More winning!!!! Kim's definitely looking good for that invite to Mar-A-Lago if he keeps this type of thing going...
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un suspends nuclear and missile tests, shuts down test site https://t.co/0jpctAgdsN pic.twitter.com/XTvo4bDsT9— nzherald (@nzherald) April 20, 2018
Double trigger fingers!!!!
This puts the ball in the US court. NK has made a strong concession. Now if the US looks unbending, the blame for failure will fall on the Trump administration. China doesn't even need to tell the US this directly. They worked the strategy with Kim and the US realizes this.
ReplyDeleteGetting down to the nitty gritty now. The US Establishment will pull out all stops if the deal is not unilateral NK denuclearization with no significant concessions. I doubt that will fly. China will bank NK, and Russia will back China.
This is far from a done deal, but most of the dealing is going on in the dark.
This is an indication that it's on so far, but too early to jump to any conclusions.
“This puts the ball in the US court. ”
ReplyDeleteCorrect.... I’d say all us troops out of South Korea in return.... and throw in an invite to the Mar-A-Lago club for a couple days and maybe even take Ivanka along for a seat at the negotiation table... ie an offer Kim can’t refuse...
ReplyDeleteI would too. But the Establishment would have a fit and try to sabotage it.
Japan would too.
“Japan would too.”
ReplyDelete???? Abe is ready to move to south Fla and join Trump Doral....
At the end of WWII, Germany and Japan were denied the ability to mount militaries again. Germany is locked into
ReplyDeleteNAT) and Japan only has a defense force. Both countries are dependent on the US for military security.
Japan would not like to see the US drawing down in Asia, with China breathing down their necks, and everyone in the neighborhood not forgetting what Japan did to the neighbor during WWII and the lead-in to it.
Japan, under Abe, is cranking up its military - against the vast majority of public opinion.
ReplyDeleteConcerned about China.
ReplyDeleteNeither nation is paying enough Tom...
ReplyDeleteNobody else in NATO (except Greece) spends the NATO required amount Trump has pointed this out...
That's because unlike Americans and Brits, many voters in Europe won't stand for their governments allocating more funds to the military at the expense of domestic programs. There are actually opposition parties in parliamentary systems and they have a voice. Moreover, Merkel is holding onto power politically by the seat of her pants. The fast growing party in Germany is the populist party, AfD. Germany business is strongly opposed to the sanctions, both on Russia and Iran.
ReplyDeletePolitically it is a very different situation than the US and UK.
If Trump puts enough pressure on those leaders and they cave, they will soon be replaced. Merkel knows this, of course, and she is explaining it to Trump. The US could lose Germany.
"The US could lose Germany."
ReplyDeleteGood!!!!
NYT today lays the groundwork for backing out: Kim is bluffing to get relief from sanctions and won't give up the nuclear program.
ReplyDeleteNK would be crazy to give up it's weapons only for sanction relief.
ReplyDeleteAnyone with a brain could see that this is a non-starter. It's Trump's beginning negotiating position.
If he sticks to it, no deal. Then the US can blame NK. But it would show that the US is not interested in a real deal.
Trump will get a "win" for trying when pre-sabatoged "negotiations" fail while the MIC will get a "win" by further vilifying NK therefore justifying more regional destabilization and arms sales.
ReplyDeleteHard to see this going any other way. Even with China leveraging Kim to make concessions before negotiations. This has historically been the unilateral US demand, now that it has been met we'll find another way to prevent a deal.
The fly in the ointment is that the Chinese and Russians will recognize it as a sham and keep supplying NK. They the US will to decide what they want to do about it.
ReplyDelete