Norah 'Loves' Larry's Lingo on North Korea, Larry Launches at Cheney

Hardball/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

by Mark Finkelstein

June 22, 2006

Norah loves Larry. At least, she loves the way Larry Eagleburger phrased things about North Korea. At the same time, Larry made it fairly clear that there's no love lost between himself and Dick Cheney.

The former Bush, Sr. Secretary of State appeared on this evening's Hardball. Guest host Norah O'Donnell interviewed him along with former Clinton defense official Ashton Carter. Carter had in turn written an op-ed in today's Washington Post, which as indicated by its title, If Necessary, Strike and Destroy, advocates blowing the North Korean ICBM off its launch pad if N. Korea persists in its launch preparations.

Eagleburger also supported the pre-emptive strike strategy. This is contrast with the position of some conservatives, such as those at the National Review, who have editorialized in favor awaiting launch and then attempting to blow the missile out of the sky with our anti-missile defense system.

In any case, at one point Eagleburger observed that: "where this leads is missiles with nuclear warheads that can reach the United States from a pipsqueak country like North Korea."

Norah: "Secretary, I love the way you phrase that, that this is a pipsqueak country, North Korea, and quite frankly ruled by what we think is a crazy man."

I don't know what kind of history there might be between Eagleburger and Dick Cheney, but there's clearly little love lost between them. When O'Donnell invited Eagleburger to respond to VP Cheney's statement of today rejecting a pre-emptive strike, Eagleburger responded with asperity rare from a former senior Republican administration official to express vis a vis a sitting Republican VP:

"The answer to that is that it's not the first time the Vice-President has been wrong. . . If We don't stop this process now, we will have to deal with in in a far more difficult way, five or ten years from now, and I don't know why the Vice-President and a lot of other people can't seem to understand that."

Ouch!

Norah closed on a kumbayah note: "It's fascinating that there is agreement between men like yourselves who have served both President Bush and President Clinton, that we should blow this thing off the launch pad right away."

[LibLieSlayer]

"Hmmm, do you suppose the reason the libs want to blow it up on the launch pad is because they know that we have a good chance of shooting it down in flight, and if we do, all their lies about how "missile defense just doesn't work!" will be exposed?"


B I N G O ! ! ! ! ! ! !

LLS

[Doug Loss]

Let's just immediately transfer an Aegis-class cruiser or two to the Japanese Naval Self-Defense Force and let them shoot it down after launch. :) The other east Asian countries going ape about it would be fun to watch...

[DCPatriot]

How in the hell can the USA blow a missle off the pad in North Korea, when:
1) We're embroiled in Iraq.
2) Iran is mooning us with soon-to-be nuclear weapons.
3) China is heckling from the audience.
4) Russia is illusions of grandeur.
5) most of the rest of the world...the MSM and our own Democratic Party...representing virtually 50% of our citizens hate our guts.

HOW???

[Fintan]

 

 

Maybe it's me, but I'm beginning to believe these people aren't hired for their brains..

[DCPatriot]

Think of the intel we can gather from it. In addition, as the National Review has advocated, we can have a great chance to test our missle defense system.

BS.

We can test it against our own clay pigeon missles.

NK is egging us on with the cooperation of Iran and perhaps, China and Russia.

We cannot fight a triple front war...sorry....SHOULD NOT fight a triple-front war with an all voluteer military.

I'd rather be in a position to nuke them and be done with them permanently....letting them serve as a demonstration to the rest of the world that we mean business.

[phoenix0468]

NK is egging us on with the cooperation of Iran and perhaps, China and Russia.

My guess is in bold letters. But the other two are high on the list as well.

I'd rather be in a position to nuke them and be done with them permanently....letting them serve as a demonstration to the rest of the world that we mean business.

Although I do not disagree with this statement. I do think that going nuclear on NK is not yet necessary. If we continue escalation, it should be done conventionally and through diplomacy. I am all for defending our country from those who openly threaten us with a nuclear attack, but they have not displayed such capability yet. I often wonder if this might be a good chance to test out some of our tactical nukes.

[phoenix0468]

Call people out of South Korea?!? Why would we do that if we are facing a nuclear threat to our nation? Wouldn't it be wise to build up in SK and prepare for a strike on the north?

[demkicker]

Striking the North Korean missile on its tower would be the dumbest possible thing we could do. We don't even know if the thing can get off the pad. Nor do we know where it is pointed.

It seems to me that a bunch of libs, with help from senile Republicans, are hoping to make things worse for Bush.

Typical liberal jabber jawing about military sensitivities, things they know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT!

I loved Cheney's retort when asked his opinion of going on the offensive and blasting N. Korea's rocket off its launching pad.

He said something like, "We better be ready to fire the second shot." PSSSSST, DEMS: SOBER THE FARK UP, YOU IDIOTS!

[DCPatriot]

You do realize we read like a couple of nuts don't you?

It's just that my feeling is why should we continue to place our young and best in harms's way when we can save all their lives with only 15 minutes of shock and awe?

Look. Hiroshima and Nagasaki gave the world 50 years of relative peace, Korea and Viet Nam withstanding. It kept Russia docile...and China too. It has also kept Pakistan and India from wiping each other out.

North Korea and Iran can burn in hell for all I care.

[PISANO]

I have NO problem with PREMPTIVE strikes, however it makes far MORE sense to blow it to smithereens ONCE it has launched.

Chances are it will not work and fail BUT if it does work well..........

A POST launch take-down will not only will it serve to show the WORLD we will NOT tolerate ICBM's being launched but it will say to other nations IF YOU BUILD it......it will not come to the UNITED STATES.

[phoenix0468]

The nuts are the ones allowing NK and it's regime to actually get this far. The idiot Jung Il should have been nutrilized 52 years ago. The fact that his son is now the leader is only more torment for the spineless politicos who wouldn't listen to the likes of Patton and McAurther.

Had that have happened, there would be 1) no communism in China, 2) No communism is the Soviet Union from around 1950 on, and 3) no such entity as North Korea and Kim Jung Il.

There are times when democracy is a wonderful thing, at others (mostly when we are using all of our military resources to protect ourselves) it is a grind.

The Roman Republic was the closest thing, IMO, to an efficient and effective Military/Civilian government that has ever existed. If we could have their style of governance, I think we wouldn't be worrying about the likes of Kim Jung Il, jr.

[DCPatriot]

IF...you can learn from Rome's mistakes and missteps, I agree with you.

Our present day situation in the US mirrors the last days of the Roman Empire.

[jackv]

They will attack SK as an easy strike, using nukes.