You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
China-Japan-Koreas
Cheney slags Kimmie
2005-05-30
US Vice President Richard Cheney launched a personal attack on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, calling him an irresponsible leader who "doesn't take care" of his people as he strives for nuclear power status for his country. The comments, made in an interview with CNN's "Larry King Live" program due to be aired late Monday, marked an escalation of US rhetoric toward Pyongyang as the administration of President George W. Bush is stepping up diplomatic pressure to make Pyongyang return to six-party talks focused on North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

North Korea has refused to attend a fourth round of these talks that were to have taken place last September because of what it described as a "hostile" US attitude toward it. A Russian delegation that returned from Pyongyang earlier this month said North Koreans want the Bush administration to apologize for publicly branding Kim a "tyrant" and their country "an outpost of tyranny."
Chortle. We should get Cheney to mock Kimmie's elevator shoes just to see what would happen.
But according to excerpts of the interview released by the TV channel, Cheney made clear Pyongyang should not expect any softening of the US tone, let alone an apology. "I am concerned about it," Cheney said of the stalled negotiations, "Partly because ... Kim Jong Il, who's the leader of North Korea, is -- I would describe as one of the world's more irresponsible leaders."
If Cheney wasn't such a man of few words, he could have used 'goofy', 'murderous', 'genocidal' and a few others.
The vice president accused Kim of running "a police state" and one of the most heavily militarized societies in the world while the bulk of the North Korean population lived "in abject poverty and stages of malnutrition."

"He doesn't take care of his people at all," Cheney continued. "And he obviously wants to throw his weight around and become a nuclear power." Cheney called the stalemate with North Korea "a major problem" and assured that the Bush administration was "continuing to work it very hard" to re-launch the talks. He said officials in Pyongyang must "understand that they're not going to have normal relationships with the outside world, in terms of commerce, industry and trade, if they become a nuclear power."

The vice president also urged China to more aggressively use its clout with Pyongyang in trying to persuade it to return to the negotiating table. "The Chinese need to understand that it's incumbent upon them to curb their dog be major players here," Cheney said. Cheney's attack appeared to echo comment made by Undersecretary of State John Bolton in Seoul two years ago, when he called Kim Jong Il as a "tyrannical dictator" who has made life is "a hellish nightmare" for many North Koreans. In response, North Korean diplomats refused to deal with Bolton during the talks, and the remarks have been seen as a major contributing factor to their breakdown.
Bolton should be confirmed as UN ambassador just for this.
Bolton's nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nation is now at the center of a bitter political battle in the US Senate, where he was accused, among other things, of not clearing his Seoul remarks with other top State Department officials responsible for the North Korea portfolio. But Cheney defended Bolton's record, calling him "a superb public official" who is particularly needed at the United Nations now that the organization is losing public confidence. "He's tough," Cheney acknowledged. "But I can't think of sending somebody to the United Nations as our ambassador who's not tough."
Posted by:Steve White

#12  We just finally saw Team America.

What a riot!

Posted by: anonymous2u   2005-05-30 21:21  

#11  It's so ronrey being a world class dictator.
Posted by: Slomogum Spavise8242   2005-05-30 20:57  

#10  Kimmie has feelings too you know. He's gotta hankering for Lady Mad Halfbright, found her kinda attractive.

I say, trade Lady Mad for the keys to the nukes.
Posted by: Captain America   2005-05-30 19:07  

#9  Believe it or not, Am-Nasty International does have some sites devoted to the Norks. Here is a link to page on North Korean starvation.

Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-05-30 14:54  

#8  I would like to see someone take that photo of Kimmie (the one with him posing 'heroically' in a trenchcoat in front of that giant painting) and photoshop one of those little troll dolls with orange hair on top of his face. I always picture one of those dolls whenever I see that buuffant hairdo of his.
Posted by: DO   2005-05-30 11:20  

#7  I'm all for a fuel-air carpet bombing of their nuclear sites. Some of our nice, new bunker busting fuel bombs too.

mmmmm.... barbeque
Posted by: mmurray821   2005-05-30 11:09  

#6  Doesn't have to be nuclear, unless they start the festivities.
Posted by: Fred   2005-05-30 10:27  

#5  First sign of crap from the Norks, it's charcoal briquette time for them from the DMZ to the Yalu. And make sure the Commie Chinks know that's our absolutely concrete policy, too, so they don't have any room to bitch when the radiation spills over into PRiCland. They don't keep their dog chained up, they've got no room to complain when somebody takes him out. Besides, the couple hundred miles of irradiated no-man's land will make a great extension to the DMZ.
Posted by: mac   2005-05-30 10:11  

#4  Sure, .com.
George Galloway says they're not too badly off. Amnesty International probably rated them higher on human rights than the US. The World Workers Party (aka ANSWER) is a big backer. I'm sure Boxer would cry if something happened to Kim.
Posted by: Jackal   2005-05-30 09:22  

#3  Leahy's an a-grade asshole, not fit to share a story with Cheney, if not apologizing for his existence
Posted by: Frank G   2005-05-30 08:50  

#2  Not that CNN would give a shit, but how, exactly, does telling the obvious truth amount to "escalation"? Is there anyone on the planet, outside of NorKieLand of course, that doesn't know they're starving, brutally repressed, and led by an egomaniacal lunatic who spends whatever meager funds he has on his own lavish lifestyle and a huge utterly pointless military?

Pfeh. It's not a personal attack, nor is it escalation -- it's a goddamned breath of fresh air to hear the unspun truth once in awhile. And Cheney's usually the guy who does it - in that no-shit, bite me if you don't like it, bass rumble.

Isn't that right Leaky Leahy?
Posted by: .com   2005-05-30 04:32  

#1  ...Let me see if I have this straight.

Two years ago, Secretary Bolton said some awful things about Kimmie, who flew into a tizzy and cancelled the talks. After that, on at least one occasion, President Bush tizziefied Kimmie again, same result. And now Vice President Cheney does the same thing. Almost makes one think that they're trying to provoke the little guy into doing something rash again.

Not that he needs much provoking...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2005-05-30 01:12  

00:00