Reports: North Korea says it conducted 2nd nuke test; Obama: “Matter of grave concern”
Gird your loins, as they say:
North Korea staged a “successful” underground nuclear test, the communist state’s official media said.
The North “successfully conducted another underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of its measures aimed at strengthening its self-defence nuclear deterrent in every way,” the Korean Central News Agency said.
The test will “contribute to safeguarding our sovereignty and socialism and guaranteeing peace and safety on the Korean peninsula and the surrounding region,” it said. The four-paragraph story gave no details of the location. South Korea’s presidential office earlier said that North Korea had appeared to have conducted a nuclear weapons test. The government received a report on the possibility of a nuclear test having been conducted, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-Kwan told a briefing.
He said President Lee Myung-Bak called an emergency National Security Council meeting for Monday afternoon. “Both South Korea and US intelligence authorities are analysing and closely monitoring the situation,” the spokesman said.
(via AFP)
Earthquake sensors picked up the activity. Asian markets are down. Tensions are high:
The North’s official news agency, KCNA, said the country had conducted an “underground “ nuclear test.
The announcement came moments after the South Korean government geological sensors had detected an artificially triggered earth tremor emanating from Gilju, northeast North Korea, said Lee Dong-kwan, spokesman of the office of President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea.
The spokesman said “intelligence officials of South Korea and the United States are analysing the data and closely monitoring the situation.”
Word of the nuclear test sent a shudder through Asian financial markets, with Korea’s stock index plunging four percent within minutes.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on Oct., 9, 2006, and had given some advance notice of its intention to test a device. That initial test also was in the northeast.
North Korea recently threatened to conduct a second nuclear test, citing what it called Washington’s “hostilities” against the isolated Communist regime.
The test came against a backdrop of heightened tensions between North Korea and the United States, which keeps a heavy military deployment in South Korea and remains technically at war with the north 56 years after an armistice that halted the Korean War.Two American journalists are due to be tried June 4 in North Korea, charged with illegal entry into the North and “hostile acts.” That case in particular has aggravated tensions between Pyongyang and Washington, which were already strained after the North launched a long-range rocket on April 5.
Related reading: What is Obama cutting from defense? Why, missile defense, natch!
***
Japan to request an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.
Emergency wrist-slap to follow.
***
Update 2:42am Eastern. This will have Kim Jong Il quaking in his boots!
Text of statement by President Barack Obama on nuclear and short-range missile tests conducted by North Korea.
Today, North Korea said that it has conducted a nuclear test in violation of international law. It appears to also have attempted a short range missile launch. These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations…
…Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead.
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Categories: North Korea,War
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We haven’t had a conservative American Administration since R.R…that maybe earth shattering news to the lefties but true.
Understood, and I agree. Maybe it is time to push them, and a real interdiction effort as you suggested would certainly do that. I’m not really sure how shiny China thinks their client-state is at the moment. North Korea has to be one of the world’s worst places to live today. A country that close to the brink could fall either direction…
I thought our Dear Leader said we were going to have a nuclear-arms free world?
Didn’t anyone tell Lil Kim?
This might sound perverse, but in a way, I am glad the proverbial s*** is hitting the fan everywhere right now. I hope it continues in 2010, in time for the Congressional elections, and in 2012, so that by then the world and the American people will be screaming for a strong leader to guide us out of this mess, and Obama will be sent back to Chicago to “write” more memoirs and give speeches at brain dead universities where his slack jawed followers can sit and drool to their heart’s content.
Victor Davis Hanson has THE ONE’s MO pegged…
But…but…Bush is gone! We now have Obama, the savior of us all leading this country. He has apologized for all the ills that we as a nation have done. Didn’t anyone let North Korea know?
How can this be? It is almost as if those hell bent on destroying their enemies and the world honestly don’t care WHO is President here. It is almost as if they merely use that as an excuse in order to manipulate the weaker aspects of the American public and to get Liberals to actually work AGAINST their own nation.
Gee…maybe there is something to what has been said about the Axis of Evil after all.
Translation…we’re not going to do a damn thing except maybe write a stern letter!
Off topic, but it looks like the DOJ is finally looking into ties between murtha and “no bid” contracts he helped obtain.
I must have missed it. What is obamuh’s plan of action, again?
Anyone?
Until the day comes when Oba Won views North Korea and their ilk as greater threats than Rush Limbaugh absolutely nothing will be done. Nothing. Therefore . . .
When (one need no longer worry about “if”) one or more nuclear weapons hits America, Oba Won’s (and his loathsome party’s) only concern will be how many votes he might lose as a result of the action and if the Republicans will be able to make political hay of it. That’s it. That’s how he thinks. He’s a 40-something politician who acts like a 20-something sociology major whose mind is set in the ways of a 90-something moron.
To Obama and his party Rush IS the greater threat. They fear Conservative talk radio due to the fact that they are about the only true Conservative outlet left out there for people to turn to. Not to mention the left fears that talk radio is exposing the truth of the left. Normaly they would not care, but right now is a turning point in the country and the more the left’s plan is exposed the more resistance there will be.
As for NK, Obama does not feel it as a threat, because he (like many in the left) truly believe that every country wants to be part of the international community, just one giant village that can raise the children (the citizens of the world) together.
Again, from Atlas Shrugs…sobering:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/05/reflecting-on-memorial-day.html
Maybe, in this chess game, it’s time to make sure Taiwan has its own nuclear weapons. Just talking about it would send a message to China that they don’t really want to keep propping up the 4′ mad man in N. Korea.
I hope that Bolton gets some air-time in the next day or two.
I wonder what “Inclusive” Powell has to say about all this?
Well, one thing he’s doing is scolding conservatives:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hlS7S572xbO3ZWf0pVFI8iUKwiOQD98COL600
Spot on. His personal and political needs outweigh the needs of the nation. All are at risk, and yes, even the radical liberals that align with him.
You could easily be speaking about Christians in places such as NK, China, etc., without changing too many words here.
Who gives a rats @$$ what Powell says. He’s the White House water boy.
Uhh… Bill? What’s with those guys? Can’t we just get along? Don’t they know it’s a holiday? Yea… that is 2LiveCrew you hear… ain’t they the bomb? Ooops… I punned without the teleprompter! Look, I need some advice… is this something I can throw to Hillary? I just don’t have the time… I gotta economy to run… besides the chicken is on the grill and it’s nearly ready, and we’ve already begun the watermelon seed-spittin’ contest, and Joe’s waiting on me… I know, I know… but what about that cruise missile you tossed at Pakistan… Would that work for me?… OK, OK… I was afraid you might take that wrong… look… just one last question… What would Rush do?
Yeah, but he’s the head of the emerging GOP…
according to the MSM…
Hey, if Obama can’t handle being president, he should step down. His constant Bush bashing was old three months ago. Is he or is he not in charge? At what point does he take responsibility for his own actions?
The MSM thinks that if they say it three times while clicking the heels of their ruby slippers it will be so…
Reminds me of my five year old. Only difference is my five year old will at least own up to his mistakes and take responsibility when he knows he has been caught.
Did we forget to send a personal apology to Kim II for the Bush era atrocities?
Kim II need not worry about US anymore.
Please, someone tell Kim II that we have Gandhi in the White House now.
There are two answers to that question–
He will take CREDIT for anything positive immediately. He will assign blame for anything negative always.
The American people will begin to assign responsibility for his actions when they get over their misplaced racial guilt, and see him for who is IS.
For some of us, that happened way back…
It’s a “grave concern” if by “grave” you mean “many deaths” and by “concern” you mean “people who oppose turd du jour Kim Jong Il.”
He’d better watch out, or the UN might draft a sternly-worded reprimand!
I agree…here goes.
Dear Mr.
PresidentPoser,In lieu of everything the enemies of mankind are doing to yank the chain of civilization, can you really be so fraccking stupid, as to believe that negotiating with the insane is truly prudent and/or diplomatic?
For the sake of our country, yea, the entire free world, you simply must emerge from your narcissistic little world, and if capable (which, by the way, looks less likely every day), lead.
Unfortunately for America, a swelled head and a fat wallet does not a leader make. Idealism, the utopia for day-dreamers, does not and cannot mesh with the realities of this dangerous world. Please, Mr. Obama, pull your head out of your rear (or wherever it is), and put it into the fight.
Continuing on the path you are plodding is not only foolish, but dangerous. Those ignorant masses who are caught up in the vacuum of your populist message, and the freedom loving people who are counting on the U.S. to lead are both equally at risk of annihilation.
Platitudes only go so far, but in your case, maybe far enough to embolden some to seek your removal from office. The incompetence you and your dis-administration is breath-taking. Please, Sir, do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Right-On
An American Patriot
N. Korea always plays the “little boy” who runs out and plays mean, then runs back to hide behind “big brother” (China). I just wish that China, now becoming a major economic power, would tell “dear leader” he’s on his own. You would see some very major changes in N. Korea’s attitude.
“Such provocations will only serve to deepen North korea’s isolation…”
Is Obama really stupid enough to believe that Kim Jong Il gives a rat’s a$$ about North Korean”isolation”?NK is already the most isolated country on earth.What an idiot.
Call us crazy but maybe we are too busy, you know…actually enjoying the lovely weekend, to respond to morons like you.
But, as is raining right now, I guess I can ask a question. When they conducted their first test in 2006, on Bush’s watch, where was all the handwringing about what an utter failure that one made Bush? Why did Bush, in his last 2 years, fail to do anything to deter NK from being able to test another, since it is apparently so easy Obama should have accomplished the same in 4 months? More to the point, what would you all, if you were in Obama’s shoes, do? Invade? Strategic air strikes? More useless sanctions? Cut off Jong Il’s supply of blonde blow up dolls and sports cars?
“North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world, and I strongly condemn their reckless action,” Obama said at the White House. “The United States and the international community must take action in response.”
Yeah Pbo, that will have Mentally Il quaking in his boots. No one is going to step up until it’s too late. Let’s stop taking over banks and companies; let them fail or make it on their won – that’s business. Your job is making sure that the country is safe to do business in.
Thats let them make it on their OWN…
Sorry ’bout the typo.
Chap – as usual, it’s all BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH’S fault. We know.
Doesn’t really matter that Clinton and not so bright passed that ball to the evil BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH. It’s still his fault. We understand.
Now, go play in the rain.
No. That just proves you can’t read. Tru to keep up. I am just wondering if, for consistency’s sake, you considered Bush a failure too, especially since they tested under his watch when he had 6 years (as opposed to Obama’s 4 months) to do something about NK.
But the “blame Bush” red herring is the go-to position whenever anyone calls people out on selective outrage and hypocrisy here, so I am not the least bit surprised.
Also not surprised you didn’t try to answer my questions.
Hmmm…my last post seems to have gone into cyberspace.
As Hanson says:
In other words, rather than explaining the bleak choices before us and explaining why his preferences have the best chance of succeeding, Obama has so far reduced his presidency to two themes: “Bush did it” and “I’m not your normal white male President.” If he keeps this monotony up, at some point even the comedians are going to notice the predictability.
Sorry, we need more than that to keep us safe from some creepy enemies and get the economy back on track.”
As for the questions:
It IS far above my paygrade, but it is Pbo’s paygrade. He wanted the job, it’s his.
But,
1. Massive B-52/B-1/B-2 raids on Yongbin and other known nuclear sites, as well as massive EW effort with HARM’s directed to all missle launch and control facilities.
2. Advise Chinese tho stand clear, as DPRK is a soverign nation who has committed repeated violations of UN mandates and international law, as well as constantly threatening regional stability. If the Chinese feel compelled to participate, they should choose their side wisely. Just because we owe them all the money we can possibly earn for the near future is no reason to allow them to support a belligerent nation. If they want to play rough, we need to play economic hardball, as well as military hardball.
3. we advise S. Korea to stand by to roll north and be prepared for relief and humanitarian aid projects. A unified Korea is a distinct possibility.
But then, none of that really matters because it’s not Pbo’s fault. He needs his own crisis to take ownership of – not having to clean up someone else’s mess.
Now…have a nice rainy day. It is warm and sunny in Texas. As it should be.
I’d like to personally welcome all of you to Cold War II.
Advise China to “stand clear” and hope for the best?
You are right. It’s not. NK is going to do what its going to do. It was belligerent under Clinton. It remained belligerent under Bush and will continue to be belligerent under Obama. Doesn’t mean Obama can’t try to respond and influence NK one way or the other, as Bush did, but at the end of the day unless you are willing to risk war with NK and possibly China (which btw way we can’t so long as we remain in Afghanistan and Iraq), isolating NK from the global community, or should I say continuing to do so, is pretty much all we got.
Yeah…but then you have to deal with Texans. I’ll take rainy and people who know that real barbecue is made from pig, not cow.
Chap,
You are dead wrong about the first test NK pulled. There was a load of indignation from those of us who cared (mostly on the Right). The indignation on the left was simply one dim point of criticism in a sea of thousands of such points put out by the Left and MSM (I know, same thing). So it was hardly noticeable at the time.
The bit about blaming Bush is simply illustrative of what the Left did for the last 8.5 years (the .5 added since the current occupant can’t stop the Bush bashing he himself carries on and take responsibility for his own poor decisions).
One of the big differences between the Right and Left in this country is that the Right will criticize it’s own when they misbehave. The left is in constant cover up mode from the minute they wake up in the morning. I will give a very few Democrat Congressmen credit for pointing a finger at Pelosi but the fact is that all of them know she lied and tried to condemn good people in the CIA covering up her lie and they are too chicken s… (or corrupt themselves) to step up and be honest.
Glad you came out to play.
I’d like to take a moment to interject, gentlemen.
1. Since the US has had litle influence over N Korea recently I doubt it is either Bush or Obamachev’s fault. And since they are a sovereign nation, short of declaring war or just bombing them there isn’t too much we can do. (They get most of what they need from China, and the Chinese probably won’t go along with an embargo.)
2. It was under Clinton that nuclear technology was transferred to them, so if we are looking to blame anyone, that is where I might start.
3. It isn’t that Obamachev hasn’t done anything that I criticize him for. It is that if anything could be done physically, I doubt he would do it. It is in his character to talk and litigate, two things that won’t likely help here. It is not in his nature to act.
conservative in europe,
Just as a point of example, I would invite you to search “North Korea” on this site, go back a few pages and compare MM’s coverage and commentary of NK’s first test in October 2006, with her current snark toward Obama with this one.
Alas, no comments back then, so I can’t speak to any particular commenter here, but by all means I invite you to vent here the frustration and anger many of you must have been harboring for 2 1/2 years over Bush’s handling of NK before and after the first test.
I would only add that Bush essentially had a choice of running the diplomatic traps…
or expose his administration to even MORE of a cacophony of crap from the Leftist here in the US. I think that he chose to let Rice have her head on this issue, and that it was, retrospectively, a mistake.
Sometimes, politics forces a leader to make choices they otherwise would not make. I don’t know what W would have done with a freer hand, but we do know what he did do. It wasn’t forceful enough.
It isn’t as though we had no history with the N. Koreans and their propensity for keeping their word. They historically do not.
But, that said, Chap has a point. This impasse was arrived at by more than one administration’s errors.
Where he is wrong, I think is this; THE ONE is very rightly perceived by friend and foe alike as someone who is weak. He has no foreign policy chops at all, whatsoever. His cabinet has none, either. THE ONE signaled that he would be uncommonly weak by declaring his intent to parlay with anyone. He has shown his weakness repeatedly at home and abroad, and I think it fair to say he is not respected in any capital of any foreign nation.
The British press has been sharply critical of him recently, and that is only going to get worse.
As Bolton observed, this is his moment of truth. I wish I were sanguine about his capacity to rise to the occasion. I am not.
About China.
We don’t have to go to war with them to get their influence. They hold most of our debt.
It’s kind of the old saying about banks – Owe one 50 Thousand and can’t pay – you have a problem. Owe one 50 Million and can’t pay – they have a problem.
Because China has so much invested in the US Currecy and the fact that we buy 75% of what they manufacture, we actually have them by the shorties. We simply need a Commander in Chief who understands that and is willing to do what is necessary to utilize those facts as a tool for diplomacy.
As for NK. If it got ugly, they would take out Seoul in the first couple of hours. With a real Commander in Chief who’s intent was victory, the price of Seoul would be so high that it wouldn’t be worth them trying.
The man who would be willing to take advantage of these situations isn’t sitting in the Oval Office today.
Li’l Kim knows this and is giggling like a schoolgirl just about now.
Fair point Chap.
However, I didn’t post here then. I will postulate, however, that, for all intensive purposes, in 2006, the Dems had Bush on the ropes politically. He appeared very weak and the MSM underlined it with constant negative press. The NK’s tested a sort o’ bomb. They immediately went back to the table demanding money a la Iran. I can only imagine that someone in the Bush administration went to them and had a come to Jesus talk because we didn’t send a boatload of Cash the way Clinton did. Of course some of that is theoretical since none of us actually know what went on. We do know that NK did nothing for the following 18 months. Bush is gone, a bigger weakling is sitting in his chair (one who is too busy apologizing to protect America’s interests) and suddenly NK tests a real bomb (the “real/sort of” scale based on the WW2 bombs – neither would be pleasant to sit through I am sure).
What I can tell you is that from what I have seen on these boards and the Conservative movement in general is that BS is called when we see it. We didn’t let Bush push his Amnesty through. We pointed a finger when he named (forgive me I forget her name) the non-lawyer/non-judge female to SCOTUS, and, for the most part, we let him and his administration know what we didn’t like. Look at the Tea Parties and their handling of Republicans in Name only. You do not see this on the Left in this country. You just don’t. I could go on but Byrd is the easiest example.. He was a high officer in the KKK! But, he’s a Dem so he gets the pass. Sure he’s renounced it and I’m certain he’s a really personable, open minded guy now. However, you can’t tell me he would be treated the same if he was a Republican. You just can’t.
we should withdraw from South Korea, so as not to be ‘provocative’…its of course the Imperialist RACIST policies of the US that have FORCED North Korea to arm themselves..
they are just a peaceful agrarian community…at one with nature..and with each other…its only the plague of capitalism that FORCES them to arm themselves…
as kim jon il says: we will bury you!!
well ok, he didn’t say it..he’s just gotten the means to do it..
oh and don’t worry, Iran will have their bomb soon!!
power to the people!! boom….
its gonna be wild ride…and it ain’t gonna be pretty for the US(SA)
glad I don’t live in NYC or DC…poof…
and yes, the world knows the US is a paper tiger, and will act accordingly…
china gets tawain…
NK gets SK
Russia gets the Ukraine..
Iran TRIES to get Israel…
the world as you know it is soon going to change…don’t know exactly when, but the dogs of war are ready to be loosed…
finally get a chance to use that phrase!!!!
Odumbo speaks after bomb hits USA.
“um, um, Alaska? what Alaska?
I don’t think NK will fire a missile at us…too many fingerprints…its easier just to give it to the iranians or al-qaeda, and let them deliver it gift wrapped to us…
probably on a container ship…then probably a missile that detonates at 180 miles or so…EMP…
no one dies…at first….and the USA is OVA!!!
OT:
Just a quick note as I notice a lot of smarter people misspelling and using phrases and words wrongly.
It is for all intents and purposes. Intent meaning the act or fact of intending: purpose.
Intensive meaning highly concentrated works but that isn’t how it was intended.
Class dismissed.
Back to the scheduled topic.
CCC,
Never claimed to be an English Professor. But thanks for the lesson.
CHAP:
Bush is no longer president. Whatever his mistakes, obama is in charge now.
obama, not Bush.
More soaring rhetoric from TOTUS.
I liked “for all intensive purposes”…!!!
It was at least as good as, “He spanked the child so hard it raised whelps…!”
Or my personal favorite….”Six and a half-dozen to another…!!!
Obie, the apprentice president snorted a line saying:
Does that mean the NK will be boycotted in the next Olympiad? Oh my… Obie, you’re such a callous brute.
It is true that NK has been and will continue to be belligerent no matter who is in charge.
However, if we are going to play the blame game: I am not sure if it’s been mentioned yet, but the American administration is only one piece of the puzzle. During Bush’s administration, the liberal and pro-reconciliation Roh Moon-Hyun (recently dead by his own hands) was leading SK; the current SK administration is a good deal more conservative.
That said, it’s really hard to say who is “responsible” for NK’s attitude. In the recent past, we had an American administration with an aggressive foreign policy being undermined by a passive SK administration and vice-versa. Now, the situation is reversed.
The takeaway: the “blame” rests with the Koreans. If he had not recently killed himself I would have some things to say about RMH, I’ll keep quiet for now.
Yeah, you know? One of the 57 states?
How about Obama’s closing words from his statement, as reported by the Wall Street Journal? Do you think it struck fear into the heart of Kim Jong Il to hear Obama end with “Thank you, guys.” ???
OT again:
HAHA you are killing me!
I do find it humorous when people try too hard to impress by using big words or phrases they don’t know. I am FAR from an English or spelling major but I try to at least appear to know of what I write or post.
Nothing implied to you conservative in europe. It is obvious when reading some of the posts who is trying too hard. I can understand a typo that does happen.
In the above though that person was in over their head HAHA!!!!
I assume USA Today qualifies as a source for you lefties, right? Asked, and now answered.
Bush administration to lift North Korea sanctions
Let’s see:
Bush sanctioned for 2 years, which brought NK back to the table, albeit too slowly for your tastes. Obama promised talk and compromise, and KJI responded (within 4 months) with a verified atomic test.
Option 1) Invasion? Wouldn’t want to piss off his comrades in China, so he would need a way for them to save face. Since Obama only regards his own behind (see MM, keyworks: Under the bus) he is unlikely to work that strategy
Option 2) Air strikes? Nope, those are out. Wouldn’t want to actually deliver on threats that we promise. Otherwise, other countries (Pakistan, Iran, Israel) or NGOs (Taliban, al Qaida, Hamas) might require us to commit to our words, also.
Option 3)More useless sanctions? Nope! Obama needs miracles, not diplomatic necessity. Miracles cost lots of money, and take little time. Diplomacy costs little money, takes lots of time, and commitment. We can’t have any of that (see Option 2).
So Chap, what’s the answer from this administration?
Go Government Motors on them!
- Provide a strong rebuke (probably through a worthless body, like the UN)
- Provide tons of taxpayer dollars to North Korea, with the promise of a plan to change MKs tactics in 6 months
- Work really, really hard to make sure that you never deliver on the transparency you promised (see Option 3)
- Develop some cronyism in to the mix (you gotta pay your friends, right?). BTW, what is ACORN in Hungul?
- Cry a river to the press when the plan fails, but accept no responsibility
- Repeat
Right… “A matter of grave concern”.
Was he shooting hoops or playing golf when he said this melarchy?
Question is: When will Americans wake the hell up?
CHENEY FOR PRESIDENT! He’s the only one that’s speaking out, all while all the “repuke-icans” squabble and bicker over who is legitimate GOP material.
The idiocy of candidate Obama’s call for “hopeful dialogue” over that evil cowboy diplomacy is being demonstrated with more and more frequency. From this nuclear test to Iran’s continued refusal to talk while continuing to threaten Israel, and with the very tangible threat against Pakistan’s nukes, the naive rhetoric that was so frustrating during the campaign is being directly refuted by reality. It’s not something I enjoy being right on, as the threat to the global community is very real.
Unfortunately, Obama will probably still hold up the promise of a UN solution, and the UN will likely continue to offer little in the way of condemnation and even less in the form of action.
Wellsy surly you jest-why I bet any day now the UN will send a letter of concern-perhaps Grave Concern. I bet the Mad Hatter Society of Turtle Bay will even stop stealing for an hour or so or how ever long it takes to write a Letter of Grave Concern. UN solutions are like Tinkerbell–they only exist in Neverland.
And there is NO TRUTH to the rumor I started that President Hussein thought North Korea was in North Dakota–he thought it was in Wisconsin.
I wonder what “Inclusive” Powell has to say about whether the bumbling fool he endorsed is up to this.
Where are the left go green hysterics? Why is the UN not calling an emergency session for all of these weapon tests, it can’t be good for the environment. North Korea and Iran have got to have advanced the global warming march by decades, if not centuries. This is so bad for the environment, did nobody tell them?
My thinking…
All good questions which will go unanswered by Al “He-betrayyyyyyed-this-country!!!” Gore.
(Crickets chirp incessantly as fat-ass Gore gets toted around in his gas-hoggin’ Escalade.)
It is only bad for the environment when you Blue Eyed Devils do it- ask Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, or his kissin’ cousin Jerry Wright of ObamaLand, Chicago-where ever.
But to be decent about it North Korea should invite Colin Powell AND algore to witness the next test. Those two and maybe 500 members of Green Pieces
“Grave concern” Maybe I should order my headstone ahead of time.
Jake
General David Patraeus for President, 2010. (no typo, follows impeachment)
Almost sounds like “please! pretty please! UN make the big meany stop!” doesn’t it?
Nah. Sounds EXACTLY like.
First off, if you didn’t see where I posted it before, let me extend to you and wifeofsonofdy my sincerest congrats on the birth of your no doubt beautiful twins (btw, I am married to an identical twin).
But I think you misinterpret my intent. Of course it is in Obama’s lap now, but my intent was really not to criticize Bush. In fact, I think Bush’s tenor on NK was pretty spot on. I am sure many here would disagree, and I am certainly no expert, so take this for what you will, but I think the fact that Bush did not overreact in 06 with the first test and instead stuck with the long term game plan with respect to rewards/sanctions and 6-way talks including China was right on.
It is my belief that China ultimately has as much, if not more, interest in seeing a nuclear-free NK as we do, and in the long term, provided they are handled correctly, will see to that. Really, they seem the only country capable of ensuring such in a peaceful manner. However, you can kiss any of that goodbye if the US goes in there huffing and puffing, or worse. They will back NK if for no other reason than to not appear to be backing down to us.
That is why I think it is prudent for Obama to strike the tone that he did, which is frankly the same tone the Bush admin has taken (see McClellan’s comment re: NK after Cheney’s rant on Larry King).
Tomorrow I am off to commune with mosquitos and Lake Ontario for a few days, so if I do not respond to this truly interesting debate, do not take it to mean I am disengaged or cowered. I am merely offline and too busy scratching my ever increasing number of bug bites. The buggers love me. No joke, once I went camping in Maine and came back with well over 100 bites just on my legs. After almost literally bathing in Deep Woods Off every day.
Chap, just to make a point the Bush administration did try to take things farther after the 2006 test. They pushed for:
This is a much stronger response than just continuing on with the 6 party talks (though you are correct in pointing out that Bush did continue with the talks). If memory serves me it was either Russia or China (perhaps both) who would not sign onto the Chapter 7 language therefore killing it and all that passed was a non-bidding resolution condeming the test (which is what the UN is talking about doing once again).
I think the point is all these things have been tried before and have not dettered NoKo from continuing and I doubt sanctions against NoKo will work either as we have all seen how badly the NoKo people are treated by their own regime. I do not know exactly what would work as I think an invasion would only cause NoKo to launch said nukes aginst Japan and SoKo in retalitation.
What I will say is that the NoKo problem was started with the Clinton administration when they gave NoKo the light water reactors with a guarantee they would not be used to create weapons.
If that was not bad enough, the Bush administration basically did the same thing (gave NoKo the incentives with little in the way of real conditions) and continued to remove NoKo off the terrorist list even though they were reniging on the agreement (This was all said by many on this site over the last few years).
What is even worse than this, is it looks like the Obama administration is setting up to do much of the same and not just with NoKo as Obama himself has hinted that though he does not like the idea of a nuclear NoKo or Iran he will use the same tried Carrot and Stick approach that both the Clinton and Bush administrations used (with nothing to show but egg on their collective faces).
Oh No…a coming U.N. sanction…that little turd must be shaking in his boots…good job back then AlnotsoBright…that Klintoon admin. did some job for national security, I can see why all you libs couldn’t wait to vote for ODumbo another stellar defender of America.
Lord we’re in trouble…com on 2010.
Lol, that’s just wrong. You married your twin? hehe.
So you say in one breath that nothing practically can (or perhaps should) be done at this point, and in the next breath criticize Obama for not pulling this mythical solution to the problem out of his magic foreign relations hat 4 months into his administration?
I am the one I have been waiting for?
Guys, N. Korea can’t launch any nukes against anybody. They did not test a warhead, which is a MUCH more refined and miniaturized thingy. The beasty thingy they did test may have been very large and clumsy by comparison.
They don’t have working ballistic nuclear missiles. They DO have an immense military, in terms of raw numbers. They have very little real war-fighting capacity if a massive wave of people doesn’t end stuff in a few days, and we DO have lots and lots of nukes. That has been the stuff of stale-mate lo these many years…
They also have some top secret kimchi that will make an enemy soldier WISH they were facing nuclear annihilation.
No Chap that is not what I am saying. I am saying that using the same methods that have failed the previous two administrations is not going to somehow work now just because Obama is President. It just seems to me that a different approach would seem in order rather than repeating history.
What I am saying is what everyone is saying “there must be more teeth” in a Un Resoulution. I qouted what the Bush Administration had wanted to do earlier and will quote it again:
This is much better than repeating history.
And you also said Russia and/or China shot that down. So what then?
Very true Chap. We can not count on Russia or China to go along with anything with any teeth, but at the same time standing by or continuing on with the status quo does not lead to any real resoulution of the situation. If we continue to allow NoKo to thumb their nose at the world we will see more of it (just look to Iran and you will see it).
NoKo is testing Obama to see if they can continue to get their way like they did with both the Bush and Clinton Administrations and so far it is working.
It may not be the popular thing to do, but perhaps an interdiction mission around the Korea Pennisula to stop the flow of the neccessary compnents to be delivered to NoKo for them to continue work on their ballistic missile program.
I am sure that NoKo will consider this an act of war, but eventually you have to put your foot down or the tantrums will continue.
this would not take a UN resoulution and would not even take an act of Congress (to begin with though longterm it would).
Talk about torture…OUCH!!! LOL
As I indicated before, my concern is less with how NK views it, as war or not, and more with how China views it. Again, while I think China knows it is ultimately in their best interest to have a nuclear free NK, I do think that unilateral action by the US will put them in a position of ratcheting up tensions for no other reason than so as not to appear weak to the US.
And even leaving China totally out of the picture, does our military have sufficient resources to start a war in NK, while continuing them in Iraq and Afghanistan?
I agree that China does think it would be best if they could be rid of the little tyrant in NoKo (he has hurt them more than helped them), at the same time you could be right that they could ratchet up the tension, the question is would it be rhetoric or reality from them.
As for us going it unilateraly, I am sure there are a few nations that would join in. SoKo would help (as it is ultimately in their best interest) and Japan would help (albeit more through logistics than acutal personnel).
I meant unilaterally as in without eithern Russia or China backing us. Without one or the other of them, any other country is merely academic in their minds.
Or they could buy it from any number of rouge dudes in unstable regimes-Pakistan perhaps, or load a bomb on a sub or a boat and take out someones cities. He could, and has tunneled under the DMZ.They could fly a bomb in a cargo plane. We are talking a nut case here. He reaches across the world to kill enemies, snatches people off the streets of Japan and sells rice during a famine.
We are talking one unstable group of people. N. Korea can deliver nukes the same way they deliver other bombs-Bangkok bombing and the Korean Airlines Bombing Incident In November 1987. Look for the unconventional.
Chaps, are you in the trade again…!?!?
But, seriously folks…Arizona is right.
My remark was about some of the posts upstream. Delivery of even a very crude nuke is a real threat. It just isn’t “launching them at Japan”.
Isn’t that just good smart capitalism? Supply and demand and whatnot?
Arizona, you have me in tears…!!!
That HAS to be the funniest inadvertent line I’ve read in MONTHS…
Shoot…
I only trade in wit, truth and sunshine.
Actually, classical socialism/communism.
Sorry, Chaps, I needed a foil (above)… No offense.
I guess Mr. Il will just have to find some other rouge dude…
If you are in the Party I guess-vodka and caviar are expensive–peasants on the bottom might be a tad upset-but they always are, huh?
France is now helping Pakistan with it’s nuclear program–ol’ Kim next? Leave it to the French-the other rouge dudes..
CCC,
Some, but not a lot of, offense taken. I could tell you my story about the UGA grad who goes to Harvard and the correct use of prepositions. But, I’ve already done it here. Ask Txvet2. (Sorry, one should never start a sentence with “but” – right?)
That’s the way I’ve heard the phrase all my life. I wasn’t “talking above my station.” My overall point, however, was correct and proven so by the fact that Chap didn’t respond.
I’ve been called ignorant and that is probably accurate about a lot of things. Being called arrogant, on the other hand, is incorrect. If I went around picking peanuts out of poo about grammar on this and most of the other boards, I wouldn’t have time to sleep.
Maybe I’m a bit touchy about this but saying “no offense” and then insulting me in the same sentence is out of line.
Is there any doubt that the voting public, drugged out on Media Hype, by electing a majority Democrat congress, and an underwhelming, misguided, out of his league narcissistic snob to the Presidency, has all but sealed the fate of the United States of America?
The US is not longer an economic power, as long as China has holds our debt. In the case of North Korea, the US can do little to nothing, and will do little to nothing about it, with The Messiah, the Underwhelming, not-so-intelligent One, Barrack Hussein Obama at the helm.
Instead of working to maintain our sovereignty and solvency, Obama and the Dems, and even the spineless, not-so-conservative Republicans, are putting our nation in deeper debt, and all but totally kissing the feet, and the rear end, of China’s power brokers.
If we are beholding to other nations financially, and if we make little to none of the materials we once made here in the USA, like steel, etc., then how are we supposed to have any leverage against North Korea, Iran, etc.?
We cannot and we will not have that leverage, and China is not worried about the US and her concerns, only that US consumers continue to get bilked by the US government in order to pay interest and financing on China’s loans, and that the US consumer continues to buy Chinese and continue to make China wealthier than, well, wealthier than the USA.
Unless and Until the US gets completely out of debt, until the US and her citizens revert back to the industrious, stick to it, determined, strong, take no crap from anyone nation that won WW II, I don’t see any hope in dealing with North Korea or Iran, especially with Barrack Hussein Obama and the Democrat Congress at the helm, the media in the tank for them, and Hollywood pushing their pabulum and misguided agenda.
You mean fool?
It will take an attack of such great magnatude to awake the voting public that I’m afraid it will be way too late. Currently, there is no possible way to fund a defensive posture outside of immediate impeachment.
I’ve got to put most of the blame at the feet of media/tv for the bulk of this mess, plus a heaping dose of ignorance and laziness on Joe Voter.
There’s only one — and ONLY one — reason for this Nuke Test, and the more recent long-range missile test:
We, the United States of America, have a weak President
The North Korean Government knows this. They know that President Obama will pass this off to either Sec’y of State Clinton, to the U.N., or both, and nothing will be done. The USA will not retaliate, will not enact sanctions, will not “punish” the North Koreans in any way, shape, or form. Kim Jongil knows he can get away with this, because the USA has a weak President.
Don’t worry, folks, its just about to get worse. And for all those dozens-of-millions who voted for “Hope and Change”, guess what? The North Korean government is giddy as a newlywed couple on the way to the hotel: They know — as we, GOP-Conservative-Pro-American thinkers, also know — that our President will……do……………nothing. North Korea has had a blank check since January 21st, and be sure, friends, thay they will cash that puppy in….
CiE; We all fire off those, time to time. I love them, and consider them part of humanity. My kids were flowing streams of them, and I try to retain them bright in my memory.
I try to make it a practice not to correct people on little stuff like that, for one reason, you could have used it intentionally as humor. It is also a level of smart-asp that I didn’t want to get into.
Why does this only seem like something that you’d expect anyone to say, but it doesn’t really mean anything because there’s nothing behind it? I mean, I do not think Obama is really concerned about this in any way whatsoever. I mean, he’s been in campaign mode ever since 2004, and he’ll be in that mode until he can’t breathe anymore.
The only thing that this creature is concerned about is his grasp upon the power structure of government over the American people. This is just a side issue that he’ll comment upon when prodded about it, but his main concern is destroying all opposition to his dominion over the United States of America. If Kim Jung Il lobs a few nukes at Japan or someplace along the Western coastline of the North America, that will only strengthen his hold on power. His main enemies are the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, and Sean Hannity…