I dont get it…What do Iraq and North Korea want? Do they really believe they can take over the world? Destroy the western world … their neighbors…what? I dont think it has been made clear what their problem is…Just what is it that they think they will get with these weapons they are gathering? why? Duh?
IMHO, North Korea justs wants money…
I suspect this will get moved to IMHO or GD.
I think Saddam (as opposed to Iraq) wants to stay in power, and hopefully exert influence over his neighbors. I’m sure he’d love to take over Kuwait and Saudia Arabia if he thought he could get away with it.
The North Korean government is afraid of being attacked. Bush has named North Korea as part of the axis of evil, and has said he personally loathes Kim Jong Il. The Bush administration is about to go to war against Iraq, another state in the axis of evil. The North Koreans are doing everything they can to look as dangerous as possible. They want the Bush administration to believe there will be extremely serious consequences for treating North Korea the same way they are treating Iraq.
It also helps that the Bush administration has unilaterally withdrawn from arms control treaties. When the U.S. won’t honor such treaties, why should North Korea?
What Hussein wants, above all else, is to remain in power. Every so often, he tries to expand his power (e.g. the eight-year war with Iran and the invasion of Kuwait). I don’t think he wants to “destroy western civilization” - this may be a goal of Al Qaeda, but it’s not what Hussein wants, as far as I can see.
Iraq:
Primary Goal - Preservation of regime by any means necessary.
Secondary Goal(s) - Gain control over Shatt al-Arab waterway in particular and all disputed border zones in general, eliminate internal resistance and incipient separtism, weaken opponents.
Ultimate Goal - Become a Great Power ( or at least the dominant regional power ).
North Korea:
Primary Goal - Preservation of the regime by any means necessary.
Secondary Goal(s) - Reunion of Korea under NK’s terms ( i.e. NK regime ). Weaken opponents.
Ultimate Goal - Become a Great Power ( or at least strong enough that they can not be easily bullied by China or Japan and are acknowledged as a major player on the international stage ).
I think the above is a reasonable, though rather rough, interpretation. Other items like ‘humiliate the United States’ also factor in of course, but they generally fall under the heading of “weakening enemies”. In addition I wouldn’t rule out more rampant expansionism on a fantasy level - Iraq absorbing Syria and more of Iran and the Arabian Penninsula, Korea taking parts of Manchuria and the Russian Far East ( especially along the Amur ) - But these are even more distant fantasy scenarios which might ( in part and to differing degrees ) fall under the general heading of rising to Great Power status.
- Tamerlane
thnaks for the replies…it seems that if these rulers just kept quiet and didn’t stir up trouble they would have a much better chance of remaining in power indefinately…But this behavior is sure to bring trouble to everyone eventually…They cant seriously believe this will have a happy ending for them…Thanks for your response. I’m gonna read more about this…