Archive for the 'Washington Views' Category

Snow!

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

That’s some snow, eh? Nearly 3 feet as of last weekend and more arriving tonight and tomorrow. DC and Northern Virginia are pretty much shut down.
I don’t think I will be using my deck anytime soon.

A Tale of Two Michelles

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

[Another Update 11/30/08] Chancelleor Michelle Rhee will be on the cover of Time Magazine. Here is the juicy bit:
Inside the magazine, Rhee reveals she’s a Democrat but came close to voting for Republican John McCain for president. She says a close friend begged her to give Democrat Barack Obama a chance.
Rhee says she is [...]

Assessing North Korea’s Cooperation: Slowly but not Surely

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Last Thursday, while addressing at the American Enterprise Institute, Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush’s Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, stated that, “North Korea is not serious about disarming in a timely manner,” and “It is increasingly likely that North Korea will have the same nuclear status one year from now that it has [...]

Rice, Bush Under Fire by Conservatives for North Korea Policy

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

The Bush Administration’s engagement of North Korea – which I described earlier and giving Kim Jong-il enough rope to hang himself (IMO the final test of this will be what the administration accepts as North Korea’s uranium declaration) – has been drawing criticism from the likes of John Bolton from the beginning.
Now Republican opposition to [...]

On O’Reilly Tonight

Monday, August 6th, 2007

I had a chance to appear on The O’Reilly Factor this evening to discuss the reaction to the South Korean hostage issue. First of all, I would like to thank Michelle Malkin (who subbed O’Reilly) for the opportunity.
If I looked and sounded ghastly, please forgive me, as I was on the tail end [...]

GOP Requests GAO Evaluation of North Korea Funds Transfer

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Update: Bolton has his say:
Congressmen, human rights activists, and a former ambassador are challenging the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s plan to transfer $25 million in frozen funds to North Korea… “These are tainted funds and it would be bad enough to have a private bank handle them, let alone the Fed,” a former [...]

Victor Cha and Giving Kim Enough Rope

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007

The 13 February deal (DOC) brought much criticism from both the center and the right for giving North Korea another chance. Many in fact took the agreement out of the proper context and criticized it for things not even in it but reserved for deals to be struck in later stages of negotiations.
For the first [...]

Why Do Things Go Badly When I’m on Break?

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

As soon as I go on a vacation, things go badly! Market crash in Asia, Bush 43 folds on Iran…
But first, here is a strange coincidence. I crossed paths with Ambassador John Bolton at the men’s room (!) of the United Airlines Red Carpet Lounge at Dulles on my way out of town [...]

More on the 41 Liegemen

Monday, November 13th, 2006

I wrote earlier of “Goodbye Vulcans, Hello 41 Liegemen.” Even before that (mid-September) I was sniffing the coming wind of the latter.
MSNBC-Newsweek has more on the return of the 41 loyalists, including this tidbit:
Did 41 help bring Gates [who is replacing the outgoing SecDef Rumsfeld] to the Pentagon? The White House denies it, but, as [...]

Don Kirk’s Election Observations

Friday, November 10th, 2006

Another excellent read at the Asia Times:
The most extraordinary aspect of the US mid-term elections and their immediate aftermath from the viewpoint of anyone with an interest in the North Korean nuclear standoff was that the entire topic was overlooked, if not forgotten.
[. . .]
The reason for the upheaval in the Pentagon was Iraq, not [...]