The US Treasury’s proposal to target North Korea’s oil imports is very similar in spirit to the oil embargo that the US slapped on Imperial Japan in 1941 which triggered the attack on Pearl Harbor, thus bringing the prospect of a full-scale military conflict closer.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's proposal last week to target North Korea's oil imports via a new round of sanctions bears a striking resemblance to a similar move which led to full-scale US involvement in WWII almost eighty years ago.
The US oil embargo against Imperial Japan in 1941, which relied heavily on imported fuel, led to the tragic events of Pearl Harbor. The current prospect of an oil embargoagainst North Korea, which is also heavily dependent on the imported oil, brings war closer....History repeating or just rhyming?
Sputnik International
Premonition of War: Japan Backs US Plan to Curb N Korea's Oil Imports
Adam Garrie
3 comments:
The Russians will give them oil. They will certainly understand the consequence of the WWII US embargo on starting the war with Japan, and they want peace in the region. They've said so. They've said recently that they will defend North Korea if the Americans threaten them, but they will not help the North Koreans if they are the aggressors.
The DPRK is not the aggressor and probably wasn't in 1950, either. I.F. Stone makes a pretty good case for that in The Hidden History of the Korean War. They have nothing to gain and everything to lose. It's common knowledge - outside the US - that North Korea has been calling for negotiations with the US for decades and continues to do so.
You have to wonder where all this saber-rattling will lead. The intent is clear - provocation to spur regional arms sales and destabilization of neighboring regimes. But the actual effects are so obviously contrary in so many ways (Russian / Chinese alliance, loss of prestige in Asia, etc.).
Playing Chicken for profit is a poor model for geopolitics.
NK is the Ukraine of the East. The US wants both to hem in Russia and China for eventual take over. They know this of course and are signaling that these are red lines for them. The US pushing ahead anyway.
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