Wednesday, February 04, 2004

Where is North Korea’s Solzhenitsyn? II

When I posted under the title above, Monday, I was surprised that I had not seen any blog entries which mentioned the BBC’s airing of a documentary of “alleged” gulag style camps, complete with human gassing facilities, in North Korea.  No interest I quess.

Stopping by PrestoPundit just now, I see Greg has linked to an Anne Appelbaum piece, in the Washington Post titled Auschwitz Under Our Noses.

Applebaum’s piece mentions the liberation of Auschwitz, 60 years ago this past January 27th, per the article, and rhetorically wonders at the why no one did anything about it back then, question.  The third paragraph brings up the subject of BBC’s airing of the documentary, and, she then moves quickly into whether there is any veracity to the allegations of the behaviors described in the camps as being conducted on individuals.  As she states in the article,

But the documentary was only a piece of journalism. Do we really know that it is true? We don’t. It was aired on the BBC, after all, an organization whose journalistic standards have recently been questioned. It was based on witness testimony, which is notoriously unreliable. All kinds of people might have had an interest in making the film more sensational, including journalists (good for their careers) or North Korean defectors (good for their cause).

The broad swipe at journalism, she takes in the first sentence, does, of course, brush across her and the Washington Post, besides the BBC.  As for witness testimony, granted, it can be unreliable, or most witnesses could be dead.  And sensationality, what would one call every bit of news that screams across the spectrums today.  Winter Storm Kills…, Beltway Sniper…, Dog Bites Man…, Pete Rose Bet…

But here’s the real kicker, from Applebaum’s article.

The veracity of the information has been further undermined by the absence of official confirmation.

Yep, that’s always my first concern.

But, as stated further into the article, since other news organizations are ignoring the story, I guess it’s okay for everyone else to also.  Applebaum also provides other “news” stories that are of much greater concern, which, I will refrain from mentioning, so as to not add to the burden of concern.

To be fair, Applebaum ends her commentary this way.

Later—in 10 years, or in 60—it will surely turn out that quite a lot was known in 2004 about the camps of North Korea. It will turn out that information collected by various human rights groups, South Korean churches, oddball journalists and spies added up to a damning and largely accurate picture of an evil regime. It will also turn out that there were things that could have been done, approaches the South Korean government might have made, diplomatic channels the U.S. government might have opened, pressure the Chinese might have applied.

Historians in Asia, Europe and here will finger various institutions, just as we do now, and demand they justify their past actions. And no one will be able to understand how it was possible that we knew of the existence of the gas chambers but failed to act.

Seemingly acknowledging that the documentary, in all likelihood, was quite accurate.  What I’m wondering, is why, if the “allegations” more than likely are true, why that truth, of what occurs in totally state managed societies, isn’t used to, daily, pound sense into peoples heads about the evil of socialism, under whatever guise it may take.  It may appear all friendly and good for everyone at the start, but it’ll end bad.

Posted by John Venlet on 02/04 at 07:45 PM
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