Patterico's Pontifications

4/13/2009

U.N. Finally Decides North Korean Missile Launch Violated U.N. Resolution

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:22 am



It took eight days just to get the U.N. to admit that North Korea broke a resolution with its recent missile launch. Ed Morrissey notes that the U.N. response is reminiscent of the strongly worded memo mocked in the movie “Team America” — except that this memo wasn’t even strongly worded.

This is just a reminder that the U.N. is utterly worthless when it comes to matters affecting our security.

A Beldar post that I missed during my vacation last week addresses this issue:

So what did Barack Obama do about North Korea’s missile launch, made in defiance of the United Nations and world opinion, made to intimidate and threaten our staunch allies Japan and South Korea, and made to humiliate the United States?

He toured Europe. Where he blamed America first for all the world’s problems, winning applause from reflexively anti-American crowds and not a damned thing of value more from our European allies.

Then he came home and cut production of the preeminent air superiority fighter of the first half of the 21st Century.

Bush did nothing of substance to address the North Korean threat, which arose when Bill Clinton made a naive deal with North Korea. But, whatever his faults, at least Bush understood that the U.N. was not the place to go to address our national security concerns. And he didn’t blame America for the world’s problems.

What will it take to get Barack Obama to learn these lessons?

109 Responses to “U.N. Finally Decides North Korean Missile Launch Violated U.N. Resolution”

  1. Can’t the poor man just eat his waffle in peace?

    nk (52e9a9)

  2. Good news for the LightBringer; North Korea will soon have the ability to deliver fresh fruit and vegetables directly to the White House.

    Old Coot (27af0c)

  3. Barcky should threaten to send Helen Thomas and Madeline Albright to do the booty shake with Kim Jong Il.

    JD (5e0805)

  4. Patterico: “What will it take to get Barack Obama to learn these lessons?”

    My fear is that it will take a catastrophic attack on the U.S. or on U.S. interests/property such as the attack on our embassys or on the U.S. Cole.

    GM Roper (85dcd7)

  5. Really Patrick, the Proliferation Security Initiative, the push on Ballistic Missile
    Defense, what would you realistically have
    had him do, after years of working on these
    6 party talks, where with the possible exception
    of Japan, no one cares that N. Korea is building
    up a ballistic missile delivery system.

    narciso (4e0dda)

  6. What will it take to get Barack Obama to learn these lessons?

    Not sure that’s possible under any circumstance. His outlook on the US vis a vis the rest of the world is a result of serious indoctrination from an early age.

    Chris (a24890)

  7. I’m still wondering why the GOP has been virtually silent regarding his furious backpedalling on the missile defense system. While it’s always fun to watch the Euros squirm when their faux hatred of the US eventually backfires on them, this is a matter of importance for the entire world, and not just the Euroweenies.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  8. Obama is not interested in defending America. His interest lies in creating a situation where it is possible for a crisis to exist to enable him to declare an emergency, extending government power to deal with said emergency. Most likely ending with a loss of freedom for us citizens. It then becomes government of the people and for the people, but no longer by the people. Obama has espoused radical socialism all of his life. His first mentor Frank Davis, was a communist. What do y0u expect him to do in a position of power?

    Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (e461c0)

  9. “at least Bush understood that the U.N. was not the place to go to address our national security concerns.”

    – Patterico

    Heh heh heh…

    Yeah.

    At least not when they gave him answers he didn’t want to hear.

    Leviticus (68eff1)

  10. That’s the point, Leviticus. The UN has its own agenda….which, surprisingly enough, does not completely match the US’s national security concerns.

    Steverino (69d941)

  11. The UN and their strongly worded letters .. is there anything they CAN accomplish? [No]

    As for NK: Frankly I doubt Kim has many secrets from our intelligence agencies. This isn’t old times; the Koreas are not even close to being evenly matched any more. We’ve had a couple of generations of progress to improve our technology and stock SK while they’ve had … the Kims.

    I’m far from convinced that this puny little rocket was of much concern to anyone. Did you all see the flight path? I think my fireworks got closer to space last 4th of July than that sorry excuse for a rocket.

    Never forget (or underestimate) the technological superiority of our side when it comes to missile threats. We’ve got a well fed and brilliant population of distinguished scientists. Kim’s got a handful of malnourished but well-indoctrinated scientists of dubious academic stature.

    While it is imperative that we keep a vigilant eye on NK (and we’ve got more than one on them, make no mistake), they don’t scare me OR our allies.

    Harvey M Anderson (a664fb)

  12. The first Secretary-General of the United Nations was:

    (a) Dag Hammarskjold
    (b) U Thant
    (c) Kurt Waldheim
    (d) Alger Hiss

    Official Internet Data Office (4fbbd2)

  13. Please remember that the UN has held conferences in their NYC headquarters addressing the evil scourge of “Zionism,” replete with maps handed out to attendess with Israel basically wiped off the map. They should’ve been evicted decades ago from these shores, and banished to the hellhole countries that they so valiantly defend against the treacherous US. Even New Yorkers hate the UN, primarily because their staff and ambassadors routinley mess up traffic downtown with the huge limos and routinely flout traffic laws and right – of – ways. Diplomatic immunity trumps all, of course.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  14. However, Harvey, Obama is cutting out of the budget our “technological superiority” by canceling the ABM programs including the airborne laser program.

    SPQR (72771e)

  15. they don’t scare me OR our allies.

    Harvey, you should read the celebrated biography of Charles Lindberg (written by his wife), you two have a lot in common regarding your scoffing of threats to our country.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  16. SPQR, as I said earlier, I’m still waiting for someone, anyone in the GOP to stand up and start attacking this fecklessness.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  17. SPQR, we have more tricks up our sleeve than the flying laser beam plane, although that sounded very promising.

    For the cost of development of one of those planes, we can darken the sky with drones. The combination of potentially thousands of live HDTV feeds in the sky spotting targets and high precision missiles on a ship far away ready to blow anything up that needs blowing up, we get incredible tactical superiority, up-to-the-instant intelligence and all this without putting our service men and women in harm’s way.

    That’s a good deal.

    Obama’s will may ultimately falter and his experience may not be up to the task before him, but our military technology will be better when he leaves office than it is today because of our military’s drive to improve.

    Harvey M Anderson (a664fb)

  18. Dmac, you may be confusing me for someone who did not just say vigilance is imperative.

    Harvey M Anderson (a664fb)

  19. This is just a reminder that the U.N. is utterly worthless when it comes to matters affecting our security.

    “[W]orthless” would be a step up. As it currently operates, preventing decisive international actions against real dangers, interfering with rescue and humanitarian missions and giving rogue states a prominent forum to spread propaganda, the UN is worse than useless. It is an active impediment to world peace.

    tim maguire (4a98f0)

  20. Harvey, drones are not anti-ballistic missile systems.

    SPQR (72771e)

  21. What will it take to get Barack Obama to learn these lessons?

    Far more time than we have, I’m afraid.

    Dr. K (eca563)

  22. Obama is not interested in defending America. His interest lies in creating a situation where it is possible for a crisis to exist to enable him to declare an emergency, extending government power to deal with said emergency.

    You know, i recall leftist extremists making exactly this claim about President Bush and the war on terror.

    It’s no more plausible now than it was in 2002.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  23. aphrael, it was not the claim of “leftist extremists” but that of the Democratic party itself. While not plausible in truth, the leadership of the Democratic party pretended it was a factual claim.

    SPQR (72771e)

  24. SPQR

    Do you realize we use drones to find not only missiles, but the supply chain fueling and maintaining them? And then we use that intelligence to blow all that stuff up before it attacks us or our allies? And after that we blow up the garage where the trucks that supplied that middle were housed.

    Stop pretending we are weak when we are not.

    You smell like a cold war relic. Those days and the TRS-80s computers that powered them are long gone.

    Harvey M Anderson (869e6e)

  25. Harvey, please tell me on what date Obama will blow up the supply chain to North Korea’s ballistic missiles.

    SPQR (72771e)

  26. you may be confusing me for someone who did not just say vigilance is imperative

    No, I don’t think so – you expressed a profoundly unserious view of things as they stand at present:

    I’m far from convinced that this puny little rocket was of much concern to anyone. Did you all see the flight path? I think my fireworks got closer to space last 4th of July than that sorry excuse for a rocket.

    Never forget (or underestimate) the technological superiority of our side when it comes to missile threats. We’ve got a well fed and brilliant population of distinguished scientists. Kim’s got a handful of malnourished but well-indoctrinated scientists of dubious academic stature

    So I’m guessing that the nuclear materials that NK’s been selling to our enemies over the past decade are deemed to be completely worthless by your expert estimation, yes? Then please tell us how Iran was able to rapidly ramp up their manufacture of nuclear capablities in the past few years, or how the Syrians were able to suddenly build an advanced nuke reactor that was destroyed by the Israelis less than a year ago. Or have you forgotten these pesky facts that don’t fit with your comfortable meme?

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  27. You smell like a cold war relic.

    And you smell like a narcissistic quisling.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  28. Those days and the TRS-80s computers that powered them are long gone

    Gee, does that include my Atari and Commodore 64 as well? Excelllent point, that.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  29. Hey if you guys want to pretend we are weak and vulnerable, go for it. I don’t buy it.

    SPQR: You want dates from me? You think that all information should be free and the state should not keep a fact like that secret? Childishness

    Dmac: when I said vigilance is imperative but I’m not scared of NK, that means vigilance is imperative but I’m not scared of them. If you want to take the second half without the first, you’re just trolling me. You’ve been called out and nothing more you say will be considered part of the conversation, troll.

    Harvey M Anderson (89f4a3)

  30. No, Harvey, childishness is your behavior.

    You see, if Obama is not going to attack the support structure of the NKPA ballistic missile system then the fact that we have the ability to do so is irrelevant. Because we won’t destroy them before they are used, then the only useful capability is to be able to destroy them when they actually are used.

    But your only response to these observations is some silly name calling.

    SPQR (72771e)

  31. SPQR:

    the fact that we have the ability to do so is irrelevant

    I already conceded the point that Obama’s will may falter in my first post, SPQR.

    Here’s me:

    Obama’s will may ultimately falter and his experience may not be up to the task before him, but our military technology will be better when he leaves office than it is today because of our military’s drive to improve.

    Demanding dates from me is pure childishness, and you cannot escape that, but I’m not convinced you are a troll like the other guy. I think you’re a cold war relic who really thinks flying planes with laser beams on them are gonna save us all.

    It is OUR MILITARY I’m supporting and you are against me.

    There was once a time when conservatives could be counted on to back the military. I guess those days are gone, too.

    Harvey M Anderson (a664fb)

  32. The outline of military procurement priorities announced by Sec.Gates would be valuable if they had any chance of being enacted into law.
    His list will be whittled down by the usual suspects in the Congress to fund their dreams of a Socialist Revolution of the fundamental structure of America.
    Therefore, I can no more think that when Duh-1 leaves office that our military technology will be better than it is today, than I can think that the financial sector will be independent of the wishes and desires of the political power centers in DC.

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  33. You’ve been called out and nothing more you say will be considered part of the conversation, troll

    Projection, thy name is Hawvey. Don’t look now, but your extreme defensiveness is showing. I picture a 16 – year old pounding his keyboard as he writes these screeds, replete with tiny, balled – up fists.

    Demanding dates from me is pure childishness,

    Translation – I’ve got nothing to back up my inane statements and I don’t have to, so there! Quite mature, don’t you think?

    It is OUR MILITARY I’m supporting and you are against me.

    I forget – who’s being childish in this scenario?

    There was once a time when conservatives could be counted on to back the military.

    I was waiting for the inevitable straw man argument. Hawvey completes the Troll Trifecta -projection, namecalling and finally the massive construct of bales of hay. Take a bow, Hawvey!

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  34. 0/10

    Harvey M Anderson (a664fb)

  35. This is just a reminder that the U.N. is utterly worthless when it comes to matters affecting our security.

    Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rantings from the right about another legacy from President Roosevelt. Well, child, here’s a reminder of how priceless a forum it can be: the Cuban Missile Crisis, October, 1962.

    Ask Dana Perino about it. And I’m prepared to wait until ‘hell freezes over’ for her to explain to historians how, as press secretary to the President of the United States, she knew nothing about it.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  36. #8- Thank God President Kennedy did. Or your Post Toasties would still be glowing in the dark.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  37. They don’t teach about American Resoluteness in school anymore, it reflects poorly on Liberal Fecklessness.

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  38. Dana Perino was born in 1972, so I doubt that she was aware of much that happened in 1962, at least contemporaneously.

    carlitos (92022c)

  39. #37- Apparently a knowledge of history and the consequences of geopolitical events was a prerequesite for employment in the Bush administration. That explains everything.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  40. #38- was not a prerequaite. Typo.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  41. How does Dana Perino have anything to do with this? Never mind, DCRAP-ASPCA is exhibiting its end-stage BDS again.

    I will be happy to compare and contrast Perino and Gibbs.

    JD (5e0805)

  42. […] given that the Obama Administration cannot get China or Russia on board for anything more than a weakly-worded note from the UN in the case of North Korea. However, it is a more realistic approach than the brand of […]

    The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Unrealpolitk on Iran (e2f069)

  43. DCSA, does your magnificent commend of history include the information that the Soviets were not present to exercise their veto when the ONLY UN action took place, the Korean War ?

    The Cuban Missile Crisis, which I remember well, was a consequence of Kennedy’s fecklessness in Vienna at his first meeting with Khrushchev. It ended when the GRU became concerned that Kennedy would be overthrown in a coup if the Soviets did not back off. That information came from Soviet archives that were opened for about five years in the 90s.

    The UN had NOTHING to do with it.

    Mike K (90939b)

  44. But, whatever his faults, at least Bush understood that the U.N. was not the place to go to address our national security concerns.

    That’s why sane human beings around the planet, over 50 years old, thank God Almighty that George W. Bush was not President of the United States in October, 1962.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  45. Come on, now. ASPCA has never met a fact he didn’t discount in his continuing effort to educate everyone else on the truth.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  46. #42- It was the perfect forum to expose the Soviet play. If you lived through it, you’d know.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  47. Mike is correct – during Yeltsin’s brief period in Russia, he opened the KGB archives and those of the Politboro. After the first Kennedy – Krushev meeting, the Soviet Premier was convinced he could be taken quite easily, and a near – disaster was thus set in motion. Those same archives also indicted both of the Rosenbergs as KGB agents, and that the Russians were deathly afraid of what Nixon might do if they pushed him too far. Nixon reportedly had taken Breznev aside after one of the START discussions, and mentioned that if they didn’t back off immediately in Angola, all bets were off, and that the nuclear option would be on the table shortly. Nixon knew that if they thought he was crazy enough to pull the trigger, it would have the desired effects.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  48. So let’s recap Doggcrp’s many varied and impressive accomplishments (please add to the list, there’s so many already):

    – met Von Braun personally in his dorm room hallway

    – worked at NASA

    – worked at Enron

    – apparently worked at the CIA, and may have been involved in an individual’s demise

    Where does he find the time in a day to do all of these daring exploits?

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  49. Harvey, accusing me of not supporting our military? Your post is incoherent drivel.

    DCSCA thinks that George Bush would have been worse during the Cuban Missile Crisis? That’s yet another example of DCSCA’s utter ignorance of history. JFK was reckless to a degree unknown during Bush’s administration except in the deranged mind of loons like DCSCA.

    SPQR (72771e)

  50. Add congenitally mendoucheous to that list, Dmac.

    JD (5e0805)

  51. Having lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis on the frontier of engagement with the USSR, I can say it was a very tense time, with possible confrontations throughout the world. Only the Yom Kippur War pushed us to a higher readiness status. There were possible tripwires in the Far East, the Arctic Icecap, to the Central Atlantic.
    The U.N. functioned only as a point of public disclosure as to what the USSR was attempting to do in Cuba. It was direct, bi-lateral talks between DC and Moscow, and the ability of the DoD to keep Naval Forces at sea, and bombers in the air round-the-clock, that emphasized that rationality needed to win out over ego.
    DuckCrap, as usual, don’t know $hit!

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  52. By contrast, Robert Gibbs continues to distinguish himself in the uber-competent Obama White House.

    carlitos (92022c)

  53. There is an excellent book by Donald Kagan, emeritus professor of history at Yale, called “On the Origins of War,” which compares modern wars and crises like Cuba 1962, to the wars of ancient times. It’s been 13 years since I read it but it makes comparisons like World War I and II to the Punic Wars of Rome and Carthage. Kagan included the Cuba crisis in the book and that was the time the Soviet archives were open. Putin put a stop to it once he took power from Yeltsin.

    Mike K (90939b)

  54. #50- The U.N. functioned only as a point of public disclosure as to what the USSR was attempting to do in Cuba. It was direct, bi-lateral talks between DC and Moscow, and the ability of the DoD to keep Naval Forces at sea, and bombers in the air round-the-clock, that emphasized that rationality needed to win out over ego.
    DuckCrap, as usual, don’t know $hit!

    A myopic, dismissive, military POV, of course. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

    The invaluable point of using the United Nations as a forum during the height of that crisis was to rapidly build global political and public support for the actions of the United States and expose the Soviets as liars, live, on television no less, to the entire world. Both sides wanted a political solution. Omitting the fact that many governments in the world of that era were not convinced the U.S. was telling the truth doesnt add to your post. Kennedy prudently insisted in a unanimous vote by the OAS in favor of his position before Stevenson exposed the Soviets, U-2 photos et al, on live television. Thankfully, minds like yours were out walking a post above the Arctic Circle in ’62, out of the loop and 10,000 miles away from the decisionmakers.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  55. DCSCA, utter nonsense actually. And in fact, your own comment reveals this when you show that Kennedy actually went to the OAS for support.

    The UN actually did nothing of any use during the Cuban Missile Crisis and we were lucky to survive JFK’s reckless actions.

    SPQR (72771e)

  56. ASPCA likes to make up history as it goes along.

    JD (5e0805)

  57. Not to mention, JD, the fact that JFK secretly agreed to remove the Jupiter IRBM’s that the US had put on the USSR’s own border in Turkey in exchange.

    All that brinksmanship when we were putting the identical threat on the Soviets’ own backdoor.

    SPQR (72771e)

  58. #54- Another name for a spork is a foon. Which do you prefer, B.A.?

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  59. DCSCA, substanceless namecalling is all you have.

    Well, besides making up stuff and demonstrating your utter ignorance of history.

    SPQR (72771e)

  60. ASPCA – Is that the best you have got? Dana Perino and spork? Childish.

    JD (5e0805)

  61. But he was a CIA operative, damnit! Show the man some respect!

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  62. #58- And, of course, correctly noting the invaluable use of the United Nations as a public forum to expose the Soviet Union as liars in October, 1962, thus building political support among world powers of that era and aiding in averting thermonuclear war. Yes, I’d say I have it covered pretty well. Thanks.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  63. SPQR, I get it now. You’re childish and you lack adequate reading comprehension skills.

    The childishness was clear (demanding I name a date, followed by the schoolyard classic ‘I know you are but what am I’ response when called on being childish), but that lack of reading comprehension explains why you think there’s been a budget decrease in the first place quite nicely.

    Now get off my side of the argument and go play with your blocks or whatever it is you do successfully.

    If you’re still confused, call mommy. She’ll make it all better

    Harvey M Anderson (a664fb)

  64. SPQR, at 24: I think that’s an unreasonable request. Were the US planning to blow up North Korea’s missile sites, it seems incredibly unlikely that a random guy commenting on a political blog would know the date planned … and failure to be able to name such a date hardly seems like it undermines someone’s credibility.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  65. “thus building political support among world powers of that era”

    Because we never would have had a successful outcome in Vietnam if not for the support of our allies and the UN!!!??!

    EBJ (2fd7f7)

  66. when the ONLY UN action took place

    I think it’s a bit odd to describe the Korean War as the only UN action.

    The UN has been ‘acting’ for decades in Cyprus and Kashmir. It ‘acted’ in Congo in the 1960s.

    The Korean War is certainly the only instance in which the UN acted on the collective security guarantee in the UN charter. But the fact that it’s not doing what you want it to be doing does not mean it’s sitting there doing nothing.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  67. If you’re still confused, call mommy. She’ll make it all better

    More projection – but seriously, she wants you to clean up the litter box right now, or else no Kraft Mac ‘N Cheese for dinner.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  68. aphrael, it was not my point that he did not know the date that the NKPA missile infrastructure was going to be blown up undermined his credibility. My point was that the ability to blow up the tail of the ballistic missile system was meaningless if you were not going to use that ability before they were launched.

    His subsequent comments don’t show much of an improvement in his reasoning skills.

    Harvey, that you did not realize that Gates has proposed cutting the airborne laser system hardly shows my childishness.

    SPQR (72771e)

  69. DCRAP – Why did you have to go all the way back to 1962 to find an example of a situation in which the U.N. was allegedly helpful? Haven’t there been dozens and dozens of examples since then?

    Your time as a world famous newsman at Blackrock with Gunga Dan should have exposed you to those, certainly. Fine figure of man, that Dan, what?

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  70. #46- Of course, this chaff has nothing to do with the fact that the United Nations was an invaluable forum at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962 for developing rapid, political and public support among world powers for the U.S. and exposing the Soviets as liars, live, on television. End of story.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  71. Jimmy Stewart is missing his bunny.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  72. So by DCSCA’s brilliant reasoning, the UN usefulness was as a TV studio … great, they’ve been replaced by CNN.

    SPQR (72771e)

  73. End of story!

    He speaks from a faily high level on this, chaps. Don’t cross swords on this topic. NASCAR over NASA!1!!1!!1

    carlitos (92022c)

  74. DCRAP @69 – Can you count how many time you have now repeating essentially the same comment. Are you ggetting paid by the word or are you just brain dead, prolly both.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  75. The UN has never been able to do what it was supposedly originally planned to do because USSR -> Russia and China have prevented it. The US has always been required to pay far more than its fair share of UN costs by a factor of ten (or more). The UN has proven to act corruptly and highly inefficiently on repeated occasions. Nothing good comes out of the UN.

    E.O.L.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  76. daley, he knows even more than cares to reveal. What he says is true. Accept it.

    carlitos (92022c)

  77. Great Moments in U.N. History (Not):
    The Congo,
    Cyprus,
    Kashmir,
    Ruanda & Burundi,
    Uganda,
    The Congo (again),
    almost any other country in Africa where they have been involved.

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  78. AD, to be fair, they only raped a few hundred underaged girls in some of those countries.

    carlitos (92022c)

  79. carlitos – They had bag limits in some of those countries.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  80. DCSCA,
    Along the lines that daleyrocks suggested, it would help if you cited more recent examples of the U.N. helping the U.S. in a security context, instead of repeatedly citing something nearly 50 years old.

    An example from this century would be ideal.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R., (c70dcf)

  81. And DCSCA, do yourself a favor and dont cross swords on this. I know what of I speak. Accept it.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  82. Thanks carlitos.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  83. Crossing swords is never a good idea. Remember the glow-in-the-dark swords in the movie Skin Deep?

    JD (5e0805)

  84. After all those former European colonies and other third world shitholes got a voice in the U.N. it went to hell in a handbasket. It was never the same again.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  85. No, but I do remember the ones that got crossed in Space Balls.

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  86. JD – Blake Edwards – Good stuff. Moment of silence for John Ritter.

    carlitos (92022c)

  87. carlitos, daleyrocks….
    You guys are cold!

    Should we remind DuckCrap what happened to that World-Liberal icon Dag Hammarskjold in The Congo?

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  88. AD – I think Dag was still better than Kofing Anus.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  89. Well, no-one ever accussed him of corruption.

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  90. AD – I don’t think those dirty Scandi socialists were too big on corruption, but I could be wrong.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  91. Caritos – That movie, for unknown reasons, is one of my favorite comedies. Not on the same level as Blazing Saddles, Animal House, Old School, Caddyshack, but one that just makes me laugh.

    JD (5e0805)

  92. I thought Ritter was hilarious in Bad Santa, along with the rest of that cast. Hard to think of a funnier foul – mouthed movie, IMO.

    Dmac (1ddf7e)

  93. Comment by daleyrocks — 4/13/2009 @ 3:13 pm

    I recall some contentions of leadership inadequacy, but nothing about corruption; but, the institution was young, and fiefdoms were only just being created, and in 9/61, he was gone, and it just all went to Hell.

    AD - RtR/OS (040549)

  94. Of COURSE I knew it was Gates’ budget. I moved forward talking about how the cuts in one area are actually what’s needed to fund other projects. Then it got all “those aren’t ABMs” and “name the date” around here.

    Now let’s all hug and salute our truly spectacular military capabilities

    Have you seen Microsift PhotoSynth? It’s the program that can crawl Flickr, recognize eg pics of the Vatican and reconstruct a 3d model of it. That is very, very cool.

    Don’t think to question my math. That is what I do. I’m ready to explain all the matrix math if you want to test me and we’ll get into shaded language, history of texture mapping and all the rest.

    Or, come along for the ride, because this should cause NK to shake in their boots:

    Add this processing over the drones existing data and STAND BACK.

    Nobody else stands a chance. Particularly not North freaking Korea.

    We’ll know when they’re driving, where, what routes, etc. And go back and explore that data. Unprecedented technological advantage: US. We will be safe. They will not.

    If out CINC lacks the will to operate offensively, you are right that this is irrelevant. However, I hope for my country’s sake, he will find it or someone will slap it into him, should it come to that

    Harvey M Anderson (b335ab)

  95. Shader language, not shaded language. Blah for typos

    Harvey M Anderson (71cfb0)

  96. […] easy, the U.N. has finally decided that North Korea’s missile launch was in fact serious, strongly worded memo to follow. […]

    Chew on this: Pirates a GO GO « Chockblock’s blog (054690)

  97. What will it take to get Barack Obama to learn these lessons?

    53 hostages and 444 days?

    More likely, defeat for reelection.

    Ken Hahn (aee72d)

  98. “The Cuban Missile Crisis, which I remember well, was a consequence of Kennedy’s fecklessness in Vienna at his first meeting with Khrushchev.”

    More like a consequence of the Kennedy administration’s unbelievable stupidity at the Bay of Pigs.

    Dave Surls (0ded6d)

  99. “But, whatever his faults, at least Bush understood that the U.N. was not the place to go to address our national security concerns.”

    So Bush never went to the U.N. to address our national security concerns? Hmmmm. I seem to recall that he did.

    Perhaps you meant that he didn’t stop with the U.N. once the U.N.’s idea of addressing our concerns was to pass yet another “strongly worded” warning. Perhaps we should give Obama a bit of time before assuming he’ll do nothing to address our security concerns beyond going to the U.N.

    Craig R. Harmon (6f5f99)

  100. Really, Craig? Now that North Korea has announced reactivation of their nuclear reactor, just how much time did you have in mind?

    SPQR (26be8b)

  101. More like a consequence of the Kennedy administration’s unbelievable stupidity cowardice and betrayal at the Bay of Pigs.

    Fixed that for you. It must be an indicator of our decadence that we now think that Kennedy was worth spitting on as President.

    nk (59cb9c)

  102. Craig, Bush lived in a political reality that was so far from ideal it would make a bad sitcom. Yeah, he had to go to the UN, even though he knew we would have to protect the world with only a handful of allies. The UN protects the evil, not the innocent. As usual, it’s the folks with guns and religion and all that stuff who are actually facing evil.

    I don’t mind that Bush took our concerns to the UN, though I wish Colin Powell’s promises had been a bit more vague.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  103. “Fixed that for you.”

    Thanks. I agree with your additions.

    But, I don’t see why you crossed out the “stupidity” part.

    Dave Surls (0ded6d)

  104. SPQR,

    Who knows? But Bush took eight years to do exactly nothing of greater consequence than the U.N. did about Iraq. What, exactly, do you expect him to do, by the way? Invade North Korea like Bush invaded Iraq or merely bomb their nuclear reactors like the Israelis did Iraq’s nuclear facility and that whatever it was in Syria?

    Juan,

    I agree. I merely took exception to the post’s error of fact.

    Craig R. Harmon (6f5f99)

  105. How about we ship all that recalled baby formula and all those recalled childrens’ toys and all that recalled drywall that came from China — how about we ship all that stuff to PDRK?

    John Hitchcock (fb941d)

  106. “But Bush took eight years to do exactly nothing of greater consequence than the U.N. did about Iraq.”

    Craig – I don’t understand this one at all. Could you elaborate please?

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  107. daley, I think he means that, as the UN didn’t fix Iraq, Bush didn’t fix North Korea.

    It wouldn’t make sense to say Bush didn’t do anything about Iraq, since he is its savior.

    Juan (4cdfb7)

  108. Juan – I agree, that’s why I asked for the clarification.

    Also I disagree on Bush nit getting anything done in eight years in North Korea. I loved those demolition videos of the nuclear reactor.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  109. […] given that the Obama Administration cannot get China or Russia on board for anything more than a weakly-worded note from the UN in the case of North Korea.  However, it is a more realistic approach than the brand of […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » Unrealpolitik on Iran (e4ab32)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.1091 secs.