Fox News host: Trump suspending military exercises was a 'big give to the North Koreans'
Fox News host Leland Vittert said that President Trump’s decision to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea was a “big give to the North Koreans.”
Vittert on Thursday was discussing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to North Korea following the historic summit with Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month.
Link to tweet
Michael Waltz, a former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney, said that Pompeo can reinforce the denuclearization program with North Korea by threatening military force.
“How do you have a credible use of military force when you’ve ended military exercises, you’re allowing China to cheat on the sanctions and the North Koreans have not done anything to show their good faith?” Vittert asked.
Nothing,” he emphasized.
Waltz pushed back, pointing out that Trump only suspended one military exercise.
“You can’t deny that was a big give to the North Koreans and we haven’t really gotten anything in return,” Vittert responded.
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/395652-fox-news-host-trump-suspending-military-exercises-was-a-big-give-to-the-north
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The game being "played" in the current vernacular is not over. The sanctions are still in effect, and are having a crushing effect on the North's despotic government. The patronage system of the dictatorship has been impaired for several months by the economic impact of the sanctions and the poor harvest last year. Soldiers in North Korea are literally starving. The propaganda and diplomacy of North Korea has been geared toward promises of economic improvement that need to be delivered, soon. There are signs of instability in the current leadership as a result of this and the current policy changes ostensibly undertaken by Kim Jong Un. The issue being discussed in South Korean media is whether or not the alleged resistance in North Korean military circles is the pretext or excuse for delay in denuclearization or has some basis in fact. AEI Asia "expert" Dan Blumenthal mentions the North Korean media do need to ready the subjects and elites to the new policy. Recent changes in North Korean military and civil leadership also suggest the need to consolidate control of the armed forces and the need to shift from the military leg to the economic leg of the "byung jin" policy.
The US can deal with Kim and continue on with this process or deal with some unknown generals in bunkers. Kim desperately needs the economic advances possible with denuclearization to achieve the economic improvements to justify his current rule. It isn't like the military pressure is off North Korea either. The decapitation teams and the targeting and command and control resources necessary for a theater nuclear war are standing by in South Korea and Japan and ready to go on an order from Washington. This was reported on Channel A New Top Tens in South Korea July 3.
It's too early to call these negotiations a failure, but if they do fail, John Bolton and his ilk are standing by to unleash war in Asia.