T-Rex on North Korea: “The policy of strategic patience has ended"

Yikes. Not exactly "I believe it is peace for our time".

The NY Times coverage includes this crystallization of the conventional wisdom regarding the motivation of the reigning NoKo thugs:

But classified assessments of the North that the Obama administration left for its successors included a grim assessment by the intelligence community: that North Korea’s leader, Mr. Kim, believes his nuclear weapons program is the only way to guarantee the survival of his regime and will never trade it away for economic or other benefits.

The assessment said that the example of what happened to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the longtime leader of Libya, had played a critical role in North Korean thinking. Colonel Qaddafi gave up the components of Libya’s nuclear program in late 2003 — most of them were still in crates from Pakistan — in hopes of economic integration with the West. Eight years later, when the Arab Spring broke out, the United States and its European allies joined forces to depose Colonel Qaddafi, who was eventually found hiding in a ditch and executed by Libyan rebels.

#ShePersisted!

Lest you marvel at the capability of the NSA, one clue as to the NoKo thinking came from their own media. Here is the BBC from last September:

Might Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi explain Kim Jong-un's determination to get his own nuclear arsenal?

The lynching of the Libyan leader after he had renounced nuclear weapons and the hanging of the Iraqi president have been cited by the North Korean media as the rationale for their own country's determination not to be put off by sanctions despite the poverty there.

As it is sometimes put: Gaddafi gave up the bomb and lost his head. Saddam was toppled because he did not have it.

After Pyongyang's last nuclear test in January, a commentary in North Korea's media said: "History proves that powerful nuclear deterrence serves as the strongest treasured sword for frustrating outsiders' aggression."

It continued: "The Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and the Gaddafi regime in Libya could not escape the fate of destruction after being deprived of their foundations for nuclear development and giving up nuclear programmes of their own accord."

Pretty subtle, but we managed to crack the code. Of course, inscrutable hints were dropped even back in 2011:

SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean statement that Libya’s dismantling of its nuclear weapons program had made it vulnerable to military intervention by the West is being seen by analysts as an ominous reinforcement of the North’s refusal to end its own nuclear program.

North Korea’s official news agency carried comments this week from a Foreign Ministry official criticizing the air assault on Libyan government forces and suggesting that Libya had been duped in 2003 when it abandoned its nuclear program in exchange for promises of aid and improved relations with the West.

Calling the West’s bargain with Libya “an invasion tactic to disarm the country,” the official said it amounted to a bait and switch approach. “The Libyan crisis is teaching the international community a grave lesson,” the official was quoted as saying Tuesday, proclaiming that North Korea’s “songun” ideology of a powerful military was “proper in a thousand ways” and the only guarantor of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Odd that the failing NY Times forgot to blame Bush when they forgot to mention Hillary's Libya debacle.

Comments

[bunky]

Uno

[mike in houston]

Happy St. Patrick's Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_XJFp5JXpk

[narciso]

A BBC report on their nuclear program fwiw, had the regime agreeing to a deal in 2005. But not following through in 2009, this was before qaddafi but not before the Iraq plan faltered.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

Pyongyang has facilitated the Iranian and Pakistani programs as well as missile programs in other marginal states. There is a 40 year history of their aggression.

Back in the day there were a lot of "training" accidents along the DMZ and the NoKos were regularly sending in assassination teams to kill South Korean leaders.

There is a special brand of crazy in the Korean male psyche that is very scary and coupled with the megalomania and complete control of the North by the Kim family we may have arrived at a turning point.

[narciso]

Now they had done their first nuke test in 2006 so they were hedging their bets

[daddy]

OL's link from the previous page:

Laptop holding Trump Tower floor plans, Hillary Clinton email investigation info stolen from Secret Service agent

So Secret Service Agents leave Top Secret Computers lying around in their back seats?

[lyle]

So Secret Service Agents leave Top Secret Computers lying around in their back seats?

Grammarians? ;)

Anyway, we all know who the thief is: Hillary Rodham.

[henry]

Does the end of "strategic patience" apply to Congress as well?

[Captain Hate]

The Secret Service needs a fumigation as badly as State and Justice.

[Frau O'Steingehirn]

lyle @ 2:55-- what do you have against "lying"?

[Account Deleted]

The USG has been engulfed in a terminal BOZO explosion. Good grief. Stolen Secret Service laptops.

WTF?

[Frau O'Steingehirn]

Bringing forward my paltry two-bits* from the last thread:

The Oxford or serial comma rule is what I learned back in Fred Flintstone High School where I diagrammed sentences and later feared the dreaded impromptu (surprise!) essays in senior English class. The teacher also taught at the local city college and demanded we master the same skills she taught there.

I remember when the rule was changed and could see the potential for confusion--as if there is not already enough of that in spoken and written communication.

I really appreciated the teachers who taught me because I passed the CA university test for English by throwing in everything I had learned about punctuation. Some of my classmates did not pass and were required to take "bonehead English." To this day, I prefer to use "however" the way I learned; however, thank Gaia for the internet. Rules? hah!

* shave and a hair cut! What's the cost of just the shave

[glasater]

N Korea has starved its people for so long that the mental capabilites of the bulk the population are diminished.

Those NK dictators will burn in hell for a very long time.

[dublindave]

The JOM Stylebookguide proclaims that I am FIRST !!!

Last Page

((technical errors on counting first are not penalized when factored against the How I Roll(HIR) ratio because this is the first post to link to the last page. ITYKWIM))

[Frau O'Steingehirn]

glasater - yes, an entire population can be brainwashed. What a pity.

In the meantime, our leaders come up with midnight basketball and free for all toilets.

[Captain Hate]

The Hill unmasked:

http://tammybruce.com/2017/03/why-does-dc-paper-keep-tweeting-about-chelsea-clinton.html

[dublindave]

CORRECT Last Page Link

Sorry. I'm a bit rusty at this anymore.

[henry]

I was about to suggest additional Guinness, however you rescued your "last Page" post.

[Jim Eagle]

DuDa,

Sona Lá Fhéile Pádraig. Bíodh pionta orm.

[Frau O'Steingehirn]

Why does the dc paper keep tweeting about the Omen?

To induce vomiting?
To make me want to poke out my eyes?
This will not end well, CH.

Teh Tammy could take C.C. out with one quick look. Poof! Gone.

[Jim Eagle]

A German reporter asks Trump about Obama admin wiretapping him and Trump turns to Merkel and remarks "we have something in common". The look on her face needs to be memorialized for the Trump yearbook.

LOL.

[DebinNC]

"A laptop computer containing floor plans for Trump Tower, information about the Hillary Clinton email investigation and other national security information was stolen from a Secret Service agent's vehicle in Brooklyn, police sources told the Daily News. ... Authorities have been frantically searching for the laptop since it was stolen Thursday morning. ... The thief stepped out of a car, possibly an Uber, on a street in Bath Beach and stole the laptop from the agent's vehicle, which was parked in the driveway of her home. He was then seen on video walking away from the scene with a backpack."

That screams "inside job" imo, especially seeing no mention of breaking and entering.

[jimmyk]

I would argue that a second obligation of the "Firsters" is to mention on the previous thread that there is a new thread, so those of us who aren't paying attention don't waste our precious pixels when everyone has left the building. (Reminds me of the old card game "Pig" or "Spoons," where an inattentive player might not notice that the game ended (and he lost) several minutes earlier.)

[jimmyk]

Not exactly "I believe it is peace for our time"

More like We begin bombing in five minutes?

[lyle]

what do you have against "lying"?

Nothing at all. I love reclining or lying in bed.

lie 1 (lī) intr.v. lay (lā), lain (lān), ly·ing (lī′ĭng), lies 1. To be or place oneself at rest in a flat, horizontal, or recumbent position; recline

[Davod]

daddy your March 17, 2017 at 02:42 PM:

I assume "Top consultants" is the PC update to Top Men.

[lyle]

BTW, there's a surfeit of good reading here today:

https://spectator.org/

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

This will not end well, CH.

What I say to myself at the start of every Maryland basketball game.

[lyle]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/the-sleeping-giants-of-the-obamacare-debate-republican-moderates-in-the-house/2017/03/16/589e9fe6-0a67-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html?utm_term=.a5a7aa5c149c

It's a perpetual mystery why the MFM never can find all those democrat moderates...

[Jim Eagle]

I don't know if this is our DuDa but here is an interesting St. Paddy's day cocktail to try:

David’s Dublin Lemonade

2 oz Spade & Bushel Cask Strength 10 Year Old Irish Whiskey
4 oz lemonade
2 oz soda water
Method: Build in a mason jar, garnish with a lemon wheel.

You can sub any Irish Whiskey you may have.

[jimmyk]

That's "David's Dublin Lemonade." I'm guessing "Dublin Dave's Lemonade" leaves out the lemonade and the soda water.

[matt - deplore me if you must]

A recent and lovely discovery is Green Spot Irish Whiskey. I shall be abstaining today as I've given up alcohol for Lent. But if ye're in the mood to talk a little treason, the Green Spot will do nicely.

[Jim Eagle]

Tennis?

How far they have fallen.

Federer and Nadal are meeting in a quarter-final at the BNP Paribas.

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

I wasn't lying in wait for you, lyle. I didn't know if you were praising daddy for his "usage" or laying a trap for the unsuspecting (moi?).

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

Enjoyed the trip to American Spectator a lot.

[Tom R]

Why would a Secret Service agent have info about the FBI investigation of Hillary's email server on their laptop?

Assuming it is actually true (along with the blueprints of Trump Tower) then who would actually leaked such classified info to the press? You would think the Secret Service would keep a tight lid on that kind of info.

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

Enjoyed visiting the American Spectator.

[Clarice Feldman]

The whole thing looks put up, Db. The SS says the laptop info will be erased, but an expert says all data on it can be retrieved by smarties and if this was a put up job, smarties know how to do it,

[daddy on iPad]

the laptop since it was stolen Thursday morning. ... The thief stepped out of a car, possibly an Uber, on a street in Bath Beach and stole the laptop from the agent's vehicle

So it was stolen yesterday and already the Public, via the Newsmedia, knows the particular items that were on the laptop. In this country do we still even pretend to have a "needs to know" policy, meaning only those with a legitimate "need to know" actually

[Jim Eagle]

Hey, Frederick's friend Jack Sock faces Kei NIshikori at 5 ET on ESPN3.

He met him 2 years ago at the Miami Open when we were all staying at the hotel in Key Biscayne. Going back after this open and before my knee operation on Easter Monday. Can't wait. Love that place.

[Jim Eagle]

Come on, daddy. we know everything you do and everywhere you go and everywhere you drink and everything you read and every moose you and your dogs encounter and you think stealing a locked secure computer from a SS agent is suspect?

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

Tom R - kinda fishy, eh, but strange things happen *all the time*. Remember the classified data that fell behind a copy machine in Los Alamos until accidentally discovered later?
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/17/news/mn-41946

[Tom R]

So far Reuters is the only media organization I have seen reporting on this.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-wiretap-idUSKBN16O2J2

You would think by now someone would have leaked what the DoJ turned over to Congress.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I have been gone all afternoon. The auction company came to get the large pieces fro my old home, as well as garden items like wrought iron trellises, pots, and fountains.

I am officially OUT and will not go back. I don't want to see my old garden as the flowers come up, since it has gone to wrack and ruin with weed trees, leaves, and such.

Enough about me.

On the way home I heard Dan Bongino (ex Secret Service) say once again that the President is not safe in the White House. This follows the stolen laptop story with the news that the intruder arrested a few days ago was on the grounds for TWENTY MINUTES before being apprehended.

Bongino says that much as he would like to blame this on Obama, the problem is a slow deterioration dating from when they were put under Homeland Security. When they were with Treasury, they were a big fish in a small pond, but now that they are in DHS, they are a small fish in a big pond.

The upshot is that senior management has no real supervision and they tend to keep things status quo. No upgrades in weapons or computers, no push for extra agents, etc.

He says the guys in charge are entrenched and are resistant to change. Hence the problems.

[daddy on iPad]

Via Instapundit.com

[daddy on iPad]

Stephen Green comments on the pic above. "Oh shut up"

[Beester]

Good luck on your knee operation JIB. My full knee replacement is this week. I've followed your knee trevails with keen interest. Probably why I've delayed my operation as long as I have! My nightstand is stacked with JOM suggested reading. Happy St. Patrick's Day to All.

[Captain Hate]

Bongino says that much as he would like to blame this on Obama, the problem is a slow deterioration dating from when they were put under Homeland Security. When they were with Treasury, they were a big fish in a small pond, but now that they are in DHS, they are a small fish in a big pond.

I don't have any problem allocating blame for GWB using 9/11 as a RINO excuse to increase the federal government but that [Redacted for Lent] Jeh Johnson was surely driving the DHS clown car when the wheels fell off.

[Jim Eagle]

Beester,

Good luck. Stay in touch. Would like to know your post op experience.

I do mine Easter Monday the 17th of April.

[Pagar, a bacon, ham and sausage supporter]

Genuine hate, IMO, comes from George Soros.

http://www.weaselzippers.us/329837-george-soros-unveils-his-hate-incident-database/

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/03/airlines_flee_castros_island_hellhole.html

"Best thing out there is to just say no to the hellhole so touted by President Obama."

[Beester]

Bee's Knees: Yep, will update. I signed up as a subject for the hospital's post-op best pain reduction therapies project. Since I don't take any meds, it will be interesting.

[Jim Eagle]

Yowza. No meds? Good luck. Are you like one of those Shaolin monks?

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

Good luck, Beester, with your operation.

daddy - What kind of passport does Ms.Ban St. Patrick's use? Who in the world came up with "otherize" as a word? I hope that person is *otherized* in a house fire.
Pfui!

[Jim Eagle]

Frau,

You need to send her name to JamesD. He is the official list maker of people who die in fire.

[narciso]

I told you who was in charge of the secret service at dhs didn't i?

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Justice Dept, appealing

https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-appeals-judge-s-decision-to-block-trump-s-travel-ban-1489780586

[Old Lurker]

Words fail.

" Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) got cozy with MSNBC on Thursday when he name-checked the news network as a remedy for opposing "fake news." MSNBC host Ali Velshi asked Lieu about recently cosponsoring a resolution that calls for "opposing fake news and alternative facts." "The best way to oppose fake news is for people to watch outlets like MSNBC, where you report real news all the time," Lieu said. "

[Beester]

Frau, thank you. JIB, lol... presently I'm on no meds. So a good baseline for the researchers. I will take full advantage of ANY pain killers I'm offered.

[Free James D!]

I think we need to turn "die in a fire" into a profit-making venture.

We could have an official Die In A Fire house and vote people into (rather than out of) it just like on Survivor or Big Brother. We'd make money from the advertising, and sponsorships, and we could even run the voting on 900 numbers and make some more money that way.

Then, at the end of every season, we have the fire for our contestants to die in, and start up another house.

[Old Lurker]

" I will take full advantage of ANY pain killers I'm offered. "

That's better. You had be scared there.

[Old Lurker]

James, you could even offer to let people willing to pay, say $10,000, throw in the match for their favorite burnees.

Count on me for a few...

[Free James D!]

Best of all, we could donate the house - but not the land it's on - to the local fire department and let THEM burn it as a practice fire. So we even get a tax deduction AND all the debris from the old burned house cleared away, for free!

Then, we let Home Deopt and Lowe's fight it out for the sponsorship rights to build the new DIAF house on the same spot for next season.

It's a win-win all the way around.

[Old Lurker]

I'm thinking these judges will be even less impressed with the Hawaii Judge issuing a 43 page opinion two hours after hearing a case, and citing comments made during a political campaign as grounds for disbelieving the actual words of a Presidential EO.

Good read here:

http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/five-9th-circuit-judges-dish-out-ruthless-take-down-to-anti-trump-travel-ban-decision/

[Beester]

JamesD, I wonder if you could work the DIAF angle in one of your mysteries. You're on the recovery book shelf, too. :))

[Jim Eagle]

Reality TV is calling. JamesD, answer your pnone.

[Jim Eagle]

...Phone...

[James D.]

Thanks, Beester!

Oh, I've got no end of reality show ideas...

My favorite so far is "Mormon Island" - sister wives are voted off one at a time until only one wife remains.

[Captain Hate]

Good read here

I like how multiple paragraphs begin with variations of "The five judges still weren't finished." Incredible legal slattering; like watching a series of Stone Cold Stunners, Rock Bottoms, People's Elbows, Sidewalk Slams, Steinerlines and Tombstones. How humiliating for those glorified ambulance chasers. Loved every word.

[narciso]

I could imagine John houseman saying 'you come here with skulls full of mush' re those three chimps.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Looks to me as though LI was correct that Trump should have rammed the original EO down their throats.

[exdemocrat]

OL's 6.18 is indeed well-worth the read. It would have been a more fun read had Kozinski written it, but still..

[narciso]

Truly, kozinski is the scalia in the appellate division,

[narciso]

The latest kerfluffle:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6329595&postID=3483417632375689704&bpli=1

[GUS]

This DIAF thing, I think we need to incorporate Habitat for Inhumanity.
Jimmah Carter could help rebuild the FIRETRAP with dangerous asbestos and highly flammable particle board floor joists. And no SMOKE DETECTORS.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Your almost daily Wretchard

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

GUS,

Habitat for Humanity is on my sister's DIAF list.

She lives on a private lane, for which the residents are responsible for upkeep. Habitat for Humanity bought vacant lots at the end of the lane and constructed a 4-bedroom house for a large family with no father and a non-working mother.

The children are in their teens, and they run up and down the lane at high speeds causing chuckholes and such. When it came time to order the gravel to spruce the lane up and fill the chuckholes, guess who didn't pay their fair share.

[narciso]

In the kingdom of the blind:

https://pjmedia.com/video/alan-dershowitz-slams-a-fellow-cnn-panelist-for-his-bigotry/

[Clarice Feldman]

Best wishes for a good surgery and rapid recovery, Beester.

[narciso]

Best wishes beester. A recovery without meds yikes

[GUS]

Guess who didn't pay their fair share??

Does you sister live in Chappaqua NY??

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

The Outhousers discussed the report in the UK paper that Trump ignored shaking hands with Merkel in the Oval Office. That same paper shows several photos of the handshake as the two meet outside the WH. I hate my lying eyes. Sheesh!

Now I remember why I visit that site so infrequently.

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

I can fully understand this comment:

I've just watched 14 minutes of a Rachel Maddow monologue and now I've lost my will to live.

[narciso]

An interesting tidbit from the blacklist, just like last weeks had the Russian sleepers do a false flag militia hit, this week an oztrnsible terrorist threat had a deep state source.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2017/03/17/about-those-co-equal-branches-of-government/

[peter-]

prayers for a successful recovery Beestey

[henry]

Another care package arrived from the nieces today.... For tonight I am drinking Millstream Brewing's Back Road Stout, a delicious oatmeal stout from Iowa.

ZH notes Reuters reporting DOJ delivered the "wiretap" documents to the House earlier today. Lack of comments / leaks hint to some that Trump had a smoking gun all along. tbd

[Free James D!]

Frau, I can't understand it.

Someone managed to make it through 14 minutes of Madcow before losing the will to live? I don't believe that's possible.

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

Iggy @ 7:52 --- Yike!

[Frau O'Liegen u. Legen]

James D -- maybe drunk to begin with. That can slow down reaction times.

[narciso]

On slow days,ie not when I'm watching sleepy hollow, its like wile e coyote on his rocket cycle, arcing down into the canyon.

[narciso]

Quelled sutprise

http://circa.com/politics/fbi-hasnt-started-probe-into-russia-trump-intelligence-leaks

[narciso]

So how is Mr. Hannugans sudden resignation from ghcq, not relevant to the protestations

[Beester]

Thanks for all the good wishes. Trust me, I'll be on meds or you'd be calling this lurker, Bee-serker. I'll be keeping up with all you brilliant JOMers during rehab.

[Captain Hate]

Best wishes, Beester

[narciso]

Schamp is all verklempt, as if he's ignored the last four months of coverage.

[daddy]

Just to let everyone know that when Momma picked me up today at 7 AM she advised me on the ride home that as of Wednesday next week we will have a new member of the family---a Yellow Lab baby boy dog.

I said "OK."

[narciso]

Like when merkrl minimized the koln attacks, miss

https://mobile.twitter.com/brentgofftv/status/842805001928032256

[narciso]

Wonderful daddy. You know our recent troublemaker don't you?

[Beester]

Thanks for the many good wishes. Trust me, I'll be on meds post surgery or you'd be calling this lurker, Bee-serker. I'll be keeping up with you brilliant JOMers during rehab.

[Jane]

Beester,

Good luck with your knee surgery. Watch out for those opioids.

[narciso]

Amidst the silliness
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4325426/Barron-Trump-takes-trip-White-House-lawn.html