American Journalists Released from N. Korea--Woohoo?

by Dave C. Jones

San Diego, CA - 5 August 2009 @ 0830 PDT - I posted some comments to my Facebook friends' wall posts praising Bill Clinton for securing the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. My comments essentially were that these women illegally crossed into North Korea (or were in the process of doing so), they were not subject to U.S. law at that point, and they should be stuck with the consequences of their actions. When you travel to a foreign country, you subject yourself to the laws of that country. As the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

I was hounded by a bunch of my liberal friends and their liberal friends responding to my comments. One of those people hopes I get a maximum sentence if I ever commit a crime and another thinks it is the duty and responsibility of the U.S. to send journalists all over the world to report on wrongs committed by other countries and then have the U.S. correct those wrongs.

Don't get me wrong—I love my friends even though I think many of them are misguided. But I thought I should elaborate on my concerns.

To start with, let me be clear: I am very happy that these two women will not be put in a hard labor camp for 12 years where it is highly likely they would have died. I am not happy, however, that the U.S. spent time and money to deal with North Korea to secure their release and may have compromised our position in world diplomacy in the process.

First and foremost, these women chose to break North Korean law. They illegally crossed the border into a country that has plainly stated that foreign journalists are not welcome. If the U.S. rattles its sabers at North Korea to release these illegal border jumpers and not subject them to the law of North Korea, what kind of message does that send to illegal aliens in the U.S?

Additionally, Kim Jong-Il did not release these women for "free." The U.S. must have given him something he wanted. Although Obama tried to deny it, North Korea media reported that Bill Clinton delivered a message to Jong-Il. I have no doubt that this trip was sanctioned by Obama and that Obama sent a message with Clinton. A has-been president of the U.S. is useless to Kim Jong-Il; he needs some sort of buy-in from the current administration for him to secure influence. Obama gave that buy in to Jong-Il via the message Clinton delivered.

Americans lament our poor stature among other countries, but the saber rattling Clinton performed yesterday is a large reason Americans are considered arrogant in the international community. Look how this all went down:

1. Korea says they don't want foreign journalists in the country;
2. The women could not enter legally because they were journalists, so they jumped the border illegally;
3. They got caught, were tried, and were sentenced under North Korean law;
4. The U.S. argued for their release (and likely gave Jong-Il something he wanted); and
5. The women go back to America with virtually no punishment.

How is that not the height of arrogance? How can the U.S. expect other countries to respect us when we won't respect their laws when we are in their territory?

I would be furious if it was a North Korean who came to America under similar circumstances and the U.S. just released him to Jong-Il. Why should Koreans be happy about the U.S. doing the same to them?

As former U.N. ambassador John Bolton said, this whole trip and the negotiations leading up to it was dangerously close to negotiating with terrorists. The problem with Bolton is he is too diplomatic (a side effect of being an ambassador, I guess). I would say that this actually was negotiating with terrorists. Up until now, the U.S. did not negotiate with terrorists. I guess that policy has now changed.

And why rattle our sabers for these women? What about the other Americans held in foreign countries? Why are they less important? It couldn't be that those other Americans don't work for a "news" agency founded by Al Gore, could it? No, I didn't think so. That would not be fighting for the underprivileged and ensuring justice; it would simply be playing politics and rewarding those who have connections. Even liberals should despise that. But if it wasn't that, why do we have other compatriots languishing in foreign prisons without attempting to free them?

To top it off, even though no military action was used (or, perhaps, because no military action was used), the release of these women may actually have caused diplomatic problems in the region and around the world. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, some experts predict that:

• Jong-Il will use the photos with Clinton as propaganda showing his people that his saber rattling (a la the crappy missiles he launched) got the U.S. to negotiate with him, lending him credibility and setting the stage for one of his sons to take over the country;
• Russia and China may ask that international sanctions against North Korea be lifted;
• Other allies in the region (e.g., Japan and S. Korea) may feel left out and vulnerable if they believe the U.S. is entering into bilateral talks with N. Korea; and
• Other nations holding U.S. citizens may now expect former U.S. presidents or other high ranking U.S. officials to open talks with them.

What a mess. All for two women who chose to break the law of North Korea (or at least to cut it close by filming into North Korea even if they weren't actually in North Korea). If you play with fire, expect to get burned. But these women got lucky. I just hope the U.S. did not give up anything important or harm our relations with any other country to secure the release of these careless women.

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Dave Jones is not your typical liberal California criminal defense trial attorney. He is a libertarian who believes in less government, more guns, and greater freedom–in short, the principles on which this country was founded. He can be reached at his law firm, the American Justice Center, via e-mail at djones at AmericanJusticeCenter.com. Read more of his writings at blog.AmericanJusticeCenter.com.