XPost: uk.politics.misc, sac.politics, alt.politics.trump   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, misc.survivalism   
   From: emailbarry@yahoo.com   
      
   What did you make of the bank of star-spangled banners alongside North   
   Korea’s Ramhongsaek Konghwagukgi (flag) displayed in Singapore’s   
   Capella Hotel today? From a purely visual perspective, the red, white   
   and blue and the stars of the American and North Korean flags could   
   not have been better coordinated — at times, it seemed the two   
   countries’ flags were playing an optical illusion of merging into one.   
   Oh, the irony.   
      
   Even Kim Jong Un was keen to deftly point out to President Trump that   
   their historic encounter was a scene from a science fiction movie.   
   Collected, as he generally appeared, the young leader most likely had   
   some pinch-me-now moments as he stood face-to-face with the leader of   
   the world’s most powerful nation — finally.   
      
      
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   We thought we’d never live to see this moment, first and foremost   
   because it seemed outright inconceivable to have an incumbent U.S.   
   president sit cordially in the same room with the leader of the   
   world’s most oppressive and still-standing authoritarian regime. Not   
   to mention, U.S.-North Korea relations in the lead-up to the   
   Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s charm offensive during the   
   Pyeongchang Winter Olympics took a turn for the worst, with bilateral   
   tensions boiling near the brink of war. Amidst the “fire and fury”   
   rhetoric, with both Trump and Kim being a hair’s breadth away from   
   reaching for the nuclear button, a summit was the last thing we could   
   hope for. Never say never.   
      
      
   And so the anticipated Trump-Kim summit took place, with decorum and   
   cordiality but less fanfare than the April inter-Korean summit,   
   apposite to a practical meeting. The president shook Kim’s hand on   
   multiple occasions, frequently patted the young dictator on the back,   
   and even complimented the North Korean leader as being “talented.”   
   Manners, smiles and thumbs-upping aside, what did the summit   
   accomplish?   
      
   In the lead-up to the summit, skeptics — realists — tempered   
   expectations of any tangible deliverables from the Trump-Kim meeting.   
   Washington had insisted upon Pyongyang’s "complete, verifiable and   
   irreversible denuclearization" (CVID) before any real progress could   
   begin economically and politically for the Kim regime; many also   
   called for addressing the North’s egregious human rights violations   
   during the talks.   
      
   But given the condensed time frame of summit preparations and the   
   70-year-old behemoth of the North Korea problem — nuclear weapons,   
   Pyongyang’s human rights record, settlement of the Korean War, illicit   
   activities, not to mention the regime’s unpredictability and the   
   regional implications of the summit — to have expected a neatly laid   
   out path forward with North Korea would have been unreasonable.   
      
   So we weren’t completely surprised when, at the conclusion of the   
   summit, Washington and Pyongyang announced four broad joint goals   
   moving forward: establishing new U.S.-North Korea relations for peace   
   and prosperity, a lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,   
   complete denuclearization of the peninsula, and the recovery and   
   repatriation of POW/MIA remains in North Korea. Interestingly, the   
   joint statement underscored mutual confidence-building as a way to   
   promote denuclearization of the peninsula.   
      
   CVID having been the linchpin in gauging the summit’s success, it’s   
   remarkable that this language does not appear in the joint statement —   
   nor was it referenced by either side during the talks. At the press   
   briefing following the summit, President Trump was asked on several   
   occasions by reporters whether North Korea had agreed to CVID. The   
   president, however, was short on details and a timetable for possible   
   next steps to verify Pyongyang’s denuclearization.   
      
   And yet, North Korea’s nuclear weapons had been the most critical   
   point of contention between Washington and Pyongyang — not to mention,   
   the central issue and impetus for the Trump-Kim summit in the first   
   place. That this decisive piece was left out of the joint statement   
   seems amiss.   
      
   President Trump, following the summit, told the media that Secretary   
   of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton will be   
   meeting with the North Koreans again, as early as next week, to hash   
   out the details of the joint statement. The two sides will meet “many   
   times,” he said. It remains to be seen whether the details on   
   denuclearization will be announced in subsequent meetings.   
      
   It might be too early to tell whether the summit was a success — and   
   for whom. But as some South Korean pundits have pointed out, Kim has   
   scored a few points just for showing up. The juxtaposition of the   
   North Korean flag with the American Stars and Stripes, the first-ever   
   meeting with a U.S. president, plus Kim’s ease in portraying himself   
   to the public as being “no different” from other world leaders have   
   boosted his legitimacy and standing as a leader.   
      
   Kim not only has rounded off his spiky dictator image; he also may   
   have softened the hearts and loosened the purse strings of the leaders   
   of South Korea, Japan, perhaps even China and Singapore. As a case in   
   point, even before the summit wrapped up, South Koreans in the Kaesong   
   inter-Korean complex were hopeful to revive the joint economic   
   activities with North Korea.   
      
   And so, a couple things to chew on as we continue to process and   
   digest the outcome of the Singapore talks. Kim had much to gain by   
   coming to the talks. But what did Pyongyang give back in return? And   
   what did Washington gain?   
      
   One final thought for careful consideration, back to President Trump’s   
   compliment of Kim: “He’s a very talented [leader].”   
      
   http://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/391791-trump-kim-ta   
   ks-fantastic-indeed   
      
   Why didn't Obama do this?  Was he scared?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)