Thanks, Trump, for vetoing a bill passed by both the House and Senate to stop American support of the Saudi genocide.

@SimplyTracie North Korea is not committing a genocide in another country though. Kim Jong Un is harming only his own people, and as despicable as it is, we can't storm into NK and overthrow their government.

Saudi Arabia is waging ethnic cleansing in a neighboring country, and we're supporting them by giving them all the weapons and money to do it with. There's a huge difference here in that we're largely responsible for Saudi Arabia's atrocities, and not responsible for North Korea's.

Trump seeking diplomacy with NK is a good thing. The only alternatives are to either go to war with them, or do nothing at all. And honestly, doing nothing at all wouldn't bother me either. There really isn't anything the US can do to help the North Korean populace without endangering the lives of South Koreans in turn. Is Trump principled in his search for peace with the DPRK? Of course not. He's doing it as part of his anti-Obama-ism. But if the result is good, who cares about the intentions.

@BlueMetalChick Oh I think Trump can and should condemn both countries without any reservation. Too bad if the relationship between the two countries becomes a bit strained.

@SimplyTracie Would you not prefer the attempt to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, though? Would that not be something you'd consider a positive outcome? And remember, Trump is doing very little with NK. He's mostly been a talking head, while President Moon of South Korea has done 90% of the work.

@BlueMetalChick Yes I would. Leaders of these nations are not thinned skinned. These are issues that need to be addressed along with denuclearization.

@SimplyTracie If Trump were really in the driver's seat on this one I'd think it would be a lost caused because he's such a dumb ass. Fortunately he's allowed Moon to work his magic. But on the flip side, Trump has also allowed John Bolton to try to dismantle a North Korea peace deal.

The original terms of the agreement were that Kim would surrender to the United States any nuclear material he possessed that was of "weapons grade", which means it's refined enough to construct a nuclear bomb with. Kim would get to keep any non-weapons grade nuclear material for use in power plants and medical facilities. In addition to this, the International Atomic Energy Agency would need to be allowed to inspect North Korea's enrichment facilities to ensure they are complying with international regulations.

In return, America would lift the harshest sanctions against North Korea and stop engaging in aggressive military drills on the border of South Korea, meant to intimidate Kim and his forces.

To everyone's shock, Trump made the offer and Kim said yes. Then, at the summit in Vietnam, Bolton arrives on the scene and loudly proclaims that there's been a change of plans. The new deal is that Kim must surrender ALL nuclear material, weapons grade or not, even the stuff used in power plants and medical applications, and he must also surrender all chemical weapons and all biological weapons. The US will not stop the military drills on South Korea's border, and they [i]might[/i] lift sanctions, but also might not. So the deal changed from "weapons grade nuclear material and IAEA inspections in exchange for no more drills and some sanctions relief" to "all nuclear material, all chemical weapons, all biological weapons, and IAEA inspections in return for maybe some sanctions relief or maybe just nothing."

Bolton knew goddamn well Kim couldn't say yes to such a shitty one sided deal. He WANTS to go to war. This is how he makes his living. His nickname is "Bomb 'Em Bolton." He did this with Iran, too. He asked the National Security Council to draw up plans to launch a preemptive strike on Iran and they told him to go fuck himself.

@BlueMetalChick I don’t know but somehow I get a feeling that Trump knew about Bolton’s plan and it was beautifully executed. 🤷‍♀️

But weren’t there a team inspecting all that shit in Iran and we pulled out of the deal anyway?

@SimplyTracie Yep. I have a lot of grievances with Obama but the Iran Nuclear Deal was an excellent achievement of his. The deal was similar to the proposed one with NK. We lifted sanctions and returned a bunch of money we stole from them decades ago when we assassinated their president, and in return they give up any weapons grade nuclear material and allow the IAEA to inspect their facilities. Meaning it became very difficult, if possible at all, for Iran to create a nuclear weapon, at least without getting caught. And yet you constantly hear neocons and right wingers bitch about how "Obama gave nukes to Iran."

By the way, I'm inclined to agree about the Bolton thing. My grandma pointed this out to me about a week ago. We went to the museum and on our car ride home, we were talking about this exact issue. I partially defended Trump by saying that he wasn't actually the one who sunk the peace deal, it was Bolton. But my grandma said that there's a very high chance Trump knew goddamn well about Bolton's intention and allowed him to do it anyway, or maybe even directed him to do it. That way, Trump could look like a good guy for seeking peace with Kim, but get to invade North Korea anyway, and not take any blame. And even if Trump didn't tell Bolton to do it, Trump is the one who appointed Bolton to the position of National Security Advisor, and this guy has a decades-long history of being a warmonger, hence his nickname. So it's Trump's fault for giving him the power to do something like that in the first place. He should have known better.

@BlueMetalChick Gotta give your grandma a hug for me. 😊

Trump says he knows all the best people but I think he only attracts those that are his mirror image.

@SimplyTracie Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Elliott Abrams. He loves war criminals in his administration. Next thing he'll bring in fucking Oliver North. I bet if Robert McNamara wasn't dead, Trump would have hired him too.

@BlueMetalChick True. No doubt in my mind.

@SimplyTracie @BlueMetalChick I can understand why NK would want the (disgusting) deterrent of nuclear weapons......the Korean war wasn't that long ago and it's not down their memory holes unlike us. Also, if the US were genuine then they would have stuck to the arranged time table......but the US are never going to move their military out of South Korea let alone from the north/south border.
And, while the last meeting between NK and US was happening the NK embassy in Spain got attacked and raided......maybe US secret service involved?