It looks like there is once again a path towards deescalation with North Korea:
(President Donald Trump speaks at a “Make America Great Again,” rally at the Phoenix Convention Center, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona.Alex Brandon/AP)
North Korea has made no provocations since its July 28 test-firing of what it claimed was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), though it has more recently threatened to fire missiles toward Guam.
President Trump said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has begun to “respect” Washington, suggesting his administration is taking a positive view on a possible thaw in U.S.-North Korea relations.
“I respect the fact that I believe he (Kim) is starting to respect us,” Trump said at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona, according to Bloomberg. “Maybe, probably not, something positive will come out of it.”
Earlier in the day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said dialogue between the United States and North Korea could be possible in the “near future,” welcoming what he called the “restraint” the Kim regime had shown recently with its nuclear and missile programs.
“I think it is worth noting, we have had no missile launches or provocative acts on the part of, or provocative actions, on the part of North Korea since the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution,” Tillerson said at the State Department.
“I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has demonstrated restraint. We hope this is the signal we have been looking for, that they are ready to restrain provocative acts. And perhaps we are seeing a pathway in the near future to having some dialogue.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but I would be some what surprised if they don’t fire at least a short range test missile into the Sea of Japan in response to the ongoing UFG military exercise.
No one pay any attention to the fact that this is a loss for us. Or that our leadership continues to blow smoke at us.
For decades they said “We’ll never tolerate _____ getting _____!” but we just keep on tolerating everyone getting everything.
A fat f’ing loss for Trump on North Korea in my book.
ChickenHead
6 years ago
‘No one pay any attention to the fact that this is a loss for us.”
Smokes, what would you consider a win?
Smokes at Work
6 years ago
The dismantling or destruction of their missile and nuclear programs.
Denny
6 years ago
It doesn’t matter who is in the White House. The NK situation will remain the same.
ChickenHead
6 years ago
“The dismantling or destruction of their missile and nuclear programs.”
Exactly.
Now how do you expect Trump to “win” that after about 6 months in office… beyond starting a rather unpleasant war?
It would seem your assumption that it is a loss does not take into account that it is an ongoing process.
Trump has done everything correctly to lay the groundwork to justify an attack. He further has transfered ownership of the problem to China… forcing them to act or lose face (or fake act to not lose face).
North Korea has fired some missiles which are becoming a credible threat. Recently, they have backed down on threats and not fired more missles. They did this in response to Trump’s posturing rather than yet another shipment of free food and fuel.
They have not tested another nuke which Trump has hinted is a bit of a red line.
Considering the situation and options, this seems like a small win in an ongoing process where a big win will likely require many small wins to achieve.
Clinton, Bush, and Obama gave North Korea the technology and time to create this problem over decades… and Trump likely cannot “win” in a year withhout trauma for many.
But his management of the situation, mostly unreported dealing, is certainly on the right track.
Let’s look at the situation in a few years.
The first step is North Korea not testing missiles and nukes… and not getting bribed to do so. That would be considered a win under the circumstances.
The real win would be for the dismantlement of those programs… but that would likely require natural or forced regime change… and that requires more than 6 months of presidential preparation after decades of poor presidential management.
Again, let’s consider this again in a few years before calling it a loss or win.
Mcgeehee
6 years ago
If Hillary won, she would have cancelled KR and UFG17, AND would have insisted on giving half of Yongsan to the North Koreans.
johnnyboy
6 years ago
I just had a vision of a meme.
Imagine Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction with Trump’s face shopped in.
The apartment scene when they are getting back the hostage and brief case. Kim Jong-un’s face is shopped onto the kidnapper.
The text reads “Say ‘sea of fire’ one more motherfuucking time! I dare you!”
Someone with a few minutes to kill, don’t let my memes be dreams.
Liz
6 years ago
If Hillary won we’d have someone to the left of Gloria Steinem as Secretary of Defense.
I don’t have Photoshop at work, and Paint sucks as much now as it did 20 years ago…
Andy
6 years ago
“You can read more at the link, but I would be some what surprised if they don’t fire at least a short range test missile into the Sea of Japan in response to the ongoing UFG military exercise.”
The first and third missiles failed in flight, while the second appears to have blown up almost immediately,said the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, which monitors North Korean missiles.
Somebody’s not getting an extra portion of rice…
JoeC
6 years ago
Does anyone else think it’s way past time the USA actually had an ambassador appointed to South Korea?
johnnyboy
6 years ago
JoeC,
I know there are a lot of vacancies under Trump. I think it’s for a few different reasons.
The Senate is supposedly slow walking a lot of his nominees that require confirmation.
Trump seems reluctant to appoint people for some positions. I don’t know if that plays into his stated desire to do more with less.
Lastly, many people may be reluctant to work in this administration for any number of reasons.
@Andy, that was actually an easy call for me considering they pretty much do a launch during every Key Resolve and UFG. Fortunately it appears the US media is not fanning the flames of war after this test launch. The hurricane in Texas they have been hyping drowned out most news of this launch.
@JoeC, I agree it seems like there should be an ambassador by now, but maybe the Trump administration has trust in the acting ambassador and doesn’t see an urgency right now to use political capital to get the Senate to approve an ambassador?
Andy
6 years ago
Jill Kelley for Ambassador! :silly:
Liz
6 years ago
LOL. I think Jill Kelley is too busy with speaking engagements.
Talking about privacy infringement into her personal exchanges. After asking folks in government to look into her private exchanges.
No one pay any attention to the fact that this is a loss for us. Or that our leadership continues to blow smoke at us.
For decades they said “We’ll never tolerate _____ getting _____!” but we just keep on tolerating everyone getting everything.
A fat f’ing loss for Trump on North Korea in my book.
‘No one pay any attention to the fact that this is a loss for us.”
Smokes, what would you consider a win?
The dismantling or destruction of their missile and nuclear programs.
It doesn’t matter who is in the White House. The NK situation will remain the same.
“The dismantling or destruction of their missile and nuclear programs.”
Exactly.
Now how do you expect Trump to “win” that after about 6 months in office… beyond starting a rather unpleasant war?
It would seem your assumption that it is a loss does not take into account that it is an ongoing process.
Trump has done everything correctly to lay the groundwork to justify an attack. He further has transfered ownership of the problem to China… forcing them to act or lose face (or fake act to not lose face).
North Korea has fired some missiles which are becoming a credible threat. Recently, they have backed down on threats and not fired more missles. They did this in response to Trump’s posturing rather than yet another shipment of free food and fuel.
They have not tested another nuke which Trump has hinted is a bit of a red line.
Considering the situation and options, this seems like a small win in an ongoing process where a big win will likely require many small wins to achieve.
Clinton, Bush, and Obama gave North Korea the technology and time to create this problem over decades… and Trump likely cannot “win” in a year withhout trauma for many.
But his management of the situation, mostly unreported dealing, is certainly on the right track.
Let’s look at the situation in a few years.
The first step is North Korea not testing missiles and nukes… and not getting bribed to do so. That would be considered a win under the circumstances.
The real win would be for the dismantlement of those programs… but that would likely require natural or forced regime change… and that requires more than 6 months of presidential preparation after decades of poor presidential management.
Again, let’s consider this again in a few years before calling it a loss or win.
If Hillary won, she would have cancelled KR and UFG17, AND would have insisted on giving half of Yongsan to the North Koreans.
I just had a vision of a meme.
Imagine Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction with Trump’s face shopped in.
The apartment scene when they are getting back the hostage and brief case. Kim Jong-un’s face is shopped onto the kidnapper.
The text reads “Say ‘sea of fire’ one more motherfuucking time! I dare you!”
Someone with a few minutes to kill, don’t let my memes be dreams.
If Hillary won we’d have someone to the left of Gloria Steinem as Secretary of Defense.
Here’s a good template for johnnyboy:
http://www.celebquote.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Oh-Im-sorry-did-I-break-your-concentration.png
I don’t have Photoshop at work, and Paint sucks as much now as it did 20 years ago…
“You can read more at the link, but I would be some what surprised if they don’t fire at least a short range test missile into the Sea of Japan in response to the ongoing UFG military exercise.”
Well, that didn’t take long. Maybe KJU reads ROK Drop too. :silly: :silly:
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/25/asia/north-korea-fires-projectile/index.html?adkey=bn
Dang, Andy beat me to it!
Yep, Fatty popped off three missiles, but all three failed, including one at launch.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korea-is-reported-to-have-launched-another-missile-heightening-tensions/2017/08/25/4569a10c-89e5-11e7-96a7-d178cf3524eb_story.html
Somebody’s not getting an extra portion of rice…
Does anyone else think it’s way past time the USA actually had an ambassador appointed to South Korea?
JoeC,
I know there are a lot of vacancies under Trump. I think it’s for a few different reasons.
The Senate is supposedly slow walking a lot of his nominees that require confirmation.
Trump seems reluctant to appoint people for some positions. I don’t know if that plays into his stated desire to do more with less.
Lastly, many people may be reluctant to work in this administration for any number of reasons.
@Andy, that was actually an easy call for me considering they pretty much do a launch during every Key Resolve and UFG. Fortunately it appears the US media is not fanning the flames of war after this test launch. The hurricane in Texas they have been hyping drowned out most news of this launch.
@JoeC, I agree it seems like there should be an ambassador by now, but maybe the Trump administration has trust in the acting ambassador and doesn’t see an urgency right now to use political capital to get the Senate to approve an ambassador?
Jill Kelley for Ambassador! :silly:
LOL. I think Jill Kelley is too busy with speaking engagements.
Talking about privacy infringement into her personal exchanges. After asking folks in government to look into her private exchanges.
@Andy, LOL 😆