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politics
North Korea Launches Rocket, Prompts Famous 3 a.m. Phone Call
Kaitlynn RielyPosted: Apr 6th 2009 12:06AM
Filed under: Politics, Breaking News, News, Media, Notre DameHillary Clinton saw this coming.
President Barack Obama got his 3 a.m. phone call, albeit at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning in Prague, Czech Republic, when North Korea launched a long-range rocket. That's a sudden way to remind someone that being president isn't all about the economy.
Last year, when Obama and Clinton were still vying for the Democratic nomination, Clinton put out an ad saying she was the best one to answer the theoretical 3 a.m. phone call because she had the experience. Obama replied to her political advertisement with a nearly identical one that said he should answer the theoretical 3 a.m. phone call because he had better judgment.
The scenario became reality Sunday when North Korea launched the rocket they'd been threatening to launch for several weeks. The North Korean government said they had conducted a successful, peaceful launch of a satellite into orbit, CNN reported. But the United States and South Korea characterized the launch as a "provocative act" and said the rocket's payload failed to enter orbit, instead falling into the Pacific Ocean near Japan.
CNN quoted a State Department spokesman as saying the launch was in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea's weapons program, which prohibits the country from conducting ballistic missile-related activities.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he personally woke Obama to tell him the launch had been confirmed, and that Obama then consulted with his top aides, including Clinton, who was in Prague with Obama to participate in the European Union summit.
Obama responded strongly to the North Korean actions, which weren't much of a surprise since the North Koreans had been talking about the launch for weeks. His statements focused on the need for an international response to North Korea's rogue behavior.
"North Korea must know that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons," Obama said, according to a CNN report. "All nations much come together to build a stronger global regime. That's why we must stand shoulder to shoulder to pressure the North Koreans to change course."
A few days before the launch, FOX News's Greta Van Susteren asked former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich what he would do about North Korea if he was president. Gingrich criticized Obama for his foreign policy approach towards North Korea, which he said entailed "being courteous to them and communicating with them."
If he were president, he told Van Susteren, he would have used "whatever methods were necessary for the missile never to be launched." That could mean using the military if necessary, he said.
"If I can't find a way to bribe somebody to blow it up, I'd find a way to have either a small team go in, or a way to deliver a laser or another kind of device," he said on FOX. "That is a missile that is sitting there on that launch pad, and I think you could take it out with very, very minimal risk to anybody."
There's been some speculation that Gingrich will run for president in 2012. If he does, I propose he runs an ad showing Obama taking 4:30 a.m. phone calls while Gingrich is fast asleep--because he already took care of the problem with lasers.
President Barack Obama got his 3 a.m. phone call, albeit at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning in Prague, Czech Republic, when North Korea launched a long-range rocket. That's a sudden way to remind someone that being president isn't all about the economy.
Last year, when Obama and Clinton were still vying for the Democratic nomination, Clinton put out an ad saying she was the best one to answer the theoretical 3 a.m. phone call because she had the experience. Obama replied to her political advertisement with a nearly identical one that said he should answer the theoretical 3 a.m. phone call because he had better judgment.
The scenario became reality Sunday when North Korea launched the rocket they'd been threatening to launch for several weeks. The North Korean government said they had conducted a successful, peaceful launch of a satellite into orbit, CNN reported. But the United States and South Korea characterized the launch as a "provocative act" and said the rocket's payload failed to enter orbit, instead falling into the Pacific Ocean near Japan.
CNN quoted a State Department spokesman as saying the launch was in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea's weapons program, which prohibits the country from conducting ballistic missile-related activities.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he personally woke Obama to tell him the launch had been confirmed, and that Obama then consulted with his top aides, including Clinton, who was in Prague with Obama to participate in the European Union summit.
Obama responded strongly to the North Korean actions, which weren't much of a surprise since the North Koreans had been talking about the launch for weeks. His statements focused on the need for an international response to North Korea's rogue behavior.
"North Korea must know that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons," Obama said, according to a CNN report. "All nations much come together to build a stronger global regime. That's why we must stand shoulder to shoulder to pressure the North Koreans to change course."
A few days before the launch, FOX News's Greta Van Susteren asked former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich what he would do about North Korea if he was president. Gingrich criticized Obama for his foreign policy approach towards North Korea, which he said entailed "being courteous to them and communicating with them."
If he were president, he told Van Susteren, he would have used "whatever methods were necessary for the missile never to be launched." That could mean using the military if necessary, he said.
"If I can't find a way to bribe somebody to blow it up, I'd find a way to have either a small team go in, or a way to deliver a laser or another kind of device," he said on FOX. "That is a missile that is sitting there on that launch pad, and I think you could take it out with very, very minimal risk to anybody."
There's been some speculation that Gingrich will run for president in 2012. If he does, I propose he runs an ad showing Obama taking 4:30 a.m. phone calls while Gingrich is fast asleep--because he already took care of the problem with lasers.
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Burke Chandler
10:09AM 10:09AM Apr 6th 2009
I would like for FOX NEWS to present a story on the actual size of North Korea. Is North Korea as big as China or Russia or Australia or Alaska? What is the width and length of the entire Korean peninsula? Is there an actual fence in the middle of the DMZ separating North and South Korea? How long is the fence? What would be gained by the North Korean government firing a missle toward the United States or Japan? How many neutron bombs would be required to eliminate the population and all mammals in North Korea? Why would not the threat of neutron bombs be used as a deterent to any unwelcome act by the government of North Korea. What is the half life of the radiation after the use of a neutron bomb? Eons? Centuries? Years? Months? Days? Hours? Why could the United States government not say to North Korea "You make one wrong move and you will cease to exist." and say too, "To get along you got to go along."
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drwds
11:43AM 11:43AM Apr 6th 2009
it only takes a couple of people to launch an atomic bomb. Who cares how big the country is
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ann
3:59PM 3:59PM Apr 6th 2009
Do you remember the Korean War? That is when the Korean pennisula got divied up between the Soviet- backed south and the US backed North. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Republic, and because of decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population. North Korea's history of regional military provocations, proliferation of military-related items, and long-range missile development - as well as its WMD programs and massive conventional armed forces - are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Beginning in August 2003, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US have participated in the Six-Party Talks aimed at resolving the stalemate over the DPRK's nuclear programs. North Korea pulled out of the talks in November 2005. It test-fired ballistic missiles in July 2006 and conducted a nuclear test in October 2006. North Korea returned to the Six-Party Talks in December 2006 and subsequently signed two agreements on denuclearization. The 13 February 2007 Initial Actions Agreement led to the shut down of three of the North's nuclear facilities at Yongbyon in July 2007. In the 3 October 2007 Second Phase Actions Agreement, Pyongyang pledged to disable those three facilities and provide a correct and complete declaration of its nuclear programs by the end of the year. Under the supervision of US nuclear experts, North Korean personnel completed some of agreed-upon disablement actions at those three Yongbyon facilities by the end of 2007. North Korea began the discharge of spent fuel rods in December 2007 and provided a declaration of its nuclear program in June 2008.
They have reneged on every treaty, and the entire world is worried right now about them and other fringe nations like them getting a nuke arsenal.
But I still don't understand why it is the US which has to do the posturing and threatening to try to keep them from nuking S. Korean to get the land and population reunified, or attacking China for land and resources.
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gerald crackel
9:31AM 9:31AM Apr 7th 2009
to the question about north korea first off you will never be able to trust them as they are enveous of south korea and what they have accomplished since the korean war. I believe with our weapon s and our covert operations that we and the rest of the civilized world should be very discreeet in eliminating the leaders of this republic and offering a democratic type of government. I was there
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ann
3:48PM 3:48PM Apr 6th 2009
I don't like the idea of any radical nation "testing" ballistic missiles...
and I AM a patriot (our 6 sons served as Marines, all out or retired now)
But: What would the US have a to say if another nation flat out told us not to launch our satellites, not to conduct our missile testing, not to send shuttles to the space station, etc?
I understand the need to control nukes. But lately I have begun to wonder about us telling other nations when and how they can build nuclear facilities for power production and when and how they can send something into orbit.
There is a world organization that regulates satellites and orbits. Why aren't they the ones doing the hollering? What part of this am I not seeing?
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Master Shake
2:00AM 2:00AM Apr 8th 2009
Indeed - and talk about HYPOCRISY! Look at all the things the US does that cause international protests - sometimes tens of thousands of people in Europe protesting at American embassies, and the US & UK media blackout the event - act like it isn't even happening. Most of you would be shocked if they realized the things going on in YOUR name by your governmen. And while you are busy complaining about illegal immigrants, about a fourth of the web pages you access in Europe have some advertisement in the local language for getting a free green card to legally become a resident - and guess who takes you up on that CONSTANT offer? The poor, the degenerates, and the criminals who can bribe a clean police record easily (bribery is normal in most of the world). Wealthy people have no interest in moving there! You have about the most screwed up government in the history of the world, except perhaps some banana republic somewhere in South America.
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ann
4:04PM 4:04PM Apr 6th 2009
Do you remember the Korean War? That is when the Korean pennisula got
divied up between the Soviet- backed south and the US backed North.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Republic, and because of decades
of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since
the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its
population. North Korea's history of regional military provocations,
proliferation of military-related items, and long-range missile
development - as well as its WMD programs and massive conventional
armed forces - are of major concern to the international community.
In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a
nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a
1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its
existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it
declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation
Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade
plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Beginning in
August 2003, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the
US have participated in the Six-Party Talks aimed at resolving the
stalemate over the DPRK's nuclear programs. North Korea pulled out of
the talks in November 2005. It test-fired ballistic missiles in July
2006 and conducted a nuclear test in October 2006. North Korea
returned to the Six-Party Talks in December 2006 and subsequently
signed two agreements on denuclearization. The 13 February 2007
Initial Actions Agreement led to the shut down of three of the
North's nuclear facilities at Yongbyon in July 2007. In the 3 October
2007 Second Phase Actions Agreement, Pyongyang pledged to disable
those three facilities and provide a correct and complete declaration
of its nuclear programs by the end of the year. Under the supervision
of US nuclear experts, North Korean personnel completed some of
agreed-upon disablement actions at those three Yongbyon facilities by
the end of 2007. North Korea began the discharge of spent fuel rods in
December 2007 and provided a declaration of its nuclear program in
June 2008.
They have reneged on every treaty, and the entire world is worried
right now about them and other fringe nations like them getting a
nuke arsenal.
But I still don't understand why it is the US which has to do the
posturing and threatening to try to keep them from nuking S. Korean
to get the land and population reunified, or attacking China for land
and resources.
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r. richard fusilier de la claire
11:49AM 11:49AM Apr 9th 2009
Bull! North Korea, its certain to say is acting contrary to its signed commitment of the "Armistice": or peace agreements of 65 years ago. The onus should be on North Korea for they have breached. The threat to Nuke Kim Il for its breach and threats should be real. by ostensible preparation and only then will we get sure compliance. Its now or later and now is a good time to eliminate this danger, no?
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ann
6:12PM 6:12PM Apr 8th 2009
Yes, Master Shake, you are correct that we traditionally accept the poor, the destitute, the broken dregs of the world.
We even have a statue in our major city to commemorate that fact. And however screwy your think our government is, people are falling all over themselves trying to get here. I realize you know nothing about America except what is fed to you by newspapers and TV; but: It is America that is the brightest hope of the world.
Just because I criticize one facet of our country does not mean I don't feel proud and grateful to be here, and be able to criticize my government without fear of retribution.
So many will endure almost anything to get here. If I weren;t here, I'd be trying, too. But I sure am glad you are happy where you are.
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JIM
1:24PM 1:24PM Apr 9th 2009
Clinton was the one that gave North Korea the means to build nuclear weapons..
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