Nov. 26, 2010: With age comes wisdom? Maybe. But to what purpose? If I am old enough to remember The Gulf of Tonkin Incident and don’t use that memory to inform and direct action today there’s been no benefit whatsoever. That incident, 1964, was a fabrication used by the U.S. to expand the war in Vietnam, and it comes troubling to mind these last few days as North and South Korea rattle their sabres. Who shot first? To listen to our own (Canadian) news sources like CBC it was the North that fired first and charges of “provocation” by the North Korean regime are discounted, ignored, and not pursued.
There are reports we would like CBC to dig into, reports available on the world wide web and that could be confirmed or discounted as false. They include:
• Reports that joint U.S.-South Korean war games are planned for or are taking place adjacent to the demarcation line between the two states.
• Reports that South Korean forces fired shells into waters claimed by North Korea an hour and a half before the North fired back, shelling Yeonpyeong Island.
• Reports that that jurisdiction over the island is itself a matter of disagreement. This fact is glossed over, if mentioned at all.
Who’s doing what to whom? Where is the CIA in all of this? How about other secret operatives representing either side? The fog of war is thick over the Korean peninsula, and we should be demanding that our publicly funded news service dig deeper and divlulge more lest we get sucked into yet another war.
