Category: Uncategorized

NYT story here. Ban Ki-Moon is telling Condi Rice that North Korea might be bluffing about its nukes. Sure, they might be–I personally don’t believe most of what North Korea says–but given the North’s chosen absence of transparency, at some point we have to make assumptions for strategic purposes. Ban wants us to assume the best, notwithstanding the fact that the evidence points in the other direction. Bits and pieces of evidence that help us make that assumption include a...

A Fresh New Idea from Seoul: I know! Let’s give them more money! If only I’d thought of that . . . .

This certainly doesn’t look very encouraging: – Will your criminal record for tax evasion hinder your diplomatic activity? “That is a tough question. I’ve never heard anything from the United States. It is a relief to me that I was appointed ambassador by the [progressive] Roh administration, the successor to the Kim Dae-jung administration [which indicted him]. It means that my punishment for tax evasion in 1999 could be viewed from another perspective.” Note that this guy wants to be...

Manning the Post: My roundup of the emerging economic strategy against North Korea is here, on The Command Post. The essential facts have been blogged on NKZone, so I’m not sure whether I’ll post it there, too.

Manning the Post: My roundup of the emerging economic strategy against North Korea is here, on The Command Post. The essential facts have been blogged on NKZone, so I’m not sure whether I’ll post it there, too.

North Korea Issues Even More Demands! . . . Kim Jong-Il, today announced that unless the United States meets his demands he would turn his own country into a “lake of fire” using those weapons. The demands include a non-aggression treaty with the United States, an end to economic sanctions and a massive influx of tobacco, alcohol and DVDs of newly-released Hollywood movies. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “the Security Council will seriously consider the DPRK’s grievances and vote soon...

North Korea Issues Even More Demands! . . . Kim Jong-Il, today announced that unless the United States meets his demands he would turn his own country into a “lake of fire” using those weapons. The demands include a non-aggression treaty with the United States, an end to economic sanctions and a massive influx of tobacco, alcohol and DVDs of newly-released Hollywood movies. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “the Security Council will seriously consider the DPRK’s grievances and vote soon...

Guess Who’s Unilateral Now?

Unsolicited Advice for Roh Moo-Hyun: For the love of G-d, shut up before you squander your last thimblefull of credibility.

In the wake of the recent news that Japan has imposed economic sanctions in the disguise of a new insurance requirement for incoming ships, the United States is also looking for ways to amplify the shock. The New York Times reports: In the months before North Korea announced that it possessed nuclear weapons, the Bush administration began developing new strategies to choke off its few remaining sources of income, based on techniques in use against Al Qaeda, intelligence officials and...

Guess Who’s Unilateral Now?

Unsolicited Advice for Roh Moo-Hyun: For the love of G-d, shut up before you squander your last thimblefull of credibility.

In the wake of the recent news that Japan has imposed economic sanctions in the disguise of a new insurance requirement for incoming ships, the United States is also looking for ways to amplify the shock. The New York Times reports: In the months before North Korea announced that it possessed nuclear weapons, the Bush administration began developing new strategies to choke off its few remaining sources of income, based on techniques in use against Al Qaeda, intelligence officials and...

Dr. Zin has a roundup of last week’s truly interesting developments about Iran, many of which have been missed by the media and other bloggers.

A much-discussed story in the Washington Post today. Our UAVs have been watching suspected nuclear sites, including low-level flights using air filters that can pick up airborne radionuclides. And since it’s Iran, of course, the flights have caused widespread UFO rumors. Doesn’t it seem likely that we’ve been doing the same over North Korea? I certainly suspect we’ve been doing manned spy flights (yes, the claims are from North Korea, but even paranoid people have real enemies, right?). Extending that...

Yasukuni Update: The new head Shinto priest at the Yasukuni Shrine is a former ad man. The image problem there is more than a matter of cosmetics.

Alienated Allies Update: Canada is doubling the number of its troops in Afghanistan to 1,100. That’s a more significant contribution that it may seem, since Canada’s small army is nearly maxed out on deployments. Is Canada our ally again yet? Those in other nations who opposed Bush’s reelection are learning to live with it. I’m not so sure about Bush’s opponents in this country.

Ayatollah Sistani’s favored party did not get a majority, which is good news. It means everyone will need to sit down and hammer out a compromise, and that everyone of electoral significance will (at least initially) bind itself to living with it. Prime Minister Allawi’s Iraqi list is in talks with President Ghazi Al-Yawar’s moderate Sunnis and with the Communist Party, trying to form a large enough bloc of secular votes in the Parliament to check the power of clerical...