US and South Korea to Hold Large Scale Naval Excercise

The United States and South Korea are set to hold a massive naval excersise in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea on July 25, in wake of high level diplomatic meetings in Seoul involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who announced more sanctions against North Korea, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.  The large scale war games are directed at North Korea in wake of the sinking of a South Korean ship, the Cheonan, but also have drawn a negative response from China.

By Philip Bunnell



North Koreans Torpedo Report On Ship Sinking

North Korea today rejected as a "complete fabrication" the allegations it was behind the sinking of a South Korean military ship back in March and Sin Son Ho, the DPRK's Ambassador to the United Nations who almost never talks to the media, told a rare press conference in New York today that any Security Council action taken against Pyongyang will result in a military response.

"If any action is taken against us, I lose my job and the military will have its own job" said Sin, who contends the current accusations against his government are aimed at promoting US interests in the region. "The South Korean authorities released the investigation result on May 20th 2010, coinciding with the start of the local election in South Korea and the beginning of US secretary of State's visit to Japan. It is clear that all these announcements were pre-scheduled according to the timetable of the Obama political events" said Sin, who contends the US has also used the tragedy help secure the future of its military base in Okinawa Japan.

Sin attacked the independence and scientific value of the South Korean investigation, arguing that the South had refused to provide Pyongyang's experts with access to the site or the ship's communication records. He even suggested that the South might have sunk its own ship by mistake or even grounded it on the rocks.

Asked if his government had ruled out the use of nuclear weapons in retaliation to possible Security Council action, Sin would only say: "Nuclear weapons is are our deterrent, because we are always threatened by outside forces"

On March 26th the South Korean naval ship Cheonan mysteriously sank near the North's Yellow Sea coast, resulting in the death of 46 sailors. A South Korean investigation carried out with help from international observers concluded the ship had been torpedoed by one of the North's submarines and on Monday, South Korean officials presented the report to the Security Council in the hopes the UN body would take action against Kim Jong Il's regime.

Notes From Today's White House Press Briefing

White House Press Briefing
With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs


NORTH KOREA ATTACK

Gibbs said the US is involved in reviewing South Korea’s claim that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of one of its vessels back in March. Gibbs says the White House “strongly condemned” the attack when it happened, and said the administration is in consultations with the South Koreans and other nations, as well as the UN Security Council. Gibbs called the attack an “act of aggression” and said if in fact, North Korea was behind the attack, their actions will have isolated them even more from the rest of the world. Gibbs said the US is committed to South Korea’s defense. Gibbs called the alleged attack “extremely troubling.”


OIL SPILL

Gibbs said that the EPA supports BP’s use of an underwater dispersant to deal with the oil that is spilling 5,000 feet below the sea surface in the Gulf. Gibbs said that POTUS, however, would like BP to make its clean up efforts a bit more transparent. Gibbs defended the White House’s decision to send a letter to BP putting pressure on the company to speed up its clean-up efforts and informing the company that it will be held liable for all clean-up costs associated with the giant spill. Gibbs said Coast Guard Commander Adm. Thad Allen told him that he hasn’t seen a situation as bad as this in over 30 years. Gibbs said Allen has agreed to stay on as the White House’s point man on the spill even after he retires later this year. Gibbs said he wasn’t bothered that BP CEO Tony Hayward will be traveling to Europe to attend meetings. Gibbs refuted the notion that BP cares more about preventing a public relations crisis then fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill. Gibbs repeated the White House’s assertion that BP will be forced to pay for all the cleanup fees. “They will get the bill,” he said. “The taxpayers won’t.” Gibbs said everything that can be done to stop the leak is being done. Gibbs also said that the five Gulf state Governors have been participating in morning conference calls about the spill every day.


SESTAK/WHITE HOUSE RUMOR

Gibbs refused to address reports that the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) a job in the administration earlier this year to keep him from running for the Senate against Arlen Specter. Said Gibbs, “I don’t have anything to add to what I said in March.”


FINANCIAL REFORM

Gibbs said POTUS believes in putting strong rules in place in the financial system, and said that doing so would improve the condition of the country’s economy as a whole. Gibbs said financial reform would directly benefit folks on Main Street struggling to either keep their jobs or find new ones. When asked about the Senate bill, Gibbs said, “we’re coming to the end of the process.” Gibbs said that the mid-term elections this November will be a partial referendum on financial reform.


PRIMARIES

Gibbs said the primaries proved that the Democratic Party is truly the ‘big-tent’ party. Gibbs downplayed the fact that newly-elected Congressman Mark Critz (D) ran away from POTUS during his primary race, saying he doubted that there are many Democrats in Congress who agree with everything POTUS does or supports. Gibbs said the primaries showed that Republicans are “having an internal battle with themselves.” On the topic of Arlen Speter, Gibbs said only that the GOP kicked Specter out of their party after his years and years of service to them. He said the same for Charlie Crist and Bob Bennett, and agreed with the belief that this is a tough year for any incumbent in Congress. Gibbs said VPOTUS connected with Specter earlier today. Gibbs also said that Rand Paul’s remarks about not voting for the Civil Rights Act “should not have a place in our political dialogue in 2010.”


SALAHIS

Gibbs was asked about a report which alleged that the Salahis were apparently stopped by Secret Service in their limo near the White House last night, and he responded that once again, they were not on the guest list. “I shook my head...once again,” he said while explaining that he was aware of the report. “It seems like their 15 minutes of fame were up six months ago,” he added.


CALDERON VISIT

Gibbs more or less sideswiped a question about POTUS’s feelings on Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s remarks yesterday on the recently-passed immigration law in Arizona. Gibbs said only that both Presidents share the view that they disagree with the law. Gibbs did not specifically say whether or not POTUS agrees with Calderon’s call for a flat-out ban on assault weapons, Gibbs said he had not heard of a report yesterday that an elementary school student told FLOTUS, who was visiting the schoolchildren, that her mother was an illegal immigrant.


IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

Gibbs called Iran’s agreement with Turkey and Brazil over its uranium stockpile a “step in the right direction....assuming Iran keeps up its end of the deal.” Gibbs said the proposal between the three nations still does not fully address all the concerns that the P5 have about Iran’s nuclear program. Gibbs added that the agreement is less than what Iran agreed to eight months ago.

Nuclear Summit Will Not Influence Iran, North Korea, Says Expert

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

The Nuclear Security Summit will do little to accelerate a campaign goal laid out by then-candidate Barack Obama to secure all nuclear material internationally by the end of his first term, Ted Bromund, a Senior Research Fellow with a focus on American Leadership and Terrorism at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Talk Radio News Monday.

"These are excellent aims for the President to pursue," Bromund said. "But he's going about them in ways that will achieve absolutely nothing."

Bromund said the summit will fail to be effective since it will not deter countries like Iran and North Korea from pursuing and maintaining nuclear capabilities.

"There's no reason why a summit meeting, even with the 46 nations attending, is going to convince Iran to stop doing something that it's done enthusiastically for more than a decade," Bromund said.

Gates: Toned-Down Nuclear Policies Do Not Apply To Iran, North Korea

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that a set of new policies designed to downplay the strategic role of nuclear weapons will not prevent the U.S. from using nuclear force against Iran and North Korea if necessary.

“The [new policies have] a very strong message for both Iran and North Korea,” Gates told reporters.

Gates explained that the new guidelines, introduced in the Defense Department’s Nuclear Posture Review, apply only to the 189 nations that have signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Neither Iran or North Korea are signatories.

“All options are on the table for countries in that category along with non state actors who might acquire nuclear weapons,” Gates stated.

Under the new guidelines, the U.S. nuclear stockpile will primarily be used as a deterrent against nuclear attacks alone. The U.S. will be restricted from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear armed nations that have signed the NPT, even if said nations launch a biological or chemical attack.

However, Gates noted that this new restriction is not set in stone.

“The United States reserves the right to make any adjustment t to this policy that may be warranted by the evolution or proliferation of biological weapons,” Gates warned.

The Nuclear Posture Review also states that the U.S. will not test nuclear weapons or develop new nuclear warheads.