieving instability within the region?

Sleeping With The Enemy

Further, if China were to quietly pull the strings of North Korea into attacking South Korea in order to maneuver the US into a position to indirectly accede to certain Chinese goals--as it might regard our respective economies or otherwise--then we might be seeing what is actually happening before it has happened.

The Chinese may actually be manipulating events so that America agrees to meet "seemingly Korean Peninsular-centric peaceable goals" in the form of giving into demands.  The Chinese will then, miraculously, call off their mad North Korean attack dogs by supposed clever maneuvering. And if this is, indeed, the case as it increasingly appears to be, then the US must deduce a way to effectively counter such dishonorable schemes.

The one thing to remember is just this; the current US Administration has been nothing if not predictable in how it reacts to various foreign stimuli. Perhaps  Obama needs to employ a few cowboy strategies of his own, in foreign policy, rather than constantly telegraphing his stated intent. Assuming that every country, regardless of standing, has America's best interests at heart is a bit naive, especially for those who consider themselves of the Elite.

This article can also be found on the Examiner & was picked up on the World News Daily Syndicate