A Few Nice Letters and Trump Rolls Over for North Korea

Art of the deal?

I remember when then-President Barack Obama made the horrendous deal with Iran near the end of his presidency.

He would hand over pallets of cash to the regime, in return for what amounted to nothing – curtailed nuclear ambitions, and guidelines that basically allowed for them to police themselves.

Right wing pundits and politicians howled in disbelief and disgust! I know they did this because I did the same thing.

How could we trust Iran? Are they not the same nation that has railed against the United States for decades, sponsored terrorism against our people, and in general, proven themselves not to be reliable partners in any sort of peaceful existence in this world?

Of course they are, and at no time should they be trusted. President Obama made a really bad move.

Now, riddle me this:

How is it that the same talking heads that have screeched over the horrendous deal Obama made with Iran at the end of his presidency are crowing over the successes of President Trump, as it concerns North Korea and the murderous dictator, Kim Jong Un?

Last weekend, President Trump made history by being the first sitting American president to grovel before the leader of the tyrannical hermit nation.

Like a loyal dog, Trump met with Chairman Kim at the DMZ, then accepted Kim’s invitation to step over the border and enter North Korea.

His name was Otto Warmbier.

So let’s be clear about this. Trump’s motivation has much less to do with dealing with North Korea as a nuclear threat, and everything to do with people calling his move “historical.”

It is all about Trump and this legacy he sees for himself. It is his ego, above country, above protocol, and above every bit of intelligence that has been gathered about North Korea and the Kim regime’s ambitions for years.

For starters, nothing positive has been gleaned from the love affair between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.

North Korea, according to every reliable source, has continued to pursue nuclear weapons.

So is anyone shocked to hear that even with that information, our president continues to speak glowingly about Kim, or that he’s now considering rewarding the Kim regime for their thumbing their noses at sanctions and continuing their nuclear ambitions?

That’s right. The word is rewarding.

The New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration is considering lifting some of the tougher sanctions on North Korea, giving them the stamp of approval as a nuclear world power, with the only caveat being they promise to freeze their current nuclear programs.

You can’t make this stuff up, folks.

The plan would aim to prevent more nuclear weapons from being created in the country, but “it would not, at least in the near future, dismantle any existing weapons, variously estimated at 20 to 60. Nor would it limit the North’s missile capability,” according to the paper.

The Times, which noted that US officials previously said they would never support such a plan, said officials in the administration hope the idea “might create a foundation for a new round of negotiations” with North Korea and noted that the administration’s current goal is still to fully denuclearize the country.

And by “new round of negotiations,” they mean another chance for Trump to get clowned on the world stage.

As a part of the plan reported by the Times, US negotiators would try to get North Korean negotiators to agree to “expand the definition” of Yongbyon, the country’s main nuclear-fuel production site. Under the potentially new definition of Yongbyon, the site would reach “beyond its physical barriers” to include various facilities around the country, including one where America and South Korea believe the country is producing uranium fuel.

A senior US official involved in North Korean policy told the Times “there was no way to know if North Korea would agree to this,” and noted that in the past, North Korean negotiators “insisted” that only Kim “could define what dismantling Yongbyon meant,” according to the report.

And in an all-too-familiar, sad display of just how left out of the loop he is, White House national security adviser John Bolton suggested he knew nothing of the deal, at least, as reported by the NYT.

“Neither the NSC staff nor I have discussed or heard of any desire to ‘settle for a nuclear freeze by NK,'” he wrote. “This was a reprehensible attempt by someone to box in the President. There should be consequences.”

Sit down, John. At this point, we all know Trump will do what he does, and his advisers are, at best, window dressing.

It is abundantly clear that there is no dictator, tyrant, or despot that Trump does not admire. There are no strongmen he does not dream of imitating.

This makes us less safe. This makes us, as a nation, a laughing stock.

Our allies no longer trust us. Our enemies no longer fear us.

There will be a price to pay for Donald Trump.