Auschwitz Again, Again

On Sunday, Jeff Jacoby--the token conservative at the NY Times-owned Boston Globe--wrote more about the mis-named "Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea." Jacoby says that the so-called labor camps "are so hellish that 20 percent or more of their prisoners die from torture and abuse each year." None of this is new; yet no one pays any attention.

Conditions inside North Korea--what NoKo does to its own--are enormously relevant to responding appropriately to North Korea's nuclear threat. A decade ago, President Clinton signed a fuzzy and un-verifiable deal, which North Korea flouted almost immediately. In contrast, President Bush has maintained a multilateral dialog (especially including the Chinese), but insists on clear and obvious disarmament by the NoKos before any deal.

Candidate Kerry disagrees:

[The President] steadfastly refused to talk directly with the North Koreans. . . It's time to lay aside the failed efforts of the past year and engage in a negotiation process that, mindful of the hard realities on the Korean peninsula, promises a comprehensive solution to the challenges we and our allies face there.

"Talk directly?"--how can Senator Kerry criticize Bush for unilateralism in Iraq and for multilateralism in Korea? "Harsh realities on the Korean peninsula?"--that's of North Korea's own making inflicted on its own people. Negotiation?--Clinton's been there, tried that and failed. As VodkaPundit Stephen Green says:

North Korea has never lived up to anything its [sic] agreed to, making direct negotiations pointless. What is required is pressure, and China is in the best position to apply it. And China can't be made to do so if we're taking full responsibility (as indicated by bilateral talks) for the outcome.

Who's view is more persuasive--Kerry's or Bush's? Well, there's historical evidence on the question: flying to Munich to negotiate with a mad dictator didn't work. So, we start with six million no votes (Jews, Communists, Gypsies, homosexuals, Poles, clergy, etc.). Add marks for the hundreds of thousands of WWII casualties. Final tally: 1 "Aye," 7 million "Nay" on Chamberlain's 1938 folly. How many Americans will vote to appease similar Asian genocide this November?

As Tom Lehrer says, "let's not always see the same hands."

(Via InstaPundit)