Obama uses the North Korea model to handle Iran and Syria
Caroline Glick writes that President Obama is using the North Korean model to handle Iran's and Syria's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
With the US's experience with North Korea clearly in mind, it is
possible to assess US actions with regards to Syria and Iran. The first
thing that becomes clear is that the Obama administration is
implementing the North Korean model in its dealings with Syria and Iran.
With
regards to Syria, there is no conceivable way to peacefully enforce the
US Russian agreement on the ground. Technically it is almost impossible
to safely dispose of chemical weapons under the best of circumstances.
Given
that Syria is in the midst of a brutal civil war, the notion that it is
possible for UN inspectors to remove or destroy the regime's chemical
weapons is patently absurd.
Moreover, since the
agreement itself requires non-compliance complaints to be discussed
first at the UN Security Council, and it is clear that Russia is willing
to do anything to protect the Syrian regime, no action will be taken to
punish non-compliance.
Finally, like his
predecessors with regard to Pyongyang, Obama has effectively accepted
the continued legitimacy of the regime of Bashar Assad, despite the fact
that he is an acknowledged war criminal.
As
was the case with Pyongyang and its nuclear brinkmanship and weapons
tests, Assad won his legitimacy and removed the US threat to remove him
from power by using weapons of mass destruction.
As
for Iran, Rouhani's talk of closing Fordo needs to be viewed against
the precedents set at Yongbyon by the North Koreans. In other words,
even if the installation is shuttered, there is every reason to believe
that the shutdown will be temporary. On the other hand, just as North
Korea remains off the State Department's list of state sponsors of
terrorism despite the fact that since its removal it carried out two
more nuclear tests, it is hard to imagine that sanctions on Iran's oil
exports and central bank removed in exchange for an Iranian pledge to
close Fordo, would be restored after Fordo is reopened.
Like North Korea, Iran will negotiate until it is ready to vacate its signature on the NPT and test its first nuclear weapon.
UN 'human rights council' holds moment of silence for Hugo Chavez
Given that they lowered all of the UN flags and held a moment of silence at the General Assembly for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, no one should really be surprised that the UN's 'human rights council' held a moment of silence on Wednesday for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. But UN Watch's Hillel Neuer is plenty upset about it anyway.
"Protocol did not require today's ceremony," said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, "and the world body must not forget that its founding purpose is to defend basic human rights. Sadly, that message is at serious risk of being blurred today."
"Now should be a time for the UN to show solidarity with the victims -- like Judge Maria Afiuni who was jailed and raped for the crime of releasing a political prisoner arbitrarily detained by Chavez -- and not with the perpetrators."
"Instead of praising an autocrat who persecuted his country's independent judges, journalists, human rights activists and students -- and who vocally supported mass murderers, tyrants and terrorists in Syria, Libya, and Iran -- the U.N. should be apologizing for having just elected the Chavez regime to its human rights council, and it should begin to call for accountability, reform and an end to impunity in Venezuela," said Neuer.
The UN is incurable. It's long past time for them to go.
United Nations Watch reports that all UN facilities have lowered their flags to half mast on Wednesday in memory of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il.
“We understand that the UN follows diplomatic protocol, but the world body must not forget that its founding purpose is to defend basic human rights, and sadly that message is at serious risk of being blurred today,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a leading advocacy group at the UN for human rights in North Korea....
"Today should be a time for the UN to show solidarity with the victims -- the millions of North Koreans brutalized by Kim's merciless policies of starvation, torture and oppression -- and not with the perpetrator," Neuer said.
"We call on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to make clear that today's gesture in no way signals respect for a mass murderer of his own people, a man personally responsible for some of the worst atrocities of our time."
Neuer also expressed concern that the North Korean regime "is likely to exploit the images of flags at half-mast to claim world sympathy for Kim Jong-il and his regime."
There is little hope for any immediate change for the people of North Korea, UN Watch highlights.
“Yes, the world should mourn today. Not for a mass murderer, however, but for the still suffering people of North Korea, who face the prospect of continued oppression under the incoming dictatorship of Kim Jong-il’s son, Kim Jong-un, who’s shown no evidence of being any less ruthless than his father,” Neuer concluded.
A majority in the 193-member UN General Assembly on Dec. 19 approved a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights record. The measure passed with 123 countries in favour, 16 against. There were 51 abstentions, while three countries were absent for the vote.
The resolution expressed the assembly’s “very serious concern at the persistence of continuing reports of systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic and social and cultural rights” in North Korea.
Voting with North Korea in opposition to the condemnation were Algeria, Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Myanmar, Oman, Russian Federation, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe.
Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, president of the 193-nation assembly, called for a "minute of silence" before the start of a routine meeting at 3:00 p.m. EST in the half-empty UN General Assembly hall.
"It is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Kim Jong-il, Secretary-General of the Workers Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, who passed away on Saturday, Dec. 17," he said.
The minute of silence lasted for 25 seconds before Nasser proceeded with the scheduled meeting. The United States, European Union member states and Japan were among the countries that boycotted the tribute to Kim Jong-il.
North Korea's UN mission made a similar request to the Security Council, but Western diplomats said it was rejected.
"We didn't think it would be appropriate," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Several Western diplomats said Pyongyang's request for Kim to be honored was highly unusual. They voiced surprise that Nassir had granted it and added that their delegations would most likely boycott the moment of silence in the assembly.
Speaking at a news conference, Nasser cited "protocol" as the reason for agreeing to the request from North Korea, a full UN member. One diplomat said the reason for granting the request was probably because Kim was an acting head of state.
A reminder: North Korea is under UN sanctions because of its nuclear program (and ought to be under them for being a nuclear proliferator), and many of its people eat grass because there is nothing else to eat. That the United Nations considers Kim worthy of emulation speaks volumes as to the mentality that pervades the organization.
Kim's death was announced Monday by state television from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008 but appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media.
The leader, reputed to have had a taste for cigars, cognac and gourmet cuisine, was believed to have had diabetes and heart disease.
The news came as North Korea prepared for a hereditary succession. Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.
In September 2010, Kim Jong Il unveiled his third son, the twenty-something Kim Jong Un, as his successor, putting him in high-ranking posts.
Maybe the great medical care in North Korea had something to do with his death at a relatively young age.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that much will change in North Korea. It is likely to remain a regime that represses its own people, proliferates nuclear weapons, and promotes strife around the world.
Here's Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (pictured with Hillary Clinton) on Tuesday's North Korean shelling of a South Korean civilian area.
Lieberman told journalists in Jerusalem that a failure to confront the regime of dictator Kim Jong-il left the world little able to confront other agreesors, including Iran - which Israel and the West accuse of developing a nuclear bomb.
"How the world will be able to stop Iran if it can't stop North Korea," Lieberman said.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
