Posted on 12/04/2013 1:23:08 AM PST by lee martell
Why did he go there? Why did Merrill Newman, a Veteran of the Korean War, decide to go to North Korea? I thought we were legally restricted from traveling there, as with Cuba. I guess I was incorrect. Did Mr. Newman really think all would go well there? Does he know that Kim Jong Un had his ex-girlfriend killed by firing squad a few weeks ago? What about passports, is it likely Mr. Newman would have had to explain what his travel plans were, or not really? This was unwise on so many levels. The elderly gentleman has walked right into a trap, laid out for the curious and the adventurous.
Now Kim Jong has a new bargaining chip to dangle in front of us. Kim may pretend to use Dennis Rodman the goofball ex pro, as a proxy ambassador, but in the end, Merrill Newman's fate rests in Kim Jong Un's sweaty little hands. Did the all powerful all knowing NSA realize where this American man was going and did they intervene, or was a decision made to "watch quietly and let things develop? Maybe Mr. Newman thought all was forgiven, and they would welcome him into North Korea for a hot cup of green tea. I hope Newman does not expect this president to do very much on his behalf. There are other Americans kept prisoner in Iran, Iraq, and elsewhere. Most have been caught through their own folly, and fully expect to be rescued any day now.
Yea, like the state department is going to care about a vet. They sure as hell didn’t even care about one of their own. Better rely on yourself, and get used to doing whatever it takes to survive and get out of there.
“Now Kim Jong has a new bargaining chip to dangle in front of us. “
I always wonder about the deliberate attempts to give such bargaining chips.
Maybe the guy didn’t know North Korea is run by a Dictator and he felt he could come and go. / sarc
He wasn’t just any old vet, he was a member of the “White Tigers:” http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1555813/posts If anyone should know better, I would think he should.
“Those bastards already knew Newman before the war was over,” said Kim Chang-sun, one of the men who presented Newman with the ring in 1953. Kim was still at school when he joined the ‘Kuwol’ Partisan Regiment, a force that Newman trained, he said in an interview in Seoul.
“They obtained the roster of our entire regiment,” Kim said.
Hydrogen and Stupidity.
The two most common elements in the universe.
I appreciate all vets, but, I can’t believe the stupid naivete in this guy. What in the Hell was he thinking?
I’m sorry he’s stuck in N.K. but there’s but one reason he’s there. Himself. You know what, I don’t want to get killed or ransomed by drug cartels so I don’t go into Mexico. Kind of simple really.
Wasn’t there a group of three Americans (two young men, one young woman) who just so happened to go on a walk and before the knew it, ended up captured by Iran. I think it was Iran. The girl ended up getting engaged to one of the male co-prisoners. All three looked sick and haggard after their return to the states. I sometimes wonder if that marriage, made under the threat of torture or worse, has survived.
If people are dumb enough to go to cesspools like North Korea or Iran then they’re on their own. I see no reason why the government should have to save them from their own stupid decisions.
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