A Brief Outbreak of Sanity
After nearly a year of gaffes, provocations, threats, bombings, destabilizing arms deals, and, most recently, the disastrous decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the sanest member of the Trump Administration, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, appeared to have begun a new and promising diplomatic direction in relations with tiny, beleaguered North Korea.
Oil man and uranium man – will there be an exchange of binoculars soon? As regular readers know, after studying numerous official photographs of Kim, we have concluded that what he really wants is a pair or two of really spiffy new binoculars. International diplomacy is not exactly rocket science, one just needs to be a little observant. And giving him new field glasses would be a lot cheaper, less bloody, and less likely to generate unhealthy levels of radiation than waging war. [PT]
Screenshot via nypost.com
In a surprising statement given to a Washington think tank on December 12, Secretary Tillerson said:
“We are ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk. We are ready to have the first meeting without preconditions. Let’s just meet. We can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether its going to be a square table or a round table if that’s what you’re excited about. And then we can begin to lay out a road map.”*
He perceptively added that it was “unrealistic” for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.
Tillerson’s reasonable approach, however, did not sit very well with either his boss or the blood thirsty war hawks within the Administration who now have enough ammunition to force his removal, probably after the first of the year. One of Trump’s top aides reportedly said Tillerson “hasn’t learned his lesson.”**
A couple of days later, and probably after a tongue lashing by the Chief Executive, Tillerson had taken back his earlier statement and was once again pushing the hardcore, neocon line declaring: “North Korea must earn its way back to the table. The pressure campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved.”***
The “preconditions” for any US-North Korean talks was spelled out by the Secretary of State: a “sustained cessation of North Korea’s threatening behavior” and that the “ultimate outcome [of the talks] would be for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.”****
Upper left: Kim and his buddies hear that Tillerson is even offering them to pick the shape of the table they are going to sit at. The unspoken question hanging in the air is obviously “will he bring spiffy new binoculars?” Lower left: Kim surrounded by a bunch of his evidently slightly antiquated little optical helpers… but look how happy he is! And it should be obvious he needs new ones. Upper right: Kim hears that Tillerson is backtracking on that earlier offer about the meeting and who is allowed to pick the table… not surprisingly, tears are shed (“will I ever get my new binoculars?”). Lower right: Kim hears about …read more
Source:: Acting Man
The post Say it Isn’t So Rex! appeared first on Junior Mining Analyst.