According to an NPR interview with Bill Richardson, they tried. They approached the North Koreans many times with the request to send Richardson to get Warmbier’s release, which is standard procedure for such cases, but the North Koreans just did not respond. It appeared they wanted to talk to the new president for the deal.
This is from another student who used the same tour group.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/21/otto-wambier-fate-north-korea-tour-company-pyongyang
That tour group sounds like catastrophes in the making and it’s amazing we don’t hear of more tragedies connected with the outfit.
10 American detainees were released from North Korea under the Obama presidency. Unfortunately Otto Warmbier wasn’t one of them. My own thoughts are that he could very well have been in the coma for quite some time and they did not want to make that known - so they released others but not him. Can see no reason why he would be any more valuable than the other 10. I think they released him because they knew he was going to die and figured it was better to have that happen here.
I can just imagine the story that Kim is concocting to feed to the masses --most likely that we are responsible for the death.
They may have also wanted to hold him for one enough that any evidence of past mistreatment healed fully.
Sue22- They said that the doctors did body scans and saw no evidence of broken bones and there were no scars on his body. In addition the story about his coma being the result of botulism was false too because the bacteria wasn’t present. As a result, doctors have determined that the coma was induced from torture that resembled electrocution and/or suffocation. None of which would leave as scars or visible signs of torture.
The masses are completely unaware that an individual named Otto Warmbier ever existed. It’s not like they have daily newspapers and an inquisitive press.
<<<<
As a result, doctors have determined that the coma was induced from torture that resembled electrocution and/or suffocation. None of which would leave as scars or visible signs of torture.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
I thought evidence of suffocation would be shown in the eyes?? And it would seem that there would be signs from electrocution…wouldn’t there be?
Others suspect that he was was tortured drug-wise.
We do know that they are fed some pretty awful propaganda about Americans – from a very early age. I can certainly see Kim painting himself as a hero and humanitarian for releasing a detainee, then proclaiming “look what the Americans did when he got home.”
This is an interesting YouTube video posted on May 23rd of this year – “What do North Koreans Think of Americans?” They interview individuals who grew up in North Korea and it’s pretty telling. One of the games they play in their early years at school is a sort of relay race where you have to stab dummy American soldiers.
Not letting the evil regime off the hook, but could this be the result of a massive stroke?
Considering his age and lack of reports that he had prior health issues or any reports that what he suffered was related to a stroke,
I very much doubt it…unless it was induced by external means(i.e. torture).
Average healthy late teens/early 20somethings aren’t likely to suffer strokes naturally unless they’ve had serious prior family health issues or something went unusually awry.
“I thought evidence of suffocation would be shown in the eyes?? And it would seem that there would be signs from electrocution…wouldn’t there be?”
If enough time passes, those would not be detectable:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/06/20/what-an-autopsy-could-tell-us-about-otto-warmbiers-death/
The fact that someone is “not likely” means absolutely jack. You can be walking around young, healthy, all the blood tests and physicals saying that you’re in perfect condition, and the next minute you have a stroke. The fact is, there are many situations that can lead someone to a stroke, and the doctors don’t realize what they are until after it happens. And most young people certainly don’t get the detailed testing until after the fact. Sometimes a stroke is the first sign that something is wrong.
Add the high stress of being sentenced to hard labor in a North Korean prison camp, and you have someone under extreme duress. My question is that, could his condition have been caused by a massive stroke.
@mom2collegekids: Strangulation shows up in the eyes as petechiae (small broken blood vessels), not suffocation. Regardless, @BunsenBurner is correct: Since Warmbier didn’t die, after a few days any petechiae would heal as the blood circulated in his body.
I wonder at the very rapid and confident claim that there was no botulin detected. There must be limited data on how much would persist after a year, and I wonder what methods are used for the test?
Don’t know if anyone saw this but it seems that Otto was actually Jewish, which pretty much dispels the NK lie that a “church” member asked him to take the flag. His funeral is being performed by a rabbi and pictures from the program are floating around my facebook feed.
And autopsy is forbidden in most circumstances in Judaism (at least in my Conservative shul), which would also explain why one was not performed.
People of all ages have strokes, with no previous health issue. One of my Ds’ students had a stroke at age 7 and the school has done fundraising each year since. The information that we have all learned about stroke is that it isn’t just old unhealthy individuals who suffer them.
I can’t see any likelihood of a ‘rescue’ mission. People need to stop making the incredibly foolish decision to go to NK.
The family is not observant. They wouldn’t have objected to one on religious grounds, but I can certainly see not wanting to subject his body to anything else. It may also be the case that the experts didn’t feel it would reveal anything new.
Now North Korea is saying he wasn’t tortured. I really hope they don’t produce video footage of what caused the coma. Hard enough for the poor Penn State boy’s parents to watch how he died.