Obama's Statement On North Korean Rocket Launch

Below is the statement released by President Obama from Prague, Czech Republic on the rocket launched by North Korea:

North Korea's development and proliferation of ballistic missile technology pose a threat to the northeast Asian region and to international peace and security. The launch today of a Taepo-dong 2 missile was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind. With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations.

We will immediately consult with our allies in the region, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, and members of the U.N. Security Council to bring this matter before the Council. I urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and to refrain from further provocative actions.

Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a high priority for my administration. The United States is fully committed to maintaining security and stability in northeast Asia and we will continue working for the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the Six-Party Talks. The Six-Party Talks provide the forum for achieving denuclearization, reducing tensions, and for resolving other issues of concern between North Korea, its four neighbors, and the United States. North Korea has a pathway to acceptance in the international community, but it will not find that acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and abides by its international obligations and commitments.

Comments

[SinfullySublime]

"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something," Obama said.

I wonder if this will ever apply to Bush/Cheney, too? Practice what you preach, Mr. President!

[dromedaddog]

Crisis? What crisis?

This is nothing more than another manufactured boogey man (like Iran) for our Military-Industrial-Congressional complex to use for propaganda purposes. Its been brewing for years - and now handed down from the Bush administration to the willing hands of Obama.

Scare the brainwashed citizens of this country into thinking Alaska might get ATTACKED by the big bad North Koreans. Ohhhhh - nnnoooooo! And they have might have a couple of nuclear weapons too!

Think people!

Why on earth would Korea even dare attack us, much less Japan, China, etc? To take out Palin before she becomes the Repuglican nominee? They are not suicidal, and that's exactly what would happen should they dare use nuclear or conventional weapons to attack any of the major powers. Same with Iran. Period - and they know what. This is about power and money - not a physical threat of attack on the US!

It is so sad to see the Obama administration, and the corporate media, once again fanning the flames of ignorance and false fears.

Even sadder for the Huff Po to participate in this charade. They only threat this represents to the citizens of this country is that now more idiots will call for increased wasteful spending on an out-of-control Military-Industrial-Congressional complex.

Eisenhower would be ashamed of how gullible and ignorant we as citizens have become.
"Next on Fox News, do public water systems unfairly compete with the bottled water industry?"

[All in All]

Duly noted.

[All in All]

_____________________A Quote from Pres.Obama's statement_______________

"Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a high priority for my administration."

____________________________________________________________________

So I would think that the statement above is pointing-out that all & any type of Missile made by any Country would fit the definition of a weapon of mass destruction then....

[wrrock]

I thought Obama could sway the UN? Obama will wait until the world goes before he acts.

[tiotom77]

Why didn't Barack Obama give a press conference when he learned of the N.K. rocket launch? Because he hates the press. Instead he chose his favorite forum, a speech in front of a large audience. He enters the stage with his wife Michelle, smiling and waving (a good campaign maneuver). Then he gives his stern speech. He must have prepared two speechs, one if N.K. launched the rocket and one if they didn't. Fortunately, he loaded the right one into the teleprompter. Once he finished, he circles the stage, smiling and waving. Mrs. Obama joins him. I'm suprised his two daughters weren't there, so we could get the entire Obama effect.
President Obama has started a new campaign. He defeated McCain and now he has a new challenger, North Korea. So, is he concerned about U.S. interests or his international image?

[iamnumba1]

What difference does it make whether he gives a speech or a press conference? I hate the press too. How did you learn about the President's response? Enough said.

[me again]

Love how Gingrich went on TV this morning and stated he would have disabled their rocket.....and exactly how did he plan to do this, himself????? Obama has spent 2.5 months in office and is already making huge headway with our allies and enemies alike......Gingrich would have been an alienating factor from the start.....smart man, bad politics and certainly no diplomat.

[Independent voter]

Could you elaborate on the huge headway that Obama has made with our enemies and allies?

[whoknew---]

Considering what kind of reception President Obama received during the G20 conference on a comparative basis with the previous administration's strategies that in itself proves how effective Obama has been with just 2.5 months under his belt. (Review the statements from the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's endorsement on google).

[me again]

Well you have a weeks worth of major progress at the G-20, NATO and EU meeting; his first trip out of the Country save Canada. He has had friendly conversations with the Russians and we are back on track with them, looking forward to a July visit to Moscow......he was able to negotiate a deal between France and China......Turkey is back on track.......not bad for less than a week. The man has barely been in office and has had to spend the majority of his time wrangling Congress on the economy.

[AndrewInToronto]

Coming from a nation which operated as of January 1st of this year 111 military satellites and 120 government satellites (52% of the national total) while a minimum of 115 nations either own or jointly own one (including Israel, a nuclear nation) is total hypocrisy. Same old line from the arrogance of dwindling power, regardless of any disarmament initiatives. It was a satellite playing revolutionary songs, not a nuclear payload. Just plug your ears and don't listen. :-)

[AmbivalentGuy]

I lost the signal after a couple of minutes.

[iamnumba1]

"Same old line from the arrogance of dwindling power, regardless of any disarmament initiatives."

Dwindling power??? I don't think so. Stay in Canada my friend.

[AndrewInToronto]

There is a document with the US Comptroller General as the principal narrator called, "IOUSA." i highly recommend it. Not only is the US on the economic decline but military it is unable to even occupy some of the weakest nations on earth: Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Nomccain]

Comparing Israel to North Korea is like comparing Apples to Cucumbers. Israel has never been a war mongering country and instead, simply tries to protect it's own country against the terrorists, although I don't agree with all t heir land grabbing policies or the way they''ve treated the Palastinians. On the other hand, North Korea is constantly threatening to destroy South Korea and the U.S. for some reason or another. Their regime is HARD LINE and Kim Jong Ill has three sons who can succeed him with probably no change in philosophy or ideaology. North Korea is a serious threat to world peace no only as a dangerous regime but also as a nuclear prolifirator of nuclear weapons. China is scared stiff at the thought of the North and the South reunifying since they like a buffer between them and South Korea. BTW, what in the Hell do we ever get out of belonging to the UN? Their a bunch of wimps and aligned against the US.

[AndrewInToronto]

Israel was created and has been maintained by dispossessing Palestinians of their land, all justified 'morally' because of the anti-Semitism of European nations which has existed for millennia literally and culminated in the Holocaust (of which Roosevelt, Truman and Churchill knew and did NOTHING, like bombing the railways).

As a regular listener to Kol Yisrael, the statement that Israel is not a war-mongering nation is also false given that in the 1990s the IDF/IAF under Ehud Barak explicitly sought to create a wave of Lebanese civilian refugees 375,000-strong. THAT is Israeli Army Radio ! The latest collective bombing of the oPT and Lebanon a few years ago was justified by attacks in the Israeli pan-handle as well as the capture of Shalit; however, according to the UN OCHA oPt it represented an INTENSIFICATION of earlier attacks in June of the same year against Palestinian civilians.

For the current situation, I would respectfully ask that You read the weekly reports from the UN agencies in the oPT:

http://www.ochaopt.org/

In terms of the DPRK and nuclear non-proliferation, all of that was initially predicated on the nuclear powers disarming which has not occurred. Secondly, the other nuclear powers all operate satellites, including India. Obama is purely hypocritical to take this stance as if the US has done anything to ride the world of its nuclear arsenals let alone respect the non-weaponization of space with the Bush Administration's abrogation of the ABM treaty!

[Hallucinocynic]

Thanks, Andrew, for a well written rejoinder.

The problems on the eastern shore of the Med didn't start, however, in 1948, or 1945 for that matter. There is 3000 years of recorded history that clearly documents the struggle to control that shoreline and the resources necessary to civilization. While one can make an argument for Palestinian 'ownership' one can just as easily make an argument for Israeli or Egyptian, Syrian or even Hittite ownership...

ALL of the arguments by the Israels, Palestinians, Syrians and Iranis are simply specious. Outside of the Iranis, whose history is full of duplicity and imperialism, the other contenders all have good argument for maintaining or exceeding their borders. But why stop there? First Nation rights in Canada have been abrogated or ignored, just as virtually every treaty joined into by sovereign tribes and the US government. Do we revert ownership to the aboriginals?

The People's Republic of Korea is the product of the People's Republic of China and Stalinist Russia. It is an artificial state that has been threatening mass violence - while conducting ongoing black ops ever since its formation in the early 50's. The ONLY salvation for North Koreans will come from China, and then only if the Chinese leadership recognizes that the PRK is even more antihumanist than China was during its darkest days, and that pulling the rug out from underneath Pyongyang is better than facing off with the US and its allies.

[fedupwithpolitics]

Israel not a warmongering country? Have you been living under a rock? What was Gaza all about--and don't say terrorism, bcause Israel targeted civilians. They did the same in Lebanon--several times. They bombed Syria recently and are sabre-rattling against Iran. It doesn't get anymore warmongering.

[Independent voter]

Are you FKM! Israel is all about attacking it's neighbors.

[spinmas]

warmongereer no, zionest land grabing, occupying oppressors yes...

[instagladiator]

WMDs? Here we go again?

[iamnumba1]

Not really... We are talking about WMD's that we can actually see, not a treasure hunt in the desert.

[AmbivalentGuy]

US foreign policy on weapons = "we got 'em, you can't have one."

and there is something of an oxymoron in the synopsis of this story -
"US finds spectacular failure provocative."

Enough foolishness, so

There's gotta be a better way of dealing with North Korea.
Isolation, sanctions and demonizing only reinforces
a regime like that. (Well? May be not, read on.)

They may be paranoid, but even the
best informed No Korean knows that Western
countries are, at best, indifferent, and, at worst,
openly hostile and threatening.

The end result is that change will come to North Korea.
But it can only come from within No Korea.
The core triggers will be a weak internal economy and long term
problems with food supply. Popular dissatisfaction,
a large standing army, an ideologically perverse line
of succession with no clear heir - all this will cause change in
North Korea. It won't be pretty, but it will be weak and thus
easier to control.

All western policies towards No Korea have
internal economic instability as a basis. It worked with USSR,
and thus it counts as a "proven tactic".

Strategically, we
don't want them to stop wasting money on these rockets
(they really can't afford a decent program) - strategically,
we want them to have spectacular failures. It wastes money,
embarrasses/weakens the perception of the leadership, and
clearly demonstrates that their level of sophistication poses little threat.

[AdamX]

We have weapons and you can't have them. That's right! Or, perhaps you will feel better when all YOUR enemies have them too?

[AmbivalentGuy]

That's really not my point - the word "foolishness" should have indicated that.

As for treaties that control the arms capabilities of signing countries -
they have been historically ineffective.

Just how good of an army does a country have to have before it becomes the responsibility of the US to prove that ours is better?

[ThomasMc]

Why is Kalamama allowed to SLANDER and LIBEL me, but my calling her on these LIES are not posted?

[ThomasMc]

Who's protecting Bush Admin. officials from war crimes charges? Barack Obama.

Who's arguing in court that the president can detain anybody he wants with a warrant? Barack Obama.

Who's arguing in court that the president can spy on US citizens without a warrant? Barack Obama.

Who went to G20 to argue against regulation of banks? Barack Obama.

Who went to G20 to get $1T for the IMF, so US corporations could continue to rape the rest of the world? Barack Obama.

The Left is as willfully ignorant about the truth about Obama as the right was about Bush.

Quit worshiping him. Bush-lite will not save you.

[AdamX]

Who fails to recognize the radical, positive difference between this administration and the Bush administration?

ThomasMc.

Who is worshipping him? Folks recognize that he is BETTER than the last guy. Is that your idea of worship? You are obviously selling something, and not in an objective way. Maybe you think our president should be a permanent dictator, and we should do away with politics, or the need to satisfy this or that group in order to get ANYTHING done? Maybe YOU want to have a messiah in office, instead of an American politician? Maybe you don't see the need for compromise, and the need to please certain folks in order to get something else done? Maybe your thinking really is that shallow, but I prefer to think you have an alterior motive: to put down Obama in all things, and to make it seem like the current Republican party has some merit? Or perhaps you are upset that a third party didn't win? Why don't we see what it feels like to go with reality for a while...

[jmc42]

Quote from Michael Ledeen, leading neo-conservative "scholar" who has helped and continues to
help shape the "foreign policy" of George W Bush, Dick Cheney. Obama appears to be continuing
the very same policies... sadly....

"Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it
against the wall, just to show the world we mean business," which Ledeen was saying in an early
1990s speech.

[OdysseusNemesis]

North Korea is having a Napoleon complex or the “small man syndrome”. Nevertheless, how is it provocative for one country to develop and test a rocket within its borders and airspace? I am yet to hear any sound argument in favor of one country's rights to make and impose laws (from which it exempts itself) on another country?

[ThomasMc]

Stange, Israel threatens its neighbors with nuclear weapons, and no "liberals" here say a word, but N. Korea fires a bottle rocket, and they all hide under their beds!

[AdamX]

Defense is not a threat. Israel has never threatened the use of nuclear weapons. Maybe if you could grasp the reality, being that several nations have called for the complete destruction of Israel, you would also understand their need for a strong deterrent. Also, they are our strongest mid-east allies, they certainly are not threatening us.

No one is hiding under any bed. Maybe you also don't realize the aggressiveness of N. Korea and their contention that we are enemies.

I'll tell you what is strange: That no matter what happens, you like to use it as a way to denegrate Israel. Your facts are all wrong, and your conclusions are all wrong. I look forward to the day when you say something that pertains to reality.

[AndrewInToronto]

'Pro-actively' attacking Iran is hardly defence. And his facts aren't wrong. Israel has owned eight known satellites, all of them military for either communications, remote sensing or reconnaissance, the first of which was launched in 1996. Its latest were TEC SAR for military reconnaissaince launched on 21 January 2008 and Amos 3 for communications on 28 April 2008. The others were:

Amos 1 (1996) communications
Amos 2 (2003) " "
EROS A1 (2000) remote sensing
EROS B1 (2006) remote sensing
Ofeq 5 (2002) RS/recon
Ofeq 7 (2007) " "

It was former-President Carter who said last May that Israel had at least 150 nuclear weapons (note, not warheads)!

One might also mention the other nuclear powers which continue to launch their own satellites including India beyond the main five.