Kim sees his nuclear program as essential to his ability to have influence on the world stage. And, like his summit counterpart, the Very Stable Genius, he doesn't take Kindly to gestures of disrespect, which is how he views sanctions.
So he basically said to the VSG, when the terms - get rid of your program, and then we lift sanction - became clear, "You have that backwards, pal."
But right now I have a question for the shills and throne-sniffers, who got all gooey in the britches over the prospect of a new era of unicorns and rainbows (including most definitely Sean Hannity, who was dripping his bodily fluids all over the scenic parks of Hanoi): Can we finally jettison the talk of 5-D chess?Donald Trump's talks with Kim Jong-un ended abruptly on Thursday as the president said he was forced to walk away after the North Korean dictator demanded that all sanctions be lifted in return for giving up only some of his nukes.Trump said the final snag that caused the sudden breakdown was over sanctions – and Kim's push to have all of them lifted in exchange for a concession Trump and his secretary of state could not live with.
Conservatives with their heads on straight have always understood that obsequious appeasement of rogue-state dictators always ups the danger level. It's why we had a Cold War with the Soviet Union. It's why it was widely understood that the JCPOA was a disaster. (And take a moment to note that the current president - he of this collapsed summit - had the good sense and courage to get out of that deal. Exhibit A in the case for his complete lack of a set of guiding foreign-policy principles, and lack of consistency more generally.)
If you want to just consider his inconsistency within the parameters of North Korea policy, consider that he has surrounded himself with advisors who well understand the principle state above, about dealing with rogue-state dictators, and has then proceeded to exhibit behavior we've always found disgusting and alarming in leftist peaceniks, and, until the advent of the VSG phenomenon, would never have tolerated in a Republican president. (The closest we came to doing so was Bush 43 and the utterly useless Six-Way Talks, but I know I personally was not on board with that program.)
I mean, "beautiful letter," "talented leader loved by his people," "warm relationship" - this is VSG-style winging it in the most flamboyant manner.
And now it appears we may be back to the basic situation we've been dealing with for decades.
Brad Thor's tweet sums up the essence of the problem succinctly:
Doesn't read his briefing reports, doesn't listen to experts, and thinks his "gut" is better-tuned than everyone else's"brains." What a narcissistic amateur.The shills argue that the VSG has always been a doer, not a reader, and that that's what makes him such a refreshing figure on the scene, able to take unorthodox approaches and get surprising results.
Except, at least in this case, the result was not surprising at all.
I suppose the irony of Trump's own nuclear proliferation rattling the cages of China and Russia is lost somewhere. MAGA! History and the rest of the world be damned (unkess we have to have Israel's ass of course).
ReplyDeleteI don’t understand this. What is “Trump’s nuclear proliferation”? My understanding is that our arsenal hasn’ grown or been upgraded much in recent years.
ReplyDeleteYou mean Trump has not sought to expand the niclear weapons budget nor rattled Russia and China's fears over which they've threatened retaliation in kind? You must see some hairs to split.
ReplyDeleteThis is a somewhat different subject, but okay. The current administration realizes that the US must maintain unquestioned nuclear-force superiority, in terms of size and modernization, to meet the strategic threat posed by those two adversaries (Russia and China).
ReplyDeleteI see. Everybody sees.
ReplyDelete"The international arms-control architecture is at risk of collapsing. Each and every nuclear-armed state has a grave responsibility to prevent this catastrophe from happening. The responsibility of the United States is unquestionably more significant. Even the great victor of the Cold War is condemned to lose any nuclear war simply because if that happens, everyone loses."
ReplyDeletehttps://scroll.in/article/913654/its-a-new-era-of-nuclear-rearmament-and-united-states-is-leading-the-march
Well obviously. That's why we need the best deterrent on the planet.
ReplyDelete