Barack Obama -- North Korea

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That light in North Korea Is Pyongyang

The rest of the country has no electricity.

Seoul, on the other hand...

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Yada, Yada, Yada

Mark Smith reports Barack Obama said Saturday that North Korea must be "held to account" for its sinking of a South Korean warship, a tough statement of support for an ally made at its leader’s side.

After talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak on the sidelines of global summits here, Obama used some of his strongest language yet about the March sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

An independent report has found it was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

"There have to be consequences for such irresponsible behavior," Obama said.

A "tough statement" -- "strongest language" -- "there have to be consequences" -- Ha!

Words, just words -- it's been 62 days since North Korea's act of war killed 46 South Korean sailors in international waters and Obama hasn't done a thing -- and he won't.

Now, if South Korea had attacked a North Korean vessel, Obama most certainly would have immediately imposed sanctions on Seoul -- such is the alternate reality of the Obama administration.

Sinking Of South Korean Warship Not Terrorism

The Obama administration said Monday that the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea was not terrorism, and not enough by itself to put Pyongyang back on a U.S. terror blacklist.

The State Department said the March sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan by a reported torpedo from a North Korean submarine was a "provocative action" and a violation of the truce that ended the Korean war.

But it added that the sinking was the act of one state's military against another and not an act of terrorism. Thus, it is not grounds to put North Korea back on the U.S. "state sponsors of terrorism" list as some in South Korea had wanted, spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Continue reading here . . .

Of course the sinking of a South Korean warship is not an act of terrorism. It is an act of war.

In ObamaWorld, terrorism isn't terrorism, and war isn't war. We are in deep sneakers here.

Obama Goes Wobbly On North Korea

Joshua Stanton asks, just what does a psychotic despot have to do to get on the list of state sponsors of terrorism?

Since Obama’s inauguration, Kim Jong Il has:

• Sunk a South Korean warship and killed 46 members of her crew

• Been caught twice shipping weapons -- including man-portable surface-to-air missiles -- to Iran, apparently for the use of its terrorist clients

• Sent a hit squad to assassinate a prominent defector in South Korea

• Threatened civilian air traffic to and from South Korea

• Threatened to turn the capitals of various neighboring states into "sea[s] of fire"

• Tested a nuclear weapon and multiple ballistic missiles in flagrant violation of at least three U.N. Security Council resolutions

• Imprisoned a young American citizen, Ailjalon Gomes, for the quixotic (but hardly criminal) act of presenting a petition to some North Korean border guards demanding the closure of Kim Jong Il’s extensive and horrific system of political prison camps. Last week, North Korea claimed that Gomes had attempted suicide in captivity because of his "strong guilty conscience" (as if) and his despair that the U.S. government "has not taken any measure for his freedom." Readers of above-average intelligence should feel free to interpret as a ransom demand.

An attack on one nation's warship, by another nation, has nothing to do with terrorism. That's an act of war.

North Korea Tests Obama For The Third Time

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal says for the third time since the inauguration, Kim Jong Il is again challenging Barack Obama. Now, the question is, will Obama stand up to North Korea’s Dictator?

The United States and South Korea are now conducting a joint military exercise as a show of force to North Korea. This is a serious exercise with a nuclear-armed US carrier group led by the USS George Washington. F-22s are based in South Korea to participate in the exercise. The military drill started on Sunday and will continue four days.

North Korea has threatened a nuclear weapons attack if this military exercise takes place. Is this just another bluff, or does North Korea have the ability to deliver nuclear weapons to South Korea and Japan? If North Korea has nuclear weapons, how many does it have? North Korea has the ability to build nuclear weapons, but probably not of the size that could be delivered by a missile.

This military drill is in direct response to the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean warship, by North Korea. Evidence was found that a North Korean torpedo exploded beneath the Cheonan, which caused it to sink and killed forty-six of its sailors. This was the deadliest attack by North Korea since the formal cessation of hostilities in 1953. It was Obama’s second challenge.

The military exercises are a good response and far superior to sanctions and unproductive negotiations. Diplomacy first demonstrated with overwhelming firepower can open the door to peace unless Kin Jong Il decides Obama lacks the necessary courage to act.

In April 2009, North Korea challenged and deceived Obama, Japan, and the United Nations. North Korea simply shot an ICBM over Japan and dropped its delivery vehicle into the Pacific Ocean. It did not put a satellite into orbit as it had promised. It did demonstrate that it could drop a nuclear warhead on Japan.

North Korea demonstrated to the World that it had the potential to deliver a nuclear warhead. Japan was warned that it is well within the destructive reach of North Korea. Iran was shown that its chief missile supplier would have a delivery system available for Iran’s first nuclear warhead.

How difficult would it have been to take out the missile before it was launched with one Cruise Missile? How much courage would it have taken to dispatch Dear Leader and his oligarchy with another missile? This would have been a pleasant surprise and would have opened the door to real negotiations with North Korea and maybe even a peaceful Korean reunification. We can only hope. We know nothing so bold will happen on the watch of Obama.

"All warfare is based on deception," wrote General Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War. General Sun Tzu wrote, "There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare."

The politically correct of the Twenty-first Century know only how to dither and wag their fingers. Obama has no resolve or no courage to confront the North Koreans and to end the menace of Kim Jong Il. The danger only increases with each passing day.