This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: United Nations

  • Nuclear Russian roulette

    Earlier this week President Obama signed a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia proudly claiming it’s benefits. He stopped just short of waving the treaty and pronouncing “peace in our time”. This morning in the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer writes;

    Obama says that his START will be a great boon, setting an example to enable us to better pressure North Korea and Iran to give up their nuclear programs. That a man of Obama’s intelligence can believe such nonsense is beyond comprehension. There is not a shred of evidence that cuts by the great powers — the INF treaty, START I, the Treaty of Moscow (2002) — induced the curtailment of anyone’s programs. Moammar Gaddafi gave up his nukes the week we pulled Saddam Hussein out of his spider hole. No treaty involved. The very notion that Kim Jong Il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will suddenly abjure nukes because of yet another U.S.-Russian treaty is comical.

    Wasting no time to prove that his treaty with Russia will do no such thing, today Obama set a final deadline for the Islamic Republic to provide a bit of transparency on it’s nuclear program according to the Washington Times;

    On Iran, Mr. Obama raised expectations for a September international summit in Pittsburgh, saying the invited nations will take stock of whether Iran has complied with international demands over its nuclear programs. He also denied reports that Washington tried but failed to achieve agreement on new sanctions here, saying the statement was what he wanted.

    “It provides a time frame,” Mr. Obama said. “If Iran chooses not to walk through that door, then you have on record the G-8 to begin with, but I think potentially a lot of other countries, that are going to say we need to take further steps.”

    Further steps? More deadlines that Iran will ignore? Actually, I think the Obama Administration and Old Europe are hoping Israel will strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities and bomb them into dust as Joe Biden hinted earlier in the week. That would free them up from making any tough decisions. The same tactic Old Europe used in regards to Iraq – sit on their hands until someone else does what needs to be done, and then condemn the one one who had the guts to act. That way they’re absolved of having to act in a politically unpopular manner.

    Obama’s random deadlines and imprecise brow beatings just make it more likely that Israel is going to get tired of the Old World’s procrastination.

    So now that there’s no George Bush to save the world from itself, Israel has to step up and be the man among children – and then take their lumps in the form of stern rebukes from the UN’s General Assembly.

  • Dems ram cap and trade to vote

    Congressman Spencer Bachus writes in his blog that the “House leadership bypassing key committees on cap and tax“;

    The Democrat leadership is preventing the public from learning important details about the cap and tax plan by bypassing several key committees. As a Ranking Member on the Financial Services Committee, I called for hearings on the bill’s creation of a massive trading scheme for carbon emissions.

    From Drudge a link to Politico which reports that Al gore isn’t coming to DC today as he had planned (probably so we don’t have record low temperatures);

    Former Vice President Al Gore canceled plans to fly to Washington for a news conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, and instead was working the phones from Tennessee to help push a landmark climate bill to passage.

    Apparently Democrats are getting antsy that the crown jewel of the their plans to rape the economy might go down to defeat if they didn’t circumvent the public. They don’t expect the Obama happy hour to do much for them. Even Democrat and Obama supporter Warren Buffet is opposed to cap and trade;

    Mike Pence pleaded from the floor of the House to call your congressman now if you oppose cap and tax.

    If you oppose the national energy tax, I say call your congressman. If you think the Democrat cap and trade bill will cap growth and trade jobs, call your congressman. If you believe the American people deserve an all-of-the-above energy strategy that will create jobs, achieve energy independence and a cleaner environment then endorse the Republican alternative, call your congressman.

    Back to Bachus;

    I am very disturbed by the repeated pattern of the House leadership in rushing expensive legislation like cap and tax, the so-called stimulus package, and appropriations bills to a vote without adequate review or debate. It’s irresponsible to fast-track legislation that puts taxpayers on the hook for literally trillions of dollars.

  • That North Korean ship

    Last Friday I wrote about the USS John S. McCain shadowing the North Korean-flagged ship, the Kang Nam. Today more details about the operations are coming out. Associated Press reports the ship is carrying missiles to Myanmar;

    The South Korean news network YTN, citing an unidentified intelligence source in the South, said on Sunday that the U.S. suspects the cargo ship Kang Nam is carrying missiles and related parts. Myanmar’s military government, which faces an arms embargo from the United States and the European Union, has reportedly bought weapons from North Korea.

    US News and World Reports writes that the North Korean government is issuing some of their usual rhetoric;

    “As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the U.S. should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with,” said a commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which is regarded as a source of official viewpoints.

    “It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean peninsula.”

    The newspaper also blasted President Obama’s recent pledge to protect South Korea, saying it was an attempt to attack the North with atomic bombs.

    SInce the US and the UN both decided to make public that they won’t authorize the use of force against North Korean shipping, is it really surprising that the Norks would engage in illegal arms sales? The crew of the McCain is probably on the decks practicing their fist shaking as I write this.

    We really can’t expect the President to worry about weapons proliferation while he’s busy handing over tobacco regulation to the FDA, can we?

  • Rip VanBaradei wakes from 20-year sleep

    Stunning, stunning news from the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday;

    Iran wants the ability to build nuclear weapons to gain the reputation of a major power in the Middle East, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a BBC interview broadcast Wednesday.

    I’m shocked, aren’t you? This is the first I’d heard of this. But, ElBaradei may have made this announcement without examining all of the facts;

    Tehran denied the assertion.

    Oh, well, I feel better. Go back to sleep ElBaradei.

  • The crisis falls apart

    I really hate to spend so much time on this flu thing, but I’ve got some stuff in the hopper that I’m waiting for confirmation on some small points, so in the meantime, this is all I have for now.

    Remember yesterday that the World Health Organization was blaming US citizens for spreading the flu? Well, it turns out that the one fatality we’ve had in the US was a Mexican child who was brought to Houston for treatment.

    The first reported death in the United States from the swine flu outbreak was that of a 23-month-old Mexican toddler who fell ill in Brownsville and was transported for treatment in Houston, where the child died Monday, city officials said.

    While Egypt is busy slaughtering all of their pigs to quell their fears, WHO announces that there have only been seven deaths worldwide not 152 like the media is blaring;

    “Unfortunately that [150-plus deaths] is incorrect information and it does happen, but that’s not information that’s come from the World Health Organisation,” Ms Allan told ABC Radio today.

    “That figure is not a figure that’s come from the World Health Organisation and, I repeat, the death toll is seven and they are all from Mexico.”

    All of these self-important pointy-headed bureaucrats and media types are still perpetuating the ignorance that’s fueling this exercise in fear mongering. AP’s headline still reads; Toddler in Texas becomes 1st swine flu death in US. And you have to read in the second paragraph that the “toddler” came from Mexico.

    Then to add to all of this bizarre shit, while President Obama was welcoming Arlen Specter to his fold, I heard him tell me to cover my mouth when I sneeze and to wash my hands. For f***’s sake.

  • You knew somehow the flu epidemic is our fault

    See how easy it is to blame America for everything;

    I think you’re going to see over the next four years, we’re going to be blamed for a lot of things that happen in the world when the world gets a whiff of the possibility of some of our taxpayer dollars. Those Democrats love to throw our money at stuff that’s not our fault to assuage their own guilt.

    I guess it’s too much to blame the people in Mexico who caught the flu from the pigs in the first damn place.

  • Odierno: we may ignore deadline

    OK, who didn’t see it coming that as we approach the artificial deadline to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, violence increases, al Sadr gets antsy and al Qaeda gets a bit stronger (UK Times link);

    The activities of al-Qaeda in two of Iraq’s most troubled cities could keep US combat troops engaged beyond the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal, the top US commander in the country has warned.

    US troop numbers in Mosul and Baqubah, in the north of the country, could rise rather than fall over the next year if necessary, General Ray Odierno told The Times in his first interview with a British newspaper since taking over from General David Petraeus in September.

    He said that a joint assessment would be conducted with the Iraqi authorities in the coming weeks before a decision is made.

    The US commander was confident that the overall timetable for the US pullout would be met. But he added that US combat troops might have to stay beyond June 30 in Mosul and Baqubah, where al-Qaeda retains an active presence. “The two areas I am concerned with are Mosul and then Baqubah and [other] parts of Diyala province,” he said. “We will conduct assessments and provide our assessments when the time is right.”

    I know the left will be apoplectic and see a conspiracy against Obama by General Odierno. In fact, according to Fox News they’re already upset that Obama is asking for $83.4 billion in new spending for Iraq and Afghanistan;

    “This funding will do two things — it will prolong our occupation of Iraq through at least the end of 2011, and it will deepen and expand our military presence in Afghanistan indefinitely,” said anti-war Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. “Instead of attempting to find military solutions to the problems we face in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Obama must fundamentally change the mission in both countries to focus on promoting reconciliation, economic development, humanitarian aid, and regional diplomatic efforts.”

    They never learn, do they? The Democrats are more interested in ending the war than in winning the war. Politics before security.

  • The cold slap of reality

    After our president called for a strong response from the United Nations in reaction to North Korea’s missile launch yesterday, the UN ponders what it can possibly do to punish North Korea (The Washington Times link);

    North Korea’s rocket launch left the U.N. Security Council with few options for punishing the defiant nation at an emergency session Sunday, despite calls for a “strong” response by President Obama and others.

    The session ended after more than three hours with no immediate action other than an agreement to continue consultations.

    Yeah, I asked yesterday what they could possibly embargo besides dust and the wind. Today the UN has come to the same realization. Of course, our president wasn’t much helpful – he called for our unilateral disarmament. That’ll teach North Korea, won’t it? (Fox News);

    Declaring the future of mankind at stake, President Obama on Sunday said all nations must strive to rid the world of nuclear arms and that the U.S. had a “moral responsibility” to lead because no other country has used one.

    Again, it’s the US that’s the problem because we used a nuke twice 64 years ago. It’s our fault. Anyone alive that had anything to do with that decision? Nope – but it’s our fault. We should have let the Germans or Japanese get the bomb first and the president wouldn’t be burdened with that guilt. Maybe we ought to give North Korea one free shot at us to set the score right.

    Of course, that’s entirely possible (Another Fox News link);

    “This kind of action only further isolates the North and the fact that the Security Council is taking a shoe up demonstrates how important it is that we deal with this matter and the need for it to be dealt with and so I would reject any characterization that the North — that this is some kind of a win for the North — it’s not,” he said.

    The United States has so far decided to rely on the U.N. Security Council to dole out an appropriate response….

    Then, for good measure, we’re going to stop staying ahead of the rest of the world in combat technology (yet another Fox News link);

    Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended a broad range of budgetary cuts to high-tech weapons programs, including production of the F-22 fighter jet.
    […]
    The Army’s $160 billion Future Combat Systems modernization program would lose its armored vehicles. Plans to build a shield to defend against missile attacks by rogue states would also be scaled back.

    George Bush tried to get China, Japan and South Korea to handle this problem and they’ve done a bang-up thus far. Just like he tried to let the European nations deal with iran. Isn’t that what everyone wanted? For the US to defer to the rest of the world? And what has the rest of the world accomplished? All Obama had to do to assert himself was shoot down the Nork’s missile – how could they possibly respond? But now he’s shown the world we’re scared of a starving, pushcart nation.