A Reliable
Voice in the
Community

Volume 6
Issue 13
June 10 - 16, 2009

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Breaking News

A game of cat and mouse

Commentary by Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig

For close to three months, Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been “out of the country.”

The two American journalists — reporters for the California-based Current TV, a media venture of former Vice President Al Gore — were arrested March 17 and on Monday, sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea. The crime: They reportedly “committed a grave crime against the Korean nation” with their “illegal border crossing.”

Following the closed-door trial, their families pleaded for clemency, urging the communist government to “show compassion” and allow them to return home. Since their arrest, family, friends, journalists and supporters around the globe have rallied for their release. All to no avail.

What I’m confused about is why more hasn’t been done to ensure the release of the two women. Okaaay … the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, but I haven’t seen where we have worked closer with Sweden, who represents U.S. interests in that country, to work with Pyongyang.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly wrote a letter to the North Korean government requesting Ling and Lee’s freedom, but to date, there has been no response. Clinton won’t discuss what she calls “private diplomatic efforts” and says our government does not see this incident as having anything to do with the ongoing diplomatic standoff over North Korea's nuclear arms program.

Really?

In the past week alone, South Korea reported its neighbor to the north had test-fired six short-range missiles — an action that this country regards as U.N. Security Council violations. And similar to past incidents, the U.S. has given North Korea an edict: Don’t conduct any further nuclear testing or ballistic missile launching … or else.

Or else what? We are going to step back and talk among ourselves until the next violation, arrest or something bigger occurs. We are going to turn our focus to sending troops to an oil-rich country instead of properly preparing for the day North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s ducks are in a row — our country being one of them.

And now it looks like the women will be imprisoned for some time, but oh … they have been housed in a hotel for the past few months and will, according to U.S. officials, probably never see the inside of a prison cell.

That makes it so much better. And look at the bright side, the ladies will be tucked away safe from harm’s way when one of those missile “tests” turns into an “Ooops.”

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig is an award-winning journalist who resides in Oakland. If you have an individual, organization, issue or other topic that may be of interest to the Globe’s readers, contact her at talk2mfc@yahoo.com. Visit her blog at www.stpminute.blogspot.com.

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