Big Dogs House

North Korea 2; Democrats 0

Sep 12, 2009 Political

The North Koreans play the Democrats like a cheap fiddle. First Bill Clinton negotiated with Lil Kim and ended up giving him all the things he needed to make nukes. With a wink and a nod Clinton gave Kim all the stuff he needed on a promise from Kim that he would not use them to make nuclear weapons. The ink was not dry on the paper when Kim began developing a nuke. The left likes to blame the nuclear weapon development on Bush because it was tested when Bush was in office but it began when Clinton was there and the NorKs used the tools that Clinton let them have.

There have been talks with North Korea for a number of years now. These six party talks are on again and off again depending upon what mood Kim is in and which of the voices in his schizophrenic head is doing the talking. We have tried these six party talks and we have tried sanctions when Kim detonates a nuke but nothing seems to work because it is difficult to get international support. The Chinese have a great deal of influence but they seem uninterested in intervening.

George Bush did not help things when he decided we could remove North Korea from the state sponsor of terrorism list. North Korea is dangerous and poor. That country will do anything for money and that includes selling nuclear components to terrorists. The idea that sitting down with them and discussing the issue will help is ridiculous because each time we engage in diplomacy it is after we have done something to appease them and it gives them more time to work on their weapons. We always end up in a stalemate with North Korea because once it gets what it wants it goes back to developing nuclear weapons.

The Obama administration has done an about face and said that it will now engage directly with North Korea.

The US shifted its policy today, saying it is now willing to meet one on one with North Korea if that is helpful to bring Pyongyang back to the nuclear negotiations. ABC News

Evidently, the six party nations have given the go ahead because they are not doing well in their attempts to negotiate. If these six nations cannot effectively negotiate with Kim what makes anyone believe the US can do any better?

Obama said he was willing to meet our enemies face to face and without preconditions. His lack of experience in foreign affairs was evident when he made that statement on the campaign trail but it made no difference. So now the US will meet with North Korea in order to get it to stop making nuclear weapons.

Good luck with that. North Korea will demand something and the US will give it and then the negotiations will fall off, or stall, or be dragged on to provide time while the NorKs refine their weapons.

I would hope that we could negotiate with North Korea but the leader has demonstrated that he is mentally unstable and that he is not interested in capitulating to the demands of others.

How will it look if we give them more of what they want and they still test a nuke or send one in the direction of Japan?

Will the left discuss the failed polices of Obama like it did Bush? We will have to wait until the next nuclear detonation (and there will be one) but I doubt it will be viewed through the same lens that was used when liberals watched George Bush.

Time will tell but I think the US already appears weak. We blinked and gave in and now Kim has the upper hand. I know Obama is Mr. Charm and all that but he is being played like a fool.

This might come back to bite him in his tail and that is just fine.

The problem is, it might bite the rest of us as well.

I would like to see successful negotiations and if it works out then good for Obama and his team. I think history has shown us that this will not have a good outcome and we will regret the decision.

Of course, Clinton was there not too long ago. He might have greased a few skids (no, skids are not North Korean women) so that the path for Obama would be easier. Maybe Kim already got his payoff and will make Obama look good.

Until he makes him look bad…

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Tags: Bush, Clinton, north korea, nuclear weapons, Obama

Obama Took His Eye Off The Ball

Sep 3, 2009 Political

When George Bush was president we were attacked on 9/11/2001 and not long after we were at war in Afghanistan and Iraq. During that time the North Koreans used technology they acquired from Bill Clinton and enriched Plutonium. They then tested their nuclear program with an underground detonation. This took a lot of people by surprise because our intelligence agencies said North Korea was not close to having a device.

After the test the Democrats went nuts. The same Democrats who balked at Bush’s tough stance on Iran’s nuclear program were upset that he was not tough enough on North Korea. I know that we have to cut them slack because national security is not a strong point for the Democrats. They are the ones who believed a trumped up report indicating that Iran had stopped its program only to say that Iran is now engaged in nuclear development and a serious threat (though Obama said they were not a threat before he said they were).

When North Korea detonated its device the Democrats said that George Bush had failed in diplomacy and that he had taken his eye off the ball because he was distracted by Iraq.

“Today’s announcement is further evidence that President Bush has taken his eye off the ball, allowing a member of the so-called ‘axis of evil’ to allegedly test a nuclear weapon,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. DNC

“They have taken their eye off the real ball… ,” Kerry said of the Bush administration. “They took it off in North Korea and shifted it to Iraq.” And, Kerry suggested that, if Bush was reelected, the attention of the United States would continued to be misdirected — with an emphasis on military adventures in the Persian Gulf rather than diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. The Nation

In an interview, he argued that President Bush’s preoccupation with Iraq let the North Korean crisis fester to the point that there were now indications that the country might be preparing to test a plutonium bomb. He presented his charges in a 15-minute telephone call he made to The New York Times. NYT

Yes, the minute North Korea detonated a nuke the left went nuts and accused Bush of taking his eye off the ball. No discussion ever included the deal Clinton made with the NorKs or that they were violating their promise to use reactors for peaceful purposes before the ink on the deal had dried. No, this was all Bush’s fault because he was too focused on Iraq and ignored the NorKs and diplomacy.

Barack Obama has been occupied of late. He has been busy for the last 6 months ramming bills through Congress in order to remake America (a goal of his) and to barrage the public with so many things that it becomes fatigued. He had the Stimulus, the Omnibus, the Cap and Trade, the takeover of the banks and financial system as well as the acquisition of a couple of major automobile manufacturers. Now he is working feverishly to get a health care bill passed so the government can control even more of our lives. His attention has been on these undertakings and his surge in Afghanistan where more US service members are being killed.

So it now looks like Obama took his eyes off the ball with regard to North Korea. Today that country announced that it was in the final stages of enriching Uranium which it claims will give it a second path to nuclear weapons. Barack Obama’s focus on remaking America has caused him to take his eye off the ball in North Korea and amounts to failed diplomacy.

Obama allowed the North Koreans, the same people the Democrats said were dangerous and unwatched when Bush was president, to get to the final stages of Uranium enrichment and now the world is a more dangerous place.

This is Barack Obama’s failed diplomacy. A nuclear weapon delivered from North Korea (or sold by them) will be his fault.

If it was true for Bush then it is true for Obama.

Other Sources:
World Sentinel
Washington Post

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Tags: Bush, Clinton, failed diplomacy, north korea, nuclear weapons, Obama, plutonium, uranium

McCain To The Rescue

Jun 19, 2009 Political

During the campaign Barack Obama told us how his limited experience made him a better choice as Commander in Chief than John McCain, a decorated veteran. Of course there were many variables in the election and John McCain was not the ideal candidate. He was the wishy-washy middle of the road Republican that Colin Powell says we need. Of course, Powell endorsed and voted for Obama. I can only conclude that race was the deciding factor.

Now that the Community Organizer in Chief has been in office for a while the world is able to see how weak kneed he is. The Muslim world is thumbing their collective noses at him and North Korea is launching missiles and testing nuclear devices. Obama said that his strategy was to just talk with these people because that would bring us all together. He is an organizer of the world community.

The only problem is that no one is listening. North Korea is now preparing to launch a missile at Hawaii. The missile is reportedly unable to reach Hawaii but just aiming it at us and firing it is an act of war. North Korea also has a cargo ship moving around and experts believe it has weapons and other materials banned under UN resolution.

The Navy Destroyer USS John McCain is preparing to intercept that vessel in what North Korea will certainly see as an aggressive act. It is unclear what the ship will do once it intercepts but Lil Kim will not be happy no matter what it does. Fortunately, the McCain is manned by people from the finest Navy in the world.

Will this escalate into war? Will it provoke Lil Kim and will we need to retaliate (if Obama even has the testicular fortitude to do so)?

These things remain to be seen but I find it ironic that the McCain is working on unscrewing the mess Obama has made of things.

Source:
Fox

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Tags: McCain, navy, north korea, Obama

Where The Rubber Hits The Road

Jun 8, 2009 Political

Two journalists were sentenced yesterday to twelve year terms by North Korea for allegedly “spying” on The Dictatorship that is North Korea. Their alleged crime? They apparently stepped into North Korean territory while researching their story on Human trafficking by North Koreans. Apparently they were under the mistaken assumption that journalists are protected from harm while they expose corruption- a fallacy in this country, and certainly in places that are antagonistic to the United States, like Iran, and of course, North Korea.

Ling and Lee were arrested March 17 along the China-North Korean border after top officials in Pyongyang said they encroached on North Korea soil while reporting a story on human trafficking by Kim Jong Il’s regime. Housed separately in Pyongyang since their arrest, the women have reached out to family members in the U.S., who have in the last week made several public appeals calling for their release.

latimes.com

There has been a tradition in this country of journalists uncovering corruption, but in recent years, journalists have become in many instances, timid in the exposing of corruption in domestic circles, choosing instead to face the uncertain future of an antagonistic dictatorship abroad instead of the budding one at home. Perhaps they believe Barama has their back. Nothing could be further from the truth, apparently. 

When your white Knight is Al Gore, you know you are in deep do- do.

Japanese television has reported that Current TV founder Al Gore was prepared to fly to Pyongyang and secure the women’s freedom, depending on the outcome of the trial. It was not known Monday how the guilty verdict might have affected those plans.

Many analysts speculate that North Korea, which has in recent months sought to publicly establish its nuclear capabilities — conducting an underground nuclear test and launching several experimental missiles — was trying to use the women as political pawns in an attempt to force Washington to sit down for one-on-one talks.

latimes.com

Of course, to be fair, they were working for Gore’s TV station, so the buck has got to stop somewhere- it certainly won’t with Barama- he can’t be bothered by trivialities. Let the minions do the heavy lifting of real life- he’s the theorist, the dreamer, the One. Mere mortals mean nothing to him, unless they have a use.

These reporters are learning several lessons- one, don’t get caught up by a dictatorship- just ask Roxana Saberi, the journalist who was imprisoned by Iran. Two, just because you work for Al Gore doesn’t mean squat to the North Koreans- green to them means money, something their starving people do not have. Three, rights are only as good as the country you are in, and it’s a heck of a lesson to learn. Why don’t you think liberals do not protest in North Korea, or Iran, or China? Their little pink behinds would be tossed in jail, if they were lucky, or kicked into an unmarked grave if they were not so lucky.

After the March 17 arrest of the journalists, analysts say, the Obama administration had sought to quietly negotiate with North Korea. Officials were encouraged after Iran released U.S. journalist and accused spy Roxana Saberi after four months in jail.

In recent weeks, as the trial date got closer, state-run news in North Korea released condemnations of the women, alluding to their “confirmed crimes” and “illegally intruding into [North Korean] territory.”

Experts believe the trial serves as a political litmus test. They say North Korea had an opportunity to distinguish the journalists’ case from the political realm and temper an international image further damaged by the nuclear test.

But now those hopes have been cast into doubt with Monday’s verdict.

latimes.com

These journalists should pray that there is something, some concession that the North Koreans want from the United States. Barama will, I am sure, be glad to roll over, show his belly, and give it to them. After all, he has just finished conceding an atomic weapon to Iran, why shouldn’t he kiss some North Korean butt while he’s on his knees? If he does that, then these unfortunate pawns will possibly be allowed to come home- then again, maybe not. Kim Jong Il has not been exactly renowned for his sanity.

But who knows? Barama could be his equal.

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Tags: concessions, dictatorships, journalists, north korea

Dr. Strangelove Redux

May 27, 2009 Political

As Ronald Reagan said once,” Well, there he goes again-”, and indeed, here we go again. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. This seems to be an endemic problem today, as North Korea has just announced that it will not abide by the treaty it signed in 1953, and threatened to attack both South Korea and the American troops who are stationed there. Deja vu- many people are alive today for whom this little kerfuffle with communist N. Korea is but a little read footnote in the history books they are no longer required to study.

I was born during the Korean War. My father was a colonel in the Air Force at this time, and because of China’s proximity to N. Korea, tensions were extremely high, because, (and this is a lesson that we did not learn then, so it was repeated in Viet Nam) China is only comfortable with a buffer country protecting its borders, and has historically attacked anybody who threatened their buffer countries.

So when we crossed the Yalu river, the Chinese communists joined the battle, and from that point on, we were driven back and had to settle for the two Korea solution, which has satisfied no one.

Now, in response to the increased threat of missiles from N. Korea, Barama has ordered that the Department of Defense cut defensive missiles from our budget- how insane is this? This is akin to knowing the winter is going to be bad, so we will not buy any heavy coats, or firewood.

An ounce of prevention is truly worth a Megaton of cure. and yet, here is Robert Gates on missile defense-

We will restructure the program to focus on the rogue state and theater missile threat.

We will not increase the number of current ground-based interceptors in Alaska as had been planned. But we will continue to robustly fund continued research and development to improve the capability we already have to defend against long-range rogue missile threats – a threat North Korea’s missile launch this past weekend reminds us is real.

We will cancel the second airborne laser (ABL) prototype aircraft. We will keep the existing aircraft and shift the program to an R&D effort. The ABL program has significant affordability and technology problems and the program’s proposed operational role is highly questionable.

We will terminate the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) program because of its significant technical challenges and the need to take a fresh look at the requirement.

Overall, the Missile Defense Agency program will be reduced by $1.4 billion.

closingvelocity.typepad.com

Now, to terminate ANY of the missile defense systems is an act of complete idiocy. Every defensive system needs to be appraised as a stand- alone program. The MKV is (or was) particularly promising as was the ABL, or Air-borne Laser aircraft- sure there needs to be further tests and R&D- but we will get nowhere if we kill the programs. Is this going to be the attitude with regard to the less promising forms of alternative energy, or is this just a slam against the Defense Industry?

This is definitely NOT the time to slack off of research into ways to protect ourselves against missiles fired from rogue states who are insane enough to believe that they could get away with it.

Unfortunately, I now have to come to the conclusion that Barama can not and will not protect us, instead, stripping Defense of promising projects that could keep us safe against the growing threats of the 21st century, even as these threats coalesce around us. Perhaps it will take a missile strike on Los Angeles or San Diego, or full on Nuclear war between Iran and Israel in the Middle East, for him to wake up to the threat, but then we will be waaaay behind the curve in protecting ourselves.

Remember one thing- the burglar or attacker will absolutely not give you the time to go buy a gun for protection, they will kill you then and there.

It is ALWAYS  better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum- If you wish for peace, prepare for war.

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Tags: budget cuts, missile defense, north korea, stupidity