N. Korea - Dang, what are the dems going to do now?

[broncos_mtnman]

Here's an excerpt from the DNC website regarding President Bush's handling of the nuclear threat from N. Korea....

The Bush Administration's Failed North Korea Policy
October 9, 2006

Today, President Bush addressed North Korea’s announcement of their alleged nuclear test over the weekend. Over the last four years, the Bush Administration has outsourced our diplomacy with North Korea to other nations and failed to take the lead in making sure America remains safe and secure.

“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. “First, President Bush aided and abetted the outsourcing of American jobs, and now he’s outsourced our diplomacy as well. This development on the Korean Peninsula is further proof that you can’t trust Republicans to keep America safe. Under the President's watch, North Korea has become more dangerous and Iran continues to threaten its neighbors and America. Democrats remain committed to a foreign policy that is both tough and smart.”
___________________________

Here's what happened today under President Bush's "outsourced" diplomacy...

U.N. Nuclear Inspectors Confirm Shutdown on North Korean Reactor
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — U.N. inspectors have verified that North Korea has shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor, the chief of the watchdog agency said Monday, confirming Pyongyang's first step to halt production of atomic weapons in nearly five years.

"Our inspectors are there. They verified the shutting down of the reactor yesterday," said Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The process has been going quite well and we have had good cooperation from North Korea. It's a good step in the right direction," ElBaradei said, speaking in Bangkok ahead of an event sponsored by Thailand's Ministry of Science.

Earlier Monday, South Korea sent more oil to North Korea to reward its compliance with an international disarmament agreement.

• Monitor the nuclear showdown on the Korean Peninsula in FOXNews.com's North Korea Center.

Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said a second shipment of oil departed Monday for the North on a South Korean ship. A first shipment that arrived Saturday — prompting the North to follow through on its pledge to shut the reactor — has been completely offloaded, Lee said at a meeting with U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill.
_______________________

One thing's for sure. You won't hear any of the liberal media giving Bush credit for his multi-lateral approach to getting this done.

Kerry once praised Clinton for having an imperfect agreement (ie. the nukes continued) because at least Billy was talking to Pyongyang "face-to-face." He criticized Bush for not doing the same.

Well, Bush got the reactors shut down and Billy Boy didn't.

[Spider]

LOL we still have Iraq and 100's of other Bush **** ups ....... even a blind squirrel will find a nut now and then

[ant1999e]

I'm sure it's only temporary.

[broncos_mtnman]

LOL we still have Iraq and 100's of other Bush **** ups ....... even a blind squirrel will find a nut now and then

Pretty weak. LOL

[broncos_mtnman]

I'm sure it's only temporary.

I don't see how you would know that. Still, Billy Boy didn't even get a "temporary" shut down.

:~ohyah!:

[Bronco_Beerslug]

I'm sure it's only temporary.This isn't the first time NK has appeased UN inspectors for anyone keeping score but it was the first time they lit off a nuclear bomb... during Bush's watch.

[Bronco Bob]

You win some little ones, you lose some bigger ones:

Russia drops arms treaty, cites U.S. missile shield plans

President Vladimir Putin formally notified NATO governments Saturday that Russia would suspend its obligations under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, a major Cold War-era arms-limitation agreement, in response to U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Eastern Europe.

The decision ratcheted up tensions over U.S. plans for a missile shield, which Russia opposes, but also reflected an escalating trend of anti-Americanism and deep suspicion toward the West in Russia's domestic politics ahead of presidential elections in March.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/15/MNGGGR0QTQ1.DTL

[TheDave]

Pyongyang's first step to halt production of atomic weapons in nearly five years.



You must be seriously desperate for good news...

[broncos_mtnman]

You must be seriously desperate for good news...

You must be seriously desperate for something bad to say about this...

8')

[Bronco Bob]

You must be seriously desperate for something bad to say about this...

8')

Well, the good news is maybe DPRK is claiming they will get rid of their
nukes. The bad news is Russia is making tons of money off their oil and
gas and are in the process of rebuilding their military, especially their
missile systems. And China is making tons of money off all the stuff
they sell to us and are also expanding their military.

[TheDave]

You must be seriously desperate for something bad to say about this...

8')

What a comeback... Are you seriously backing the word of a U.N. Weapons inspector? I thought you guys hated the U.N... Let alone their inspectors. Their word sure didn't have any meaning when we were preparing to bomb the **** out of Iraq. Why now?

Oh thats right, because now it supports this idiotic administration. Seriously, put your country before your party and stop carry the GOP's water.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I don't see how you would know that. Still, Billy Boy didn't even get a "temporary" shut down.

You never let up with the disinfo you pick up from Rehab Rush, do you? :oyvey:

Number of nuclear weapons NK produced on Clinton's watch: 0

On the court-appointed pinhead's watch: 6

Blame Bush for North Korea's Nukes

A few hours ago North Korea announced it had nukes. This was no surprise. Immediately after this announcement many on the Right Blogosphere blamed Bill Clinton. This also was no surprise. These people are ignorant of what really happened in North Korea in the 1990s and on the Bush Junior Watch, and they form opinons in ignorance. No surprise.

For a detailed history of North Korea and its nuclear program from 1977 to 1999, I recommend this timeline maintained by the Monterey Institute of International Studies. But here is the highly simplified version:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030202045212/cns.miis.edu/research/korea/nuc/iaea7789.htm

When Bill Clinton became president in 1993 he inherited a ton of unresolved messes from Poppy Bush. Somalia got most of the headlines, but North Korea was a mess, also. In 1992 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had conducted some inspections in North Korea, but chief inspector Hans Blix suspected the North Koreans were hiding some stuff and fibbing about other stuff.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030202060624/cns.miis.edu/research/korea/nuc/iaea92.htm

Throughout 1993 North Korea and the IAEA inspectors engaged in major head butting. The IAEA said North Korea had more uranium and plutonium fuel than it was admitting to. Also, the U.S. announced that it had intelligence, some from satellite photos, that there was a lot of nuclear-waste-related activity going on in North Korea that had been concealed from the IAEA. Details here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20030202055442/cns.miis.edu/research/korea/nuc/iaea93.htm

Although North Korea had both uranium and plutonium, it was the plutonium that really worried everyone. In the nuclear weapons biz there is a huge difference between plutonium and uranium that news stories don't always make clear. Very basically, you need vast amounts of uranium and years and years of processing in order to get enough nuclear stuff to make a bomb. But plutonium is nearly ready to use out of the box, so to speak.

The biggest point of ignorance on the part of the righties has to do with the distinction between plutonium and uranium, and as I said, lots of journalists, and also lots of politicians, are not clear about this, either. But now you are informed.

So, even though North Korea had both uranium and plutonium, it was the plutonium that concerned the rest of the world. The North Koreans were thought to be years away from doing much with the uranium. But by 1993 it was believed North Korea already had enough plutonium in the can, so to speak, for at least one nuclear weapon.

In 1994, western intelligence sources realized that a reprocessing complex being built at Yongbyon included a gas graphite reactor designed specifically for separating plutonium from nuclear waste. This scared the stuffing out of lots of people. The IAEA believed North Korea was hiding more plutonium somewhere. And then North Korea announced it was restricting IAEA inspections. Matters came to a head in June 1994, when North Korea relinquished its IAEA membership and all the inspectors cleared out of the country.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021226021228/cns.miis.edu/research/korea/nuc/iaea94.htm

But then along came Jimmy. In June 1994, former President Carter went to North Korea to negotiate with Kim Il Sung, president of North Korea. These negotiations were a great success.

http://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/agreedframework.asp

North Korea committed to freezing its plutonium weapons program in exchange for two proliferation-resistant nuclear reactors and other aid. As President Carter explained,

Responding to a standing invitation from North Korean President Kim Il Sung and with the approval of President Bill Clinton, I went to Pyongyang and helped to secure an agreement that North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit I.A.E.A. inspectors to return to the site to assure that the spent fuel was not reprocessed. In return, the United States and our allies subsequently assured the North Koreans that there would be no nuclear threat to them, that a supply of fuel oil would be provided to replace the power lost by terminating the Yongbyon nuclear program and that two modern nuclear plants would also be provided, with their fuel supplies to be monitored by international inspectors. [Carter, "Engaging North Korea," The New York Times, October 27, 2002]

And, in spite of what the righties will tell you, the North Koreans kept this agreement. The plutonium processing at Yongbyon and elsewhere stopped, and IAEA inspectors were allowed back into North Korea. The plutonium processors were sealed with IAEA seals.

This doesn't mean all was peaches and cream with North Korea. Kim Il Sung died in July 1994 and was replaced by his dumber and nuttier son, Kim Jong Il. Head butting and game playing between North Korea and the IAEA continued. In 1998 there were rumors the North Koreans had broken the IAEA seals on the plutonium processors, but inspectors confirmed the seals were still in place. Many western intelligence agencies believed North Korea had resumed processing uranium, however. Consensus was that this situation required watching but was not an immediate concern. Also in 1998, North Korea tested a long-range ballistic missiles.

On the other hand, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, elected in 1998, began a "Sunshine Policy" to lessen tensions and build reconciliation between North and South Korea. In June 2000 the North and South Korean leaders held a historic three-day summit in Pyongyang, the first such contact in 50 years. They signed a pact in which they agreed to work toward reunification. Kim Dae Jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.

So here's where we stood when Bush II became President: Kim Jong Il was (and remains) a genuinely horrible leader whose people were starving, and western intelligence agencies at least suspected he was processing uranium. But relations with South Korea were improving, the IAEA was still inspecting, and the plutonium processors were still sealed.

But then there was Bush.

Kim Dae Jung came to Washington in March 2001 to pay respects to the new U.S. President Bush and ask for his support for the Sunshine Policy. And what happened?

Bush dissed him, that's what. The arrogant little twerp snubbed a Nobel Prize winner and friend to America. And when word of the snub reached North Korea, the "Sunshine Policy" died.

The late, great Mary McGrory wrote:

We should perhaps remember that President Bush has never liked talking to Koreans. His first overseas visitor was the estimable Kim Dae Jung, whom Bush snubbed.

Bush, as he was eager to demonstrate, was not a fan. Kim's sin? He was instituting a sunshine policy with the North, ending a half-century of estrangement. Bush, who looked upon North Korea as the most potent argument for his obsession to build a national missile defense, saw Kim, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, as nothing but trouble. He sent him home humiliated and empty-handed. [McGrory, "Bush's Moonshine Policy," The Washington Post, December 29, 2002; emphasis added].

As a reaction to Bush's unexpected hard-line stance, North Korea cancelled scheduled reconciliation talks with South Korea.

Tomorrow, come back for Part II, in which Bush's continued carelessness and arrogance finally pushed North Korea into resuming plutonium processing. I'll also explain how really bad reporting gave the impression that the deterioration of relations with North Korea was the fault of the Clinton Administration.

Continued: http://www.mahablog.com/oldsite/id34.html

[Spider]

Pretty weak. LOL

LOL , I must be kind to the special people here ......
but how many times has N.Korea pulled this crap ?
once , twice ..... Lets àsk someone you can relate with ,thats right Big Bird ...and Big Bird says ...more then once

http://www.emerchandise.com/images/p/SES/pdMTSES0042.jpg





this post was brought to you from the Letter D ( as in dumbass) and the Number 3

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

LOL , I must be kind to the special people here ......
but how many times has N.Korea pulled this crap ?
once , twice ..... Lets àsk someone you can relate with ,thats right Big Bird ...and Big Bird says ...more then once

http://www.emerchandise.com/images/p/SES/pdMTSES0042.jpg





this post was brought to you from the Letter D ( as in dumbass) and the Number 3

:D

I have to chuckle at how quick he is to give GeeDubya the credit for this reactor shutdown while ignoring the fact that NK has produced six nuclear weapons on the pinhead's watch hitherto (as opposed to zero on Clinton's watch.)

[RkyMtnThunder]

What a comeback... Are you seriously backing the word of a U.N. Weapons inspector? I thought you guys hated the U.N... Let alone their inspectors. Their word sure didn't have any meaning when we were preparing to bomb the **** out of Iraq. Why now?

Oh thats right, because now it supports this idiotic administration. Seriously, put your country before your party and stop carry the GOP's water.

No kidding!


Seemed to have chased him off with that one...

[W*GS]

I see LABF is covering Clinton's flank. As usual.

[Bronco Bob]

I see LABF is covering Clinton's flank. As usual.

I see someone mentioned Clinton and W*gs' head popped up out of its burrow.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I see someone mentioned Clinton and W*gs' head popped up out of its burrow.

:rofl:

And he can't seem to tell the difference between "covering Clinton's flank" and simply setting the record straight/correcting disinformation.