Tag: north korea

Resist the Urge to Confront Kim Jong-Il

The more one learns about North Korea – its unconscionable human rights violations, its gulags and summary executions, the way it locks its citizens in and tortures or kills them when they try to escape over the Chinese border, the way every foreign visitor must follow a strict itinerary and be accompanied by a government … Continue reading “Resist the Urge to Confront Kim Jong-Il”

Playing the Hawk With North Korea

SEOUL – If the Obama administration needed a rogue nation to demonstrate its foreign policy resolve, central casting couldn’t have supplied a better candidate than North Korea. The government in Pyongyang routinely promises to unleash destruction of biblical proportions on its enemies. It has pulled out of international agreements, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty … Continue reading “Playing the Hawk With North Korea”

Neocons Paint Obama as Weak on ‘Rogues’

In what appears increasingly to be an orchestrated campaign, right-wing Republicans and Israel-centered neoconservatives are pulling out all the stops in depicting President Barack Obama as "weak" on national security and promoting democracy abroad. While they have been pressing that charge on Obama since even before he defeated Sen. John McCain in last November’s elections, … Continue reading “Neocons Paint Obama as Weak on ‘Rogues’”

Obama Affirms Alliance With S. Korea Amid Rising Tensions

Amid rising tensions with North Korea, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday assured visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak that Washington was firmly committed to their nearly 60-year alliance and their mutual determination not to yield to Pyongyang’s demands that it be recognized as a nuclear power. "We have not come to a conclusion that North … Continue reading “Obama Affirms Alliance With S. Korea Amid Rising Tensions”