Sound Of War Drums Grows Louder

Hat tip to Faultline USA

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

North Korea's bluster has been an incessant noise in the background of our lives for so long now that nobody really pays attention anymore.

That may be a mistake.

North Korea today is about as unpredictable as a two-year old with a loaded -- and cocked -- revolver in his hand. 

If the DPRK's new leader, basically a kid, is not soon gagged by North Korea's number one sponsor, China, he may well talk himself into doing something utterly stupid and bring a world of hurt down on himself and the people he holds in abject slavery.

On the other hand, he may suffer an, uh, untimely demise, (The tried and true "brain hemorrhage" ... usually caused by a 9mm round administered just behind the left ear.)  and at such a tender age.

We expect his replacement would be a more, shall we say ... moderate ... dictator.

Tensions are way high on the Korean peninsula these days and a single misstep could touch off a raging war that the US is bound to take part in. 

The US has 30,000 combat troops on the ground in South Korea today.  That is not counting those US troops taking part in the war games underway today. We have had a rather large garrison of troops there since 1953 when a cease fire was signed between the Koreas -- with the US included. 

Understand:  A state of war technically exists between North Korea and South Korea and the United States.  The agreement in 1953, was only to stop shooting at each other.  Since then we have, all three, stood at the border and glared across the 38th parallel at each other with our "war faces" on.   There have been incidents in which lives have been lost on both sides.  Almost all those incidents have been directly caused or triggered by the North Koreans.

So.  Like it or not, once again the United States is staring down the barrel of a North Korean artillery piece while the chubby kid with the bowl haircut tightens the tension on the trigger lanyard.

One has to ask how big a part Iran is playing in North Korea's bombastic diplomacy toward the US and its sister state to the south.  Is it outside the realm of possibility that Iran has offered North Korea something of value to create a disturbance and divert America's attention away for Teheran 's bomb making efforts?  We know the North Korea and Iranian nuclear experts have been colluding for some time now in a scientific-cooperation pact.  The official agreement was signed by the two rogue nations last September.  But their military cooperation dates back to the Iran/Iraq war in the 1980's.  Since then, North Korea has been the number one supplier of missile parts and technology to Iran.

Consider this:  "North Korea could provide Iran with a range of supplies for its nuclear program, including uranium ore, centrifuge machines and enriched uranium, according to these officials."   SOURCE   

Even more troubling is the possibility that North Korea might be supplying Iran with the the technology needed to place an atomic warhead on a missile.

"North Korea and Iran both have strategic reasons to mislead and conceal from the West the true status of their nuclear and missile programs. They intend that the U.S. and its allies will underestimate those programs, fail to act in time to stop them, and be strategically surprised when North Korea and Iran become nuclear super-powers, and progenitors of a dystopian new world order."  SOURCE

Then there is the strong possibility that North Korea already has the technology to lob a relatively small nuclear device and have it explode high above the continental US creating an electromagnetic pulse that would , for all intents and purposes,  completely shut down the US.  No electricity anywhere in the country, no electronic devices, including computers, no cars, no trucks, no nothing.  The US would effectively be thrown back into the 19th century where the horse will be the number one mode of transportation -- all in the twinkling of an eye.  

Look.  This is science ... not science fiction.  We have the technology and it is readily available to the North Koreans -- and the Iranians.

The US is as vulnerable, as she as ever been, maybe more so.  All the while our government is busy cutting back on our military.

As difficult as it may be to get one's mind wrapped around our vulnerability today, it is becoming clear that we Americans are one button push away from playing out the script of the movie "Red Dawn" -- in real life -- on our shores any day now.

You know, all those armed-to-the-teeth American citizens could turn out to be one hell of a partisan army in waiting.

Problem is ... that is a fantasy.  After an EMP attack,  all the enemy has to do is wait.  Science/experts tell us that within three to six months the population of the US would be decimated by hunger and disease.  Soon, our enemies could just walk in and take over.

Horrifying?  Damn right it is!  But such is the world we live in today. 

The United States finds itself at a point in its history where it is, for all intents and purposes, leaderless.  In our entire history, there has been no time in which we were as vulnerable to our enemies as we are today, this very minute. 

The last time the US came this close to baring its chest to our enemies was during the Carter years.  Reagan quickly built the US defenses and military up again as fast as was possible.  There is no Reagan on the horizon today.

Just as the barbarians gathered around Rome when they sensed she was vulnerable, so our enemies are gathering their forces.  Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, plus the terrorist armies around the globe, and every little piss ant nation with a beef against us are biding their time.

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum."  Translated from Latin it means:  "If you want peace, prepare for war."  Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus  (Usually shortened to Vegetius) is given credit for having said this in his book  "Epitoma rei militaris."   The book, itself, is a plea for army reform; it vividly portrays the military decadence of the Late Roman Empire.

One would hope an insightful American writer of modern times would pen such a warning today.  Trouble is, about as many modern Americans can actually read as Romans of Vegetius' day!  One must consider, too, that apathy amongst American citizens today far exceeds that of the citizens of ancient Rome.

There is no "high note" upon which to end this commentary.   There just isn't. 

These are perilous times for America -- extremely perilous.  Even more troubling, is that an old swamp pundit finds himself compelled to direct the country's attention to the existential threat posed by a loud-mouthed, semi-sane, testosterone challenged, pip-squeak, rogue nation -- WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

You have heard it said:  "Elections have consequences."  Well, it's true.  THIS is one of them!

The Mouse That Squeaked!

The Korean War was fought by the forces of the United Nations vs. the illegal government of North Korea under Kim Il-sung.  In reality it was fought by the United States (For South Korea.) and Communist China and the Soviet Union (For North Korea.).  It was a draw ending with the 1953 Korean War Truce Agreement.  Today Kin Il-sung's idiot grandson has declared that if the United Nations places more sanctions on his nation, he will nullify the treaty.

North Korea vowed Tuesday to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War, citing a U.S.-led push for punishing U.N. sanctions over its recent nuclear test and ongoing U.S.-South Korean joint military drills.

Without elaborating, the Korean People's Army Supreme Command warned of "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula and of an indigenous, "precision nuclear striking tool." The statement came amid reports that Washington and North Korean ally Beijing have approved a draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for sanctions in response to North Korea's Feb. 12 nuclear test. The draft is expected to be circulated at the U.N. this week.

Such heated military rhetoric and threats are common from North Korea as tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula, and Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and rocket launches, and the push for U.N. punishment that have followed, have increased already high animosity between the North and Washington and ally Seoul.

The United States and others worry that North Korea's third nuclear test pushes it a step closer toward its goal of having nuclear-armed missiles that can reach America, and condemn its nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.

North Korea says its nuclear program is a response to U.S. hostility that dates back to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.

North Korea warned it will cancel the armistice agreement on March 11 because of ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that began March 1 which the statement called a "dangerous nuclear war targeted at us."

North Korea said Washington and others are going beyond mere economic sanctions and expanding into blunt aggression and military acts. North Korea also warned that it will block a communications line between it and the United States at the border village separating the two Koreas.

"We aim to launch surgical strikes at any time and any target without being bounded by the armistice accord and advance our long-cherished wish for national unification," the statement said.

North Korea lays the blame for its much-condemned nuclear weapons programs on the United States.

A rich vein of North Korean propaganda fueled by decades-old American threats holds that the North remains at risk of an unprovoked nuclear attack. Washington and others say brinksmanship is the North's true motive for the nuclear push.

As I have written above it was the Communist Chinese with their millions of men and the Soviet Union with their planes and tanks that kept Kim Il-sung in power and prevented the United States from wiping him out.

Now the Kim Jung-un is trying to be a big man.  While he has a few nuclear weapons and missile, if he attacks South Korea he WILL NOT have the Soviet Union Russians nor the Chinese fighting for him.  In fact they will desert the little bastard as fast as they can.  All he will have is his own fighting force facing the combined weight of the United States, South Korea, and Japan.  Add in a few other FREE nations (Canada, Australia, Great Britain, France) and watch the fur fly.

Now that is predicated on the supposition that our dear President, Barack Hussein Obama will actually retaliate and not cave in to Kim's demands like the craven coward he is.

I Believe That The Little Dog Is Barking Too Much!

North Korea has no food for its people, no freedoms, no running water, electricity, or actual industry.  North Korea does have nuclear weapons and missiles.  2 commodities they sell all over the world to the world's nutcases and dictators.  (I know they are the same thing.)

Now North Korea is actually threatening to launch a nuclear attack on the United States.  Now normally this would be laughable at any other time.  North Korea has at the best 10 nuclear warheads while the United States has thousands of nuclear warheads.  But then again we have President Barack Hussein Obama.

North Korea is threatening the US with a nuclear attack, claiming it has long-range missiles with atomic warheads capable of reaching the American mainland.

The open threat appeared in an editorial posted this week on the country’s Uriminzokkiri state news and propaganda website, which recently posted a video depicting a North Korean dreaming of a nuclear attack on New York City and President Barack Obama in flames.

In the article written by a member of the “Korean National Peace Committee” the government claimed North Korea is a “fully independent rocket and nuclear weapons state.”

Moreover, “The United States should be acutely aware that the US mainland is now well within the range of our strategic rockets and nuclear weapons,” the editorial warned.

Although the threat is being taken seriously, analysts say Pyongyang still has far to go before it will be capable of carrying out such an attack.

Although North Korea successfully tested a small nuclear device last month, it must still be able to develop technology capable of protecting its equipment from being burned up upon re-entry into the atmosphere from space – “ an engineering challenge in itself,” according to the Russian RT news site.

“Without it, even a small nuclear device would not survive an intercontinental ballistic delivery system,” the website’s military writer observed, adding, “The Taepodong rocket is also far from perfect, as its only test in 2006 failed.”

The United Nations is currently discussing a resolution to impose additional sanctions on North Korea for its most recent nuclear test, the launch of a rocket into space that was more likely to have been a surreptitious test of a long-range ballistic missile.

Source

With any other President such an attack would result in a retaliatory strike that would level that nation to a glowing parking lot.  And China would do nothing to stop us.  But with Barack Hussein Obama we are assured that first he will talk to North Korea, then surrender to them.

Somebody must teach this upstart idiot Kim Jong-un a lesson in first manners than not to tempt a sleeping giant.  The Japanese learned that one the hard way.

Click here if the video will not load.

 I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

--Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Epic Fail Again!

North Korea cries that it has no food for its people.  The United States says yes we will give, but you have to give up your rocket program and stop testing nukes.  North Korea says OK, we will.  Then North Korea launches a new rocket any way.  But it fails.

North Korea's attempt Friday to launch a long-range rocket has failed, according to U.S. officials.

A senior U.S. official who is receiving updates from U.S. military launch observers tells Fox News the rocket broke apart between 90 seconds and 2 minutes after launching.

Data suggests the rocket broke up in mid-flight inside the Earth's atmosphere. Officials tell Fox News the rocket did not fall into any populated areas, suggesting it fell into the ocean.

The rocket likely broke apart between the first and second stages of a three phase process.

A 2009 attempt by North Korea to launch a rocket also failed during its third stage.

Japan's Defense Minister Naiki Tanaka said, "We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute." He did not say what exactly was launched.

He said there was no impact on Japanese territory from the launch.

In Pyongyang, there was no word about a launch, and state television was broadcasting video for popular folk tunes. North Korean officials said they would make an announcement about the launch "soon."

North Korea had earlier announced it would send a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite as part of celebrations honoring national founder Kim Il Sung, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated Sunday.

Space officials say the rocket is meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns -- its third bid to launch a satellite since 1998.

The U.N. Security Council will hold a meeting Friday to discuss a possible response the launch, council diplomats said.

The United States, Japan, Britain, Russia and others say the launch would be a provocation and would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from developing its nuclear and missile programs. Experts say the Unha-3 carrier is similar to the type of rocket that could be used to fire a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead to strike the U.S. or other targets.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking for the Group of Eight nations after their foreign ministers met in Washington, said all the members of the bloc agreed to be prepared to take further action against North Korea in the Security Council if the launch goes ahead.

"Pyongyang has a clear choice: It can pursue peace and reap the benefits of closer ties with the international community, including the United States; or it can continue to face pressure and isolation," Clinton said.

At the United Nations in New York, G-8 member Russia echoed that the launch would violate Security Council resolutions. But North Korea's other main ally, China -- which is not part of the G-8 -- was more circumspect.

"We are very concerned about that issue," China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said, adding that Beijing wanted to "diffuse tension, not inflame" it.

Japan's parliament adopted a resolution Thursday condemning the scheduled rocket launch.

"A launch is a serious act of provocation that would affect peace and stability in the region that includes our country," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, reading the resolution adopted unanimously at the lower house. "We strongly urge North Korea to use self-restraint and not to carry out a launch."

Source

So much for President Obama's foreign policy.  Just like this launch, Obama's foreign policy has been one of Epic Failure.

If President Barack Hussein Obama cannot stop North Korea, how can he stop Iran from developing a nuke?  He cannot.

Grandpa Carter Is At It Again!

Former President Jimmy Carter doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, when to speak and what to say.  This latest utterance by Carter is beyond comprehension.

Former President Jimmy Carter has sent North Korea a message of condolence over the death of Kim Jong-il and wished "every success" to the man expected to take over as dictator, according to the communist country's state-run news agency.

A dispatch from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Mr. Carter sent the message to Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's son and heir apparent.

"In the message Jimmy Carter extended condolences to Kim Jong Un and the Korean people over the demise of leader Kim Jong Il. He wished Kim Jong Un every success as he assumes his new responsibility of leadership, looking forward to another visit to [North Korea] in the future," the KCNA dispatch read.

When contacted by The Washington Times for comment, the Carter Center provided an email contact to a spokeswoman who is out of the office until the New Year.

North Korea is routinely labeled as one of the world's most oppressive governments under an eccentric personality cult surrounding the Kim family. Harrowing reports from defectors describe North Korea as a dirt-poor nation filled with concentration camps and Communist propaganda. Kim Jong-il ran the reclusive country according to a "military first" policy since the mid-1990s, after a famine that may have killed as many as 2 million people.

Mr. Carter has visited North Korea twice — including a 1994 visit for talks on nuclear issues that led to a deal in which North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear-weapons program in exchange for oil deliveries and the construction of two nuclear reactors. That deal collapsed in 2002.

The former U.S. president also downplayed a 2010 North Korean attack on a South Korean island and disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, saying the acts were merely "designed to remind the world that they deserve respect in negotiations that will shape their future."

Can we find a nice nursing home for dear Grandpa Carter.  One in which he can live out his life in the fantasy that his presidency and foreign policy were great successes.

A Dictator Goes...Another Arises

Sometime within the last 3 days North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died.  The North Korean government claims that he died today, but it was reported by the state television that he died a few days ago.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is dead, North Korean state TV said Monday.

Kim, 69, died Saturday, state TV said.

South Korean news agency Yonhap -- which based its reporting on its monitoring off North Korean state television -- said that Kim had died of "physical fatigue" during a train ride. North Korean TV did not provide a more specific cause of death.

The son of Kim Il-song, the founder of the communist nation, Kim Jong-il had been in power since 1994 when his father died of a heart attack at age 82.

The enigmatic leader was a frequent thorn in the side of neighboring South Korea, as well as the United States. There have been reports in recent years about his health, as well as that power will be transitioned to his son, Kim Jong-un.

North Korean news reports earlier this fall indicated that Kim Jong Il had been traveling around the country and visiting China, a big change from 2009 when he was thought to be ill with cancer.

Two senior U.S. military officials said then that they believed the pace of North Korea's planned regime change from Kim to his 20-something son appeared to have slowed.

The son, also known as Kim, started his career as a four-star general and in recent years was given more official duties by his father.

Source

It is becoming very clear that Kim Jung-un is a very young man with no actual experience in running anything bigger than is mouth.  Although he has been groomed for the leadership, there is no sure guarantee for Jung-un that he will be the next "Beloved Leader".  In fact, unless he has the military backing his ascent, he will be taking a large fall from power.  Kim Jung-un is the youngest of 3 sons.  He might have to fend off an assault from the oldest son (who had been groomed for the leadership for many years before Jung-un was chosen.) Kim Jung-nam.  And then there is middle son, Kim Jong-chul who might just make a play for power too.

North Korea is a nuclear power and this will be a very turbulent time.  Let us pray that none of the 3 sons of Kim Jong-il don't try to prove their power by using one of their nuclear weapon.

Saturday Morning Funnies #7

Once again a weekly dose of  cartoons, videos and jokes.

First the Messiah, now he is God.  What next?

The Bronze Rat

A tourist walked into a Chinese curio shop in San Francisco. While looking around at the exotic merchandise, he noticed a very lifelike, life-sized, bronze statue of a rat. It had no price tag, but was so incredibly striking the tourist decided he must have it. He took it to the owner and asked, “How much for the bronze rat?”

“You have chosen well!” said the shopkeeper. “It is $12 for the rat and $100 for the story.”

The tourist quickly pulled out twelve dollars. “I’ll just take the rat, you can keep the story.”

As he walked down the street carrying his bronze rat, the tourist noticed that a few real rats had crawled out of the alleys and sewers and had begun following him down the street. This was a bit disconcerting so he began walking faster.

A couple blocks later he looked behind him and saw to his horror that the herd of rats behind him had grown to hundreds, and they had begun squealing.

Sweating now, the tourist trotted toward the Bay. After another couple of blocks, he again looked around – - to discover that the rats now numbered in the MILLIONS and were coming toward him faster and faster.

Terrified, he ran to the edge of the Bay and threw the bronze rat as far as he could into the water.

Amazingly, the millions of rats jumped into the Bay after the bronze rat – - and were all drowned.

The tourist walked back to the curio shop in Chinatown.

“Ahhh,” said the owner, “You have come back for the story?”

“No sir,” said the man, “I came back to see if you have a bronze Democrat.”


Hat Tip to The Liberty Ledger

Every thing depends on your perception:

Oops, Bibi does it again



The recent results of Obama's foreign policy:

Hanukah begins the night of December 1st.

Eight Days- NBN Chanuka music video

Have A Good Week!!!

Inside North Korea

This video was secretly filmed in North Korea, then smuggled out.  It eventually was obtained by a Japanese television network.  Hat tip to Gates of Vienna.




A woman prostitutes herself for 2 kg. (5 lbs.) of rice, children starving, unwashed, unloved playing in dirty streets. Sleeping in parks, on railroad tracks, without the hint of a shelter.  No hope, no future for these people.

Yet their great leader Kim Jong-Il and his cronies eat well, sleep comfortably, have fine clothing. They do not suffer from the sanctions.

Contrast the video above  to these propaganda photos.  If you only saw the propaganda you would believe North Korea to be a Paradise, not a section of Hell upon this Earth.

Is It Me?

I have been wondering if it was just coincidental or was there an other force trying to tell us or warn us or just wanting to screw around with us.  I am not alone in this.  Yaakov Kirschen, the creator of Dry Bones also feels this way.

The Asian Floods—Signs of Climate Catastrophes to Come?

"They haven't gotten anywhere near the attention they deserve, but the floods that have struck much of Asia over the past couple of weeks may be the biggest humanitarian disaster in recent memory—bigger even than the earthquake that hit Haiti in January and the 2004 Asian tsunami. Both of those catastrophes killed far more, but the floods have affected 13 million people in Pakistan alone, and parts of India, China and North Korea have also suffered from the rains. The floods will destroy homes and business, wreck agriculture and destroy infrastructure, leave disease and disability in their wake. Flooding in China has already killed more than 1,100 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars of damage. In shaky Pakistan, where the public has been enraged by the government's typically fumbling response to the flood, it could even increase support for hard-line Islamic groups."-more

Either I'm not the only one going crazy or G-d is sending us an important message.

Little Dictators Shouldn't Talk So Much.

This is very good advice for Kim Jong-il, the current Leader Big Cheese running the country insane asylum known as North Korea.

North Korea's army said Monday it is ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a rehearsal for attack.

South Korea and the U.S. — which normally dismiss such threats as rhetoric — began 11 days of drills across South Korea on Monday morning to rehearse how the U.S. would deploy in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and South Korea argue the drills — which include live firing by U.S. Marines, aerial attack drills and urban warfare training — are purely defensive. North Korea claims they amount to attack preparations and has demanded they be canceled.

The North's People's Army issued a statement Monday, warning the drills created a tense situation and that its troops are "fully ready" to "blow up" the allies once the order is issued.

The North also put all its soldiers and reservists on high alert to "mercilessly crush the aggressors" should they encroach upon the North's territory even slightly, said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The communist country has issued similar rhetoric in the days leading up the drills. On Sunday, it said it would bolster its nuclear capability and break off dialogue with the U.S. in response to the drills.

South Korea's military has been closely monitoring Pyongyang's maneuvers but hasn't seen any signs of suspicious activities by North Korean troops, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier Monday.

"We see it as (North Korea's) stereotype denouncement," Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters.

Finish reading here.

It is a well known fact that North Korea has only a handful of nuclear weapons.  Intelligence estimates put the figure at 6-8 weapons.  Not a very large arsenal.

Current estimates of the US nuclear arsenal is over 5,000 weapons.  A very great difference.  In layman's terms:  "The United States could wipe out every living thing in North Korea in less than a few hours.  North Korea could wipe out a couple of cities, (if they were very lucky) but that is that."

What has happened is that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (AKA Monkeyman), has been running off his mouth again.  Especially after North Korea helped to build the Iranian new missile launch pad.

Iran's development of a missile launch facility in the northern province of Semnan and its Simorgh missile project both indicate that the militant Shiite theocracy is probably collaborating with North Korea on its missile program. The platforms seen on the Semnan launch pad's new gantry tower – a multi-level tower for servicing missiles before launch – resemble those seen on the gantry tower at North Korea’s new Tongchang launch pad. A drainage pit 170 meters directly in front of the pad also seems like a copy of one at Pyongyang’s new site.

In addition, the first stage of the Simorgh missile strongly resembles the North Korean Unha-2, with four clustered engines and near-identical dimensions.

Photographs and information about the likely collaboration between Iran and North Korea have appeared on security news sites Defense Update and Jane's IHS.

Defense Update also reported that east of the active site, “the Iranians are constructing a new facility that could be supporting the Iranian solid rocket propulsion development, associated with the Sejjil and Ashura missiles or even larger missiles” – and noted that “according to Jane's Intelligence analysts, the site could be associated with the next-generation Simorgh rocket.”

The Simorgh, unveiled in early February, is officially intended to be used as a space-launch vehicle, but it could be converted for launching long-range ballistic missiles for military purposes.

Satellite images indicate that the launch pad has “a fully constructed flame bucket” – the structure that diverts the missile's exhaust gases from the hillside. The launch site is linked through tubing to a nearby, sheltered underground facility. The gantry tower is approximately 18–20 meters tall, and the flame bucket is nearly as high as the tower. Jane's analysts assume the construction appears midway towards completion.

For the record: The images above came from an Israeli spy satellite.

I expect the third ghoulish member of this trio:  Hugo Chavez to rear up his ugly head and start screaming about Israel, the US and wiping every one off the map.

And Barack Obama promised to make things better with these clowns.  Great Change going there Mr. President!

U.N. Development Program Violated U.N. Law,

Cross posted at Reject the UN

Routinely Passed on Millions to North Korean Regime

Business as usual at the UN. Instead of condemning North Korea and its crazy leader Kim Jong-il, they just pass on millions of dollars. Millions mostly from the United States. American taxpayers paying for the obscene lifestyle of this despot. But that is ok with the UN. It is not their money.

After more than two years of accusations and probes into the operations of the United Nations Development Program in North Korea, a weighty report finally reveals how routinely, and systematically, the agency disregarded U.N. regulations on how it conducted itself in Kim Jong-Il’s brutal dictatorship, passing on millions of dollars to the regime in the process.

The 353-page report, by a three-member “External Independent Investigative Review Panel” appointed by UNDP to investigate itself, was published with much fanfare last week after nine months of political maneuvering and research.

Of course with fanfare. It wouldn't be a UN Report without it. The corrupt officials (none of whom were ever elected by any people of the world) are proud of their achievements. They have to be proud of something.

The report depicts an organization that for years apparently considered itself immune from its own rules of procedure as well as the laws and regulations of countries that were trying to keep weapons of mass destruction out of Kim’s hands.

It also shows that UNDP apparently considered itself above the decisions of the United Nations Security Council itself when that organization tried — as it is still trying — to bar Kim from gaining the means to create more weapons of mass destruction.

That is the same Security Council whose decisions, U.N. officials argue, have the weight of international law when applied to the United States and the rest of the world.

But not to North Korea, Iran, or any other 2 bit dictator. They are above all laws.

“What this report shows is that UNDP has operated lawlessly for far too long,” said Mark Wallace, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who brought many of the original accusations against the U.N. anti-poverty agency to light in January 2007 after examining confidential UNDP internal audits of its North Korean operation.

“U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has indicated that integrity is a high U.N. priority," Wallace said. "It is now up to UNDP to follow that direction.”

Integrity is not a word that one can link with any organization of the UN. Lack of integrity, honesty or any of the human virtues is more of the norm at the UN. The idea that one has to have morals is something that any UN official isn't allowed to have.

But a close reading of the long and dense document, replete with mind-numbing footnotes, shows that Dervis is wrong.

Among other things, the report confirms that UNDP hired North Korean government employees to fill sensitive core staff posts, in violation of its own regulations, and that the Kim regime picked the staffers.

Previously this had been revealed by a report done by the United Nations Board of Auditors in May 2007 in the wake of Wallace’s concern. The 2007 report noted that the same violations had been reported in internal UNDP audits going back to 2001.

The UNDP office in North Korea paid the salaries of these staff directly to the government in hard currency — another forbidden practice. The report dryly notes, in a footnote on page 96, “It was not clear how much of these amounts were paid to the National Staff, if any.”

In an effort that may have been aimed at keeping at least some staffers from starving, UNDP gave them all hard-currency supplements in cash — another violation of its own rules.

The regime employees filled such critical jobs as UNDP finance officer; program officer slots that helped to design and oversee UNDP projects in the country; technology officer, who maintained all of UNDP’s internal and external communications and servers; and even the assistant to the head of the UNDP office, who presumably was in a position to see much, if not all, of the boss’ paperwork.

Millions of Dollars given by the United States. Dollars that could have been better spent here in the US instead of propping up Kim Jong-il's regime. Undermining the efforts of the United States to keep North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons. And yet we are suppose to just smile like imbeciles and forget this too? The trouble is that we will do just that instead of cutting off the funds. Instead of leaving that Tower of Babel, House of Corruption once and for all.