Inviable Sanctions - Well, Maybe Not?

[HARDCORE]

?This came from a piece out of the New York Times News Service?

U.S. gave Ethiopia OK to finish arms deal with North Korea

Move came after U.N. imposed sanctions

April 8, 2007

WASHINGTON ? Three months after the United States successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on North Korea because of the country's nuclear test, Bush administration officials allowed Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from North Korea, in what appears to be a violation of the restrictions, according to senior U.S. officials.

The United States allowed the arms delivery to go through in January in part because Ethiopian troops were in the midst of a military offensive against Islamic militias inside Somalia, a campaign that aided the U.S. policy of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa.

U.S. officials said they were still encouraging Ethiopia to wean itself from its long-standing reliance on North Korea for cheap Soviet-era military equipment to supply its armed forces and that Ethiopian officials appeared receptive. But the arms deal is an example of the compromises that result from the clash of two foreign policy absolutes:

First of all - ?NOTHING IS AN ABSOLUTE IF IT CAN BE VIOLATED AT WILL, OR FOR ANY REASON??

And while we are on the subject - where in the Hell do you think the (BIG) money from North Korea?s arm sales to Ethiopia will go, if not into the production of North Korean nuclear weapons, to be used upon N.K.'s neighbors, or us, when (and if) the time arises?

OK, so we did allow the Ethiopians to buy these arms to combat Islamic militants! But it seems to me that ?WE? could have sold the Ethiopians similar arms for this struggle, without giving North Korea the means ($$$$) to speed up their nuclear program!

Also, the words ?Secret Sales of Arms? was used - apparently not so secret? Are we also to understand that rules, policy, sanctions and laws can be (and are) violated at will, as the need arises (Just a question) ?

And last but not least (redundantly), $20,000,000 in North Korean Arms was purchased by Ethiopia away back in 2001! How many more millions ($$$$) worth of arms have been purchased from N.K. since then (6 years)?

Again, where do you think at least part of these millions went - ?You can bet your backside that some of it has gone into the production and/or research of hostile nukes by a nation that we have (technically) been at war with for over a half century!

It reminds me of ?Robbing from Peter to pay Paul?, and we are Peter! "And what is being robbed from us is our security!"

Again, I hear all the time about the huge arsenal of conventional- out of date weapons, that we maintain here and abroad. As a matter of fact, is their not still vast stores of these weapons in the Middle East, left there after Gulf War I?

?How far is it from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia (they are right next door to each other)? And how long would it have taken to ship some of these arms to the Ethiopians to use against those militants?? By doing this, millions of dollars could have been kept out of the hands of North Korea, could it not?

"Also, Ethiopia is a dirt-poor country! As such, who actually paid the tab on these weapons? Gee, I wonder, and this at a time when our own returning troopers are having difficulties getting medical care?"

If we were going to back Ethiopia (as we should have in my opinion), then why all the secrecy. In today's world, nothing remains a secret for long, now does it?

?Now what is this again about "Strict Sanctions against North Korea and Secret Arms Sales" - maybe and maybe not!?

In either case, at least it accomplished its intended purpose this time around (I HOPE)!!!! :cd:


VERITAS (Truth)

[reconeil]

Sorry, Rick. But, just aren't any decent answers for all the overall bipartisan and self-defeating and taxpayer abusing stupidities abounding,...for at least about 60 years.

Maybe, just maybe,...if in America's Bipartisan & Quite Secretive Backroom Committees and/or where all things of importance are determined like USA's Safety, Security and How The Peoples' Monies are spent, used, misused or reallocated Alcohol were prohibited ,...things might turn out much better for All We Peasants or Subjects. Sadly,...will never know.

Still,...must believe that even career-politicians would act much more sensibly and much less cavalierly pompous & lord-like,...when sober.

Hey,...just a thought.

Neil

[Seascamp]

Ethiopia is literally between the rock and the hard place with Somalia at the east and southeast and Sudan to the west. Both Somalia and Sudan are heavily infiltrated by Al Qaeda, are aggressive and genocidal. Being a nominal orthodox Christian country, Ethiopia can expect to be ignored, or worse, by the new Congress so thoughts of US assistance is not a likely scenario. Plus, as a bonus, we?ll get another MSM declared 'bad guy Ethopia ' lump under the carpet. Lucky us, eh.

I?m not sure what North Korea is selling to Ethiopia but it is most likely obsolete/surplus Soviet hardware or spares for existing equipment. In Horn of Africa, mobile infantry is forty skinny guys with guns aboard a worn-out Toyota pick-up and a mobile weapons carrier is the same Toyota with a welded angle iron MG mount.
In terms of North Korean nuke development, all the heavy lifting was done when the US gave NK; free gratis, light water reactor technology/study model to get going with. That was a done deal over a decade ago, and a subsequent nose-thumbing job done by NK in 1998.

Kim Jung Il survives on purchased loyalty and no doubt the Ethiopian money will be adsorbed by the NK Generals, Party Bubbas, plus a 10% cut for Kim boys pin money. That is the usual split and distribution that goes on in the NK 'For the People' place.

Scamp

[HARDCORE]

Gentlemen

One thing is a lead pipe cinch, we are going to do something and do it damn fast! This bull-sh!t of blaming everyone else for what went wrong, is not going to resolve a worsening situation. "He who stands still, loses ground! He that loses ground could find himself buried under the same!" As a diplomat in DC once told me "THERE ARE NO FRIENDLIES, Save for our own!"

VERITAS

[Seascamp]

Rick,
I think is safe to assume there is a glass and sand is running through it. And I think it equally safe to assume that the slope-headed minions of darkness still intend to kill every last one of us, they keep saying it, same as always, and we keep pissing on our own camp fire and going out of our way to encourage and accommodate another hit, same as always.
Just as our Congress determines that references to ?Global Terrorism? are to be eradicated from the DC business language, kaboooooom, Morocco and Algeria get hit by Al Qaeda suicide bombers, just now.
I?d say that?s a demonstration of a bold ?in your face? comeback to snotty declarations and assumptions about the real nature of the raging beast and that they go where they want to go, regardless of some stupid congressional declaration. I wonder if anyone in Congress has ever counted the number of countries Al Qaeda operates in and has hit, repeatedly, including the US. Guess not, eh.

But maybe I?d better check my Atlas and make sure Morocco and Algeria are still considered part of the global community or maybe find out it?s non-PC to make such a distinction or suggestion.

Scamp