dagblog - Comments for "“80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief"

Ok, I said I was done with

artappraiser — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 22:22:27 +0000

In reply to “80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief

Ok, I said I was done with this, but there's breaking facts that show: Kim's being extra uppity but still no WWIII, no knickers in a twist even, calling for international law and solidarity, just like any other president's administration might, go figure:

North Korea Tests Missile as Tillerson Calls for Sanctions (with video with Tillerson's UN statement)

At UN council, Tillerson spells out ways to pressure regime
Says previous policy of ‘strategic patience’ has failed

by Nick Wadhams and Kambiz Foroohar @ Bloomberg, April 28

Following much bullshit

artappraiser — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 05:50:03 +0000

In reply to “80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief

Following much bullshit bluster, we have:

In an apparent shift, Tillerson says U.S. is willing to hold direct talks with North Korea

By Anne Gearan @ The Washington Post, 3 hours ago

The secretary of state will lead U.N. Security Council discussion on Pyongyang’s nuclear threat on Friday, and in interviews with news outlets Thursday, he began to sketch a diplomatic approach focused on international press.

Also see

The Fix: Trump makes empathetic comments about Kim Jong Un

By Aaron Blake @ WaPo's The Fix, April 27

I am done with this. As I told a freaked out friend a week ago: nothing's gonna happen, quit worrying...been there, done this several times before, this is all just a very much more bizarre and flip flopping version of the Kabuki that Bush and Obama admins also played. You can't take leaders' threats on each side seriously, they are Kabuki, that's how this is played. Was very similar with Iran in the past, bloggers get everyone all riled up along the lines of "it's gonna be WWIII!!!!!" and later we find we have like Stuxnet going on, etc. etc. Don't forget we've probably been hacking NK. If someone is planning an execution of a sabotage op, you won't even know it happened until way after the fact. NK would never admit an attack happened, their whole game is pretending no one can touch them, to their own people. If they show they can be attacked, they lose everything.

The latest from Asia Times,

artappraiser — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 03:41:57 +0000

In reply to “80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief

The latest from Asia Times, the opposite of any panic there, where investors rely on the accuracy of their info., I have yet to read in full:

China wouldn’t respond to US strike on N. Korea – how did we get here?

Chinese state media argued on Saturday that China should not respond militarily to a surgical strike on North Korean nuclear facilities, and that should come as a surprise to no one

By Christopher Scott, April 26

US, South Korea quick to hug, make up after THAAD ruckus

Damage control kicked in overnight after scenes of South Koreans protesting against the US milita

By Peter Langan, April 27

Trump & XI had a phone call

artappraiser — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 03:30:15 +0000

In reply to “80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief

Trump & XI had a phone call Monday, according to XI, and there is no serious disagreement implied in the official report, the second last paragraph is even positive about Trump, though overall it is clear that they want to look neutral:

Xi calls for restraint over DPRK tensions in phone conversation with Trump

By Li Qian (CNTV) @ PeoplesDaily.com, 13:33, April 24, 2017

China hopes all parties can exercise "restraint" on the DPRK issue, and not take "provocative actions", said Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump on Monday.

Xi stressed China is strongly against any action that would violate any UN Security Council resolutions. The Chinese president added that only if all parties take their responsibilities and work together can the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue be solved.

The phone conversation came amid rising tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, with concerns growing over the possibility of a sixth DPRK nuclear test.

During the phone call, the two presidents also talked about bilateral ties, pledging close contact through various means to promptly exchange views on major issues of common concern.

Xi called for strengthening communication and cooperation between the two countries in fields including trade, military, law enforcement, the Internet and culture.

Trump has spoken highly of his meeting with Xi at Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month, saying he is looking forward to meeting with President Xi again. Trump also added that he is looking forward to his visit to China .

This was the second phone call between the two leaders this month. On April 12, Xi and Trump talked about the Korean Peninsula situation, and matters related to Syria.

THAT SAID, this article from today makes it very clear that they want to look like they are upset about the THAAD system being deployed in South Korea:

China warns of “necessary actions” as US says THAAD to be operational “in coming days”

By Curtis Stone (People's Daily Online) 12:59, April 27, 2017

Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, told Congress that the THAAD anti-missile defense system would be operational “in the coming days.”

Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Admiral Harris said that North Korea remains the most “immediate threat” to the security of the U.S. and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. believes that North Korea is trying to develop a “preemptive nuclear strike capability” against American cities.

Admiral Harris said that the U.S. must assume North Korea’s claims are true. He added that the U.S. is prepared to fight tonight, if necessary. “That’s why the ROK-US alliance decided last July to deploy THAAD,” he said. He added that the THAAD system will be operational “in the coming days.”

China expressed its “grave concern” after parts of the THAAD system were moved to the deployment site in South Korea, which the U.S. claims is “purely defensive.” China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the deployment of THAAD breaks the strategic balance in the region and ratchets up the tension on the Korean Peninsula.

China strongly urged the U.S. and South Korea to cancel the deployment and withdraw the equipment, and sent a strong warning that China will take necessary actions “to safeguard its own interests.” [.....]

BUT it is impossible to know if THAT is a real threat towards the U.S. Navy or just saber rattling Kabuki for the benefit of North Korea and the more hawkish of their own country.

One shouldn't leave out the factor that Ivanka is all the rage with Chinese women,a huge hit. I'm serious about that. The Chinese leadership likes to keep the public happily distracted with such "opiate".

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Xi and Trump agreed that a certain amount of Kabuki-style saber rattling was called for in both of their situations. (Yes, a Kayfabe kinda thing.)

Tillerson says China asked

artappraiser — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 03:06:43 +0000

In reply to “80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief

Tillerson says China asked North Korea to stop nuclear tests

By Richard Lardner, associated press, WASHINGTON — Apr 27, 2017, 9:56 PM ET

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that China has threatened to impose sanctions on North Korea if it conducts further nuclear tests.

"We know that China is in communications with the regime in Pyongyang," Tillerson said on Fox News Channel. "They confirmed to us that they had requested the regime conduct no further nuclear test."

Tillerson said China also told the U.S. that it had informed North Korea "that if they did conduct further nuclear tests, China would be taking sanctions actions on their own."

Earlier Thursday, the senior U.S. Navy officer overseeing military operations in the Pacific said the crisis with North Korea is at the worst point he's ever seen, but he declined to compare the situation to the Cuban missile crisis decades ago.

"It's real," Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee [....]

Meanwhile, the real skinny

artappraiser — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 23:44:20 +0000

In reply to “80 sets of invisible eyes rolling”: senators unimpressed by White House North Korea brief

Meanwhile, the real skinny was being given over at the House Armed Services Committee by the Navy, along with, as usual, a request for new toys like Russia and China has:

Top Admiral Says Not Looking at Regime Change in North Korea

By Paul McLeary @ ForeignPolicy.com, April 26, 2017 - 12:55 pm

The head of the U.S. Pacific Command warned on Wednesday that North Korea directly threatens American interests and allies in the Pacific region, but tempered his dour assessment of the secretive country’s motivations by saying regime change is not the policy of the United States.

“We want to bring Kim Jong Un to his senses, not to his knees,” Adm Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command told the House Armed Services Committee.
But Harris was blunt when it comes to the threat that Kim represents. North Korea “is clearly in a position to threaten Hawaii today” with missiles, he said, calling for the United States to send more submarines and radar systems to Hawaii, and to build missile interceptors there to meet the threats from North Korea and in increasingly powerful China and Russia.

The calls for more hardware came hours before the White House was slated to host the entire U.S. Senate to deliver a classified briefing on the situation, as U.S. ships are conducting drills with the Japanese and Korean navies near the peninsula in a show of force.

Currently, the U.S. operates missile interceptor sites, designed to shoot down incoming long-range missiles, in Alaska and California, but Harris wants Congress to “consider putting interceptors in Hawaii that defend Hawaii directly.”

North Korea has launched a series of ballistic missile tests this year at a record pace, and is on the verge of conducting its sixth nuclear test in the past decade. In particular, Pyongyang has made great strides developing longer-range missiles and in reducing the size of its warheads.

“North Korea vigorously pursued a strategic strike capability in 2016,” Harris said. “Kim’s strategic capabilities are not yet an existential threat to the U.S., but if left unchecked, he will gain the capability to match his rhetoric.”

The Trump administration has answered these tests with increasingly blunt rhetoric, warning Kim that the United States will not allow him to develop the capability to hit the United States with nuclear missiles.

The admiral also took responsibility for the confusion earlier this month as to where the USS Carl Vinson strike group was operating in the Pacific, after his command announced that it was heading toward Korea, when in fact it was thousands of miles away. He said Wednesday that the Vinson is currently in Philippine Sea near Okinawa, in “striking range” of North Korea, and will continue steaming north.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet — which is the forward-based part of the U.S. Navy in Japan — announced earlier in the day that the ship was conducting training with the Japanese navy. Several other U.S. destroyers are conducting exercises in the Sea of Japan and near the South Korean coast with the Japanese and South Korean navies, according to statements from the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet and Pacific Command.

Harris also warned about increasing Chinese and Russian capabilities in the Pacific region, saying both countries have dispatched their newest and most advanced classes of submarines to the Pacific [.....]