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Feb. 8, 2013
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Jewish World Review
Dec. 21, 2011
/ 25 Kislev, 5772
Speculation and wishful thinking can get scary
By
Dale McFeatters
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In 1953, the newspaper critic A.J. Liebling wrote a celebrated essay on the coverage of a long-running Soviet dictator's death. True to the maxim that "big news demands big stories," American newspapers ran yards of copy, almost all of it speculative, because they basically had only one fact to work with: "Stalin Dead."
We knew very little about the inner workings of the Kremlin or Soviet politics, an ignorance that persisted until the late 1980s, when, to the great surprise of Western intelligence agencies, the whole Soviet enterprise came crashing down.
Now we are confronted with another momentous change in a Stalinist regime: the sudden death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, which revealed how little we know about that nuclear-armed, paranoid little state.
Dear Leader Kim died about 8:30 a.m. Saturday. According to The New York Times, even the South Koreans, who presumably have the best sources north of the border, did not learn of the death until 48 hours later.
The U.S. State Department learned of the death, says The Times, from "press reporting" after the official North Korea media announced Kim's passing 51 hours later. China, North Korea's closest and perhaps only friend, learned of the death after similar lengthy delays.
North Korea is monitored by spy satellites and spy planes and is surrounded by electronic eavesdropping posts. But this is a nation that denies its population any meaningful contact with the outside world and enforces that isolation through omnipresent secret police.
Critical information is shared only among a tightly disciplined inner circle. After Kim's death, there was no telltale increase in phone traffic, no troop alerts, no rush by senior politicians to get back to the capital. Indeed, the titular president of North Korea made a previously scheduled visit to Japan to meet with the prime minister and celebrate his 70th birthday.
Even to the South Koreans who don't face the language and cultural hurdles of Western spy agencies, Kim's successor, Kim Jong Un, is a mystery. His age isn't know for sure; he is either 27 or 28. It is known that he went to school in Switzerland for a couple of years in the mid-1990s.
Few North Koreans and even fewer Westerners had even seen a photo of him until his father began grooming him for the leadership 17 months ago.
Some writers have speculated that the young Kim may be more open to the West and reforms because of his brief exposure abroad; in addition to Switzerland, he recently did an introductory tour of China. But this semi-wishful thinking smacks of the 1982 ascension of Yuri Andropov to the Soviet Union's leadership. Some overly optimistic commentators deemed him pro-West because he liked scotch and mystery novels.
The truth is, we don't have a clue about the younger Kim or what he might do. "It's scary how little we really know," an Obama administration official told The Washington Post.
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Previously:
• 12/20/11 A third Kim has North Korea by the throat
• 12/19/11 Congress pats itself on back for budget bill
• 12/15/11 The U.S. government is cashing in its chips, literally
• 12/14/11 TSA might try trusting its own people
• 12/12/11 That $1.2 billion? It's around here some place
• 12/09/11 State Department Creates Virtual Embassy For Iran
• 12/08/11 If you've ever tweeted, you're in the Library of Congress
• 12/07/11 Discoveries go to the core of what makes us humans
• 12/06/11 Stealing elections badly in Russia
• 12/05/11 Sometimes paranoia is common sense by another name
• 12/02/11 When the U.S. truly became one nation
• 12/01/11 Last chance to snap up a Maybach
• 11/30/11 Iran wants respect without earning it
• 11/29/11 Surprise! Spider-Man may weave a profitable web
• 11/28/11 Italians entertain novel proposition: Paying their taxes
• 11/25/11 No time to let up on al-Qaida
• 11/24/11 Congress Quietly Abolishing Friday
• 11/23/11 Cleaning up after supercommittee implosion
• 11/22/11 Jailing minors with adults adds to problems
• 11/21/11 Brilliant strategy? Action by inaction
• 11/18/11They're going to eat horses, aren't they?
• 11/17/11 A pretend stick shift for pretend drivers
• 11/16/11 Clinton's vast experiences: Did NBC pick the wrong Chelsea?
• 11/15/11 Occupy protesters, you've made your point. Now, scat
• 11/10/11 Our vets are a national problem?
• 11/09/11 Requiem for a once-great sport
• 11/08/11 A toilet as smart as its occupant
• 11/07/11 Prerevolutionary gems in need of TLC
• 11/04/11 Feds must stop scam of stealing from dead children
• 11/03/11 Bank listens very closely to customer lynch mob
• 11/01/11 TV that's leading the people away from core socialist values
• 10/31/11 NATO should not be a victim of its success
• 10/28/11 Iran mulls getting rid of president and presidency
• 10/27/11 Bienvenidos a Dayton and bring your businesses with you
• 10/26/11 Archivists long for Obama's teleprompter
• 10/25/11 United Nations to run the Internet?
• 10/24/11 Attention, world: You've got the cash. We've got the houses
• 10/19/11 Oil pipeline must be in America's future
• 10/18/11 U.S. plans limited mission in an Africa with no limits
• 10/17/11 Social Security's grave mistakes
• 10/12/11 NASA's help-wanted sign for astronauts
• 10/10/11 Saving Thomas Jefferson''s chimneys
• 10/06/11 Uncle Sam's answer to deadbeats --- robo-calls
• 10/04/11 Christie should ignore jibes on his weight
• 10/03/11 Iran says its warships will head for Jersey shore
• 09/29/11 Europeans bristle at Obama's lectures
• 09/28/11 Jessica Rabbit for the defense
• 09/27/11 Russia learns outcome of next March's presidential election
• 09/26/11 Another try at leaving no child behind
• 09/23/11 This generation needs a job more than a name
• 09/22/11 In the lane next to you: A driverless car
• 09/20/11 Cloudy, cool, chance of falling satellite
• 09/14/11 Humanitarian extortion
• 09/13/11 Paging Dr. Watson; he's there in 3 seconds
• 09/09/11 Forecasting 100 percent chance of heavy metal
• 09/08/11 A jobs program at Obama's doorstep
• 09/07/11 Iran's government afraid of the water
• 09/06/11 Congress returns, tanned, rested and testy
• 09/05/11 Space nations must clean up after themselves
• 09/02/11 Osama bin Laden died a failure and he knew it
• 09/01/11 Time to retire political pie in the face
• 08/31/11 Labor Day celebrates what, exactly?
• 08/30/11 These arrestees really are framed
• 08/25/11 When in an earthquake, block traffic
• 08/23/11 A case for discretion in deportation arrests
• 08/22/11 Tough times or not, parents shell out for school
• 08/18/11 Being unpleasant for fun, profit, promotion
• 08/17/11 Time to prepare for the end game in Libya
• 08/16/11: Super Committee starts facing reality
• 08/15/11: World's fastest plane disappears even faster
• 08/12/11: British cops track rioters through security cameras
• 08/11/11: Relax. There is no Death Star
• 08/10/11: House pages run final errands
• 08/09/11: U.S. treading water on job creation
• 08/08/11: Uncle Sam, the world's permanent guest
• 08/05/11: Most 9/11 victims not on federal death records
• 08/04/11: Russian PM calls U.S. a parasite. He should be so lucky
• 08/03/11: Congress goes from one bind to another
• 08/02/11: D.B. Cooper may no longer be a mystery
• 08/01/11: Libya's latest weapon against NATO --- lawsuits
• 07/29/11: He'll always be known as Hot Wheels Handler
• 07/25/11: Recruiting children to save a dying town
• 07/22/11: Bachmann's admirable medical candor
• 07/12/11: Social Security's grave mistakes
• 07/08/11: Debt crisis need not be constitutional crisis
• 07/07/11: Startups entice new talent with kickball, treehouses
• 07/05/11: Stranded tourists get rare treat
• 06/30/11: The dollar Americans refuse to spend
• 06/27/11: The hangman doesn't cometh
© 2011, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
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