Atlas Shrugs

North Korea Threatens to "wipe U.S. off the Globe"

Yesterday I posted North Korea Bans Japanese Ships, Steps up Capabilities to Stage Guerrilla warfare. Ships WMD Payloads and Prepares for Missile Launches, and said that Bush nailed it in his speech after 911 when he spoke of the axis of evil, Iraq, Iran and North Korea. We deftly removed the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein, but the leftists and the international forces of evil managed to bench the Bush doctrine, to the horrible detriment of the world. We have seen the terrible course of events in Iran and we pray for those Iranians who are yearning and dying to be free.

E Foster in the comments section at Atlas remarked earlier today, "the cost of the international community's hard stance against President Bush and the Iraq War, and that of their proxies in the media, is "coming home to roost." Now evidence of the cost is unfurling under the absolute opposite policy of Obama. "America-stay out, America, no one asked for your help. America, you have imperialistic intentions. America, you are torturers." Now, the contrast is laid with Iran's incursion against its own populace, its back turned to cries for help, its hegemonic plans for the world, its subhuman cruelties to its civilians. Will the world recognize its complicity for how this is playing out? Because it could not stomach America moving to change to the world for the better, the international community has ushered in an era where America won't move to stop the world from becoming worse."

From the looks of North Korea's language, it appears they are taking lessons from their good buds over in Iran.

North Korea threatens to 'wipe out' US

North Korea threatened on Wednesday to "wipe out" the United States in the event of a new war on the Korean Peninsula, as international observers watched for signs the regime would perform new missile tests in the coming days.

The warning came as a U.S. navy destroyer was tracking a North Korean ship suspected of attempting to transport illicit weapons to Burma. The pursuit is seen as the first test of sanctions passed by the UN Security Council as a response to Pyongyang's underground nuclear test in late May.

North Korea has said it would consider an interception to be a declaration of war. On Wednesday, it accused the U.S. of seeking to provoke another Korean War.

Pentagon shrugs:

The Pentagon shrugged off a threat from North Korea Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map.

"I don't even know how to respond to that. It's silliness," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell."For what and with what?"

But even as the spokesman discounted the threat from the communist nation, which reportedly may fire a Taepodong-2 toward Hawaii in early July, he defended Defense Secretary Robert Gate's decision to move the THAAD system to Hawaii along with the massive SBX radar system.

"I don't think he would have deployed that THAAD if he didn't think there was a reason to do so," he said.

Tensions have been high since North Korea walked away from nuclear disarmament talks and warned it would fire a long-range missile.

North Korea Bans Japanese Ships, Steps up Capabilities to Stage Guerrilla warfare. Ships WMD Payloads and Prepares for Missile Launches

Bush called it in his speech after 911 - the axis of evil, Iraq, Iran and North Korea. We deftly removed the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein, but the leftists and the international forces of evil managed to bench the Bush doctrine to the horrible detriment of free men. We have seen the terrible course of events in Iran and we pray for those Iranians who are yearning and dying to be free.

North Korea is on its own evil tear. Nuclear tests, multiple long range missile launches ......and North Korea is stepping up its capabilities to stage guerrilla warfare through the development of roadside bombs (according to a US commander), the belligerent North Korea has notified Japan of a 16-day ban on ships in a portion of its eastern waters from 25 June, citing a military exercise, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on 23 June, quoting a South Korean official.

"The North has informed Japan's coast guard authorities of its 25 June-10 July ban for a drill" off the city of Wonsan, South Korean Defence Ministry Spokesman Won Tae-jae said. This is the first time North Korea has specified a reason for imposing a coastal ban. Wonsan is in southeastern North Korea, approximately 100 kilometres north of the inter-Korean border. (Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0213 gmt 23 Jun 09)

The drill?

• N. Korea Out to Launch

  WASHINGTON -- An impending missile test threatened by North Korea is expected to launch short- to medium-range missiles rather than a long-range missile similar to one tested in April, according to U.S. intelligence reports.

  North Korea issued a warning over the weekend to mariners of upcoming live-fire missile exercises. The exclusion zone cited in the notice covers a stretch in the Sea of Japan, 279 miles by 68 miles, off the coast of Wonsan, North Korea. The warning lasts from June 25 to July 10, from approximately 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time, a U.S. counterproliferation official said.

  U.S. defense and counterproliferation officials say intelligence suggests that North Korea is likely to fire short- and medium-range missiles, based on the splashdown zone referred to in the notice and other activities that are consistent with such launches.

Will Obama cave to the six party circle jerk? D'oh.

China favours continuing six-party talks China considers that talks on the North Korean nuclear issue should continue in the six-party format, corporate-owned Russian military news agency Interfax-AVN website reported on 23 June, quoting Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang. "China has continued to favour the resumption of the six-party negotiations as the best way to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,

How stupid does it get?

North Korea must return to talks - Russia's Lavrov

Russia favours the speedy resumption of talks on the North Korean

Interfax-AVN website reported on 23 June, quoting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "We are alarmed by the stalemate on the matter that appeared primarily due to the unacceptable actions of North Korea that staged a nuclear test and continues to refuse to observe the UN Security Council resolution"

But what about the North Korean ship carrying nuclear material? Obama is taking his signature weak approach. That ship is carrying something and it's planning to launch from a closer location to test. The warhead is not likely to contain any fissile material, however it is a test for not only Obama, Japan and South Korea, but also for how far China and Russia are willing to go. It is also a tech test. They want to test our technology and they know that we couldn't monitor their last big launch in April. Again we can thank Obama for that.

And still Obama still remains firm in the missile shield cut. It's hard to know how desperately we will suffer under this terrible presidency.

The US navy is tracking the ship but China says back off--

China has stressed that any interception and inspection of North Korean vessels on the high seas should be based on "sufficient evidence" and called on all parties to refrain from any action that could intensify an already tense situation, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on 23 June.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the UN Security Council resolution calling on all 192 member states to carry out cargo inspections of North Korean vessels suspected of carrying nuclear or missile-related cargo is a "complex and sensitive issue" that should be based on "reasonable grounds".

Qin was responding to media reports the US Navy is preparing for a possible intercept of a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile and nuclear-related items after it leaves the coastal area of China. He said China had no details on where the vessel originated, where it is heading or what cargo it is carrying but added that China is in close contact with the United States on the North Korean issue. (Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 0933 gmt 23 Jun 09)

North Korea has been busy, busy, busy since the election of the weak President:

North Korea is believed to be stepping up its capabilities to stage guerrilla warfare through the development of roadside bombs and seditious tactics:

Gen. Walter Sharp said the bombs - also known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs - could be used against civilians as well as US and South Korean forces if a fully-fledged conflict broke out on the Korean Peninsula.

"I believe we will face IEDs, insurgent forces in addition to large conventional attacks," Sharp said in a speech to a group of South Korean army personnel in Seoul. Sharp said South Korea and the US should step up "realistic training" to tackle these threats. (Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0303 gmt 23 Jun 09)

Obama's Foreign Follies

As North Korea threatens a merciless attack if it is provoked and Islamic Iran spins out of control and murders its people, it is both painful and laughable to watch Obama have to come to grips with the obvious reality that the world does not share his grand view of himself. This would make me laugh out loud if I didn't love this country so. Obama's maniacal egoism has come smack up against the commonly held world view (particularly among the most prolific evil doers) that he is a self obsessed schmuck and poses no threat to their imperialistic plans. And it's only going to get worse.

Obama and the Rogues WSJ
North Korea and Iran intrude on his diplomatic hopes.

President Obama took office loudly promising to be the anti-George W. Bush of foreign policy, vowing to "extend a hand" to adversaries "willing to unclench" their fists. What he has received instead is an education in the reality of global rogues, and how he responds has become a major test of his Presidency.

Associated Press

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a sermon in front of a picture of the late Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran on Friday.

The immediate challenges are North Korea and Iran, governments that the American left claimed were "evil" only because Mr. Bush had declared them so. Perhaps Mr. Obama believed this too, though five months later he has learned otherwise. North Korea has rejected his every overture and is now defying the U.N. to press its nuclear and proliferation ambitions. As for Iran, the mullahs are attempting to crush a popular uprising after a stolen election while also showing disdain for Mr. Obama's diplomatic entreaties.

The question is whether Mr. Obama will now adapt his policies to meet challenges he clearly didn't expect. Jimmy Carter took office with similar illusions about the Soviet Union, promising to cure our "inordinate fear of Communism." Our enemies pushed back at what they perceived to be U.S. weakness, and Mr. Carter and his NSC adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski never recovered. We'll soon learn if Mr. Obama is made of sterner stuff.

On North Korea, for example, the President has vowed that "words matter" and that renegade missile and A-bomb tests must have "consequences." The U.S. has rallied the U.N. to pass sanctions against Pyongyang, albeit no tougher than those the U.N. issued in 2006. Those sanctions include a Security Council "call" to intercept North Korean attempts to sell or spread weapons and delivery systems of mass destruction. The issue is whether those sanctions will be enforced.

As it happens, a U.S. Navy destroyer is currently tailing a North Korean ship suspected of carrying illicit weapons toward Burma via Singapore. The cargo ship Kang Nam left a North Korea port last Wednesday, and a South Korean intelligence report said it is believed to carry missiles and other parts. This would violate U.N. sanctions, and the U.S. has every legal right to board the ship. Alternatively, the USS John S. McCain (named for the Senator's father and grandfather) could steer the Kang Nam to Singapore and inspect her there.

Either action carries risks because North Korea has said it will consider such an inspection to be an act of war. No one knows how the North would respond, though its leaders must know that any attack on South Korea would guarantee the end of their rule. It's also possible the entire North Korean crew could defect if promised asylum.

The risks of doing nothing are even more serious because it would show the North -- and the world -- that the U.N. sanctions once again mean nothing. The threat of a North Korean attack on the South is small, but the danger of nuclear proliferation to the U.S. and its allies is clear and present. We know Pyongyang has proliferated to Iran and Syria in the recent past. Senator John McCain said yesterday the U.S. should board the Kang Nam, a sign that Mr. Obama could count on domestic political support. Will the President let Kim Jong Il make a mockery of U.N. condemnations?

Regarding Iran, Mr. Obama will also have to rethink his hopes for a grand nuclear bargain with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This diplomatic desire explains the President's cautious refusal last week to take sides in the post-election standoff -- or, as a Washington Post headline put it, quoting Administration sources, "Obama Seeks Way to Acknowledge Protesters Without Alienating Ayatollah." It's impossible to imagine the Reagan Administration whispering something similar about Soviet dissidents and the Politburo.

Read the rest here.

UPDATE: Caroline Glick agrees:

Obama and his media flacks would have us believe that by speaking of American values and by distinguishing friend from foe, former president George W. Bush raised the hackles of the world against America. Perhaps there is some truth to this assertion. Perhaps there isn't.

What they fail to consider is that by genuflecting to tyrants, Obama has made the US an international laughingstock. Far from sharing their adulation of Obama and his cool demeanor, most of the nations of the world believe that the US has abandoned its leadership role. And unlike the US media, they realize that America has no understudy.

Unfortunately, unless the Obama effect wears off soon, by the time the American people become aware of this fact it may be too late to make a difference.

BUSTED: The $134 Billion Smuggled Bonds Were FAKE

Last week I reported on the silence of this explosive news story: Italy’s financial police Seize $134.5 billion US Bonds on the Border between Italy and Switzerland: Smuggling Or Counterfeit.

The relevant question was the authenticity of this mind boggling bust, $134 billion - larger than the GNP of many a small nation.

I speculated that if the bonds were fake (which it is now being reported that they are) that it was the work of the North Koreans. This is what the NORKS do. Counterfeit. And they are bloody good at it. So good, in fact, that it took two weeks to determine that they were fakes. Asia News wonders the same thing:

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza has a reputation for being a highly specialised and expert financial police agency. How could it be so easily duped! And if the bonds are “clearly fakes” why did it take US authorities two weeks to find out.

Another discrepancy is the fact that, along with the securities, original and recent bank documents were seized as proof of their authenticity.

If what Meyerhardt says is true, some major financial institutions have been deceived by the securities carried by the two Asian men. This would be a bombshell and raise serious questions as to how many bank assets are actually made up of securities that for Meyerhardt are “clearly fakes.”

If counterfeit securities of such high quality are in circulation the world’s monetary system, let alone that of the United States, is in danger. International trade and exchanges could come to a halt.

U.S. Says Bonds Seized in Italy Are ‘Clearly Fakes’  Bloomberg (hat tip Rut)

June 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a suitcase carried by two Japanese travelers attempting to cross into Switzerland are fake, a Treasury spokesman said.

“They’re clearly fakes,” Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt in Washington, said yesterday. “That’s beyond the fact that the face value is far beyond what’s out there.”

Italy’s financial police last week said they asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to authenticate the seized bonds, with a face value of $134 billion. Colonel Rodolfo Mecarelli of the Guardia di Finanza in Como, Italy, said the securities, seized in Chiasso, Italy, were probably forgeries.

Meyerhardt said Treasury records show an estimated $105.4 million in bearer bonds have yet to be surrendered. Most matured more than five years ago, he said. The Treasury stopped issuing bearer bonds in 1982, Meyerhardt said.

Had the notes been genuine, the pair would have been the U.S. government’s fourth-biggest creditor, ahead of the U.K. with $128 billion of U.S. debt and just behind Russia, which is owed $138 billion.

According to the Italian authorities, the seized notes included 249 securities with a face value of $500 million each and 10 additional bonds with a value of more than $1 billion, as well as securities purported to be “Kennedy” bonds. Meyerhardt said no such securities exist.

NORK ATTACK ON US JULY 4TH?

North Koreans to attack the US? Intel is pointing that way. Report: "N. Korea may fire missile toward Hawaii July 4-8"

-- Gates: US puts more missile defense around Hawaii.
You think they fear Obambi? Think  again.

Jon over at China Confidential has more here, and added in our correspondence, "Bush was ridiculed by the liberal media for his Axis of Evil speech. In fact, he was right. It is 1938 or '39 all over again, with Iran playing Germany and North Korea in the Japan role. And, just as Nazi Germany sought to use South America as a center for espionage and possible aggression, Iran is working with Venezuela and Cuba". 

Japanese intelligence officials are warning Washington that North Korea could fire a missile at the United States on July 4. Click here for the story, which supports our May 29 prediction:

China Confidential analysts say North Korea is preparing even more missile tests--including launching a Taepodong-2 rocket capable of hitting Hawaii and Alaska--and at least one more nuclear test.

The Stalinist/Kimist state--a virtual vassal of China--could also be planning a major provocation around July 4 in order to overshadow American Independence Day celebrations.

Another Korean war is possible. In fact, it is probable. With tacit Chinese approval, North Korea has set in motion a dangerous dynamic that could easily escalate into an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. could attempt to shoot down the Taepodong-2, which could give North Korea the pretext for attacking South Korea.

The North has vowed to attack both the South and the U.S. if North Korean ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction are stopped and searched.

The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan.

Analysts expect Iranian nuclear and missile experts to assist and observe all North Korean tests.

Italy’s financial police Seize $134.5 billion US Bonds on the Border between Italy and Switzerland: Smuggling Or Counterfeit

Two Japanese nationals were arrested by Italian customs agents for smuggling what appeared to be 249 half billion note US treasury/Federal Reserve bonds -- a total of 134.5 Billion dollars.

The question is -- are they counterfeit?  If they are counterfeit, the point of origin is North Korea. This is what the NORKS do. There number one export (their only export?) is counterfeit merch and money. They are the world's leading counterfeiters; they love printing American money. but this is a whole other thing. Frankly, I never understood why the Americans didn't blow those counterfeiting factories to smithereens years ago (along with their nuclear weapons program).

Smuggling Or Counterfeit-Printing?

Ok, this was rumored several days ago, but now I can find actual news reports -- at least, outside the US:

 Milan (AsiaNews) –  Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar each.

Those sound like Bearer Bonds - at least the Kennedy ones do. 

We no longer issue those (nor does pretty much anyone else) for obvious reasons - they're essentially money and can be had in VERY large size, making them great vehicles for various illegal enterprises.

But folks: This is $134.5 billion dollars worth.

If they're real, what government (the only entity that would have such a cache) is trying to unload them?

If they're fake, this is arguably the biggest counterfeiting operation ever, by a factor of many times.  I've seen news about various counterfeiting operations over the years that have made me chuckle, but this one, if that's what it is, is absolutely jaw-dropping.

The cute part of this is that if the certificates are real Italy just got a hell of a bonanza - their money laundering laws provide for a statutory 40% penalty for failure to declare instruments and cash in excess of $10,000 Euros, which means they'd garner a close-to-$40 billion dollar windfall.

That ought to help their budget problems!

Notice, by the way, that the US Media has totally ignored this story - even though the securities in question are allegedly US instruments.

Gee, I wonder why?  Might the authorities know they're real and be just a wee bit nervous that disclosure of a sovereign attempting to covertly dump nearly $140 billion in debt could cause a wee bit of panic, given that we're running nearly $200 billion a month in deficits?

Inquiring minds want to know what's really going on here.

Photo of the stash:

Tee Cee, who sent me the story, wrote:

If the bonds turn out to be fake - here's my very educated take on who, why, what, how:

The two culprits are reported as being "Japanese" citizens. More likely -they are Japanese citizens of Korean ethnicity with connections to communist North Korea (short history - Korean communist movement was hatched and still major-league funded and supported by ethnic Koreans born and raised in Japan (it's a racist "thang you know"): it is practically out in the open knowledge inside Japan - that Japan born ethnic Koreans with ties to communist n. korea send literally -no exaggeration -boat loads of cash made in Japan (by ethnic Korean owned enterprises) to their comrades in n. korea (it is one of the major means of economic support for n. korea)

Communist pals - China and North Korea; likely the communist Chinese allowed some Korean comrades to see/possess US fed reserve/treasury bonds - for counterfeiting purposes; likely they would be splitting any gains if successfully sold to/in euro market and or into swiss bank accounts - for later use

if the bonds are real - similar deal as above (obtained by North Korea, from comrade commies in china, smuggled to Switzerland by ethnic Korean communist Korea sympathizers who hold Japanese citizen ship

if either of above is true - we now know how/what keeps the evil communist dwarf in business

From Asia News:

US government securities seized from Japanese nationals, not clear whether real or fake
Bonds worth US$ 134.5 billion are seized. This is the largest financial smuggling case in history. But are they real? Concern over ‘funny money’ or counterfeit securities is spreading in Asia. The international press is silent.

 Milan (AsiaNews) –  Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar each.

Italian authorities have not yet determined whether they are real or fake, but if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history; if they are fake, the matter would be even more mind-boggling because the quality of the counterfeit work is such that the fake bonds are undistinguishable from...

NORKS GO BALLISTIC AGAIN: OBAMA DIPLOMACY

One day after Lisa Ling's cute sister and her friend were sentenced to 12 long, grueling years of hard labor for ....... being American, and less than a month after North Korea dropped a Hiroshima sized nuke and subsequently fired at least three ballistic missiles one after another, now come new NORK launch plans.

Sales presentation after sales presentation for their number one customer, the jihad.

Obama's failed policy has ratcheted up their aggression and belligerent threats. There have been more war moves by North Korea in the first 5 months of his presidency than in all of Bush's 8 years.

In a cave-in to the left, (DIPLOMACY AT ALL COSTS EVEN AT THE COST OF OUR VERY LIVES), Bush removed them from the terror list. Now Republican senators are  demanding that North Korea be put back on the list. Obama would rather eat yellow cake, and frankly, things are so out of hand, what the hell is that going to do? Start shooting these missiles right off their platforms, before they click to launch. What's the matter with everyone?

Report: Russia Knows of N. Korea Launch Plans

FOXNews - ‎22 minutes ago‎

Russia has obtained information on North Korea's plans to launch a ballistic missile but does not know when it will take place, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian military source as saying on Wednesday.

"We have certain information about the type and characteristics of the missile. However, we do not have accurate data on the timing of its launch," Reuters quoted the source as saying.

South Korea has recently said the North is preparing to test a long-range missile capable of reaching U.S. territory and mid-range missiles that could strike South Korea or Japan.

On Tuesday, a Russian Foreign Ministry source said there were signs that North Korea was preparing new missile launches.

"Information is coming to us that there are signs of preparations for the launch of missiles," Interfax quoted the unnamed Russian source as saying.

Harry Truman is Puking in his grave

I wince when I imagine Truman's reaction to the current US groveling approach to North Korea. He sent men into battle to fight the nefarious scourge of communist expansionism in Korea (the Korean war). Imagine his horror if he witnessed the "carrots" we give to the brutal regime today. Could you just see Harry's face if he saw this 2006 news account on IPOD diplomacy?

The Bush administration wants North Korea's attention, so like a scolding parent it's trying to make it tougher for that country's eccentric leader to buy iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters.

But the list of proposed luxury sanctions, obtained by The Associated Press, aims to make Kim's swanky life harder: No more cognac, Rolex watches, cigarettes, artwork, expensive cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles or even personal watercraft, such as

Further, the United States of Maroons gave them massive quantities of heavy oil and committed to build the facilities in which to house the oil.

The NORKS are dropping Hiroshima nukes followed by long range missiles (delivery systems) in a sales presentation to all the evildoers the world over, and we are paying enormous amounts of tribute while the North Koreans starve in a 30 million manned gulag.

'Time is not on our side' is a quaint wax nostalgic.

Ambassador John Bolton wrote this in early 2008:

At a minimum, President Bush should not bequeath to the next president only the burned-out hulk of the Six-Party Talks, and countless failed and violated North Korean commitments.

David Gothard

Since they were conceived in spring 2003, the Six-Party Talks have stumbled around inconclusively. And for the last 13 months, Pyongyang has ignored, stalled, renegotiated and violated the Feb. 13, 2007 agreement.

Throughout all this "negotiation," which has mostly consisted of our government negotiating with itself, North Korea has benefited enormously. It's been spared the truly punishing sanctions that concerted international effort might have produced. In large part because of the appeasement policies of the two previous South Korean governments, Pyongyang has not felt the full impact of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) on its outward proliferation efforts. The U.S. has muzzled its criticism of North Korea's atrocious oppression of its own citizens. And, perhaps most humiliatingly of all, the U.S., in a vain effort at chasing the mirage, gave up its most effective pressure point -- the financial squeeze -- allowing Pyongyang renewed access to international markets through institutions like Banco Delta Asia.

In fact, the protracted Six-Party Talks have provided Kim Jong-il with the most precious resource of all: the time to enhance, conceal and even disperse his nuclear weapons programs. Time is nearly always on the side of the would-be proliferator, and so it has proven here. In exchange for five years of grace to North Korea, the U.S. has received precious little in return.

Pyongyang is now stonewalling yet again on its promise to disclose fully the details of its nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment efforts and its outward proliferation. The successful Israeli military strike against a Syrian-North Korean facility on the Euphrates River last September highlighted the gravity of the regime's unwillingness to do anything serious that might restrict its nuclear option.

North Koreans Fire Third Missile after Dropping Hiroshima Nuke: "NO LONGER BOUND BY 1953 ARMISTICE SIGNED AT THE END OF KOREAN WAR"

"A North Korean army spokesman reiterated that the country was no longer bound by the armistice signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War because Washington had ignored its responsibility as a signatory by drawing Seoul into the anti-proliferation effort." (More here) (hat tip Amaros)

For what? War.

For who? Well, who is funding the NORK nuke program? Iran.

Has Obama apologized yet to Kim Jong Ill, or is he still hiding in the men's room?

Amaros tells me John Bolton said that Iran is funding the NORK  nuke program -- will post that video as soon as it goes live (send me the link).

UPDATE: Much thanks to Amaros for the video.

North Korea fires a THIRD missile and accuses U.S. of hostility, one day after exploding 'Hiroshima' bomb

North Korea defied the world last night by launching a third missile, following two similar tests earlier in the day.

The rockets were fired the day after the communist state exploded a nuclear device as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.

The actions drew strong criticism from around the world and calls for tough new sanctions against the regime.

Rally: North Korean soldiers, officials and people celebrate the firing of a second nuclear missile

Rally: North Korean soldiers, officials and people celebrate the firing of a second nuclear missile

But experts questioned whether a new UN resolution would have any effect on Korea's nuclear ambitions.

All three launches were reported to be short-range missiles which can hit targets up to 80 miles away.

As the crisis grew, U.S. President Barak Obama assured South Korean president Lee Myung-bak of Washington's commitment to defend his country on the long- divided peninsula.

Emergency sessions of the UN Security Council drew up new sanctions aimed at persuading North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to rejoin talks on ending his nuclear programme.

But existing sanctions are regularly flouted and the country is so poor it relies on aid, mainly from China, to feed its 23million people.

[...]

A scientist points out the seismic impact of the nuclear test

Diplomats believe the explosion, which prompted an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, was a calculated attempt by Pyongyang to destabilise the region and shore up its hardline regime. 

But the isolated nation appeared to have overreached itself when even China and Russia joined in with the criticism.

Mr Brown swiftly denounced the move as 'erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world'. The Prime Minister said: 'This act will undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and will do nothing for North Korea's security. 

'The international community will treat North Korea as a partner if it behaves responsibly. If it does not then it can expect only renewed isolation

Mr Obama said the nuclear test constituted an act of 'blatant defiance' of the UN Security Council, a violation of international law.

The U.S. President added: 'North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile programme, constitute a threat to international peace and security.' 

In a White House address the President pledged to work with allies around the world to 'stand up to' North Korea. Tensions had already been running high over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

It was censured by the UN last month for launching a rocket - widely seen as a test for a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead - in breach of a missile test ban.

[...]

The state-controlled Korean Central News Agency confirmed that the regime had 'successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defence'.

Anti-North Korea protesters burn a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during a rally denouncing its nuclear threat in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul today

South Korean military heavy armoured vehicles are carried by trucks on a street near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas since the Korean War today. Washington has promised 'unequivocal' military help to South Korea if need be

South Koreans reacted to the terrifying news by staging angry street protests against their Stalinist northern neighbour.

Western intelligence analysts and diplomats believe the explosion was designed to attract the attention of the Obama administration.

But it is more likely to lead to further isolation, by halting a recent thawing of relations with the West. 

The U.S. had taken North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism after Pyongyang allowed some inspections of its nuclear facilities. 

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: 'The test is a provocation that will prevent others from dealing with North Korea as a responsible partner.'

Foreign Office and U.S. State Department experts believe that the blast is evidence that the hardline military in North Korea is asserting itself as the health of dictator Kim Jong-Il declines. 

North Korea carried out the nuclear test at a site six miles underground and 40 miles north-west of Kimchaek in the north-east of the country

While the leadership is hard to penetrate and its motives are difficult to read, it is thought that Army chiefs want to reassert their influence before a successor is chosen to Kim, whose position has been on under question since he suffered a stroke last year.

Others think nuclear brinkmanship is a way for Kim to reassert his iron grip on power to ensure that one of his sons is well placed to succeed him. 

China, the hermit state's regional benefactor, said it was resolutely opposed to the test, but it was thought to remain opposed to punitive sanctions.

Its foreign ministry said: 'The Chinese side vehemently demands North Korea abides by its denuclearisation promises, stop any actions which may worsen the situation and return to the six-party talks process.

'The Chinese government calls on all sides to calmly and appropriately deal with the situation.' 

The U.N. Security Council condemned the test and is working on a new resolution, but analysts say China is unlikely to support anything tough.

For China, the more immediate risk may be serious rupture inside the impoverished state, which could spark a flood of North Korean refugees across its border.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in an undated photo released this week. The country's defiance over its nuclear programme has outraged the international community

The Taepoding-1, North Korea's first generation of long-range ballistic missile. An updated version was fired over Japan two months ago that was capable of striking the U.S., while Pyongyang claimed to have fired a short-range missile

North Koreans Taunt Obama: Fire Two Missiles After Testing Nuke Bomb

NORTH KOREA TESTS SECOND NUCLEAR BOMB

UPDATE: Melanie Phillips has a great piece: THE FRUITS OF APPEASEMENT(hat tip Davod)

Not only is America now paying the price of its past defeatism over North Korea, but Obama is now ensuring that the US is weakened even more actively and catastrophically. The insanity of his overall strategy is set out here by James Lewis, who rightly suggests that Obama is simply the very worst person to be sitting in the White House right now.  And as John Bolton again wrote in the New York Times:

... the Obama administration is seriously weakening both our strategic offensive and defensive capacity. The Defense Department budget proposes major cuts in missile defense programs, returning to an emphasis both in operational and diplomatic terms on ‘theater’ missile defense (mainly for defending deployed military forces), rather than ‘national’ missile defense (for shielding America’s population from missile attack).

... The Pentagon also proposes ending financing for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a key to substituting safe, dependable warheads for the ones now aging... The administration is also putting new emphasis on negotiating conventions against the ‘arms race’ in outer space, which would undercut America's current substantial advantage above the earth...

Unhappily, the administration is pushing Israel to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as a ‘non-nuclear-weapons state,’ meaning Israel would have to eliminate its nuclear arsenal. Iran and others will welcome this, given their repeated demands for the same result. Today’s real proliferation threat, however, is not Israel, but states like Iran and North Korea that become parties to the alphabet soup of arms control treaties and then violate them with abandon. Without robust American reactions to these violations--not apparent in administration thinking--more will follow.

But does Obama care about any of that? As Con Coughlin wrote in the Telegraph:

The naivety of the West’s approach to North Korea was best summed up by Stephen Bosworth, Mr Obama’s special envoy to the region, who declared he was ‘relatively relaxed’ that the American-led six-nation talks aimed at bringing Pyongyang to heel have achieved virtually nothing... If the Obama administration is relaxed about this failure, then I suppose it will take an equally sanguine view of North Korea’s attempts to export its bomb-making expertise to other rogue states, such as Iran and Syria.

Indeed, after Israel bombed the Syrian nuclear facility there was evidence of North Korean involvement in that forbidden programme. North Korea is also selling nuclear and missile technology to Pakistan as well as Iran. Yet Obama appears ‘relaxed’ about everyone’s nukes except Israel's– the one country that will never use them except to prevent itself from being annihilated by the countries Obama is appeasing.

Naivety – or the profound idiocy of malice?

North Koreans Taunt Obama: Fire Two Missiles After Testing Nuke Bomb

The nuclear go-to boys for Islamic jihad completed their sales presentation of their latest nuclear bomb test with a demonstration of their state of art delivery system. The North Koreans launched two missiles a day after testing another nuclear bomb.

Obama is changing his wet pants and will be reading off his teleprompter shortly as his handlers devise a tersely worded billet doux.

FOX NEWS: SEOUL, South Korea —  North Korea launched tests Tuesday of two more short-range missiles a day after conducting a nuclear test, news reports said, pushing the regime's confrontation with world powers further despite the threat of U.N. Security Council action.

Two missiles — one ground-to-air, the other ground-to-ship — with a range of about 80 miles (130 kilometers) were test-fired Tuesday from an east coast launch pad, the Yonhap news agency and YTN television reported, citing unnamed South Korean officials.

South Korea's spy chief, Won Sei-hoon, had informed lawmakers earlier Tuesday that North Korea appeared to be preparing to test-fire more missiles, according to Park Young-sun, a legislator who attended the closed-door session.

Pyongyang also test-fired three short-range missiles Monday in the hours after conducting an underground nuclear test in the northeast, Yonhap said.

 (hat tip Amaros)

Don't Hold Your Breath, Ambassador Bolton

Just as John Bolton predicted, the NORKs have dropped another nuke. A sales presentation to jihadis purchasing nukes. North Korea is the nuke go-to guys for the global jihad.

The crazy left said Bolton was crazy when he predicted the NORK's nuclear bomb test yesterday. Will they apologize? Ha! Will they finally say, Mr. Bolton, you must get tired of always being right? Ha! They never get tired of being wrong. It's a special kind of mental illness.

Will The Left Apologize To Bolton? Legal Insurrection

On May 20, 2009, John Bolton wrote an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal titled "Get Ready for Another North Korean Nuke Test" in which he noted that the complacency of the Obama administration about North Korea's nuclear ambitions (and Iran's) was misplaced:

"The curtain is about to rise again on the long-running nuclear tragicomedy, "North Korea Outwits the United States." Despite Kim Jong Il's explicit threats of another nuclear test, U.S. Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth said last week that the Obama administration is "relatively relaxed" and that "there is not a sense of crisis." They're certainly smiling in Pyongyang."

As usual, the Left lashed out at Bolton, who may be third after George Bush and Dick Cheney in being portrayed as crazy and paranoid. Bolton has been derided as "the neocon's neocon" who "laps up the hosannas of fellow knuckle-draggers."

Allison Kilkenny at Huffington Post applied the left-wing attack on Bolton specifically as to Bolton's North Korea position, in a post titled, Update: John Bolton Still Crazy:

You have to hand it to the Wall Street Journal. At a time when the newspaper industry is desperately trying to remind America it's important and relevant, the WSJ has carved out a nice little niche for itself as a halfway house for discredited political figures. I think it's really humane of them. Their most recent charity case is John Bolton, America's former ambassador to the United Nations....

Today, Bolton chose to growl at the old, but reliable, enemy of North Korea. This is a particularly vintage move when one considers North Korea already tried to strike fear into the hearts of Americans last month when they tested a missile that fizzled and fell into the ocean 1,300 miles off the east coast of Japan. Bolton's stance is pretty brave because his frenzied ideology flies in the face of scholarly counsel.

It turns out that Ms. Kilkenny's post proved just who still is crazy, and it's not Bolton. Please read all of Ms. Kilkenny's anti-Bolton diatribe. It is a lesson in why we cannot, cannot, cannot, trust the Left with our national security.

RELATED: China Confidential has been ahead of the curve and the media. They have called it - both tests.

As shown by our reporting on North Korea and Iran, we are proving over and again that a small team of analysts and journalists (I have stringers and tipsters all over the world feeding China Confidential) can out-report and out-think the mainstream media. No wonder the major papers are going the way of general interest magazines like Look and Life. No wonder the brands Time and Newsweek no longer matter....

NORTH KOREA TESTS SECOND NUCLEAR BOMB

When America was strong, proud and unafraid to show our moral clarity and superior military strength, the world was a more peaceful place.

The North Koreans dropped a second nuclear bomb today. Today, of all days, America's Memorial day - how fitting. Do you think that symbolism is irrelevant or accidental? I don't, and neither do they.

How will Obama react to the North Koreans dropping yet another nuclear bomb? By promising to disarm the US and her allies of nuclear weapons? Such asshattery is beneath contempt.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said North Korea's latest nuclear test needs a Security Council response. The world body that allowed such things to happen plans to write another billet doux.

Perhaps another circle jerk around sanctions. That worked brilliantly in the past. Over at FOX:

The five permanent veto-wielding members of the council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — met behind closed doors ahead of the meeting of the full 15-member council.

Japan, which called for the emergency meeting, said North Korea's "irresponsible" nuclear test and a missile launch in April had challenged the authority of the U.N.'s most powerful body "and the response must be firm."

Japan must establish a new alliance of democratic nations with Israel, India, Taiwan, Marshall Islands - all Democratic nations - and create a new umbrella of protection. I think the Japanese have to go nuclear.

"It's a very clear challenge," said Japan's U.N. Ambassador Yukio Takasu, a non-permanent council member. "So therefore we need a really, really clear and firm message from this — preferably a resolution."

Takasu refused to say whether Japan would seek new sanctions against North Korea, saying he wanted to consult with other council members. "The important thinking is a unified message from the council," he said.

North Korea claimed it carried out a powerful underground nuclear test Monday that was much larger than one it conducted in 2006. Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion occurred early Monday in northeastern North Korea and estimated that its strength was similar to bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

Huh? Whose side is Gates on?

This decision by Gates is absolutely deplorable. Whose side is he on? The only explanation is that the Obama administration doesn't want to know. Doesn't want the detailed info because he might have to do something with the intel. And let's face it - in America vs the axis of evil ... President Hussein has made his loyalties well known.

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. failed to use best radar for N. Korea missile Gates refused area commander's request By Bill Gertz hat tip Van

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied permission for the U.S. Northern Command to use the Pentagon's most powerful sea-based radar to monitor North Korea's recent missile launch, precluding officials from collecting finely detailed launch data or testing the radar in a real-time crisis, current and former defense officials said. CONTD...

GLOBAL CHAOS: Obama's "Visionary Strategy" Melting

More "distractions" for Obama ...... not including the jihadi "navy's" hijacking of four boats today.

The sharks are smelling blood... and each of these developments is, in and of itself, an enormous development. Horrible. And each is deserving of its own post, but who can keep up with President Sherman - thrashing, slashing, and burning? This is chaos, and this is what happens when the "world's policeman" resigns and apologizes to cretins. Much thanks to Amaros for all the links.

U.S. May Drop Key Condition for Talks With Iran

New proposals would allow Tehran to continue enriching
uranium during negotiations, officials say, a sharp break
from the Bush administration's approach.

Full story
So what's the point of talking? To negotiate the surrender of the West to Islam? Seriously, if you are allowing Iran to go nuclear, what's the point? The fifth column in the US cannot negotiate in good faith.

North Korea Says It Will Restart Nuclear Plant

After the United Nations Security Council condemned North
Korea's rocket launch, the nation said it planned to
restart a plant that makes arms-grade plutonium.

Full Story
Why shouldn't the NORKS restart their NUKE plant? There is no one there to stop them, and their ally Iran IN THE AXIS OF EVIL is winning the war.

Pakistan militants attack NATO supply trailers

More than 80 militants attacked a supply terminal in northwest Pakistan that serves U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, police said.

FULL STORY
Why shouldn't they attack NATO? There is no one there to stop them. The bad guys are winning.

Report: North Korea to quit nuclear talks

North Korea's foreign ministry said the country will quit talks aimed at disarming the country of nuclear weapons and strengthen nuclear capabilities, state-run media reported Tuesday.

FULL STORY
Why shouldn't the NORKS quit the talks? There is no one there to stop them.

Castro wants more from Obama on Cuba

The U.S. policy shift toward Cuba makes no mention of the "harshest of measures" -- the economic blockade -- former Cuban leader Fidel Castro says.

FULL STORY
Why shouldn't Castro demand more? There's an assclown in the White House.

Victor Davis Hanson here:

It's hard to make sense of all this. All I can make sense of is, he has a very different view of the world. This view is anti-platonic. And I say that, not to be condescending, but Plato said that the natural order of the world was chaos, it was war—peace was a parenthesis, it had to be achieved and worked at. I think in the Obama view that men like him that are charismatic, articulate, they can change the world because it's naturally a peaceful thing until people like George Bush rush in and through their stubbornness—"smoke 'em out dead or alive" vernacular—destroys it, but the fact of the matter is the only reason there is any semblance of peace and tranquility in the world today is because in places as diverse as the Aegean, planes over-flying in Greek airspace daily, where there's near fighting on Cypress, or whether we are talking about the Korean Sea and the Philippines and Taiwan and South Korean democracies not going nuclear because the United States is there, or whether Russian ships keep out of Norway every hour—all of that is predicated on the presence of the United States.

To be frank, or to put it a different way, Vladimir Putin doesn't give a damn that Barack Obama is African American. And the Chinese autocrats do not hear very well "hope" and "change"—it doesn't translate to Chinese very well—and the Europeans don't care if he has a nifty jump shot.  All they want to know is half the world are vying to try to take advantage of regional opportunities if the United States is not there to stop mold, and to stop rust, which is the natural organic order of the world. They take advantage of it and our friends are there waiting to see which side to join. All of our friends in Europe know that, and Australia and South America. They don't have deities. Nations don't have deities like Barack Obama, they have interests. And their interests are predicated on who is going to win and who is going to lose. Into that void comes Barack Obama.

Above artwork: Picasso's Guernica

UN SECURITY COUNCIL KICKS PRESIDENT HUSSEIN TO THE CURB WILL DO NOTHING ABOUT NORTH KOREAN MISSILE LAUNCH

The UNSC has given President Shaft the shaft.

Now that Obama promised to nuclear disarm America in response to North Korea and Iran building nuclear weapons, how did his adoring friends in the international community thank him? By kicking him to the curb. They have defanged America - what did Obambi expect? No one respects the weak and the craven.
They met in emergency session and decided to do nothing.

This is his strong response? Disarming us?

"This provocation underscores the need for action"

Yes, BHO, your international friends backed you up on that. 

"Rules must be binding"

"Violations must be punished?
Words Matter"

Kim Jong Il is ROTFLHAO.

NOW'S THE TIME FOR A STRONG INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

The UNSC's response? Do nothing - not even the strongly worded letter.

"All nations must come together to build a stronger global regime".

WTF is a "gobal regime"?

"We believe in dialogue"

Good luck with that, asshat.

When America had spine. FLASHBACK 2006

Is it possible that this was just two years ago?

It feels like a wake doesn't it?

NORTH KOREANS SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCH LONG RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE

I feel like Phil Rizzuto calling the play by play on the road to Armageddon.

Can anyone tell me why South Korea, Japan, or any other free nation (Obama is increasingly sympathetic to brutal tyrants like Kim Jong Il - he will never take action) is not shooting this missile out of the sky and finally taking defensive action against the axis and the forces of great evil? North Korea has seen enough of BHO's gutlessness to know that they have nothing to fear.

We must stop our empty threats. It's one thing to do nothing. That's bad enough, but threatening an action and never taking any is worse than weak, it is craven. And it speaks volumes to a brutal dictator who tyrannizes over a gulag of 30 million prisoners.

North Korea 'has launched rocket'  BBC

North Korea appears to have launched a rocket, reports from Japan and South Korea say.

It came a day after Pyongyang said that its preparations for the launch of a communications satellite were complete.

North Korea, purveyor of nuclear weapons and host to a mullah delegation from Iran, is showcasing its the delivery phase of a complete nuclear weaponry system in launching this Taepodong-2 missile. The rocket has a range of 4,000 miles or more.

Liftoff was 10:30 pm Eastern time. It has splashed down in the Pacific.

Obama said this would be a"provocative" act. Now what, Obambi?

UPDATE: Ambassador Bolton on Greta Van Susteran:

VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, are we certain that this is a test of a long-range missile? Is there any chance what the North Koreans say, that this is a harmless launch of a satellite, communications satellite is possible?

BOLTON: Well, it could be they're trying to launch a communications satellite, but the technology is exactly the same. John Kennedy was once asked, What's the difference between an American Atlas missile that puts John Glenn into orbit and the Atlas missiles targeted on the Soviet Union, and he said one word, "attitude." It's the same technology.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Who are they sharing their technology with? Who are they getting it from and who are they giving it to? Because, you know, we've actually taken "On the Record" to North Korea, and there's not a lot of activity, commercial activity, going on there. And so they must be getting something from somebody.

UPDATE: UN powers prepare to tighten NKorea sanctions

"UN powers," our new masters. WE were our own masters. WE were the masters of our domain -- but now we serve the OIC.

UNITED NATIONS—The United States and other key nations privately discussed a possible resolution Friday dealing with North Korea's expected rocket launch that could tighten enforcement of existing sanctions on the communist nation, diplomats said Friday.

The U.N. was anticipating a weekend emergency session of the council if North Korea launches what it calls an experimental satellite but what many Western nations suspect is a long-range missile test.

Council diplomats said that a draft resolution had begun circulating that could essentially reaffirm and tighten enforcement of the demands and sanctions of the council's resolution 1718, passed in October 2006 five days after a North Korean nuclear test.

Concerns were widespread at the prospect of North Korea having both nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that could carry payloads as far as U.S. soil. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

"This is essentially an act of defiance against the Security Council," said John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and ex-U.S. undersecretary of state in charge of the North Korean nuclear dossier.

Bolton, a longtime critic of what he sees as U.S. leniency with North Korea, said Friday he didn't expect anything more than a condemnation and no new economic sanctions again North Korea.

"A wrist slap by the Security Council won't mean anything and, in fact, I think the North Koreans will take that as a sign of weakness," he said. "It'll say they got away with the test."

The U.S., France, Britain and Japan privately discussed the possible resolution Friday. They argue that a launch would violate the two-year-old sanctions demanding that it suspend all actions related to its ballistic missile program.

New sanctions also appeared unlikely in the face of probable resistance from China, North Korea's closest ally, and Russia, the other two nations that have council veto power.

The U.S.-sponsored resolution 1718 demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program, and ordered all countries to prevent North Korea from importing or exporting any material for weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles. It ordered nations to freeze assets of people or businesses connected to these programs, and banned the individuals from traveling.

They are not going to do anything about North Korea's egregious violation of UN sanctions. It's all one giant circle jerk......................

North Korea, Iran .... Laughing at Obama

While the NORKS appear terrifed (/sarc tag off) of a strongly worded letter from Obambi and his toothless administration, it appears they will be going forward with their missile launch - will Japan take action? Lord knows, our allies cannot rely on American hegemony anymore, President Hussein is too busy apologizing to the Muslim world.

Gates: U.S. Not Prepared to Respond to North Korea Missile Launch

Iranian missile experts in N. Korea (hat tip Amaros)

TOKYO (AFP) — A group of Iranian missile experts is in North Korea to help Pyongyang prepare for a rocket launch, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.

North Korea has said it will launch a communications satellite over northern Japan between April 4 and 8, and the report said the 15-strong Iranian delegation had been in the country since the beginning of this month.

It includes senior officials with Iranian rocket and satellite producer Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, the daily said, quoting unnamed sources.

The Iranians brought a letter from their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il stressing the importance of cooperating on space technology, it added.

The United States and its Asian allies suspect North Korea is using the launch as a cover for a long-range missile test.

North Korea and Iran have both come under international pressure over their nuclear activities and are reported to maintain close ties on missile technology.

NORTH KOREA HOLDING TWO AMERICAN JOURNALISTS HOSTAGE

China Confidential broke the story. The Washington Post is now confirming that North Korea has captured two American journalists and is holding them as hostages ...... I am sure O-bambi will refrain from using the word hostage. He wouldn't want to insult Kim Jong-Il.

China Confidential reported Monday that North Korea intends to use two captured American journalists as hostages in order to deter the United States and Japan from interfering with Pyongyang's planned rocket launch. The Washington Post today published an article that supports the China Confidential analysis, citing sources that describe the detained U.S. citizens as "bargaining chips."

Click here for the story.

The Obama administration and accommodating media outlets are likely to avoid using the hostage term, even though the definition of a hostage is a person held against his or her will--a prisoner--by one party in order to ensure that another party meets specified demands or behaves in a certain manner.

EDITOR'S NOTE: American advocates of appeasing nuclear-armed North Korea and its nuclear-arming ally, Iran, have begun a blame-the-victim whispering campaign in Washington, DC and New York that recalls a knee-jerk liberal response to urban crime during the 1960s and '70s. What was she doing walking in that neighborhood? was commonly heard on Manhattan's Upper West Side and in other liberal bastions following an all-too commonplace report of a rape, mugging, or beating. It is only a matter of time--days, maybe--before North Korea's apologists will mobilize to downplay both the hostage-taking by the regime and its menacing missile launch.