Captives

I have been following the story on the ordinary Japanese citizens abducted by the North Korean government on Expats of late. A new entry reports that those citizens who are still alive after these 24 years of denials have been allowed to visit home. But their children are still being held captive in North Korea, so they will have to return in a week or so, presumably without saying anything untoward about their kidnappers. Deplorable is not a strong enough word. I'm not sure one exists.

The Japanese government is doing nothing, even proclaiming victory. Victory would be invading North Korea, installing a constitutional democracy, and allowing all North Koreans the freedom to come and go as they please.

Incomprehensible stories like these make me grateful to be an American -- at least until I think of the American women trapped in Saudi Arabia.