Tag Archives: Korean Peninsula

International news

What happened to the Trump-Kim bromance?

Kim Jong Un must have jilted Donald J. Trump.

The two leaders had exchanged warm greetings. Trump called the North Korean tyrant/despot/dictator/murderer a “sharp cookie” and a “strong leader.” I’m not sure what bouquets Kim tossed at the U.S. president in return.

Then the president made some sort of goofy assertion that he and Kim are “in love.”

Now comes word that the North Koreans have launched short-range missiles into the sea. They’re testing their hardware yet again. Oh, and other reports indicate that the North Koreans are stepping up their development of nuclear weapons, despite guarantees from Trump that they were “denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.”

This is what you get when you throw in with a Marxist tyrant, seeming to believe his vacuous promises.

Trump should have taken the posture of being unable to trust Kim Jong Un as far as he could toss his overfed torso. He hasn’t done so.

He “likes” the lunatic who starves his people while pouring money he doesn’t have into building a military arsenal he threatens to use against South Korea or anyone else who stands in his way.

Ah, but Donald Trump is “making America great again.”

Yep, that’ll do it, Mr. President.

International news

Wishing for success creates emotional conflict

I have made no secret of my loathing, disgust and anger at Donald J. Trump’s election to the presidency of the United States.

I won’t back down from any of those feelings.

That all said, I am torn at this moment. The president is on the verge of scoring a major success that if it comes through will benefit the entire planet, not just the country he leads.

North and South Korea might be on the verge of forging a peace agreement that ends officially the Korean War. Moreover, they might be willing to “de-nuclearize” the Korean Peninsula, which of course means that North Korea could abandon its plans to build a nuclear arsenal.

The Korean War ended in 1953 with a ceasefire. They never signed a peace treaty, which means the Koreas remain in a state of war.

The president is likely to take credit bigly for whatever good comes from a peace treaty and a possible disarming of North Korea.

He’ll deserve credit. All of it? I’ll wait for that one.

I fear that Trump will boast and brag his way past any good feelings that would result. Believe me, his critics — such as yours truly — will be hard-pressed to speak kindly of the president, which means it will take little for us to walk back the good thoughts and public pronouncements that will come his way.

However, when the president succeeds, the nation succeeds. We all should be bigger than our personal dislike, distaste and disgust that Donald Trump is at the center of it.

I’ll hope for the best on the Korean Peninsula.

military news

POTUS said what? To whom?

Whoa, Mr. President!

Did I hear this right? The New York Times is reporting that the president of the United States told the leader of The Philippines that we have deployed two nuclear submarines off the Korean Peninsula.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte isn’t your ordinary head of state. He’s a despot, strongman, dictator who has just declared martial law in his country. He appears to be Donald J. Trump’s kind of guy. Tough dude. Strong leader.

But hold on here.

The location of our strategic nuclear arsenal is supposed to be, um, highly classified. It’s a state secret. We never disclose the location of these weapons of war. That’s why we deploy them to travel underwater, they are out of sight, they are intended to sneak up on our potential enemies.

Do you get my drift here?

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-submarines-idUSKBN18K15Y

What in the name of modern warfare is our commander in chief thinking — if that’s what you want to call it? The president reportedly bragged to the Russian foreign minister about the “great intel” he gets and then revealed some classified information to the Russians about our fight against the Islamic State. Now he gets on the telephone in late April with the president of The Philippines and blabs about the location of two nuclear submarines.

Good grief, dude! Do you think there might have been someone out there listening — perhaps, maybe, could be — to what you were telling your pal in Manila?

Hey, do you remember all the questions and concerns about giving this fellow, Trump, the nuclear launch codes?

Are you concerned — now?