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About a 25% budget cut, hiring freeze, and cuts in promotions. Given the state of global war, it seems that the corps is merely in the business of providing the cover of diplomacy and legality to actions.
For those who are actually interested in what is going on (as opposed to just Trump Bashing) - I would refer you to the US State Department Press Briefings and to those who do serious reporting on Foreign Policy. Always best to check the history and then the beginning of Breaking News before the Media Pundits start opinionizing everything.
1). Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee met with South Korean President Moon for 1 hour ...... later that evening the North/South Korean Summit in Pyeongchang was announced along with the message that N. Korea would be interested in talks with the USA Kim Yong Choi was the highest ranking member from N. Korea at the Olympics, even though it was Fat Boy's sister that got all the press.
2). US Envoy to N. Korea - suddenly tendered his Resignation, citing "personal reasons".
Kibby ... I don't now have time to go through your entire post - although I will later - but agree that we should read and consider. I was already familiar with the reuters article on the Joseph Yun resignation, so I'll quickly cite that.
I agree that we want negotiations and should promote their success. (Personally, I'd be pleased if the end-result is that the missile program that to my knowledge has never before been negotiated be scrapped.)
Quote:
The U.S. special envoy for North Korea plans to retire on Friday, the State Department said just hours after President Donald Trump again rejected talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis unless conditions are met. ...
The special envoy’s authority to engage with North Korea appeared to be undercut by a tug-of-war between the White House and State Department over North Korea policy under Trump.
“He was skeptical and wary of the White House’s hardline approach toward North Korea from the beginning”, a senior South Korean official told Reuters, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Another senior South Korean official said Yun had “run out of steam” amid tension between the White House, which has been carrying out its “maximum pressure” campaign against North Korea, and the State Department, which supported Seoul’s efforts to re-engage Pyongyang.
If Trump is no longer following that "hard-line" approach - particularly if it reflects a Bolton-like end result - then applause for Trump. Still think, though, that having Yau still in place would have been a plus.
Last edited by EveryLady; 03-12-2018 at 01:15 PM..
NK has agreed to no new tests while meeting with Trump and they won't object to US/south Korea joint military exercises.
One "condition" where they may not have any tests to do until June and the other the agree not to object to something they have no control over and where their objection means nothing.
Meanwhile Trump agrees to meet with Un with no preconditions basically legitimizing NK's Un family government (those Un has not killed) and the actions they took to make the US recognize them as a legitimate government. A picture of Un meeting with a US president is a propaganda goldmine for Un and something NK has wanted for the last 65 years to show they belong at the World Leader's table.
That "legitimize" North Korea gets tossed around a lot, by both the Right & the Left - it's a crock.
Just another excuse for "our plan didn't work" and "I don't wanna mess with this anymore".
Article is by Peter Van Buren - writes for Reuters, the Nation and others. 24 years with the US State Department and no fan of either Republicans or Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has unexpectedly agreed to become the first sitting U.S. president to meet with a leader of North Korea. The reaction has ranged from cautious optimism to warnings about the inexperience of the Trump administration to flat-out criticism. The criticisms are easily dispelled.
One objection is Trump will "legitimize" North Korea. However, Washington already recognizes North Korea as a nation state. The United States has negotiated with Pyongyang over almost seven decades, from talks at the Demilitarized Zone to meetings among diplomats in third countries and at the United Nations, to a visit to Pyongyang by the secretary of state in 2000, to quasi-diplomatic visits by then-former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Meanwhile, the Kim family, with successions from grandfather to father to son, has ruled the nation from its founding, surviving war, sanctions, famine, natural disasters, and the fall of their patron, the Soviet Union. Kim is worshiped by his own people as a god, while outsiders have long-formed their opinions about him; he has no need for a propaganda coup. America has negotiated with, and even supported, evil dictators before. North Korea is already a nuclear power, whether anyone likes that or not. The criteria for “legitimacy” appear long met with or without Trump.
The State Department is gutted, say some. The United States has no ambassador to South Korea. The Special Representative for North Korea Policy just retired. But it is disingenuous to claim there is no one left to negotiate with Pyongyang simply because their names are unfamiliar to journalists.
Marc Knapper, the current Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, has more than 20 years of Korea experience, including as deputy chief of mission in Seoul. He has been to North Korea multiple times and is trusted by South Korea. His Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs, Edwin Sagurton, also has spent years on the peninsula and worked in the North. A third senior American official, Busan Consul Dae B. Kim, was born in Seoul and has worked on Korean issues for some 20 years,.He served alongside Madeleine Albright during her visit to Pyongyang. All three of the diplomats speak Korean.
It's interesting that the Anti-Trumpers were constantly calling for "talks" and now that it appears "talks" will happen ....... they don't want "talks". That pretty much smacks of "we don't want anything that Trump does because HE is doing it". "Doesn't matter that we wanted it before, we didn't think it would ever happen."
North Korea is a threat to the National Security of the USA and much of the World. I'm sure there is a good term for those who are against US National Security ..... the term escapes for the moment.
I just caught a clip of John Bolton on Fox. His take was that the talks will fail for there is no way that Kim will agree to denuclearize and that drawing them out with stages and subsequent negotiations only gives the Koreans more time to perfect the missile-delivery. For (and he did not say this, but I assume it's the bottom line) ... we want a failure as an excuse to finally go in and blast NK. The "we" does not include Trump (I assume), nor State who has been promoting engagement, nor certainly the S. Koreans.
Before posting this ... I googled for a minute or two ... to find that Bolton's outright calling for a preemptive strike although in the article I saw he didn't explain HOW that strike would be accomplished (nuclear or not). Bolton was also opposed to the sanctions, calling THEM useless with a failed track record.
Then just happened across the rumor that Bolton could replace McMasters as National Security Advisor. Great, although his Tuesday afternoon meeting with Trump was *before* the Koreans came with their news on Thursday.
How many times are people going to fall for this Never Ending Fake News of (fill in the weekly name) is going to quit/be fired and (fill in the name) is going to replace them????
Monthly they rotate between McMasters, Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, FBI Director, CIA Director and weekly it's Mueller. Lot's and Lot's of nothing but "rumors".
All of them are still there -
As for John Bolton - He has known Donald Trump for years. Bolton Lobbied HARD to join the Administration in either the State Department (Sec of State or Deputy) or the National Security Council. He didn't get a job.
Just because the President speaks to somebody, especially somebody he has known for years ..... doesn't mean he is going to hire them and fire somebody else. He has one of the most open Oval Offices we have ever seen.
Visitors from walks of life that have never even been in the White House, much less the Oval Office. Coal miners, Steel workers, Harley Davidson riders, reporter's children, rank and file Union employees .... AND John Bolton.
About a 25% budget cut, hiring freeze, and cuts in promotions. Given the state of global war, it seems that the corps is merely in the business of providing the cover of diplomacy and legality to actions.
OR - it could be that the Diplo-corps have been providing the cover of diplomacy and legality to actions -- while accomplishing nothing much but Pallets of CASH air-dropped to the top Terror Nation in the World.
In the business world & science world, this is known as "cut the chaff".
How many times are people going to fall for this Never Ending Fake News of (fill in the weekly name) is going to quit/be fired and (fill in the name) is going to replace them????
Monthly they rotate between McMasters, Rex Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, FBI Director, CIA Director and weekly it's Mueller. Lot's and Lot's of nothing but "rumors".
All of them are still there -
As for John Bolton - He has known Donald Trump for years. Bolton Lobbied HARD to join the Administration in either the State Department (Sec of State or Deputy) or the National Security Council. He didn't get a job.
Just because the President speaks to somebody, especially somebody he has known for years ..... doesn't mean he is going to hire them and fire somebody else. He has one of the most open Oval Offices we have ever seen. Visitors from walks of life that have never even been in the White House, much less the Oval Office. Coal miners, Steel workers, Harley Davidson riders, reporter's children, rank and file Union employees .... AND John Bolton.
The timing of Bolton's visit can hardly can be a coincidence. Last Tuesday. Trump knew Chung was meeting with Kim on Monday and (presumably) the Washington briefings on Thursday / Friday were already on the calendar. So who does Trump turn to for a pre-visit chat? John Bolton.
North Korea really is not a partisan issue, although how some react to a meeting will undoubtedly be colored by their take on Trump and his capabilities. And whether they hold a conviction that Kim will under no circumstances give up the nuclear weapons. Some Liberals think that. Bolton thinks that. Probably a lot of Conservatives too. For what happens if negotiations fail IS a valid concern. (Here I found myself googling whether Trump on his own initiative would be able to launch a preemptive strike.)
Still, there is cautious optimism. Along these lines, I distinctly remember Trump's appearance after a meeting with Obama a day or so before he was sworn in where it had been announced the subject had been North Korea. Trump looked a tad shellshocked - and my take was this is good.
So Victor Cha's (the almost US ambassador to S. Korea) comment brings hope, namely:
Quote:
Trump also may deserve more credit than he is given on North Korea. Despite the fiery tweets, indications are that Trump took Obama's warning seriously that North Korea would be one of his most intractable foreign policy problems. “My understanding is Trump's actually taking on quite a bit of knowledge on this issue,” Cha said. “He's gotten very smart on it very quickly, just because he's had to.”
Admittedly, I believe Trump to be somewhat underprepared for the Presidency. So sure that influences my take that his impetuous announcement (and it was that) and the precondition - no precondition flipping was not a good start. That Trump has so much power here is a concern - for this is his game board with Congress having no role in any negotiations unless there is to be a treaty that the Senate must ratify.
Not an easy issue, but without a doubt not one for John Bolton in any scenario. That the South Korean desire to talk prevails is a plus.
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