Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, fresh from a trip to North Korea and a meeting with ruler Kim Jong-un, claimed Sunday that Kim shares the United States’ objectives.
“When I said earlier this week that I think Chairman Kim shares the objectives of the American people, I am convinced of that,” Pompeo told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. “Now the task is for President Trump and he to meet to validate the process by which this would go forward, to set out those markers so that we can negotiate this outcome.”
Pompeo said the United States would offer “security assurances” to Kim and sanctions relief in exchange for the denuclearization of North Korea.
The secretary of state’s remarks echoed those he made on Friday, shortly after returning from North Korea with three freed American prisoners, and having met with Kim.
“We have a shared vision for what we hope when this process is completed the Korean Peninsula looks like,” Pompeo said on Friday. “We have a good understanding, and I think there is complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are.”
He repeated the sentiment to CBS’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan Sunday.
“I have told [Kim] that what President Trump wants is to see the North Korean regime get rid of its nuclear weapons program, completely and in totality, and in exchange for that, we are prepared to ensure that the North Korean people get the opportunity that they so richly deserve,” Pompeo said.
“It’s pretty straightforward, and, I said earlier this week, I think in that sense Chairman Kim shares that same objective. I think he understands that President Trump has put an enormous pressure campaign in place with the aim of achieving a good outcome for North Korea and its people. That’s our objective. That’s the American goal that President Trump set forward.”
So many facets to consider. Start with two. How can we renege on one nuclear deal and think someone else with nukes will trust us enough to give them up? And, regime change is always on the table when the U.S. is involved, even among friends; look at Trump’s messing in the elections of other allies. Iran has the resources to build its country and could have changed its general behavior after JCPOA, but chose not to; it wants to steer its own course. As will North Korea. Ideology and self-interest in nations are not easily muted. Having nuclear weapons is the only wall against the U.S. attempting to impose its will. Watch the Middle East arm next. This monster is out of the bag, thanks to the ignorance, foolishness, and insatiable need for temporary adulation in the man we now call our President. What a disaster he is.
Please list those shared objectives. I have no fucking idea what they could possibly be.
My head’s spinning. Kim went from a monster who starves his own people, kills his relatives, and who tortured Otto Warmbier to a guy who shares American objectives . . . in a heartbeat. I guess there’s nothing like domestic scandal piled on domestic scandal to move the administration from insults to praise in the hopes of creating a distraction from problems at home.
I can’t decide if Trump and Pompeo are just getting gloriously played (at our expense) or whether they are staging this charade to boost Trump’s image. No one with any basic knowledge or insight believes North Korea is just going to hand over its weapons’ potential and live happily ever after in harmony with other countries.
he certainly shares the objectives of the american people as much as POTUS does.