Posted on 09/30/2019 3:31:56 PM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
WASHINGTON: Ousted National Security Advisor John Bolton said Kim Jong Un “will never give up” nuclear weapons voluntarily — an implicit warning to his former boss. Bolton was restating a consensus view of the Intelligence Community, one that runs counter to President Trump’s faith that the North Korean dynast can be wheedled and cajoled.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies today, Bolton attracted a forest of TV cameras hoping for some fireworks. They probably thought they were getting something hot when Bolton made his comment about North Korea but, as Breaking D readers know, the Intelligence Community’s top expert on North Korea, Markus Garlauskas, said two years ago that Kim “does not intend to negotiate those (nuclear) capabilities away at any price.”
But Bolton also made pretty clear he does not agree with President Trump’s tactics of calling Kim his good friend and of dismissing violations of international law each time the tubby North Korean leader launches a ballistic missile. Bolton noted that time is on Kim’s side, not ours.
“Every day that goes by makes North Korea a more dangerous country,” he said at CSIS. “When does it become too late? Today is better than tomorrow. Tomorrow is better than the next day.”
In perhaps the most telling moment, the highly respected North Korean expert at CSIS, Victor Cha, pressed Bolton on Trump’s “bromance” approach to diplomacy, asking if it was the best way to get to an agreement.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Bolton said with a piercing glance. “Nice try.”
The bottom line for Kim, Bolton made clear, is that he has made “the strategic decision” to “do whatever he can to keep a deliverable nuclear weapons capability and to develop and enhance it further.”
John Rood, one of the top officials at the Defense Department, spoke later in the day at CSIS and he spoke almost exclusively about the US-South Korean alliance, noting that the State Department has “the lead” in negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
Pressed on whether Bolton was right about whether North Korea would denuclearize, Rood said, “that’s the very question we’re seeking to answer with the negotiations our president is leading,…Time will tell if we’re successful.”
Trump won’t give up sanctions until NK does.
NK has quit making threats, and has quit firing most missles. It’s not the goal but it’s a start.
Trump advises Bolton,"Walmart is hiring."
Bolton is right.
He’s right. Name one country that got them that said “oh hey, we’ll be nice. Here, take all out nukes?”
I talked with a retired three star general two weeks ago...14th Air Div provisional... Desert Storm, Etc etc , the whole nine yards. And he observed the very same thing as The Walrus about the Norks and Fat Kim Jong Un that the Walrus says he had familiarity with the Korean Peninsula. And he doesn’t want a war, either.
I tend to agree. doesn’t mean you stop trying.
fair enough (but I will probably use it again anyway..)
anyway, its difficult to envision NK giving up their weapons
(eliminating the Iranian threat has to be number One priority, imho, but NK is associated with that effort from reports, too, so...yes, at least PDJT is trying to do something about it)
I agree with him. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Keep in mind that Kim is not immortal. Hopefully his successor will be more reasonable. We just need to avoid world war in the interim.
Yeh....I think that was the end of his Whitehouse Career.
No longer confident in Bolton after he got all stompy foot when Trump didn’t want to immediately attack Iran.
They have no motivation to denuclearize. You are correct. No amount of shining luxury hotels promised along the banks of the Potonggang River will change that, and nearly all monitored internal DPRK govt communications (such as revealed by Asahi News in Tokyo earlier this year) indicates the Norks are talking or acting internally that indicates they will not surrender them. They are just buying time, running circles, bullshitting, decaying, slicing salami as they call it ...classic they have done it to every US Administration
What does Bolton feel that he has to come out and say this publicly?
I can see him telling Trump or one of his people as his assessment, but stating it publicly shows that he just wants attention, showing how smart he is.
I used to like and respect Bolton, but his recent behavior has been disappointing.
I dunno.
To warn people, maybe?
Bolton was a coward. He only ever wanted to wage war on third-world countries where there would be little opposition. He was never in it to win it, always wanting to back away from difficult assignments.
So you would be a proponent of POTUS’ DPRK approach, post May 2018 (or thereabouts) right, revised 180degree from Inauguration to April 2018 position?
What should we do or have done in response to the series of SRBM launches into the Sea of Japan all throughout the summer, clearly UN res. violations
What kind of idiotic comment is that?
I don’t like Bolton so you assume I do or don’t support Trump’s position on something??
I don’t know what makes you so stupid but it really works.
Sure. Whatevah.
You should make a habit of reading the analysis at theconservativetreehouse.com
If you opposed DJT on **anything***, anything at all, it would be a massive shift of the tectonic plates. I wasn’t born yesterday. Need not take it so seriously or feign shock and awe in anger.
Your. Posting. History. :-)
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