Krishnadev Calamur at The Atlantic writes—Is Tillerson Really Articulating a New Policy on North Korea?
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Friday the military “option is on the table” if North Korea escalates its nuclear-weapons program “to a level that we believe requires action.” Do these remarks mark a break from the Obama administration’s policy toward Pyongyang, or do they mark a return to a familiar phrase in diplomacy?
The phrase about the military “option being on the table” itself isn’t new. What’s new, argues Jon Wolfsthal, who worked on arms-control and nonproliferation issues in President Obama’s National Security Council, is “saying we won’t talk at all.” Tillerson ruled out any talks with the North until it commits to renouncing nuclear weapons.
“It is a departure,” Wolfsthal said, because both Presidents Obama and George W. Bush had talked to North Korea until Pyongyang either pulled out of talks (with Obama) or cheated on its treaty obligations (with Bush). “And I think makes it less likely that we’ll get the type of cooperation from South Korea or China because they want to understand what our policy is.”
Abraham Denmark, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, argues that while Tillerson’s remarks represent a rhetorical change from the Obama years, the Trump administration’s policies toward the region are the same. [...]
What’s coming up on Sunday Kos …
- Walking in black folks’ shoes, by Denise Oliver Velez
- When Paul Ryan gave the game away on health care rationing, by Jon Perr
- Trump and Ryan could lose Trumpcare battle—and still destroy Obamacare, by Egberto Willies
- DC journalists: Don’t let Republicans get away with the ‘failing Obamacare’ lie. Lives are at stake, by Joan McCarter
- Jeff Sessions is not likely to stop the police war on minorities and the poor, by Frank Vyan Walton
- Here are the governorships the Republicans want to go from blue to red, by Stephen Wolf
- The rising cost of college education, by Mark E Andersen
- The division line exercise and the 99 percent, by David Akadjian
- Why Chicago police don’t need increased stop-and-frisk, by Sher Watts Spooner
- David Cay Johnston wrote the book on Trump, by Susan Grigsby
QUOTATION
“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”
~Garry Kasparov, Tweet on December 16, 2016
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2011—GOP Wall Street reform repeal efforts moving forward:
We knew this was coming, the Republicans' latest not-job creating legislation to roll back Wall Street reform. Because, hey, what's a little global financial meltdown between friends? Why should Wall Street have to be accountable? […]
Of course, they're not proposing putting anything in its place. They don't do policy, they only do dismantling. But, as Greg Sargent says, they're approaching this one more cautiously, and certainly more quietly, than they did health reform repeal. That's because Wall Street is still hugely unpopular and untrusted. As Greg says, "[t]his one could provide another chance to draw a very clear contrast between the parties—on turf that may be a bit more favorable to Dems than health care repeal or spending."
For that to happen, Dems—including the White House—need to make a lot of noise about it.
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