Fox's Colby: "[W]hy would North Korea push our buttons ... when they know -- they can see in Iraq -- when we come in, we get the job done?"
In a segment on the July 6 broadcast of Fox News Live on the recent North Korean missile tests, anchor Jamie Colby asked Fox News host Oliver North, a retired Marine colonel: "[W]hy would North Korea push our buttons, so to speak, by firing off these missiles when they know -- they can see in Iraq -- when we come in, we get the job done?"
From the July 6 edition of Fox News Live:
COLBY: And that was, of course, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq wishing the president a happy birthday today, but also the two leaders talking about the progress that has been made in Iraq. I want to go back now to Colonel North. And the president brings up a good point. We are a nation of our word, something that North Korea clearly hasn't been, Colonel. So, why would North Korea push our buttons, so to speak, by firing off these missiles when they know -- they can see in Iraq -- when we come in, we get the job done?
NORTH: Well, you know, North Korea exports no food. They export counterfeit American dollars. They counter -- they export drugs, and they export missile and nuclear technology. That's about all they've got. So, if this was a commercial for their Taepodong-2 missile, which blew up 42 seconds after it launched, it wasn't a very good commercial. The second objective they've got is to simply gain international attention, anxiety, and feed the fuel of those in this country who want to start those bilateral discussions. I don't think there's -- I think there's a two-strike ballgame for these guys here on the eve of the All-Star Game break. This is two strikes. They've struck out in two strikes. I don't think that this has been good for them at all, and I look for this United Nations resolution to see whether the United Nations Security Council really is up to the task.
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and a fine host for Fox news.
Ollie North should be locked up for his crimes. Perfect host for Fox.
Unbeliveable what these anchors say to the guests when being interviewed. If I were NK and looked at what we are doing in Iraq I would think that was the reason we do fire more missles.
Sigh
well maybe because North Korea has itnessed, like most sane people, that the U.S. has accomplished very little in Iraq except for overthrowing a very weak regime that was already on the verge of collapse. Security is pathetic as is any hope for a foreseeable end to the conflict. The U.S. military command and its puppet Iraqi government have eliminated the possibility of peacefully ending the Iraq stalemate, favoring everlasting warfare and repression. Terrorism has increased and Afghanistan is a failed state riddled by opium production and a resurgent Taliban insurgency.
Clearly the U.S. military intervention model has failed in its stated goal to reduce terrorism, even the Afghan president Karzai has said that the only way to eliminate terrorism is to address its root causes, a stance that Rove and his lackeys deride as "appeasement."
It can't have escaped international attention that America's military is virtually strapped, to where National Guard (rather than Active Duty) troops are extended and extended, beyond their obligation in many cases. Our troops are being killed daily, and the Administration is powerless to stop the bloodshed. It's getting worse in Iraq, and Afghanistan has returned to the War Lords and the Taliban.
Bush has shown the world that we aren't up to subduing a WEAK nation, at least with present leadership in the White House. Bush has shown that we will attack without provocation, but ONLY nations that DO NOT have nukes; bravo for instructing potential enemies what they MUST do in order to avoid Bush's wrath -- DEVELOP NUKES FAST. Bush has shown the world that we do NOT support our troops in the field with proper armor, either for themselves or their vehicles.
Bush demonstrated to the world that orders from "on high" allowed Iraqi conventional ammo and explosive depots to remain unguarded, so that terrorists and insurgents looted enough bomb materials to kill our soldiers for an extended period of conflict.
Bush simply CUT OFF any attempt at diplomacy when dealing with North Korea. This makes us a nation unwilling to talk; a horrendous foreign policy failure for which we will pay dearly.
So, it is Bush's ACTIONS and Bush's POLICIES which would encourage any potential enemy of America. His "leadership" has been so incompetent, he invites aggression.
China refuses to support economic sanctions against North Korea, so if you want to blam the U.N., blame China and see how well that goes over there.
Russia does not support economic sanctions against Tehran so if FOX news has a problem with that, they should take it up with Moscow.
As I posted on another thread: Pyongyang’s attempted launch of a long-range rocket is certainly an attempt to push the U.S. towards bilateral negotiations aimed at removing the U.S. threat and sanctions, and securing the nuclear energy facilities promised by the Clinton administration but cancelled under Bush. Some senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have recently renewed calls for bilateral talks.
Well then, strike up the band and bring the troops home!!! Drinks are on me!!!
that the missile launch hurt NK's position, but because it failed not because it occured. The failure will only increase Washington's leverage over Pyonyang if diplomatic talks resume.
that someone with nice academic credentials is so clueless and ignorant when it comes to foreign affairs:
Excerpt from her bio on the FOX website: "Attending the University of Miami International School of Business at age 14, she received a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting as well as her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law at age 22."
Clearly college does not enlighten all people or convince them to think critically.
To quote Woody Allen, "Everything your parents said was good for you is bad for you...sunshine, red meat and college."
A wonky type A academic is now a "pundit" with perspective. Only on Fox News!
Or maybe she just never learned how to not be a whore.
Obviously her growth was stunted by all that book learnin'
you imagine a world if Foxites were really in charge. There would be perpetual war. multiple fronts simulataneously. Ok I answered my own question, it would be that dismal scary place so well depicted in 1984.
This whole situation in North Korea is very troublesome. They're a completely isolated and brainwashed regime. The North Korean people are reportedly so malnourished, some resort to cannibalism. Thousands die each month. Their own government sells their prison population to China for cheap forced labor (i.e. modern form of slavery). The people have no hope, and know basically nothing of the outside world. Their country is completely militarized and authoritarian.
There is no easy solution to this problem. I think the best approach is to try to "open them up" as much as possible, like we've done over the years with China. High-ranking US officials should try to visit them, like Madelaine Albright did in the 90's. We should try to get them to engage in more and more dialogue on the world scene.
Offering economic incentives might be the only way to halt their nuclear and long range missile programs. They'll either develop them and try to sell them to rogue nations/terrorists, or they'll halt the program in exchange for fuel and food from the West. Those seem to be the only alternatives. To me, it seems making an economic deal with them is our best option.
It's clear Bush's policy of basically ignoring the problem is not working.
After all Jong Il is..."soooooo ronery". Maybe some company would calm him down.
and a big movie buff too I have read!
AMERICA F*** YEAH!!
North Korea has repeatedly said it will stop its nuclear enrichment program if it receives pledges from the U.S. not to attack it and to send economic aid. I don't know why the Bush administration hasn't taken NK up on this offer.
You make an excellent point. To me, the answer is a no-brainer. Let's help them out economically, show them the benefits of being a friend of the U.S. and give them a lift up. Let's show them what America can do (without having to force our military on them) and how we can be the country that we hold ourselves up to be - a kind, compassionate country, a beacon of freedom.
I don't see what the problem is. It's not appeasement to give a country what they want in order to get what WE want. It's called give and take. Evidently all George and his crackheads want to do is take, take, take and take some more. Our issues with North Korea will not be resolved by force - from either side. Staying the course and refusing to sit down like adults to work this out will not help matters either.
To me, sending NK economic aid as part of a negotiated cessation to its nuclear enrichment is win-win for both countries. The people of NK get to eat and eventually focus on less visceral cravings such as democracy and self-determination. The best way to keep yourself in power is to ensure your people remain impoverished and focused on surviving as opposed to living in democracy and freedom.
From the U.S. side, it eliminates a potential security threat that also damages any prospect for reunification between the two Koreas.
Is that even though this egomaniacal despot is a couple of pepperonis short of a medium slice, he is not stupid. He may be rightly viewed as nuttier than a 20 gallon vat of Snickers mix but even he knows that with the armaments that he does have there is NO WAY ON THIS EARTH that he would be invaded. That and the fact he has no oil. In the end, people will have to sit down with him and sort things out. The only real end will be a diplomantic one.
Oh but if he did have some - he would be at one of those Blackl sites by now.
Jamie will now explain how The Wizard Of Oz is actually a documentary, not a classic fantasy film.
Stay tuned.
trying to bring aid to NK will work? Kim Jong would have to lift the squeeze he has on his people. I do not feel that is what he wants. But hell, it is better than going to war with them.
Which Iraq war has she been watching? Jamie, you need to give me some of that good crack you must've gotten while at the U . . .
She sounds like orielly when he says "if you want to know what an orielly boycott means for your country, call the french ambassador and he'll fill you in."
I feel about as threatened by North Korea as I did by Saddam, i.e., not at all. The North may claim a large standing army but it's lost it's Soviet backers, has no feul, no industry, no electricity, no food, etc. Those missiles they fire off occassionally are mere firecrackers and they have no industry to produce them in quantity...and it must be noticed, they have never fired them at anyone, unlike the US. We love sending our missiles at live targets, not empty ocean.
Ever see a night-time satellite photo of the Korean peninsula? The South is lit up like Los Vegas and the North is total darkness, except for a tiny pinprick of light from the few streetlights in Pyongyang. That's the "big bad North Korea" our professional fearmongers wave at us to keep us scared. Only thing North Korea is good at is women's soccer and mass gymnastics, in all other fields it's a joke. And the DC loonies make like North Korea is the worst threat to the West Coast since Japan 1941. They're LYING.
Old Ollie North has a lot of nerve whining about someone exporting drugs or dealing arms...his Contra-period notebooks remark about the millions made by his CIA buddies shipping crack cocaine into the USA to fund Reagan's little private army in Nicaragua that he was in charge of. He knew all about that.
And as for Khalilzad...he's a PNAC signatory member, a real Neo-Con. As ambassador to Afghanistan, the locals called him the "Vice-roy". Karzai couldn't sneeze without his permission. And now he's running Iraq from behind the throne in the Green Zone...that's HIS massive embassy that our tax dollars are building in the heart of Baghdad.
Iran and North Korea both know that if they want make real trouble for the US now is the time to do this.
To many of the nations forces are Bogged in Iraq and recruitment numbers are way down. The military will be in a rock in a hard place to continually take on more and more fronts.
The right wing nutcases that helped this are soo blind they are willing to take on more!!! Are these people crazy? If you continue this way I can only see some point where your economy may collapse under the weight of your insane Debpt. Right now
Canadian Vodka
Maybe she only watches Fox.
Why isn't Ollie North in prison for Iran-Contra?
Another delightful bit of hypocrisy from the right: they decry the ways of the "liberal" court system whenever felonies are overturned on technicalities, except in this one case. Then it's a-okay.