Obama worshipers fell all over themselves when he offered food to N Korea. Wonder how they feel now?

In researching Island Turtle’s article on the folly of President Obama’s agreement to buy the same horse twice (actually the third or fourth time is more accurate) with his 240 kilotons of food, for 8 months of good behavior (until the election)  I was bowled over by the obsequious praise of The One by NY Times readers. 

It took only two weeks for young Kim to announce he was breaking the deal and 6 weeks to launch the rocket which ended in failure.  And it now appears he will detonate a nuclear weapon to add an exclamation point to his defiance of Obama.  Young Kim is now a big cheese with his flock, showing he has no fear of The One.

Here are a few of the comments from the true believers. The Times’ article and complete comments are here, read them all if you can stand it. Yes there were some doubting Thomases who expressed concerns, but most were on the praise heaping side.  I wonder if they have second thoughts now.

Jack  Illinois

This is welcome and encouraging news. If this is the result of a new leader in North Korea I am glad that this could happen. Let's build on this development to stabilize the region and hopefully strengthen our ties to the Korean people.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 9:50 a.m.

Jb  ok

You mean that the war hawks aren't going to shriek and stomp and demand that "we" bomb and invade North Korea? With its nuclear program as far as it is?

Oh, I see. No oil.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 9:50 a.m.

Travis Bennett  New Hampshire

Good news! Peace!
Feb. 29, 2012 at 9:51 a.m

Lisa  NYC

Wow...imagine that, a diplomatic breakthrough which didn't involve going to war. Are you listening, Iran? I'd imagine that those in the US who are beating the drums for war with Iran are not going to like seeing this news because it demonstrates that diplomacy can work - even with whacko dictators at the helm.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:04 a.m

Newton Gregory  Miami

This is encouraging. Way to go Obama administration..Let's build bridges that break down barriers one step at a time and count each victory, even though small, as progress in the right direction.
This is a win win for USA and the world.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:04 a.m

Puristartist  Boulder, CO

God Bless Obama - seriously people, it does make a difference that's he's president.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:05 a.m

Donald Dal Maso  Manhattan

I want to congratulate HILARY CLINTON for her extraordinary work over the past three years. President Obama, you made a terrific choice by enlisting her in the work.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:07 a.m.

Lastcardjb  ct

This is a huge win for international diplomacy - to all those who say Obama doesn't have the chops- take a look at a surging auto industry, the justice brought to many terrorists, the opening of at least a small crack in the North Korean facade and many other small steps forward. Not perfect but damn good.

Also, NK insisting on tying the food to the disarmament, it saves face. They can spin it so their people don't perceive thee government as weak - good politics.
And the people win.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:31 a.m.

Mark T.  Henderson, NV

Another example of this government working quietly, professionally, behind the scenes, to make small improvements around the world. I'll never forget watching the "Correspondents' Dinner" and Obama's hilarious speech, and finding out the next day he knew all the while that we had just gotten bin Laden. And he never said a word. He must have been BURSTING to tell, but he didn't. Very professional. Never saw Bush do ANYTHING comparable.

Of course there's so much stuff going on behind the scenes we'll never know about, but that's just the world we live in. Good victory for Obama and Secretary of State Clinton.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:32 a.m.

Mehrdad Sahba  Sarasota, FL

This is triumph of diplomacy and sane thinking over sabre rattling which hopefully will add to promise of less nuclear weapons and a safer world for all humanity.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:32 a.m

Rene Joseph Louis Lefebvre  Montreal

We can praise President Obama and his administration for engaging North Koea in a way that lead to today's announcement that will open North Korea's nuclear facilities. China and Russia had much more leverage to engage this secretive nuclear country but it seems that their policies toward North Korea were only facilitating the late Kim Jung-il to increase his nuclear military arsenal while starving his people and depriving his country of much needed money and revenues used to buid and maintain his nuclear arsenal and facilities instead of making sure every North Korean citizen had enough food to survive.

I hope that Republicans are not going to use this opening and try to point at President Obama as being weak on defense and caving to North Korea's traditional threats and chest beating. It is in everybody's interest that this openeing, "although limited" be used to continue to engage Korea's new leader in a face saving and not try to humiliate him and his people by blocking food aids in order to get more demands and risk going back the terrible policies of the past. Russia and China should also send positive signs to encourage North Korea to continue in this deirection. They must show clearly to North Korea will benefit from taking further steps similar to the change of mind they just demonstrated. After blocking twice the UN's Security Counsel votes against Syria, Russia and China must demonstrate they are not only mentors for crual dictators.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:33 a.m.

James Hadley  Orleans, MA

How true! You can bet that the Republican candidates will denounce this as another enormous mistake by Obama. But at least no-one will have to explain to Herman Cain where N. Korea is located.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:34 a.m

Scott  Massachusetts

A step at a time. Good work by the Administration. Hillary Clinton is doing such a great job -- she is completely inspiring.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 10:38 a.m

Cedar  Colorado

The Republican candidates for all governmental offices can yap all day long about the social agenda they want to foist on the US, but nothing will overshadow the accomplishment of getting the worst rogue nuclear power in the world to stop its weapons development programs. Why? North Korea can blow up parts of Japan, South Korea, and the US, including large population centers, easily. If the new "dear leader" has the sense to take aid in exchange for peace and stick to the agreements, then real progress has been made. The trouble on our side has been the right wing ideological idiocy of Bush and others in refusing to meet, much less negotiate, with North Korea. The trouble on their side has been similar ideological volatility. Combine those two ideologies and you get only closer to danger.

I cannot see that any of the current crop of Republican blow hards would ever have been able to accomplish this since they are too knotted up in their own radical right wing ideas and threats against peace (or too focused on figuring out clever ways to deny basic health care to women, treat our veterans like garbage, discriminate against gays and reduce medical and educational benefits to the poor and needy all in the name of reduced taxes and "self sufficiency".)

As a country we must be vigilant and ready to meet any military threat, but must equally be ready to make peace. This is a great accomplishment for America and our current President, even if it is only an incremental step.
Feb. 29, 2012 at 12:06 p.m

Final comment by Island Turtle:  Eat your words liberals!

More toothless sanctions coming against North Korea

For two weeks now the US, Japan, South Korea, Russia and China have been wrestling with the response to North Korea’s nuclear test on May 25. Once again it is nothing more than a gesture, filled with empty rhetoric. The plan is for shipping from North Korea to be boarded and inspected if it is suspected nuclear or ballistic missile technology is being transferred to another country. Sounds great and it is a good approach. The Kennedy administration took this course of action during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Soviet ships were never boarded because they knew they would be. They simply stopped in their tracks and never crossed the “no go” line. But our friends the Chinese and the Russian threw a hooker into the plan. Permission must be given by the country whose flag the ship carries—most likely North Korea in the case of banned goods. Fat chance! From yesterday’s Independent (UK). If the text indeed wins passage before the full Council tomorrow, it may not be long before North Korea, which has a record of belligerence in face of international censure, makes its opinion felt. The country's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper this week said any sanctions from the UN would be seen as a declaration of war that would be met with "due corresponding self-defence measures". Even more ominously, North Korea itself said on Tuesday it would respond by using nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive". It is not clear whether intercepting ships on the high seas will work in practice. The draft text says that a boat can be stopped and boarded en route to or from the country but only if permission is given by the country whose flag the ship is carrying. If a ship is flying the North Korean flag, it is hardly likely such permission will be given. In those circumstances, the vessel will in theory be expected to submit to inspection once in port. I seriously doubt Syria or Iran, the most likely destinations for nuclear and missile goods or technology, will submit to a UN sanctioned inspection of ships in their ports. The UN is a great debating society, but a miserable failure at stopping nuclear proliferation.

Foreign policy … Failing grades for Obama and Hillary

Little was made of foreign policy achievements for the first 100 days by either Obama or the press. There is a reason. It is abysmal.

The five main areas of concern are North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. North Korea. After Kim launched his “satellite” which failed to achieve orbit, we took him to task at the UN. Even got the UN to pass sanctions on three companies involved in missile work, none of whom have we ever traded with. Kim threw a hissy fit and announced he would restart his plutonium producing reactor to make more weapons and refused to attend the Six Party talks, making them now, the Five Party talks. At our urging, Russia sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Pyongyang to smooth things out and got snubbed. At least he got 9,000 miles of perks from Aeroflot for the trip. Iran. No progress at all.

Ahmadinejad continues to snarl and threaten the dismantlement of Israel. There is no talk of resolving the nuclear stalemate. We have proposed talks to have talks to discuss it. The State Department is very good at that. The new Netanyahu government has turned the tables on the US which is pressuring it for a two state solution. Bebe has said he would be glad to talk about that, once Obama has succeeded in resolving Iran’s nuclear threat. Good hardballing Bebe.

Afghanistan. Obama’s personal diplomacy during his European trip resulted in a commitment for 5,000 troops to help in our efforts. Only problem, none of them are combat troops. All are trainers. Perhaps the French are worried Obama might beat them at their own game and bug out first. If only the French would send 900 military chefs instead, but alas mais non.

Iraq. Frictions are developing between Maliki and Hillary over making overtures to the Baathists who ran Saddam’s government. Maliki will have none of it. No kumbaya for him, he lost too many relatives. Something triggered the unusual public statement by Hillary, that “We are committed to Iraq.” Possibly it was all the talk of “date certain withdrawals” and “over the horizon redeployments” for the last few years that has Maliki on edge.

Pakistan. This is turning into a disaster. Remember they have about 5 dozen nuclear weapons floating around. Well Zardari felt the best way to solve the Taliban problem was to give them the Swat valley, sort of like what Neville Chamberlain did 70 years ago. But they got grabby and took neighboring Buner too about 60 miles away from the capital, Islamabad. Soon the world could be faced with a nuclear armed Taliban government in Pakistan. Scary!

Will Obama follow through on his pledge of August 2007? From the Washington Post:

…that as president he would be prepared to order U.S. troops into that country unilaterally if it failed to act on its own against Islamic extremists.

 No one thinks he will. And that’s the problem. No one knows what to expect of this inexperienced, naive administration.

Another “Serious Warning” for North Korea

During the early 1960s the People’s Republic of China (mainland China in those days) would issue an incessant number of sternly worded diplomatic complaints, called “Serious Warnings.” They were delivered on their domestic radio broadcasts. They were generally issued for some perceived territorial incursion, usually a US Navy ship entering Hong Kong or a flyby of the disputed Paracel or Spratly islands in the South China Sea. They numbered in the hundreds. They usually read like this: At 0800 on 29 June a US Navy ship intruded into the territorial waters of the People’s Republic of China south of (you name it). This is a clear violation of international law. For this the People’s Republic of China issues Serious Warning number 283. Often there would be two or three a day. No one in the US Government took the Serious Warnings seriously. They were toothless complaints issued for domestic consumption. The recent flap over North Korea’s missile launch shows the same impotence by us as the Chinese exhibited in the 1960s. Calling an emergency UN Security Council meeting with the knowledge that any substantive action will be vetoed by Russia or China accomplishes nothing. Best to keep silent.