Problems on the other side

Start with nepotism. This idea is almost on the same level as lepers. Yet it has been practiced in North Korea, Syria, and its seems being groomed for Egypt.

Most would rather be the old man, the dieing and outgoing dictator who has forged his relationships over time. Most would not want to be the son of the dictator appointed by the now deceased old man. Yet it happens, even in these days. And mostly to dictatorial governments ruling quasi nation-states. When a son assumes the mantle, automatic relationships from the father are not automatic. This is what local power and bureaucracy is about. The newly appointed son of the dictator is in a precarious position with little loyalty to him, personally. Hence one usually sees a period of time, called a hiatus in diplomatic terms, when nepotism sorts out locally.

The obvious example is in Syria. The eye doctor president who inherited his job when his father died, is almost pitiful in guiding his country. Note the word guiding as he is in no position to lead the country. The bureaucrats loyal to his father are still in charge. He is as much a figurehead as a hostage to those who choose to keep him in his position. Keep all in this mind when the present turmoil in Iraq and Lebanon keep popping up.

And the idiot leader in North Korea is just pitiful to all to include Korean fellow citizens and opponents who see his grasps to hang on based on his father’s dictator legacy. Hopefully the South Korean diplomacy today will deliver a thrifty outcome when the North collapses of its own weight, which will be soon.

And while we’re knocking the other side, consider this. The universal Al-Qaeda with all their Wahhabi Islam oil financed efforts are still foreigners to most of their intended third world peoples, say in Sri Lanka or Indonesia or the Moro land in the southern Philippines. The locals there rip them off as bad as they do we naïve Americans. While money talks, they are not ten feet tall. Perhaps we Americans are taller than many may think.