Obama Gets Punked By The UN

President Obama promised the North Koreans that launching their long range Taepodong-2 missile would be viewed as a 'provocative act,' which normally means serious consequences in diplomatspeak.

Apparently Obama's idea of a response was a nasty letter from the UN to Kim Jong Il....but he wasn't even able to get that much...

After three hours of closed-door talks, the UN Security Council failed to reach agreement on how to respond to North Korea's long-range rocket launch seen by most Western nations as a clear violation of UN resolutions.

"Members of the Security Council agreed to continue consultations on an appropriate action by the council in accordance with its responsibilities given the urgency of the matter," Mexico's UN Ambassador Claude Heller, the council chair this month, told reporters after Sunday's meeting.


The United States and Japan, which called for the meeting in response to what they view as Pyongyang's "provocative act," said the launch of a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile, with an estimated range of 4,100 miles (6,700 kilometers) violated Security Council resolution 1718.

That resolution, adopted in 2006 after the North's missile launches on July 5 and nuclear test on October 9 that year, demanded that Pyongyang refrain from any further nuclear test or another ballistic missile launch.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told reporters that additional consultations would continue both here and in capitals around the world to try to agree "a clear and strong response from the council."

Diplomats said there was general agreement on expressing concern over the launch and calling on Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks and to respect UN resolutions.

"The fact of the launch was in itself a clear violation of (1718). The use of ballistic missile technology is a clear violation of the resolution which prohibits missile-related activities," Rice noted.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rice, backed by her British and French colleagues, pressed for a "strong condemnation" of the North Korean action during the consultations.

But Russia, China, Libya, Uganda and Vietnam called for restraint in the council's reaction so as not to endanger the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament, the diplomat added.

I'd love to know what kind of North Korean 'nuclear disarmament' they think they're talking about. Obviously the Norks have their own ideas

Meanwhile, the UN is debating whether to send a nasty note to the North Koreans, with the usual suspects opposed to even going that far. No wonder Russia's President Medvedev referred to Obama as his new chump er..comrade!

For a hands-on realistic look at what's going down, check out ex-UN Ambassador and nuclear proliferation expert John Bolton's take on what's going down:

Prior to North Korea's launch yesterday of a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile, President Barack Obama declared that such an action would be "provocative." This public statement was an attempt to reinforce the administration's private efforts to urge the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK) not to fire the missile.

That effort failed, as have countless other attempts to deal softly with Pyongyang. Incredibly, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth revealed -- just a few days before the launch -- that he was ready to visit Pyongyang and resume the six-party talks once the "dust from the missiles settles." It is no wonder the North fired away.

Once the missile shot was complete, the administration's answer was hand-wringing, more rhetoric and, oh yes, the obligatory trip to the U.N. Security Council so that it could scold the defiant DPRK. Beyond whatever happens in the Security Council, Mr. Obama seems to have no plan whatever.

As an aside, Bolton also notes something I commented on previously - that the Obama Administration's weak and inane response to North Korea has sent a message to both Israel and Iran:

The Mullahs of Iran now know that if the US is unwilling or unable to interfere with the North Koreans' ICBM test or take any effective action against their illegal nuclear program, the current occupant of the White House is certainly not going to interfere with Iran doing the same thing.

And the Israelis, if they're paying attention, should realize that the US either couldn't or wouldn't do anything to stop North Korea, they're not going to stop an Iranian missile strike on Israel either. And that any guarantees the Israelis get on that score are pretty much worthless.

I fully expect theIsraelis to take matters into their own hands soon, especially with a hostile Obama administration in office. The IDF just completed the destruction of an Iranian arms convoy in the Sudan bound for Hamas in Gaza that involved multiple strikes and midair refueling at distances of over 1700 miles. The distance from Israel to the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz is a mere 900 miles.

And the US? As SecDef Gates just announced, we can expect major cuts in our military, especially in missile defense from the Obama Administration. And this comes at a time when our enemies are working feverishly to improve and perfect their nuclear weapons capabilities.

If this trend continues, it will likely lead to change you can believe in with some very unpleasant side effects, as the amateur circus in the White House continues.