Free Republic

That means several years of intervention and nation-building. Unlike Afghan, we don't have a charismatic figure like Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir Valley. Who are you going to grow, since there is no obvious candidate on the ground now? Anti-Assad secular general with popular support and willing to crush Muslim Brotherhood, I don't see one.

Muslim Brotherhood has a deep root in Syria as in Egypt. I don't want Syria to be a playground of Muslim Brotherhood any more than you do. There are parties helping Assad now, as I have described before. Would Israel sit by and let Assad fall? I doubt it. They could help Assad in some way. Allowing them to help Assad enough to grind down Muslim Brotherhood seems to be one way to do it. If ruling secular military regime starts to show cracks, it would be impossible not to expect Muslim Brotherhood to raise its head. It would happen whether we intervene or not.

Syrian opposition is getting arms from somewhere. Would they get enough from raiding government troop’s armory? Sunnis Muslim brotherhood will be in charge whether they have in full control of opposition now or not. I doubt that the void can be filled by some secular opposition strong enough to withstand Muslim Brotherhood, unless the daddy Assad exterminated all Muslim Brotherhood in Hama, Syria back in 80’s. If there is an alternative other than Muslim Brotherhood, it could be another secular strongman. I don’t know about you, but to me, secular political forces in Muslim country is pretty shaky. Even when people realized what they did and rise up against regime they help to install, the regime is entrenched and very difficult to dislodge without another bloody revolution in Muslim country. Religion inspires die-hard passion in those countries.

Sorry. reply to wrong person. My apologies.

Syrian opposition is getting arms from somewhere. Would they get enough from raiding government troop's armory? Sunnis Muslim brotherhood will be in charge whether they have in full control of opposition now or not. I doubt that the void can be filled by some secular opposition strong enough to withstand Muslim Brotherhood, unless the daddy Assad exterminated all Muslim Brotherhood in Hama, Syria back in 80’s. If there is an alternative other than Muslim Brotherhood, it could be another secular strongman. I don't know about you, but to me, secular political forces in Muslim country is pretty shaky. Even when people realized what they did and rise up against regime they help to install, the regime is entrenched and very difficult to dislodge without another bloody revolution in Muslim country. Religion inspires die-hard passion in those countries.

It’s a choice between Bin Laden and Assad. Some experts think that Assad is more controllable.

I know. It is between Shia state terror sponsors and all Sunni terrorists. They are eating each other. Somehow we want to let Shia terror sponsors to survive this time around. This is the state behind the bombing of Marine barracks in Lebanon back in 80’s. Hezbollah's long-time sponsors, too.

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Breakdown of parties involved:

Active support: Russia, North Korea, Iran

Neutral: U.S., Israel

Hostile: Sunni Muslim terrorists and their state sponsors

Considering that Syria has been the arch nemesis of U.S and Israel until recently, this is a strange development.

I suppose U.S. and Israel want Syrian regime to hang on, albeit severely weakened, because the alternative is even worse.

N. Korea really gets around. While they face host of political and military challenges in E. Asia, due mostly to China’s change of heart(for the time being,) they still continue their foreign adventures. N. Korea is at the forefront of WOT in Syria. LOL.

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This has happened before. China let it pass in previous episodes. We’ll see if they respond differently this time around.

They are back to farm fields, catching up with planting. Ground troops quietly stood down and slipped into the daily routine which at least can produce something useful, while Fat Boy was escalating threatening rhetoric with missiles and nukes. He should have made good with some of his words. Unfortunately for him, even China tighten the screw this time, let alone SK, US, and others. I think it has eroded his leadership. This may have consequences down the road. A symmetrical attack is still an on-going threat. That includes hit-and-run provocation with localized military attack.

Two more are going on as we speak without press coverage. There is also U.S. carrier Nimitz coming to SK for port call and some exercise.

They keep it quiet to avoid another volley of belligerent rhetoric from Pyongyang. We keep it quiet and they can stand down quietly. Or so we think, according to some reports.

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Military posturing is costly. They put lots of men and women on combat alert for extended period. That stopped economic activities, and for military, it means they are battle-ready and in position, waiting for orders. Military grain reserve has to be released to feed these soldiers when they are in position. They also burned lots of fuel for doing airforce drills to just show off how tough they are.

Now their food and fuel reserve is low. People have not been able to make their living to survive. For what? Nothing so far. No groveling from other countries nor generous aids to appease them. China joined in tightening the screw to some extent as well.

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A huge chunk of domino block is falling down on China, and mostly, they have themselves to blame

It is about to. However, without S. Korean power and water supply to the industrial park, they are unlikely to function properly. Yes, the factories there had been getting electricity and water from S. Korea.

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Ping!

If you want to be on or off the list, please let me know.

Sorry. I pinged the wrong list. My apologies.

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Instead of junking them Foxconn will be likely to recycle them in Chinese market, a kind of iPhone knock-off with Apple logo missing. There goes Chinese market for Apple. They will see their rejected garbage claim the market first.

In a bid to prop up their economy, countries are in a race to devalue their currency. Some announce it more openly than others. They are all doing it. Especially export-oriented economies without much natural resources to depend on.

It is like U.S. taking the lead and other countries are catching up. Without recovery of U.S. demand, except anemic improvement which could be a statistical mirage, things won't turn around. Establishments are trying their best to slowly boil us to death, with unending massive money supply. As a result, we have a lull before yet another big plunge, or free fall. Astronomical banking debts are dragging all of us down to abyss.

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North Korean regime only understands extortion racket, not business. There is no win-win or partnership. They lean on others, forcing them to cough up money, food, and military technology. Sometimes they do make payments. In supernotes or METH.

Correction: at end, it should be /end/begin my excerpts

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Regarding my comment, here is a relevant link:

http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/04/15/2013041500184.html?news_Head1

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Interesting development on Sunday, Apr. 14 in Korea.

At first, SK goverment officials made some wimpy comments. They basically said, "Well, this is just an initial response. They may not 'mean it.' Let's wait a little longer before we are jumping to conclusions."

This was during the day. On Sunday evening, there was a meeting where President Park and all national security staffs were present. In the meeting, the president voiced her "deep displeasure" on N. Korea's response. Then officials took a u-turn and hurriedly arranged a press briefing to issue an official statement that SK goverment is also displeased. Around 9:35 PM, Sunday.

There were speculations on why the tide turned so abruptly. Some blame it on the president's indecisiveness, others blame on officials who spoke too soon before clearing it with the president. Still others begin to suspect that Obama and Kerry have pushed Park to go soft but Park put a brake on it. Any of these things is possible, but the last scenario is indeed plausible.

One thing to be reminded is that they have been frequently featuring dialogs line, neglecting to consider that NK regime can be only maintained in sealed environment with occasional external crisis. The conflict can only end if NK takes over entire SK, and Kim Dynasty acquires legitimacy to rule over the entire Korea for a long time.