Megyn Kelly: C’mon, you can’t blame Obama for this North Korea situation

Via Mediaite. Alternate headline: “Confirmed: Megyn Kelly’s a RINO.” Seriously, though, explain to me (and her, by proxy) how the NorKs would have behaved differently over the past two years with Bush in office, especially given that their first nuclear test came on his watch.

When they went ahead with their ICBM test launch in April 2009, The One demanded that they be punished with the same ceremonial wrist slap that all U.S. presidents resort to, i.e. a Security Council statement.

They responded by breaking off from six-party talks, and not only has he refused to re-engage them — even after their nuclear test last year (and notwithstanding his nonsense during the campaign about talking with anyone without preconditions) — but officials in the White House are already warning that they won’t reward bad behavior by rushing into new talks after yesterday’s incident either.

On the contrary, Obama’s going ahead with a joint carrier exercise with South Korea in the Yellow Sea this weekend, which is bound to annoy China as much as it will North Korea. What reason is there to think North Korea’s been more erratic lately because of who’s in the White House than because of the instability created by the succession of power from Kim pere to Kim fils?

Since demarcation, the DMZ has had numerous cases of incidents and incursions by the North Koreans, although the North Korean government never acknowledges direct responsibility for any of these incidents. These include:

* October 1966 - October 1969: Korean DMZ Conflict (1966-1969), a series of skirmishes along the DMZ results in 43 U.S., 299 South Korean and 397 North Korean soldiers killed
* 17 January 1968: 31 North Korean commandos crossed the border disguised as South Korean soldiers in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee at the Blue House. The failed mission resulted in 29 commandos killed (one committed suicide) and the other two captured. Two South Korean policemen and five civilians were killed by the commandos. Other reports indicated as many as 68 South Koreans killed and 66 wounded, including about 24 civilians. Three Americans were killed and another three wounded in an attempt to prevent the commandos from escaping back via the DMZ.
* October 1968: 130 North Korean commandos entered the Ulchin and Samcheok areas in Gangwon-do. Eventually 110 of them were killed, 7 were captured and 13 escaped.
* March 1969: Six North Korean infiltrators crossed the border near Chumunjin, Gangwon-do and killed a South Korean policeman on guard duty.
* April 1970: Three North Korean infiltrators were killed and five South Korean soldiers wounded at an encounter in Kumchon, Gyeonggi-do.
* 20 November 1974: The first of what would be a series of North Korean infiltration tunnels under the DMZ was discovered. The joint ROK-U.S. investigation team tripped a North Korean booby-trap killing one American and wounding 6 others.
* March 1975: The second North Korean infiltration tunnel was discovered.
* June 1976: Three North Korean infiltrators and six South Korean soldiers were killed in the eastern sector south of the DMZ. Another six South Korean soldiers were injured.
* 18 August 1976: The Axe Murder Incident results in the death of two U.S. soldiers and injuries to another four U.S. soldiers and five South Korean soldiers. The incident may not be technically considered an “infiltration” however, as it took place in a neutral zone of the Joint Security Area.
* 14 July 1977: American CH-47 Chinook helicopter is shot down after straying into the north over the DMZ. Three airmen are killed and one is briefly held prisoner (This is the sixth such incident since the Armistice was signed.)
* October 1978: The third North Korean infiltration tunnel was discovered.
* October 1979: Three North Korean agents attempting to infiltrate the eastern sector of the DMZ were intercepted, killing one of the agents.
* 6 December 1979: US patrol in the DMZ accidentally crosses the MDL into a North Korean minefield. One US soldier is killed and four are injured.
# March 1980: Three North Korean infiltrators were killed attempting to enter the south across the estuary of the Han River.
* March 1981: Three North Korean infiltrators spotted at Kumhwa, Gangwon-do, one was killed.
* July 1981: Three North Korean infiltrators were killed in the upper stream of Imjin River.
* May 1982: Two North Korean infiltrators were spotted on the east coast, one was killed.
* March 1990: The fourth North Korean infiltration tunnel was discovered, in what may be a total of 17 tunnels in all.
* May 1992: Three North Korean infiltrators dressed in South Korean uniforms were killed at Cheorwon, Gangwon-do. Three South Koreans were also wounded.
* December 17, 1994: American OH-58A+ helicopter crosses 10 km into North Korean territory and is shot down.
* October 1995: Two North Korean infiltrators were intercepted at Imjin River. One was killed, the other escaped.
* April 1996: Several hundred North Korean armed troops entered the Joint Security Area and elsewhere on three occasions in violation of the Korean armistice agreement.
* May 1996: Seven North Korean soldiers crossed the DMZ but withdrew when fired upon by South Korean troops.
* April 1997: Five North Korean soldiers crossed the military demarcation line’s Cheorwon sector and fired at South Korean positions.
* July 1997: Fourteen North Korean soldiers crossed the MDL, causing a 23-minute exchange of heavy gunfire.
* October 26, 2000: Two US aircraft observing a ROK army military exercise accidentally cross over the DMZ.
* May 26, 2006: Two North Korean soldiers entered the DMZ and crossed into South Korea. They returned after South Korean soldiers fired warning shots.
* October 7, 2006: South Korean soldiers fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed briefly into their side of the border.
* October 27, 2009: A South Korean pig farmer, who was wanted for assault, cut a hole in the DMZ fence and defected to North Korea.
* October 29, 2010: Two shots were shot from North Korea towards a South Korean post near Hwacheon and South Korean troops fired three shots in return.

Source: Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone

I call Bull S#*!

Your pathetic, pedagogic attempt at the parsing of language striving to assert I said something I did not, while striving to mask your egregious error would be laughable except it is a familiar tactic used by liberals and trolls.

Merriam Webster's first definition: transitive verb: to make better or tolerable. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ameliorate

I said what I meant, I meant what I said and I stand by it.
Good luck Mr. "It depends on what the meaning of the word is, is. I have no tolerance for relative newbies who want to come on FR to have a debate about the use of the word ameliorate when the common definition is so clear and the point to which it is directed is so inane. Good grief!.

In the words of Sir Winston,
"This is just the sort of nonsence up with which I shall not put!"

And in the words of Fez from 'That 70s show',
"Good day, sir!"

And Bush didn’t completely capitulate to Pyongyang ? After 4 years of stop-and-start-negotiations, he couldn’t even get an agreement on a verification protocol for its nuclear program.

What did Bush do when the North Koreans conducted a missile tests in July 2006 and a nuclear test in October 2006 ? Pressured the Chinese to pressure the DPRK to rejoin talks, gave into demands for “Clintonian” bilateral negotiations and then took them off the list of state sponsored terrorism.

The policy zig-zagged from ‘axis of evil’ in 2002 to waiting patiently for Pyongyang to begin the first stage of its disarmament in 2008. No carrot, no stick, no talk. China is not enforcing anything so North Korea is still able to play the big powers off one another in this multilateral framework.

In the absence of the Iraq war would the Bush administration have been as trigger happy with NK after an earlier provocation ? is the question.

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