Well, they’re claiming that it was, and there’s evidence that it happened in the form of an earthquake,so that’s how everyone is betting. Japan is calling for an emergency UNSC meeting; South Korea, dealing simultaneously with this and the suddenly-more-murky suicide of its former President, is doing the same. The White House hasn’t put up the President’s official statement on this yet, but you can read it here – it differs from the White House statement in 2006 most notably in its unconscious reliance on the UNSC to resolve this situation. Also missing is any indication that the President has personally consulted with our allies in the region, but no doubt he’ll address that when he holds a press conference this morning on the North Korean crisis. Note that I am merely assuming at this point that there will be one, and that it will take place before noon.
Meanwhile, John Bolton predicted that this test was going to happen last week; he also noted last week that the administration wasn’t taking the possibility of a second test all that seriously. Compare the White House statements from today and 2006 again and ask yourself, Which one sounds like it was written by people taken by surprise? Also ask yourself, Is Bolton right when he suggests that not taking even a soft line on this will merely encourage North Korea – and Iran – to proceed?
Please also note that we are in a situation where two of the biggest current, active, and intractable threats to world peace are rogue nations simultaneously pursuing nuclear weapons and missile technology. Successful creation of both will put at immediate risk our regional allies; allies that we have spent a lifetime cultivating; and who are genuinely alarmed at the activities of their neighbors. And in both cases, the enemies of said rogue nations were picked for essentially irrational reasons, meaning that normal rules of deterrence may or may not work.
Meanwhile, President Obama wants to gut missile defense programs*.
Um, no. That’s stupid.
Moe Lane
*Via FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog, via Michelle Malkin.
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Steve Maley
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
So China is using an Obama play
djemi (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 9:59AM EST (link)Distraction.
China doesn’t want to discuss anything but national security with that group of Congress critters that are on a week long trip to talk about Climate Change, i.e Energy Costs, not to mention the not talking about human rights.
As for a ‘press conference this morning’ MOE, not enough time to get any polling data, and it being a holiday and all, maybe by the middle of next week we’ll get that.
“If I can’t shoot rabbits,then I can’t shoot fascist”
“With age, comes Wisdom, but only if you are paying Attention, son” my ‘Old Man’
RS Help files (h/t JLenardDetroit) Grassroots in Michigan
Moes Strategy
TOTUS
red4ever (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 10:34AM EST (link)Don’t forget the teleprompter probably got a long weekend too. So, the President has no idea what he is supposed to say.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante
Not to worry, the TOTUS was contacted w/ the Bat Signal
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 11:56AM EST (link)GeorgeJetson
red4ever (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 3:55PM EST (link)your pics are fantastic. Thank you.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante
Thanks, Red4Ever --nt--
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Tuesday, May 26th at 3:03AM EST (link)It's time for the old "strongly worded letter" approach!
bk (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 10:00AM EST (link)"I got this"
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 11:32AM EST (link)holding his breath...
Jack (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 10:08AM EST (link)Now that the messiah has stamped his little feet and shaken his fist at his blackberry I guess everything is ok. I mean he has set up the US that by the end of his administration we will be nothing more then a third world lackey.
We have a coward for a President.
Jack
“If at age 20 you are conservative you have no heart. It at age 30 you are liberal you have no brains.” Sir Winston Churchill
Obama = Chamberlain
djemi (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 10:13AM EST (link)What else can you say
“If I can’t shoot rabbits,then I can’t shoot fascist”
“With age, comes Wisdom, but only if you are paying Attention, son” my ‘Old Man’
RS Help files (h/t JLenardDetroit) Grassroots in Michigan
Moes Strategy
wow he is really serious...
Jack (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 11:03AM EST (link)Nobama not just condemned the North Korean actions he “strongly” condemned them. I bet that made Kim wet his pants and dive under his bed.
Jack
“If at age 20 you are conservative you have no heart. It at age 30 you are liberal you have no brains.” Sir Winston Churchill
"Peace in our time?"
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 7:23PM EST (link)Hope (left) and Change (right)
An Act of Defiance
red4ever (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 10:11AM EST (link)That’s what we are calling it these days? What is the punishment? A timeout?
You cannot negotiate with a crazy person. It only leads the crazy person to think he is not crazy and is right in his actions.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante
I think Obama's actions wrt CAPT Phillips and the Somalia Pirates
Danielle Davis (ocleverone) (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 11:11AM EST (link)give North Korea the answer they need. He’s not going to do anything.
He just will wait and “hope” for the best.
I remember Reagan and the Achilles Largo incident – the action spoke.
To me, “consensus” seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects … There are still people in my party who believe in “consensus” politics. I regard them as Quislings, as traitors … I mean it. — Margaret Thatcher
Obama's strutting in front of a mirror,
johnt Monday, May 25th at 11:19AM EST (link)Axelrod is insulting Miss California, Emanuel is either stabbing a table or fixating on a radio personality, we’re in good hands.
There had better be some adults in the back room somewhere, otherwise we are in trouble.
“a man’s admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him”. Tocqueville
"Not much gets by him"
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 11:49AM EST (link)Fife Security Agency
Taken straight from a Google search for Barney Fife material.
Isnt it time we gave Japan 'The Bomb'?
Alberta (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 2:40PM EST (link)And South Korea and Taiwan too. Let them act as a check on China. Id tell China that if they didnt get a controllable regime in NK then we will let their neighbours get the Bomb, period.
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.
Abraham Lincoln
Would require an amendment to Japan's constitution... nt
rbdwiggins (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 2:46PM EST (link)“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan
Giving Japan "the bomb" would require...
rbdwiggins (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 2:56PM EST (link)an amendment to Japan’s constitution.
Reply To This is my friend.
“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan
and it's about time they made the changes
JLenardDetroit (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 3:06PM EST (link)or atleast begin the discussion as pressure to Russia and China to get their s— together and get on NoKo.
Regards from NoMoTown (the MOTORlessCITY)
“Liberals, looking to do for? America what they’ve done for? Detroit! which is DESTROY IT!”
“I think, therefore I am Conservative”
“Conservative by choice, Republican by necessity”
“You can lead a Liberal to the Truth/Facts, but you cannot make them THINK!”
“Romney [No, not my first choice] does NOT have a MORMON problem. He has a, far too many Americans; these days; are MORONS problem!”
Follow @JLenardDetroit
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Heil “O” Hell No Obamao is NOT MY PRESIDENT! “No U won’t”
I want “O” to FAIL (here, here, & whole Diary (Ofail) here, is why)
“The first Liberal was Satan” – a Rush caller (other Quotes)
Right now
red4ever (Diary) Monday, May 25th at 3:55PM EST (link)I think that Amendment would sail through faster than porkulous.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante
It's Not Voters' "Right" to Remain Willfully Ignorant
reaganiterepublicanresistance Tuesday, May 26th at 11:47AM EST (link)Somehow all the talk of how Kim is a crackpot eccentric, while Obama is portrayed as fatherly, all-knowing, and wise doesn’t quite square with reality when the “crackpot” is running circles around our flawless messiah.
This is the same Obama that was apparently busy with his puppy-vetting process or playing basketball while the Russians where nabbing our Afghan supply air-base in Kyrgizstan.
Obama is endangering our national security, a failure of his most primary duty as president… maybe we should draw a line here?
Living in a celebrity-driven/liberal/MSM fantasy world is not a right of Obama supporters to cling-to indefinitely, as it’s both the voters and the press’ duty to make informed, good-faith decisions… not waste power making a hollow fashion statement instead.
It’s rapidly getting to the point where this kind of willfully-ignorant “thinking” is not just irresponsible, but dangerous. Obamania’s sheeple are deeply delusional, and as Obama’s enablers, these fools are going to get us killed.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/
The Reaganite Republican
We Have A Chinese Problem, Not A North Korean One
azletx Tuesday, May 26th at 12:15PM EST (link)Interesting article / editorial, that I agree with as to to whom is enabling North Korea’s nuclear program.
If it weren’t for Beijing, Pyongyang would be impotent……..(more at Forbes)
http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/25/kim-jong-il-nuclear-china-obama-hu-jintao-opinions-columnists-north-korea.html