Posted on 03/08/2018 10:56:41 PM PST by NRx
For the moment, at least, it appears to be a clear-cut victory the biggest foreign policy win of his young administration. President Trump has brought his arch-nemesis, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a.k.a. Little Rocket Man, to the table to negotiate away his nuclear arsenal.
Optimists declared a major breakthrough. Even pessimists acknowledged that Trumps hard line against Pyongyang, after decades of less forceful U.S. effort, played a significant role in moving one of the worlds most vexing and threatening problems in a potentially positive direction.
But in the afterglow of the surprise announcement hinted by Trump in a teasing visit to the White House press room and soon confirmed by South Koreas national security adviser, standing in the West Wing driveway questions were fast and furious.
Were direct talks between Kim and Trump, two notably volatile leaders who have traded public insults for more than a year, the best way to start what are sure to be complicated negotiations? Was the administration, whose thin bench of experienced experts seems to be growing slimmer by the day, ready to face those wily and untrustworthy North Koreans? The talks, U.S. and South Korean officials said, would take place before the end of May.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
How is it not a win for Kim? Please enlighten me.
“For the moment, at least, it appears to be a clear-cut victory the biggest foreign policy win of his young administration.”
Might be the biggest foreign policy win since the wall came down. And in two months opening the new embassy in Jerusalem will be a big foreign policy win. And China removing 100 billion in tariffs off US goods is a foreign policy win.
Anyone have any other foreign policy wins in this “young” administration?
Trump is showing us the “Art of the Deal” where it counts.
That was painful...
Lol....there you ... wry good
I told President Trump that in our meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests; he understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible.
That, my FRiend, is called a complete cave. If you think that's a win for NK, I can't help you. I don't cosign pessimism.
MAGA!!!!!
Let's see...halt nuclear weapons program? Check. Stop testing missiles? Check. That is nothing that North Korean leaders haven't told presidents in the past. How did it work out for them?
Whatever, dude.
How about another view of things:
Fat Kim and his cohorts are looking to divide and conqueror and suckering the U.S. into discussions that the North never intends to keep.
The South has a very Liberal Left President now that would give the North just about anything they wanted all in the name of peace (note the quotes).
And with the North issuing statements basically telling the South that their beef isnt with their brothers but with the U.S. its a definite attempt to divide two allies and weaken their resolve to stand up tot he North.
Its just another case of the North playing the U.S. to try and get supplies and take the heat off while they reload their rocket program all the while making promises they never intend to keep.
BEWARE ! Dont let your optimism get to you. weve been on this road before.
Well its not really nice.... its well, its a good thing this happened, but Trump will likely eff it up
The NORKs are not going to give up on Rockets and Atomic Bombs.
“How is it not a win for Kim? Please enlighten me.”
He has offered to meet with Trump to discuss the unconditional surrender of his nuke ambitions and his unconditional acceptance that SK/US military exercises must continue.
The fact that Trump would be willing to meet and graciously accept his unconditional surrender is not a “win” for Kim, in any way, shape or form. In fact, by its very definition, it is quite the opposite of a win.
If, on the other hand, Trump was willing to meet on equal terms, rather than terms of Kim’s unconditional surrender, then that would indeed be a “win” for Kim.
But that’s not what’s happening, and you can be sure that if Kim changes his tone, even slightly, in the direction of recanting his offer of unconditional surrender of his nuke aspirations, the meeting will not take place.
I see nothing ‘nice’. I see a begrudging concession followed by condescending #WeKnowBetter #WeAreStillRelevant blather.
I think "nice" here is a relative term. The Compost generally prefaces President Trump's name with any number of derisive terms, like "belligerent", "bellicose", "ill-tempered" or "foolish". And those are the tame ones!
Although I subscribe to an allegedly "local" newspaper from the East Bay of SF, I might as well be subscribing to WaPo directly. About 70-75% of the "news" section is made up of articles pulled from the Compost, the AP, or other such sources. Even the opinion page is two daily pages of Trump-bashing from the Compost, the New York Slimes and other "newspapers of record".
Let’s see...halt nuclear weapons program? Check. Stop testing missiles? Check. That is nothing that North Korean leaders haven’t told presidents in the past.”
I dunno, this seems different to me. Maybe something happened that changed the equation (or in this case, the landscape). I suspect that “cave in” last year that destroyed the NK nuclear research facility along with their 200 top scientists was more than an accident.
What if NK A) no longer has a nuke program and B) has by recent experience learned to fear and respect the US? That could explain Kim’s change of behavior.
“writing something nice about Trump”
Not really.
It’s just a plot device to allow them to say that Trump and his team are out classed by the Norklandians.
The Washington Post is so far behind the curve they should be (but wont be) too humiliated to show their faces in public.
Anyone who thinks the face-to-face is the START of the negotiation rather than the finished deal thats been in the works for months is blind.
Well, perhaps for Zero, Kerry(WWINV) and Mzzzz Albright<>
I disagree. I think that the sanctions are hurting and that Kim is trying the same kind of song-and-dance that worked with past presidents. I think he's underestimating Trump in that regard. I just hope that Trump doesn't over-estimate the validity of what Kim is promising.
No he hasn't. He has offered to freeze his missile development and freeze his nuke tests. He's offered to stop complaining about joint military exercises. That is a far cry from surrendering anything.
The fact that Trump would be willing to meet and graciously accept his unconditional surrender is not a win for Kim, in any way, shape or form. In fact, by its very definition, it is quite the opposite of a win.
Kim is far from surrendering. And if the expectation is that Trump will travel to Kim for the visit then that automatically puts Kim in role of host, and Trump in the role of coming hat in hand. And the unknowns in all this is what Kim wants in return? An end to sanctions? Recognition as a leader on the world stage? Prestige? Security for his regime? All that has to be worked out. There are too many unknowns and North Korea has led us down this path too many times in the past to determine who is the winner in all this.
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