North Korea

There have been mixed reports this morning on the condition of North Korea's dictator. First reports were that he suffered a stroke. Now they are saying the U.S. believes he is "gravely ill".

When asked about the news, Sarah Palin asked responded, "I really hope she is ok". Ok - just kidding about that part, but it wouldn't shock me if Palin did say something like that.

If a Democratic administration did this, that's exactly what the wingnuts would be yelling:

The United States says it has reached a deal with North Korea to provide 500,000 metric tons of food aid to the closed-off communist nation over the coming year.

Talking with enemies is soo bad, but only if there is a D behind your name.

In the last few weeks we have heard the right-wing talking heads going on about how the Insurgents, Iran and North Korea are trying to influence the elections. This morning, we have the following as the big story:

North Korea agreed on Tuesday to return to six-party talks on dismantling its atomic weapons just weeks after staging its first nuclear test, and a U.S. envoy said he wanted to see "substantial progress" after a year-long hiatus.

Envoys from North Korea, the United States and China met in Beijing and agreed to resume the talks in the near future, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its Web site.

So is North Korea still trying to influence the elections? Maybe they are. Perhaps they are hoping this will boost the Republicans chance of winning, because they know it is easier to screw with a Republican controlled America. They didn't have nukes under Clinton. They got them under Bush and even tested them. Chew on that one for awhile John Gibson.

John McCain was playing the "blame Clinton" game today on North Korea. Ignore the fact that if Clinton did so bad with North Korea then why hasn't the Bush administration done anything to correct it in the past 6 years. If the Republicans once again want to put partisanship above national security, then let's play.

Ever wonder how North Korea got that reactor? Was it Clinton's fault? Let's turn to Think Progress and find out:

Rumsfeld was a non-executive director of ABB, a European engineering giant based in Zurich, when it won a $200m contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors. The current defense secretary sat on the board from 1990 to 2001, earning $190,000 a year.

Oh so it was our very own Defense Secretary who was involved with North Korea getting their reactors. So why hasn't anyone asked Rumsfeld about this?

Rumsfeld has since refused media requests to talk about his role in the light water reactor deal and has instead criticized it.

He don't want to talk about it. Perhaps the media needs to push old Rummy on this a little more. Perhaps Clinton needs another FOX interview so he can give Wallace another smack of truth.

Via Think Progress:

"Why should I care about North Korea?"In State of Denial, Bob Woodward recounts a conversation between then-Gov. George W. Bush and then-Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar, in which Bush wonders why he should care about North Korea. "I get these briefings on all parts of the world," Bush said, "and everybody is talking to me about North Korea."

Do you think he cares now? Yet again we are shown how the ignorance of the Bush administration is making the world much more dangerous. So how safe do you feel?

If we are tritely facing "world war 3", then this should indicate the battle lines that are being drawn. All of this has occurred over the last week.

1. Putin plan to shut out US oil giants

President Vladimir Putin is set to keep US oil companies out of a lucrative gas field in the latest sign of the deteriorating relationship between Moscow and Washington.

The Russian leader is expected to favour Norwegian companies and reject bids by America's Chevron and ConocoPhillips after failing to secure backing from the United States for his country's attempt to join the World Trade Organisation.

The tit-for-tat snub will be a blow to US companies scrambling for access to Russia's huge gas reserves at a time of high energy prices. It comes after Putin failed to resolve differences with US President George Bush over trade and human rights at the G8 conference in St Petersburg last week.

2. Russia defies U.S. with Venezuela arms deal

Russia said Thursday it had sold 24 aircraft and 53 helicopters to Venezuela, defying the United States, which has urged Moscow to halt arms sales to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Russia's arms export chief, speaking as Chavez met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, said the aircraft deal was part of a long-term package of arms contracts with Venezuela that was worth more than $3 billion.

Chavez is a vocal critic of what he calls U.S. imperialism. Washington considers him a dangerous radical and had urged Russia to rethink the weapons sale. It bans its own producers from selling weapons to Venezuela.

3. Chavez invites Iranian investment

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has urged Iran to increase investment in his country's oil and gas assets. Visiting Tehran as part of a foreign tour, Mr Chavez also pledged Venezuela would "stand by Iran at any time and under any condition".

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described Mr Chavez as a "brother and trench mate".

Venezuela and Iran are close allies, both members of the Opec oil-producing cartel and fierce critics of the US.

I posted last week about the threat of Bush wanting to sell arms to Pakistan, especially because of their previous ties with North Korea and the sharing of nuclear technology. It is amazing that the same week North Korea did their missile test, Bush was pushing for this sale. Now the Democrats have taken notice:

A senior Democratic lawmaker has asked the Bush administration to withdraw its offer to sell $5 billion worth of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, saying the deal raises security worries.

The action by Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, apparently led to the postponement of a congressional hearing Thursday to examine the jet sale.

Lantos told administration officials that he and other lawmakers, including committee chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., had serious concerns about the arms sale, which Pakistan has long pushed for, Lantos' spokeswoman, Lynne Weil, said in an interview.

Lawmakers' biggest worry, Weil said, is that China, which has close military ties with Pakistan, might gain access to F-16 technology. Lantos is a strong supporter of India, Pakistan's nuclear-armed rival and neighbor.

China is also a worry in this bad deal. Since China and North Korea do have a close relationship, another route is given for our technology to fall in the wrong hands.

I can already predict Bush defending this sale as "aiding the war on terror" since Pakistan has been helpful in it, but at what cost is this aide? If Pakistan were to let our technology fall into the hands of North Korea, either directly or through China, then we would be facing a graver danger then the war on terror.

This sale highlights the recklessness of Bush's foreign policy and national security policy. It also shows that the Democrats have a stronger stance on national security then the Republicans do. We got Bush still trying to sell off our ports to foreign interests and selling our military technology to foreign interests with known ties to a part of the Axis of Evil. This is highly dangerous and must be stopped immediately. Democrats must also show that this is how the Bush administration feels they should keep us safe. Sure Pakistan might help catch some al Qaeda, but they may also help Kim Jong-Il get a nuke that will hit the United States and that will be far worse than 9/11. This is Pandora's Box.

North Korea has test fired a seventh missile and the Security Council is now getting ready for an emergency session regarding the tensions:

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session Wednesday morning to discuss at Japan's request North Korea's missile tests, officials said.

Outraged over the pre-dawn test-firing of six missiles by its isolated, communist neighbor, Japan has urged the UN Security Council to take up the matter and has also warned that it might impose economic sanctions of its own.

The Security Council is expected to meet at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) to take up the matter, according to a spokesman for the French mission to the United Nations.

Japan is expected to present a resolution protesting North Korea's missile tests, according to another UN diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

What exactly happens in the Security Council today is dependent upon China. If China feels embarassed about North Korea's actions then a threat of sanctions could come out of it, however if they don't then we might be limited to a somewhat mild statement of disagreement.