Kim Jong Il Dares Obama
The United States is tracking a North Korean vessel, the Kang Nam, which left port on Wednesday. The ship first made its way south, hugging the China coast. It appears headed for an initial refueling stop in Singapore or a port nearby.
Why the interest in the tramp freighter? The Kang Nam is, in the words of a senior defense source, a “repeat offender,” a vessel known to carry “proliferation materials.” “North Korea does not export anything other than weapons,” said an American official to Fox News. “And this ship is presumed to be carrying something illicit given its past history.”
So Washington wants to look at what is in its hold. On June 12, the Security Council, at the urging of the United States and six other nations, unanimously passed Resolution 1874. The new measure bans Pyongyang from selling arms and requires member states to confiscate and destroy exported weapons that they find.
It also calls upon countries to inspect North Korean cargoes on the high seas — but only “with the consent of the flag state,” in this case, North Korea. Should Pyongyang refuse — a virtual certainty — the United States can, within the terms of the resolution, direct the Kang Nam to “an appropriate and convenient port” for inspection by local officials. Should Pyongyang refuse to divert the ship — another certainty — the resolution contemplates the filing of a report to a UN committee.
Our remedy is to file a report? Security Council discussions stalled over China’s objections to searches on the high seas. And after passage, Beijing made it clear it did not want the United States using muscular measures to enforce Resolution 1874. “Under no circumstances should there be use or threat of the use of force,” said Zhang Yesui, Beijing’s UN ambassador.
Washington, however, is not without countermeasures. The Obama administration can, as the Pentagon says, “poison the host.” The Kang Nam, when it docks, will need to take on fuel and food and will be in no position to object to local authorities inspecting the vessel. India, for instance, has been especially vigilant in searching North Korean cargoes. Singapore can be counted on to give the North Koreans a particularly hard time as well.
Why don’t we have Jimmy Carter inspect the ship? He is a ‘nuculer engineer’ and greatly repected by dictators around the world.
If there is illicit weapons then time to starve them out. There are no innocents in North Korea, just a bunch of people that won’t stand up for themselves. Not our job to bring them democracy its their job.
Starvation will make them get the point.
The most critical test of American strategy and will was Election Day 2008.
We failed.
Miserably.
Should Pyongyang refuse to divert the ship — another certainty — the resolution contemplates the filing of a report to a UN committee.
Oh boy, another UN report. You’d think that bldg. in NYC would be crumbling under the sheer weight of voluminous reports.
…either the Kang Nam is carrying an innocent cargo and Kim is seeking to humiliate us or he thinks he can avoid inspections along the intended route.
Hasn’t the Kang Nam carried nuclear cargo before ? Given Kim’s penchant for diversion and subterfuge (attempting to mislead from where he will launch his next tiny-po-dong, uh, taepodong July 4),it wouldn’t be surprising if the Kang Nam is another diversion.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, if you’re not of the luxuriating “martial class” in North Korea, you can forage for berries & grasses, eat clay, whatever you must to try to survive…(love that Kim…”a stroke-shrivelled 67-year-old”)
New tanks, new missiles, new guns – but hunger rules
Think of the refugees that will be flooding into China & S.Korea?
The teleprompter will blink first.
What if the ship never goes to port? Extra fuel tanks or refueling at sea would ensure that it reaches its destination.
2.SAF
I agree with your political sentiment, but the politicos who are running NK are not going to starve. The population has been dying of starvation for decades. That has been their life. A complete blockade of provisions will not influence the decision-makers, nor will it make the situation any worse for the general population.
The tyrants running the place have their chefs and provisions flown in from Europe and the Mideast. That’s why little Kim is so pudgy and round. His son attended school in Switzerland (I think it was)…certainly didn’t get all his education in NK.
I keep wondering if Joe Biden’s warning to us last fall that our pompous Kimobama’s apparent stupidity in the face of an international incident should expected–I keep wondering if that warning had to do with just one situation or if he’d be willing now to attach a number to it.
It seems I’ve seen about 10 tests in the last 6 weeks where he is stupidly standing there with his thuggish nose high in the air, as he swivels from TOTUS to TOTUS, lecturing us about how all the plugged toilets in the world ARE our fault.
Well, at least the US has proved they can elect a half-black man and neither his race nor his character (lack of) was an obstacle to his selection. If we survive this as a nation, maybe we can get back to the real world and elect someone who is judged, as Martin Luther King said, not on the color of his skin but on the content of his character.
Hope the bambi-worshipping folks will be satisfied with their memories, because I don’t think they will get the chance in this lifetime again to elect someone just because he’s black.
Oh No! Not the dreaded “file a report” to the UN! No wonder North Korea is so ticked at us.
Rut Rowe.
“I have a leetle nuke for youuuuuuu, DohBama! A berry, berry leetle nuke, but, eet weel hurt like a bad moh-skeeta bit on your lanky ankle!” Lub, Kim Illin’ and chillin’
A couple of years under the Obama administration, the people of the USA are going to look like the NK people. Are we going to be innocent people, ruled by a tyrant too?
The US has every right to board and inspect the NK cargo ship. After all we are still at war. NK tore up the cease fire agreement we had last week.
If it does not pull into port to refuel it is going to refuel underway should be quite easy to delay, distract and deny the UNREP without firing a shot.
Well, if our government is collectively stupid enough to outsource our security to the UN, then I guess they are probably also stupid enough to be content with “filing a report” and going back to whatever what they were doing.
Maybe they’ll stamp their foot as well. That’ll show ‘em.
I agree with Duane. We are once again at war with them when Kim “tore up the cease fire” papers. I happen to be a 80 year old Korean Vet. Having spent almost 15 months over there in Japan and then Korea, I fully understand the problem. The night of the cease fire, I was in a squad tent on the lee side of a hill, just a short distance from the present DMZ. It turned out to be one of the worst fire fights we had seen in a long time, up to about 10 PM. The main problem with NK… they can not be trusted any way. They broke the cease fire rule time and time again before I finally left. My last day there, we had a MIG do a flight right down in our compound, so low that I could have hit it with a rock. I feel that we should wait for it to get out of Chinese waters, and then take it, and dare little Kim to just start something so that we could finish the job that we didn`t on July 27, 1953……….Using ANY weapon that we possess.
Douglas, Jimmy Carter inspecting the ship? What a great idea! I wish I had thought about that. Many thanks for a brilliant suggestion.
SAF, I think there are innocents in North Korea, but I like your idea of strangling the regime. Our concern for the North Korean people of today, while understandable, is condemning future generations in the country to Kim-family rule.
We like to think that no one should suffer. Unfortunately, that is no longer possible.
Humiliation, you are right, but, from the standpoint of North Korea, we failed on the election days in 2000 and 2004 as well. Failure is, unfortunately, bipartisan.
tanstaafl, as you point out, the world does not need another U.N. report. It does need another hero, despite what Tina Turner told us. We see no heroes in sight, however. We see every president fail when it comes to North Korea. There are no happy endings for the Korean people–or for us for that matter.
pedro, the refugees will move south to South Korea, not north to China, when the North Korean regime fails.
Barry 0351, yes. The Obama administration does not have a Korea policy, even now. All we are doing at this point is reacting.
rb, who will refuel the North Korean ship at sea? China? Not possible.
katablog.com, yes, it will be a report if the Kang Nam’s destination is Burma, as it is rumored to be. If this is the case, we will not stop it if we accept the restrictions of Resolution 1874.
Duane Phinney, yes, you are right. Many thanks for a great comment.
Barry 0351, I don’t think North Korea can replenish mid-ocean, fortunately.
Meryl, yep, I think you captured the essence of what will happen. We will stamp our feet.
Clinton, thanks for the bit of history. Policymakers should read the part about the North Koreans repeatedly breaking their promises.
As long as Kim Jong Il, and his crowd, want the gravy train to keep on running for themselves, regardless of the cost; anything is justifiable to
make sure the gravy train keeps on running.
I find it refreshing that the truth can be expressed succinctly.
Just wait! Before long, the UN will break bad and go all “Spanish Inquisition” on North Korea. And you know what they say, “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.” Bring out the COMFY CHAIR! Where are the soft pillows?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY&feature=related
regards
David W. Lincoln, you have expressed the truth succinctly. Thank you.
HonestJon, so far, the U.N has been amazingly tolerant of North Korea. But, yes, let’s bring on John Cleese. He can’t do any worse than the last three American presidents.
I know the Son of Kenya doesn’t understand, but the Norks will keep pushing and prodding until they get a reaction, just to see how far they can go before they scurry back into their holes and tell each other how great they are.
Trouble is, the more they test Telepromptus and get no reaction the more reckless they will get. Soon they will hardly fear his strongly-worded letters to the UN.
Has anyone thought of torpedios?
mehere, yes, we have no north Asia policy at the moment. And that is a large part of the reason why we are seeing provocations one after the other from North Korea. Thanks for your on-target comment.
hangnail, no, at least not in Washington.
It’s going to be fascinating when the Great Reconciler is running a hot war with North Korea, when four thousand GI’s are dying a month, instead of every eight years.
Oh my, what will Code Pink have to say about that??
Banned by Huffpo, war with North Korea? In that case, I think we might need F-22s and all the other weapons that have been derided as “so Cold War.”
11. savage24:
“Are we going to be innocent people, ruled by a tyrant too?”
Now you know how a real president looks like and acts.
33. hangnail:
“Has anyone thought of torpedios?”
Do you think the military would reveal their options? They don’t read blogs, either.
36. Banned by Huffpo:
“It’s going to be fascinating when the Great Reconciler is running a hot war with North Korea,”
I bet you it’s going to be a short war: nuclear attacks. China will take over.