Discussion: UN imposes tough new sanctions on North Korea

Wtf? You’re cray cray

Trumpy is itching to have a yuuuuuuuuuuge orgasm as he presses The Trigger

Every time there is a new administration, North Korea test it limits to see what the response of the new President will be. When they tested President Obama, his policy was ‘strategic patience’ which just signaled to the North Koreans they would be free to do whatever they wanted and they did.

Trump would not have went to the U.N. if he were eager for a military confrontation with North Korea. But if he is going to rely on the U.N. he may want to reconsider his proposed funding cuts to that organizations.

At some point we are going to have to talk to them. They are appalling, but it is hard to say any more so then Mao or Stalin, both of whom we eventually reached out to. Sanctions don’t work–the people are already starving, and the elite will find a way to preserve their lifestyle. If the NK leadership is truly insane, then we are doomed no matter what. If they are not, then they have a price, and can be negotiated with. Either way, there is nothing to lose in engaging them.

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Well THAT will show them. Let’s see - this makes 7 UN sanctions to add to the 4 US sanctions, 3 South Korean sanction, 5 Japanese sanctions and 9 EU sanctions over the last few years. Ouch. /s

Until you sanction China your NK sanctions are like coconut sprinkles on a pile of dog poo.

And we know no one is going to do that.

Yawn. Every time there is a new administration, NK tests its limits. Every time every president has done sanctions it just signaled to NK they needed to step up their program. Thanks to W they got nukes. You failed to mention that.

Any reason why?

I think I know. But from one vet to another I’ll just let you pass. We all really do know the answer to that anyway.

It has responded quickly to Donald Trump.

The projected economic impact of UN Security Council Resolution 2321, passed on 30 Nov last year, was estimated at $800M. I suppose somewhere, someplace that’s not considered “remotely” near the impact of the most recent round, but more likely someone else is being dramatic.

As to Obama’s negotiating skills, the most recent resolution was only made possible because of the success in negotiating the previous resolutions. Or perhaps you also believe that, but for President Bush’s incompetence, we could have had last week’s deal when the first round of sanctions was passed in 2006?

God, if it wasn’t for Bush’s incompetence who knows what might have been achieved.

As I understand it these sanctions will (if properly implemented) cut off a third of NK’s external cash - which is a serious blow to a massively cash-strapped nation. And for I think this is the first time a significant resolution has been co-authored by china, and followed up with a specific warning from china to NK. It would be unduly optimistic to call this a game changer, but it’s a significant tightening of the screw which will be keenly felt in NK and make it far more difficult for them to find their nuclear and missile ambitions. And I think it would be unfair not to give some credit on this to Trump, both his rhetoric and actions.

As to Obama, I think perhaps we can agree that after 8 years ‘strategic patience’ has not been successful in lessening the threat.

The Trump administration certainly deserves credit for this success, but I expect the histories will show that it was due to Trump being kept far from the process. Outside of sleazy real estate deals, I see him having zero grasp of subtlety, and not a strategic thought in his head.

“Strategic patience” may not have lessened the threat, but imo it was worth trying. As a diplomatic strategy it seemed crafted more to establish credibility and confidence with the Chinese government than to (directly) undermine North Korean military capability.

I’m not sure that the Trump administration has an alternative to that strategy, short of war.

[Edited for grammar]