What Hillary Must Understand

The picture shows the Frank Gaylord/Tallix foundries stainless steel statues which constitute the principal (and most haunting) Korean War memorial in the west. They can be found in Washington DC.

Hillary Clinton is an accomplished and intelligent woman. She has broken with convention by going to Asia rather than Europe for her inaugural trip as the American Secretary of State, though I can't see a trip to central Asia--surely the front line on the Afghan War and in preparation for the coming oil crises--on her itinerary. Kazakhstan in particular could do with more than General Petraeus and the IMF once or twice a year, and the UN has already provided cover for a regional effort to counter Russia's brilliant diplomacy.

That's not my point however, since one can believe almost nothing in the media these days. I assume that she is talking behind the scenes. However, mine eyes were drawn to stories which repeated Mrs Clinton's observations and various threats against the state in the north of Korea.

I hold no candle for that imprisoned zone at all. But what Americans must understand at the moment is that any pressure on North Korea will be understood as weakness, not strength. Satrap states across Asia are bearing huge deficits, and can no longer simply sell into the US economy to make money. They must earn dollars by taking US Treasury bonds, and the reason they need to earn dollars is to perform what international transactions are still ongoing.

Many Asian states gib at this arrangement. The Republic of Korea, which currently is being 'encouraged' to take on even more of America's debt, is one of them. A manufactured confrontation with the North will simply make Koreans and other Asians think that the Americans are trying to remind the South who is boss.

This comes at a time when the Republic is acting as a sort of financial capacitor, soaking up investment that in the past would have gone to the developing world but which now is flowing away from the likes of Ecuador, Venezuela, and most of Africa. The Koreans need that money for themselves.

Pushing the Koreas, however divided they look on the face of it, into a row, especially when the US can't do anything about it, may well be a critical prompt to what China and a good many others may want--an Asian currency arrangement which will become a cover for dumping the dollar over the next two years.

Clinton's problem is compounded by the fact that Asians for some reason can read English-language newspapers. They'll see her intent to discuss global warming (not happening), human rights (a neuralgic issue the US uses to bomb or invade), nuclear weapons (an indulgence Obama should simply slash) and the financial crisis (which the west wants Asia to pay for). She'll be seen as going over there with a begging bowl full of bullshit to save face, not to lead humanity against Kim Il Franco.

Don't do it Hillary. Just show respect and listen. This is no time for another ruinous crusade. Remember Thomas More's question to the person who undid him for Wales in Bolt's rendition, mutatis mutandis;

it profits a republic little to trade its soul for the whole world, but for North Korea?