Panetta Says U.S. Unwavering in Support of South Korea

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2011 – Officials across government have collectively conveyed America’s unwavering commitment to South Korea, Defense Department officials said today.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spoke with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin about the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il in a 15-minute telephone call this morning, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

“The secretary conveyed to Mr. Kim the strong commitment of the United States to peninsular stability and to our alliance,” he said. “He made it clear that the United States stands with Korea in this time of uncertainty.”

Little stressed there has been no increase in force protection for U.S. forces in Korea and that there is “no truth” to rumors that U.S. families would be evacuated.

No unusual military movements connected with the death of Kim Jong-il have been detected, Little said. There are 36,000 U.S. service members based in South Korea.

The two defense leaders agreed that it is critical for both countries to remain prudent with respect to all matters related to the security posture on the peninsula. Both promised to consult often in the days and weeks ahead.

U.S. officials would not comment on an announcement from North Korean officials that Kim’s son, Kim Jong-eun, will take over the isolated country.

“I wouldn’t comment on the particulars of succession at this stage,” Little said. “Obviously, we are closely monitoring the succession process. The North Koreans are in a period of mourning at this point, and that being said, the military does exercise a prominent role in North Korea, but I wouldn’t want to speculate at this stage.”

U.S. and South Korean officials believe that a North Korean missile test conducted earlier today was pre-planned and not connected to Kim’s death, a senior Pentagon official said on background.

Panetta was briefed on Kim’s death immediately after word reached the outside world last weekend, Little said.

“He has been closely monitoring the situation ever since,” the press secretary said. “He has been in contact with senior officials here in the department.”

Zach Foster's Thanksgiving 2011 Message

Thanksgiving 2008 at Baharia, Iraq.
Photo by the U.S. Navy

This is a very special day in the United States, and I hope the traditions we celebrate here today will soon spread throughout the world.  The very first Thanksgiving in North America was a day when two clashing civilizations were able to set aside their differences as one helped the other not to starve, and they sat together as brothers and gave thanks to the Almighty.

 

Today, I have many reasons to give thanks to God, though Thanksgiving Day is by no means the only day I’m truly thankful.  I have a strong faith in God, a wonderful family, loyal friends, a comfortable job, and even further, I’ve been given the privilege of I living free in an exceptional Constitutional republic, of serving my state and country as a reservist, and to attend an excellent university.  I see the Almighty working in the world every day, guiding us all to make improvements in our lives and the way we get along with others.

 

I’m also incredibly thankful and fortunate for everyone reading this message.  It’s the readers of the Political Spectrum as well as the other Political Spectrum Publishing blogs that make this venture so worth it!  Every day hundreds of people stop by to get the latest news and commentary on the political and economic arenas, and among all the mainstream media and junk media available, I’m glad that those readers came here.  Thank you all!

 

So far we’ve all met many of Political Spectrum Publishing’s New Year’s goals:

·         We have more than doubled the combined readership of the blogs

·         My political Facebook account has over 1,500 friends (500 more than our goal by December 31, 2011)

·         We have over 300 loyal followers on Twitter, many of whom mention and re-tweet @PublishPolitics

·         Thousands of people have viewed Political Spectrum Publishing videos on YouTube (channel PoliSpecPublishing)

·         Political Spectrum Publishing has published several books and is merely waiting for the best time to release them to the market!

·         Readers continue to submit articles, op-eds, and comments which are great!  (If you have a submission, send it to politicalspectrumpublishing@gmail.com or politicalzachfoster@gmail.com)

 

May every one of you have an amazing day with your families, friends, or improvised families and have a warm time of togetherness to reflect all you’re thankful for.  I send my warmest greetings and best wishes to all troops overseas, from Japan and South Korea to Belgium and Germany, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Kuwait and North Africa.  Stay safe, brothers and sisters!

 

If you’re not with loved ones right now and won’t be with loved ones today, go out right now!  Find someone who’s hanging out all alone and invite them to have a Thanksgiving dinner with you, whether it’s beef jerky in the park or a large meal at your home or a restaurant.  Make new friends that will stick with you through thick and thin!

 

Because of the fact that the original thanks givers were able to set their differences aside like adults, despite radically differing faiths, cultures, languages, and systems of ethics, I have hope for the future of mankind.  I have hope that the Palestinian will soon be able to sit and dine with the Israeli, that the Shi’ite will be able to sit with the Sunni, the North Korean with the South Korean, the Christian with the Muslim, that angry and estranged brothers in the United States will forgive and embrace each other again, and that Almighty God will warm the hearts of human beings through knowledge and understanding.

 

Have a happy Thanksgiving.  God bless you.

The President's Speech on the Afghanistan War Troop Withdrawal, part 2

By Zach Foster

Continued from Part 1

The author would like to remind skeptics about the fates of other countries the U.S. aided militarily during their time of need: South Korea and South Vietnam.  When one aggressor threatened the security and very existence of an allied government in 1950, the United States aided that country, South Korea, and remained with them through thick and thin, even when the Chinese threw massive waves of their best troops at the coalition for years.  The U.S. stayed with the South Koreans until the very end and today South Korea is a free and democratic country with a booming economy.  Then there was South Vietnam, whose aid many Americans did not find to be very important.  The United States was with them for much of the duration and helped maintain South Vietnam’s existence until ALMOST the very end.  Unfortunately, Americans could not summon the fortitude to come to South Vietnam’s help in her final hour of need, and the country fell to the wolves.  Southeast Asia was destabilized as that domino fell and Laos and Cambodia also fell to the wolves, three civil wars resulting in Stalinist governments and a series of wars between Communist countries for fifteen years.  No matter what, the U.S. must be prepared to help the Iraqis and the Afghanis should another time of need arise.

The author is largely anti-war, and believes that there are countless alternatives to war, and that this country’s foreign policy of constant interventionism is not necessarily helping the cause of world peace.  In the future, this country and future presidential administrations ought to choose their battles more cautiously and find alternative methods to solving crises.  After all, if the government shouldn’t be in its own citizens’ “backyards,” it definitely shouldn’t be in the yards of all of America’s neighbors.  However, this is a strategy for the future.  The author also believes in finishing what was started, and also believes strongly in the “you break it you buy it” philosophy.

Whether people agree with the wars or not, one thing can be agreed upon: thousands of American troops, tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan troops, and tens of thousands of civilians have lost their lives and spilled their blood in these wars.  There is light at the end of the tunnel and a hope for victory—victory not in the epic vanquishing of a foe, but in preserving the existence of democratic countries—South Koreas—in the middle east.  It should not be forgotten that the Republic of Korea’s transition to democracy was not an overnight phenomenon; it was slow and hard-won by much civil disobedience and clashing between citizens and government.  However, it speaks volumes that the U.S. military was able to simply provide stability and protection against the Northern aggressors so that the South Koreans would simply have a fighting chance to build their democracy.  The people of Iraq are working hard at that right now and the people of Afghanistan deserve that same chance.  These are American issues now because America made them its issues when the invasions began in 2001 and 2003.  The rivers of blood spilled from Basra to Kurdistan, from Helmand to Kunduz, are the painful reminder that wonderful people died so that others may live and have a simple tomorrow.  Their fatal investment, and the painful investment of grief and tears made by their families must not go to waste.

Remarks on North Korea

Remarks by Kurt M. Campbell

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Seoul, South Korea

June 10, 2011

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL:  In all of our meetings we urged China to make best efforts to encourage North Korea to improve relations with South Korea. I think it would be fair to say that the Chinese interlocutors were concerned by the disruptions in talks and a little surprised and very much want to see improvement in a dialogue between the North and the South and we've encouraged that process as well.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL: I think we have to recall that it is South Korea that has experienced the tragedies of the sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of the island, and it is South Korea that has responded with dignity and we have enormous respect and support.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL:  We are still reviewing a substantial amount of data, we did very clearly communicate to South Korean friends that no decision has been taken and that under any circumstances, we will coordinate closely in advance with South Korea as we go forward.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY CAMPBELL:  It would be fair to say that the Chinese interlocutors were concerned by the disruptions in talks and a little surprised and very much want to see improvement in a dialogue between the North and the South and we've encouraged that process as well.

Qadafi Is Ready For a Truce… NOT!

By Zach Foster

Breaking news from last night: the President of South Africa and Libyan despot-in-chief Muammar Qadafi have announced in a joint press conference that the great leader of the Libyan Socialist People’s Republic (the abbreviated name of the republic) is ready for a truce to bring an end to the civil war that has killed thousands (most of them unarmed civilian casualties inflicted by his loyalists).

South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Tripoli to meet with Qadafi, and emerged from this meeting trying to assure the international community that the Libyan head of state—still unrepentant about slaughtering thousands of his own people for such insolence as speaking their minds—is “ready to implement the road map” [to peace].  According to an MSNBC report that was published to the web last night, “Zuma said Gadhafi insists that ‘all Libyans be given a chance to talk among themselves’ to determine the country's future.  He did not say Gadhafi is ready to step down, which is the central demand of the rebels.”

The same report said “In April... Gadhafi said he would accept the truce but quickly ignored it and resumed his attacks, while the rebels rejected the cease-fire out of hand because it did not include Gadhafi's exit from power. Since then many cease-fire efforts have failed for similar reasons.”

The rebel government and rebel forces are not at fault for the lack of a truce in Libya.  They have made it clear that they want Qadafi to step down.  They will most likely allow him to live in exile abroad without bringing him back to be tried for crimes against humanity, as long as it brings an end to the war.  Furthermore, every time Qadafi has announced ceasefires on his own, without attempting to reach the rebel leadership, he has promptly violated them, simply having lied in order to buy time to rearm, regroup, and move men and supplies in his fight to hold onto power.

The author never thought he’d write this, but Qadafi’s aggressive violations of ceasefires make the North Vietnamese look like rookies and pacifists.  Not only has Qadafi denied his citizens their most basic human rights, but he has delivered one lie after another to his people and the world.  Such lies include: 1) February, when he claimed that he was not the one ordering troops, police, and mercenaries to fire on the civilians, since he is only a figurehead leader; 2) February, when he said the riots that were turning into gun battles were being provoked by Al Qaeda; 3) March, when he threatened to join Al Qaeda if NATO got involved in the new civil war; 4) when he claimed that rebel forces were slaughtering civilians, not his loyalist troops.  The list goes on.

The rebel forces must continue to fight on.  Even though the initial NATO intervention was a necessary evil, simply for the sake of keeping the rebellion from being erased from existence by Qadafi’s loyalists, neither the U.S., the U.K., nor NATO can continue to hold the rebellion’s hand from a distance.  NATO either needs to get involved and commit combat troops, the way the United Nations intervened on behalf of South Korea in 1950, or NATO needs to allow the rebels to fight it out on their own.  It is one thing to make an advisory commitment by sending a handful of Special Forces troops to train their allies—the rebel forces, governed by the Interim National Council—but making this halfway no-fly-zone commitment that seems to have no end can only rob the rebel government of its sovereignty.

Furthermore, the rebel government needs to provide stability and rule of law in the areas it controls.  This means swearing the local police in allegiance to the new government, having the local police patrol peaceful areas while rebel soldiers patrol hazardous areas, and letting the citizenry rebuild their infrastructure and resume life as usual.  Furthermore, the old Constitution—dissolved by the “great leader” himself after the 1969 coup—needs to be re-evaluated and adapted to modern situations, and a new Constitution and Bill of Rights need to be brought into existence and enforced.  The current law of the land in Libya is the Green Book, Qadafi’s attempt at imitating Mao’s Little Red Book by drafting a pocket-sized guide that dictates public policy based on Arab nationalist socialism and his own personality cult.  This obviously no longer applies to the rebel-controlled areas.

The rebel government will be best off if it models its Constitution and Bill of Rights after the American counterparts.  Whatever the new law of the land will be in rebel territory, it must be all-inclusive, protective of civil rights and individual rights, and it must be put into effect quickly so that Libyans in territory held by Qadafi loyalists can draw hope from the freedom and prosperity the rebels have erected in spite of tyranny and death.

Memorial Day and This Republic: From WWII to the War On Terror

By Zach Foster

Continued from Part 1: From the Revolution to WWI

World War II was a war the country tried to stay out of, but was provoked into.  Four long hard years and four hundred thousand deaths later, the United States brought an end to the wars in Europe and Asia with the help of its allies, and singlehandedly ended the war in the Pacific islands.  The survivors of the holocaust were freed, nations’ independence was restored, and a new weapon emerged which had the power to destroy the world several times over.  Despite growing fears, this weapon has yet to be used again since Nagasaki.  Despite many problems occurring as a result of the war, such as divisions of countries between north and south, east and west, arms races, and a series of “limited wars,” most survivors of the war have been better off since the rubble was cleared and civilizations rebuilt.  Despite the need to occupy and pacify Germany and Japan, these countries have advanced and flourished more beautifully than they could have under their old martial regimes, and those countries liberated by the U.S. military remember their rape and subjugation by the Nazi German and Japanese Empires, and to this day continue to erect monuments to their American liberators.  For this alone, all the men and women—the infantry troops, tank drivers, bomber pilots, sappers, medics, doctors, nurses, artillery troops, sharpshooters, and all others—who died at Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Tarawa, Tinian, Tripoli, Algiers, Casablanca, Cairo, Baghdad, Anzio, Tuscany, Rome, Normandy, Brussels, Amsterdam, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Luxemburg City, in the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans, Berlin, and Okinawa, did not die in vain, and their legacy lives on.

The fact that South Korea still exists as a nation independent of Stalinism and the Kim Dynasty is testimony enough to the worthiness of the sacrifices made by Americans and their South Korean and United Nations allies at Incheon, the Chosin Reservoir, Seoul, Pyongyang, and Pork Chop Hill.  South Korea is free because of American service members.  They are free to travel where they please, free to read what books they want, free to love and hate whomever they will, free to pick any religion to practice, and free to vote for any candidate in any party.

The same mission applied to South Vietnam, who was being invaded by the North.  Despite the tragedy of April 1975, Americans fought tooth and nail to free Vietnam of the North Vietnamese and their Vietcong guerrilla faction, with the South Vietnamese, South Koreans, Australians, and New Zealanders at our side.  The war was won—by 1973 the North Vietnamese army was broken and crippled, Vietcong was all but wiped off the planet, and North Vietnam signed the Paris Peace Accords recognizing South Vietnam’s right to exist.  Furthermore, the sacrifices made by American troops in Laos and Cambodia helped keep those countries free of being Hanoi’s puppets.  It was an anti-war and anti-South Vietnam Congress that walked out on their commitment to South Vietnam which lost the victory.  However, to this very day, there are thousands of proud South Vietnamese patriots who have nothing but gratitude to the two million soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen who fought for their freedom.

In the Persian Gulf, Iraq under Saddam had literally occupied and annexed Kuwait.  It was a coalition with a majority of American troops that freed Kuwait, and to this day, Liberation Day is celebrated throughout the small country.

This country was attacked and over three thousand civilians were slaughtered by Al Qaeda on September 11, 2001, leading the nation’s cream of the crop to the desert once again, this time to fight Al Qaeda and their Taliban supporters.  Nearly ten years later, Americans are still at war in Afghanistan, though there is more stability there now than there ever was during the Soviet War and the reigns of terror from 1992-2001.  Ahmed Shah Massoud was the last holdout against the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and their Pakistani Army allies.  Massoud led the Northern Alliance against these jihadist armies, and under his administration, children were educated, women’s rights were upheld, and everyone’s human rights were upheld.  At the same time, bodies were regularly hanging from windowsills and light poles in Kabul where the Taliban ruled.  Massoud was killed one month before the U.S. invasion, but the spirit and traditions of the Northern Alliance continue.  Its civil leaders today hold many positions in the Afghan government, despite the corruption introduced by various ex-warlords.  Most of its guerrillas are proud members of the Afghan National Army.

In 2003 the, bad intelligence and poor Executive Branch leadership spawned the Iraq War.  The toppling of Saddam’s regime was easy.  Nation building was a nightmare, as an angry Al Qaeda ousted from Afghanistan and envious jihadists from around the Middle East now found a new battleground on which to wage their perverted holy war against America.  The war initially was a mistake, but Americans realized that they could not create chaos and then abandon an entire population; something had to come out of the Iraq War in order to stop April 1975 from ever happening again.  Eight years later, the United States and Iraq have paid a heavy price for freedom.  The rate of casualties dwindles as the Iraqi Army and Police are able to crush the dying insurgency on their own.

The Taliban are not yet defeated, though more desert and return home every day.  Someday the war will be over, and decades from now Iraq and Afghanistan will be to the Middle East what South Korea is today in East Asia: prosperous and democratic, all at a heavy price.

Memorial Day is about those who fought and died for America’s freedom, and so that other oppressed people around the world may know a similar freedom.  Remember that those who came home missing arms, legs, and eyes, and those who never made it home at all, were somebody’s loved ones.  They were OUR loved ones.  They were our fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, sisters, mothers, and daughters.  They are still loved by those they left behind, and it is the responsibility of every American, as well as every person whose freedom came from America, that some nineteen year old kid enlisted and fought, and died in a mud hole so that we wouldn’t get drafted; so that we could spend Memorial Day barbequing hamburgers and hot dogs with our families instead of spending every day in a labor camp, or dead under six feet of earth.

Most Americans have read the following poem, but have usually taken it for granted.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the preacher,

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the campus organizer,

Who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the

VETERAN,

Not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN,

Not the politician,

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN

Who salutes the Flag.

It is the VETERAN

Who serves under the Flag,

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,

AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

--Anonymous

“If you are able,

save them a place

inside of you

and save one backward glance

when you are leaving

for the places they can

no longer go.

Be not ashamed to say

you loved them,

though you may

or may not have always.

Take what they have left

and what they have taught you

with their dying

and keep it with your own.

And in that time

when men decide and feel safe

to call the war insane,

take one moment to embrace

those gentle heroes

you left behind.”

--MAJ Michael Davis O’Donnell, KIA 24 MAR 1970, Cambodia

It is time to bring this Memorial Day message to a close so that this author may spend the afternoon with his family.  To all those who fought and died so that others may simply have a chance… thank you.

Breaking the Cycle of North Korean Provocations

Stephen W. Bosworth

Special Representative for North Korea Policy

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Chairman Kerry, Senator Lugar, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The North Korea issue is one of the most important foreign policy challenges of our time. North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program and proliferation activity pose an acute threat to a region of enormous economic vitality as well as to our global nonproliferation efforts and to our security interests more generally.

North Korea has repeatedly reneged on its commitments under the September 2005 Joint Statement made in the context of the Six-Party Talks. It has also failed to comply with a number of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) obligations. At the beginning of his administration, President Obama expressed a willingness to engage North Korea. It responded by conducting missile tests, expelling IAEA inspectors, announcing a nuclear test, disclosing its uranium enrichment program, and stating that the Six-Party Talks were “dead.” It also expelled the U.S. personnel delivering food aid to the North Korean people. The United States has been a leader of a unified international response to these North Korean provocations. The UN Security Council adopted UNSCRs 1718 and 1874, calling on North Korea to immediately cease its nuclear activities and provocative actions.

North Korea’s provocative actions have continued this past year, with its sinking of the Republic of Korea (ROK) corvette Cheonan in March and its artillery attack of South Korean Yeonpyong Island in November. The United Nations Security Council issued a strong statement condemning the attack which lead to the sinking of the Cheonan.

Following the attack on Yeonpyong Island, President Obama reaffirmed our commitment to the defense of the ROK and emphasized that we will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with our ally. The United States continues to demonstrate our commitment to deter North Korean provocations through joint military exercises with the ROK. For instance, the ROK participated in the November 27-30 USS George Washington Carrier Group exercises. We also continue to strengthen our non-proliferation efforts with regard to North Korea, including the adoption of new unilateral sanctions targeting DPRK illicit activities.

We strongly believe that North-South dialogue that takes meaningful steps toward reducing inter-Korean tensions and improving relations should precede a resumption of the Six-Party Talks. We believe North-South talks are an important opportunity for North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity and willingness to engage in dialogue. Ultimately, if North Korea fulfills its denuclearization commitments, the Five Parties are prepared to provide economic assistance and help to integrate North Korea into the international community.

In November, North Korea disclosed a uranium enrichment program and claimed that it was building a light-water nuclear reactor. These activities clearly violate North Korea’s commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement and its obligations under UNSCRs 1718 and 1874. The United States is working with Japan, South Korea and the UNSC to make clear that its Uranium Enrichment Program is prohibited by its commitments and obligations to UNSC resolutions 17818 and 1874 and the 2005 Joint Statement.

Looking into the future, we continue to firmly believe that a dual-track approach to North Korea offers the best prospects for achieving denuclearization and a stable region. We are open to meaningful engagement but will continue to pursue the full and transparent implementation of sanctions. We are looking for demonstrable steps by North Korea that it is prepared to meet its international obligations and commitments to achieve the goal of the 2005 Joint Statement: the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.

In the meantime, the United States is continuing to consult closely with our partners in the Six-Party process. President Obama and Secretary Clinton have been at the forefront of this effort, reaching out to leaders in Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia. In early January, I led an interagency delegation to the Republic of Korea, China, and Japan. In all three capitals, I met with senior government officials to discuss next steps on the Korean Peninsula. I was accompanied by Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks Sung Kim, who coordinates U.S. efforts on the Six-Party Talks and leads day-to-day engagement with Six-Party partners.

During a mid-January visit to the United States by PRC President Hu Jintao, we made progress on greater cooperation with the Chinese on North Korea issues. In a Joint Statement issued during the visit, both sides agreed that the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains our paramount goal. The United States and China also jointly “expressed concern regarding the DPRK’s claimed uranium enrichment program,” “opposed all activities inconsistent with the 2005 Joint Statement and relevant international obligations and commitments,” and “called for the necessary steps that would allow for the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks process to address this and other relevant issues.”

Immediately following this visit in late January, Deputy Secretary Steinberg led a mission to Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing to further coordinate our approach to the Korean Peninsula.

In addition, we have further solidified our alliances with the ROK and Japan and have improved trilateral cooperation among the three countries in responding to the DPRK’s provocative and belligerent behavior. For example, at the December 6, 2010 U.S.-Japan-ROK Trilateral Ministerial meeting, Secretary Clinton, Japanese Foreign Minister Maehara, and ROK Foreign Minister Kim affirmed unity among the three nations and declared that the DPRK’s provocative and belligerent behavior threatens all three countries and will be met with solidarity from all three countries.

In the meantime, the United States continues to improve the implementation of unilateral and international sanctions on North Korea to constrain its nuclear and missile programs. On August 30, the President signed Executive Order (E.O.) 13551, giving the U.S. government new authorities to target North Korea’s conventional arms proliferation and illicit activities. The new E.O. designated one North Korean individual and five North Korean entities. The Departments of State and Treasury also recently designated five additional entities and three individuals under existing E.O. 13382, which targets North Korean WMD-related proliferation activities. We continue to urge the international community to implement UNSCRs 1718 and 1874 fully and transparently. At the same time, we have stated unequivocally that we will not lift sanctions on the DPRK just for their returning to talks.

In March 2009, the DPRK terminated the U.S. food aid program, ordering our humanitarian personnel out of the country and requiring that they leave behind 20,000 metric tons of undelivered U.S. food items. The United States remains deeply concerned about the well-being of the North Korean people, particularly in light of continuing reports of chronic food shortages. The U.S. government policy on humanitarian assistance and food aid is based on three factors: (1) level of need; (2) competing needs in other countries; and (3) our ability to ensure that aid is reliably reaching the people in need. This policy is consistent with our long-standing goal of providing emergency humanitarian assistance to the people of countries around the world where there are legitimate humanitarian needs. However, consistent with our practices worldwide, the United States will not provide food aid without a thorough assessment of actual needs and adequate program management, monitoring, and access provisions to ensure that food aid is not diverted or misused.

We work closely with the United Nations, including the Human Rights Council, other international and non-governmental organizations, and other governments to try to improve the human rights situation in North Korea. The State Department’s 2009 Country Report on Human Rights Practices for North Korea reports that the DPRK government continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Advancing human rights is a top U.S. priority in our North Korea policy. Any long-term improvement in U.S.-DPRK relations will be contingent, among several factors, on the DPRK making a serious effort to address human rights issues. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King traveled to South Korea in early February to meet with South Korean government officials, as well as North Korean defectors, civil society groups, and North Korea experts. Ambassador King reports from his meetings that North Korea’s human rights and humanitarian situation continues to worsen.

We are also working closely with the UN and other organizations to protect North Korean refugees. The United States has urged China to adhere to its international obligations as a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, including by not expelling or refouling North Koreans protected under those treaties and undertaking to co-operate with UNHCR in the exercise of its functions. Although the vast majority of North Korean refugees choose resettlement in the ROK, the United States will consider resettling eligible North Korean refugees who express an interest in resettlement to the U.S. directly to U.S. embassies and consulates or through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We support increasing the flow of balanced information into the DPRK through independent broadcasters based in the ROK and in collaboration with the Broadcasting Board of Governors and its partners Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. The United States considers remains recovery operations to be an important humanitarian mission. We remain committed to achieving the fullest possible accounting for U.S. POW/MIAs from the Korean War, as well as from other conflicts.We are also carefully watching internal developments in North Korea, particularly as they relate to leadership succession and the promotion of heir apparent Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il, to key regime positions. In conclusion, we continue to work closely with our Six-Party partners in an effort to promote peace and stability on the Peninsula and achieve the goals of the 2005 Six-Party Joint Statement. We believe we can make progress in cooperation with our partners in Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, and Seoul. We are also working with our partners and the United Nations to advance human rights in North Korea, protect the status of North Korean refugees, and monitor the need for humanitarian assistance in North Korea. The door is open to Pyongyang to join and benefit from such an effort but only if it abandons the misguided notion that violence, threats, and provocation are the path toward achievement of its goals.

We face enormous challenges when dealing with North Korea. The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will not be easy to achieve, but we cannot abandon the goal. Through a strategy that combines openness to dialogue with a continuation of bilateral and multilateral sanctions, we believe we have an opportunity to bring about important improvements to the global nonproliferation regime and to regional and global security. We believe that our partners in the Six-Party process share this assessment and we will continue to work closely with them as we move forward.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I welcome any questions you may have.

State of the Union: Why Afghanistan? Part 2 of 2

By Zach Foster

This is the first in a series of responses to the many issues brought up in President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address.

Continued from Part 1.

Osama Bin Laden has proven to be actively involved in leading both Al Qaeda and the Taliban to wage jihad against the West.  At this point in time, Al Qaeda is out of Afghanistan, but the Taliban remain, and they have fought and clawed for every inch of ground the Coalition has taken from them.  They are terrorists who continuously use violence and murder against civilians to bring about their warped vision of a radical fundamentalist Islamic utopia.

Many people say, “Al Qaeda is gone, and as long as the Taliban stays inside Afghanistan, what goes on in that country is none of our business.  We have no business in Afghanistan!”  This falsehood is the result of grievously misguided judgments.  First and foremost, there is a war on and the present situation applies to the old shop proverb “You break it, you buy it.”  The United States military decapitated the Taliban government and leadership, and it would be completely irresponsible to abandon the new fledgling democratic Afghan government, since Afghanistan’s history has shown that fledgling democracies are quickly preyed on by the wolves.

American presence and assistance has been requested by the people of Afghanistan who dared to live outside of Taliban totalitarianism.  What many don’t know about the country is that it has been in a continuous state of civil war since 1977.  Nearly sixty years of peace in Afghanistan were interrupted in 1977 when the Communist party took over in a coup, actively taking steps to remove freedom of religion from the Afghan people.  The Communist phase, which included ten years of Soviet intervention, lasted until 1992. From 1992 to 1996 was the most chaotic phase of civil war, most of the time being fought three ways by three or more factions, ending with the victory of the Taliban.  Then from 1996 to 2001 saw the resistance against the Taliban by the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (the Northern Alliance)—our allies against the Taliban—who wanted nothing but to live free of radical religious totalitarian violence.  For years the Northern Alliance begged the world for help.  This help was ironically delivered into their hands when Al Qaeda brought down the towers.

Since then, with American intervention and the precious investment of American blood, the veterans of the Northern Alliance who bravely fought for freedom are now the leaders and a large portion of the ranks of what we know today as the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.  Even better, the people of Afghanistan are voting in their own elections and slowly practicing free market.  The U.S.’s current mission for Afghanistan is to help their government to grow strong enough to take over its own fighting and to eventually stabilize its own country.  This mission has been working in Iraq.  Regardless of how people felt about the morality of the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq, we broke it, so it was our responsibility to fix it.  Now the Iraqi army and police are fighting their own war against insurgents, which has greatly wound down.  The Iraq War has been long, but the end is in sight, and it will be worth it.

Will peace and stability happen quickly?  No.  After the end of the Korean War, there was still much violence on the Demilitarized Zone, but with American assistance, the South Koreans were able to build up their military and their economy.  It took nearly three decades for South Korea to become a pure democracy, but today it is a model country.  South Korea is democratic and an industrial and military powerhouse, because the United States protected it from the North.  In 1972 and 1973, Vietnamization was working in favor of the South Vietnamese, who were able to win military victories against the North Vietnamese, with some American air power assisting them, such as in the battle of An Loc.  The South Vietnamese stopped a major North Vietnamese offensive in 1972.  However, Americans lost faith in the war and Congress broke the defense treaty with South Vietnam, and the people of the South were left defenseless against the North, which violated peace agreements, rebuilt its army, and launched a once-and-for-all massive invasion.

It will be a long road, but we must not abandon the Afghan people in their time of need.  Three decades from now, Afghanistan and Iraq can be like South Korea.  It is our responsibility to protect the Afghan people from the wolves a little longer, so that Afghanistan does not become the Taliban’s prey like South Vietnam was for the north.

Barack Obama and Hu Jintao

By Zach Foster

Many are puzzled and astonished by the flurry of information and rumors surrounding the President’s visits with Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China.  Democrats seem to be openly praising the President as a peace maker, while Republicans are very wary of this political courtship.  Some may evenly be using the President’s cross-visits with Hu Jintao as yet another convenient building block to further support their theory that the President is a Marxist-Leninist.

People are wary that Obama and Hu are trading military technologies and other sorts of things that make pacifists and gung-ho nationalists alike cringe.  However, no one seems to be taking in the big picture.  The President’s dialogue with the PRC continues a tradition dating back to President Nixon’s visit to Red China in 1972.  If Americans can manage to look past the ludicrous episode that was the Watergate scandal, they can remember that Nixon had some of the best foreign policy in American history.  The re-establishment of relations with Red China ensured that there would not be any further armed conflict between the United States and the PRC (Remember the U.S. had fought them in the Korean War, and Mao’s willingness to send his troops into the meat grinder is the only reason North Korea exists today).  It also further isolated the Soviet Union in the charade of Communist Internationalism, helping to bring about the eventual demise of the evil empire.

Yet, let us go back to those two words guaranteed to raise emotions: North Korea.  Yes, it’s old news that they sank the South Korean ship; yes, it’s old news that they shelled Yeonpyong Island and killed two ROK Marines and civilians.  Yes, it’s old news that the Red Dynasty in Korea has introduced its new leader Kim Jong Un.  This may come as a surprise to some, but alas, the North Korean leaders are thugs!  Though they are small, like an angry Chihuahua that keeps biting fingers and hands, they are a rabid dog that can cause damage even to the bigger dog that destroys it.  If we can look back to 1950-1953 and put two and two together to make four, we can come to the conclusion that the PRC hold’s North Korea’s leash.  The North Koreans know that if they lose the Chinese, they lose any assurance of survival.  Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un know they have the friendship of Hu Jintao, but now, so does Barack Obama.  If the President can get the Chinese to continue holding North Korea’s leash, then by all means, let the President carry on in the tradition of Nixonian foreign policy.

Actions to Judge Dictatorial Regime Called for in S. Korea

Here's one for irony!  A press release from the [North] Korean Central News Agency

Pyongyang, December 22 (KCNA) -- The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) of south Korea called for launching a nation-wide movement to judge the puppet dictatorial regime on December 16.

The DLP accused the "Grand National Party" and the "government" of railroading the budget for the new year through the "National Assembly" and turning it into a theater of rowdyism.

It made it clear that their rash actions once again clearly indicated their intention to head for dictatorship, trying no longer to reach an understanding with the people.

The DLP underscored the need to form a pan-national movement organization and launch strong and sustainable actions to judge the Lee Myung Bak regime in solidarity with the people of all circles including political parties, civic and public and religious organizations except the GNP.

West Wing Week: "It's Alive!"

West Wing Week is your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Walk step by step with the President as he visits Afghanistan to celebrate the holidays with our men and women in uniform, announces a free trade agreement with South Korea, attends a series of meetings at the White House and holds a press conference to answer questions about the tax cut compromise, signs the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, and more.

Watch the West Wing Week video.

Readout of the President’s Call with President Hu of China

Tonight (December 5), the President called China’s President Hu Jintao to discuss North Korea.  The two Presidents discussed our common interest in peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the priority of ensuring the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  They agreed on the importance of the United States and China working together toward these shared goals.  The President emphasized the need for North Korea to halt its provocative behavior and to meet its international obligations, including its commitments in the 2005 Six Party Joint Declaration.  The President condemned the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island on November 23 and its pursuit of a uranium enrichment program in defiance of its obligations.  He urged China to work with us and others to send a clear message to North Korea that its provocations are unacceptable.  The President also highlighted the American commitment to the security of our allies in the region.

President Obama also raised Iran.  He stressed the importance of P5+1 unity in order to address Iran's nuclear program.