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posted by martyb on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the real-progress-or-false-hope? dept.

foxnews.com/us/2018/03/06/trump-cites-possible-progress-in-talks-with-nkorea.html

Trump commented Tuesday on Twitter after the South Korean government announced that North Korea has agreed to halt tests of nuclear weapons and missiles if it holds talks with the U.S. on denuclearization. South Korea and North Korea have also agreed to hold summit talks in late April.

Trump tweeted: "Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!"

The Associated Press has some additional information:

While the offer of talks could ease tensions, the adversaries will still have to overcome deep mutual suspicion. The U.S. has consistently demanded North Korea give up its nukes, which the reclusive socialist state had previously insisted was off the table until Washington abandoned its "hostile policy" toward it. At a minimum, the Americans wanted a halt in nuclear and missile testing for talks to begin.

"Maybe this is a breakthrough. I seriously doubt it," Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, told a Senate hearing Tuesday. He said his doubts are grounded in what he called failed efforts by previous U.S. administrations to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear program.

Coats said Kim is "very calculating" and views his nuclear capabilities as "essential to his well-being as well as the well-being of his nation."

[...] Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. would remain "firm in our resolve" whichever direction talks with North Korea go. "All options are on the table and our posture toward the regime will not change until we see credible, verifiable and concrete steps toward denuclearization," Pence said in a statement.

[...] On returning from Pyongyang, Chung Eui-yong, South Korea's presidential national security director, said North Korea expressed willingness to hold a "candid dialogue" with the United States to discuss its nuclear disarmament and establish diplomatic relations. Chung said North Korea "made it clear that it won't resume strategic provocations like additional nuclear tests or test-launches of ballistic missiles" while such talks are underway.

[...] But the administration will have difficult questions of its own as it gauges North Korea's intentions. An initial hurdle could be presented by U.S.-South Korean military drills that were postponed during the Olympics and are due to resume next month. North Korea is likely to push for a suspension of the drills which it views as a provocation and a threat, and may ask for relief from U.S.-led economic sanctions.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday March 07 2018, @04:42PM (5 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @04:42PM (#649055)

    How many other Presidents have we had that were actually better than Obama? Seriously. He wasn't great IMO, but it's not like we've had some huge number of great Presidents. George Washington is usually considered the best ever (considering how things were at the time and what he had to contend with), and a few other founders are also highly-rated. But overall, we just haven't had all that many really good Presidents, more like a bunch of very mediocre ones or worse. Obama wasn't great, again, but he's probably the best I've seen in my lifetime. The Clinton years were great but that wasn't really Clinton's fault, and he did a bunch of lousy stuff (like signing the law that overturned the Glass-Steagal Act, leading us to the mortgage meltdown in 2008). Bush II was a disaster, Bush I was lame, Reagan sucked, Carter was ineffectual, etc. #8 does seem a little optimistic to me, but still, there just haven't been that many Presidents I can think of who were obviously better than Obama, in so far as you can fairly rate them given how much society has changed since the late 1700s.

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  • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @05:56PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @05:56PM (#649096)

    Let's look at this another way: find the most recent president that was equal or worse than Obama.

    I think that might be LBJ. If not him, it's FDR, who was clearly worse.

    We can do similar for Trump. Worse would obviously be Obama, so let's flip it around: find the most recent president that was equal or better than Trump.

    It is probably Theodore Roosevelt. It might be Eisenhower or Reagan.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:31PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:31PM (#649157)

      All of them.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:36PM (#649161)

      Even Dubya thinks Trump makes him look good.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:51PM (1 child)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:51PM (#649166) Journal

    How many other Presidents have we had that were actually better than Obama?

    I'd wouldn't put him below Nixon or Dubya. LBJ is a close call though Obama didn't manage despite a fair bit of effort in Iraq to rope us into a Vietnam-scale war. I'm similarly out on Trump just because he has three years to go. Doesn't look good, but he still might turn out better than Obama. Carter was ineffectual, but at least he was someone honest.

    • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Sunday March 11 2018, @05:25PM

      by Sulla (5173) on Sunday March 11 2018, @05:25PM (#650966) Journal

      Until Trump actually ends some wars overseas he can't beat Nixon.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam