Remember: This guy has his finger on a button that could launch half a dozen nukes that could hit South Korea, Japan, and a dozen other Asian countries.
The manager of a terrapin farm who incurred the wrath of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has been executed.
State-run media released pictures in mid-May of a clearly furious Mr Kim berating officials of the Taedonggang Terrapin Farm after the dictator arrived to provide “field guidance”.
KCNA reported that the farm for breeding terrapins had been set up on the orders of Kim Jong-il, the father of the present ruler of North Korea, but all the baby terrapins in the tanks died.
The officials tried to explain that a lack of electricity meant that water could not be pumped into the tanks, while there were also shortages of feed for the terrapins.
Mr Kim was additionally outraged that part of the farm had not been set aside to “educate employees in the revolutionary history” of Kim Jong-il, KCNA reported.
The dictator dismissed the officials’ explanations, saying that “only sighs of defeatists come from units” that fail to “uphold and glorify the leadership exploits of the great leaders and the party”.
He added that their excuses about problems with water, electrical supplies and equipment were “nonsensical complaints”, the Daily NK web site reported.
Sources in Pyongyang told NK News that the manager of the terrapin farm was shot dead shortly after Mr Kim’s visit.
No one appears to have attempted to intervene to stop the execution, although the sources said that the assumption is that it “would have happened anyway” as the leader was determined to “set an example”.
The incident – along with the execution of engineers held responsible for the collapse of an apartment building in Pyongyang in May 2014 – seems to have galvanised state employees to express their loyalty to Kim.
Gee. Ya think? Nothing like a few summary executions to bring out the latent loyalty state workers have for Dear Leader.
Can the world afford to have this nutcase in charge of a powerful army and nuclear arsenal? Better question: Can the world afford two nuclear powers led by mentally unbalanced fanatics?
The “moderate” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani urged Iran to “shout its hatred” of Israel:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the entire country to “shout its hatred for the Zionists” and back Palestinian efforts to seize territory from Israel, according to comments made Wednesday in celebration of Quds Day, which marks the last Friday in Ramadan and has historically been used to tout Palestinian violence against the Jewish state.
As Iranian and Western negotiators in Vienna meet around the clock in a bid to strike a final nuclear accord, the Iranian president expressed his support for the Palestinian cause and urged the Islamic Republic to unite in its hatred of Israel.
“People will tell the world on the Quds Day that the Muslim nations will never forget Palestine and occupation of this territory,” Rouhani was quoted as saying on state-run television by the Fars News Agency.
Rouhani went on to state “that the Iranian nation will shout its hatred for the Zionists on the Quds Day,” according to Fars’ report.
“The Islamic Ummah will actually shout the call of unity on the Quds Day,” the leader added.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry—the head of which is currently in Vienna leading efforts to strike a nuclear deal—also released a statement explaining the need to confront “the Zionists.”
“Reaching this goal” of retaking Jerusalem from the Israelis “needs confronting the Zionist regime’s aggression and expansionism and empowerment of Palestinians to resist against such measures, since resistance is the only way to restore their rights and free the Palestinian territories and the Holy Quds,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
American elites have always had trouble understanding fanaticism. The brahmins in the Roosevelt White House could not understand why the Japanese would fight to the last man rather than surrender. And think of the presidents from Nixon on who truly understood Islamic fanaticism. Carter hadn’t a clue. Reagan tried to deal with them. Both Bushes clearly underestimated the depth of hatred of the U.S. by the fanatics in the Middle East. Clinton thought lobbing cruise missiles was enough. And Obama insists Islamic fanaticism doesn’t even exist.
So it shouldn’t surprise us when we have failed to grasp the depth of depraved fanaticism in North Korea. In fact, I think Kim is more likely to launch than any Iranian leader. His paranoia and rabid narcissism make him extraordinarily dangerous and everything possible should be done to neutralize him and his regime.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member