Bullheaded Texan's "Open Thread"

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Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:33pm

Here's What N. Korea Wants From The U.S. Before It Ends Nuke Program.

 Apr/30/18   Matt Vespa

America’s left wing could get slapped in the face like never before if these Korean peace talks actually accomplish the denuclearization of the peninsula and the end of the decades-long war that’s kept both nations (and the world) on edge.

 The Korean War was a three-year bloodbath before an armistice ended the carnage. The war has not yet officially ended.

 Since then, South Korea has become a technological hub, with a modern military and a booming economy that catapulted them into the G-20. They’re members of the trillion-dollar club. 

 North Korea, the world’s largest prison, is a communist hellhole, fraught with human rights abuses. It’s an economically backward nation, one that we really don’t know about concerning the actual socioeconomic situation of the country.

 What we do know is that they have nuclear weapons, which they’ve used expertly to capture the world’s attention in order to gain more food and economic aid. 

 South Korea has heaped much praise on President Trump for bringing the North Koreans to the table, even suggesting that he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 

 The series of sanctions slapped against them for missile tests, with added Chinese pressure caused North Korea to renew negotiations. One of their big demands is that the U.S. pledge to never invade North Korea. The U.S. reportedly has a similar agreement with Cuba; we pledged to the Soviet Union/Cuba not to invade in exchange that the U.S. not invade. It led to the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis (via NYT):

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:33pm

 Keeping diplomatic developments coming at a head-snapping pace, the South Korean government said on Sunday that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had told President Moon Jae-in that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States agreed to formally end the Korean War and promise not to invade his country.

 In a confidence-building gesture ahead of a proposed summit meeting with President Trump, a suddenly loquacious and conciliatory Mr. Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country’s only known underground nuclear test site.

 In Washington, Trump officials spoke cautiously about the chances of reaching a deal and laid out a plan for the dismantling of the North’s nuclear program, perhaps over a two-year period.

 That would be accompanied by a “full, complete, total disclosure of everything related to their nuclear program with a full international verification,” said John R. Bolton, President Trump’s new national security adviser.

 The apparent concessions from the youthful leader were widely welcomed as promising signs of ending the standoff on the Korean Peninsula, frozen in place since fighting in the Korean War ended 65 years ago.

 But skeptics warned that North Korea previously made similar pledges of denuclearization on numerous occasions, with little or no intention of abiding by them. Mr. Kim’s friendly gestures, they said, could turn out to be nothing more than empty promises aimed at lifting sanctions on his isolated country.

 A South Korean government spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, provided remarkable details of a summit meeting the two Korean heads of state held on Friday, when Mr. Kim made history by becoming the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:31pm

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 “I know the Americans are inherently disposed against us, but when they talk with us, they will see that I am not the kind of person who would shoot nuclear weapons to the south, over the Pacific or at the United States,” Mr. Kim told Mr. Moon, according to Mr. Yoon’s account.

 Is this too good to be true? It remains to be seen.

 North Korea has made such overtures before and nothing has come of it. Bolton has said that for this to work, North Korea has to agree to Libyan-style disarmament, where then-leader Muammar Gaddafi gave up his weapons of mass destruction program.

 We’ll see what happens, a  great many on the Left and their allies in the media would hope this fails to give their side a better chance in the upcoming elections and to ensure that President Trump does not one up obuma, whose Iran nuclear deal is falling apart. Were President Trump to win a Nobel Peace Prize, it would destroy most of the left wing talking points against Trump, that he’s an unstable madman whose Twitter account will cause a nuclear apocalypse.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:15pm

Three Recent, Enormous Trump Accomplishments Must Not Be Overlooked.

  Apr/30/18  Guy Benson 

Last week we  analyzed President Trump's assignment of an A-plus grade to his presidency thus far -- noting some of his policy achievements, while pointing out a number of reasons why his approval rating does not reflect his generous self-assessment.

 When he's wrong or reckless, I say so.

 When he's doing well, I say so. 

  Trump-skeptical conservatives seem so invested in criticizing him that they're either blinded to some of the huge accomplishments playing out before their eyes, or they're allowing the other drama -- both legitimate and exaggerated -- to drown out the wins.  This is a mistake!

 President Trump is in the process of notching a series of substantial victories for the conservative movement and for America.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:15pm

 Within the last few days, we've seen the fruits of those efforts on three crucial fronts.  

(1) The US economy is strong and growing.

The U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter as consumer spending grew at its weakest pace in nearly five years, but the setback is likely temporary against the backdrop of a tightening labor market and large fiscal stimulus. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.3% annual rate, the Commerce Department said in its snapshot of first-quarter GDP on Friday, also held back by a moderation in business spending on equipment and investment in home building. The economy grew at a 2.9% pace in the fourth quarter.

 Economists polled by Reuters had forecast output rising at a 2.0 percent rate in the January-March period. 

 The labor market is near full employment and both business and consumer confidence are strong.

 Tax reform is working, the employment picture is robust.

These are real, tangible victories for the American people.

(2) A foreign policy breakthrough on the Korean peninsula. After years of predictable US "stability," which the regime in Pyongyang exploited, an unpredictable but attentive American president has shifted the calculus.

 All of the cautionary caveats apply to the new developments:

The North Koreans cannot be trusted, they've played these games before, everything could still fall apart, and they may be setting up the South Koreans.

 "At this point, what’s the alternative?

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:15pm

 But to all appearances, it’s too late now. They have the bomb and they’ll very shortly be able to deliver it to the mainland United States.

 If we’re not game to fight Korean War II, and I don’t think we are, then all diplomatic options are necessary on the table."  New pressure points, American leadership, and uncertainty about Trump's designs were major contributors to this historic moment:

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 7:05pm

 Some international affairs experts who are decidedly not inclined to praise this president are openly conceding that his much-pilloried tactics have paid startling and striking dividends:

 There's already non-frivolous chatter about a Nobel Peace Prize, of which Trump is arguably already more deserving than the basically-symbolic award foolishly bestowed upon his predecessor.

  Will Trump's predecessor ever tire of being embarrassingly wrong?

(3) And oh-by-the-way, the president is making good on a critical and lasting legacy promise that is quite possibly the primary reason he won the election, winning over enough dubious conservatives who were swayed by the significance of the federal judiciary:

It's true that this confirmation bonanza is only possible thanks to Harry Reid and the Democrats' Obama-era overreach, but Trump's White House deserves credit for prioritizing this issue -- as does Mitch McConnell.  Republican voters should similarly have their collective eye on the ball: Continuing this string of confirmations is one of the most pressing reasons to keep the US Senate in GOP hands following the midterms.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 6:43pm

What Israeli Spies Just Pulled Off on Iran is Absolutely Nuts!

  Apr/30/18 Katie Pavlich

Earlier today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed the confiscation of 100,000 Iranian nuclear documents, which were taken out of Tehran by intelligence operatives. The documents show Iran lied about having a secret nuclear program!

 Netanyahu described the collection and extradition of the information as a "great intelligence achievement." It was a major, seemingly impossible intelligence success. So, the truth comes out.

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 6:34pm

Netanyahu Presents Iran's Own Documents to Prove They Tried to Build a Nuclear Bomb and Lied About It.

 Apr/30/18  Katie Pavlich

 Speaking from Tel Aviv Monday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed the world that Iran had a secret nuclear program, one they say never existed, before lying about it and signing the 2015 nuclear agreement under the obuma administration. 

 "Iran is brazenly lying when it says they never had a nuclear weapons program," Netanyahu said.

 Standing in front of a power point presentation labelled "Project Amad," Netanyahu revealed Israeli intelligence confiscated 100,000 documents from a secret location in Tehran. Those documents, many of which were in binders and on discs for visual reference, detail Iran's nuclear program through videos, blue prints, spreadsheets and more. The documents have been authenticated by the United States.

 "This is just a fraction of the total material we have," Netanyahu said. "Iran lied about never having a nuke program. One-hundred thousand secret files prove that they lied." netanyahu: “Iran lied… After signing the nuclear deal in 2015, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its secret nuclear files.” Fox News Apr/30/18

 Iran has always denied every having a nuclear program, but the files show the regime not only developed one, but had plans to put five Hiroshima sized warheads on ballistic missiles. 

netanyahu: “These files conclusively prove that Iran is brazenly lying when it says it never had a nuclear weapons program.”  Fox News Apr/30/18

 After lying about their existence, instead of destroying the files in 2015 when the nuclear agreement was signed, Iran moved to preserve the documents. In other words, to preserve their nuclear program.

 "Even after the deal, Iran continued to preserve and expand its nuclear wepaons knowhow for future use. This is a fraction of what was in the files, Netanyahu says. But there are 4 main conclusions:
1.Iran lied about developing nuclear weapons.
2.They kept the program up after the nuclear deal.
3.They lied in the IAA reports.
4.The entire Iran nuclear deal is based on lies. Lahav Harkov  Apr/30/18

Comment by Bullheaded Texan on April 30, 2018 at 6:33pm

 The presentation comes just days before President Trump is expected to make a decision about whether to scrap or fix the Iran nuclear agreement.

 European allies have argued the deal must stay, while they admit there are serious flaws when it comes to the sunset provision, terrorism and Iran's destabilization of the region.

"President Trump in a few days time will make a decision about what to do about the nuclear deal," Netanyahu said. "I'm sure he'll do that right thing." 

 President Trump responded to Netanyahu's presentation at the White House shortly after Netanyahu concluded his remarks.

"This is not an acceptable situation," President Trump said from the Rose Garden. "In seven years, that deal will have expired and Iran is free to go ahead and create nuclear weapons.

 That is not acceptable! "Seven years' is tomorrow, that’s not acceptable.

If anything, what Israel has done today in the news conference was right."

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