President Trump announced last week that he was returning North Korea to the US list of “state sponsors of terrorism” after having been off the list for the past nine years. Americans may wonder what dramatic event led the US president to re-designate North Korea as a terrorism-sponsoring nation. Has Pyongyang been found guilty of some spectacular terrorist attack overseas or perhaps of plotting to overthrow another country by force? No, that is not the case.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson argued that North Korea deserved to be back on the list because the North Korean government is reported to have assassinated a North Korean citizen – Kim Jong-Un’s own half-brother — in February at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. But what does that say about Washington’s own program to assassinate US citizens like Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16 year old son under Obama, and later Awlaki’s six year old daughter under Trump? Like Kim’s half brother, Awlaki and his two children were never tried or convicted of a crime before being killed by their own government.
The neocons, who are pushing for a war with North Korea, are extremely pleased by Trump’s move. John Bolton called it “exactly the right thing to do.”
Designating North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism will allow President Trump to impose the “highest level of sanctions” on North Korea. Does anyone believe more sanctions – which hurt the suffering citizens of North Korea the most – will actually lead North Korea’s leadership to surrender to Washington’s demands? Sanctions never work. They hurt the weakest and most vulnerable members of society the hardest and affect the elites the least.
So North Korea is officially a terrorism-sponsoring nation according to the Trump Administration because Kim Jong-Un killed a family member. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is in the process of killing the entire country of Yemen and no one says a word. In fact, the US government has just announced it will sell Saudi Arabia $7 billion more weapons to help it finish the job.
Also, is it not “state-sponsorship” of terrorism to back al-Qaeda and ISIS, as Saudi Arabia has done in Syria?
The truth is a “state sponsor of terrorism” designation has little to do with actual support for global terrorism. As bad as the North Korean government is, it is does not go abroad looking for countries to invade. The designation is a political one, allowing Washington to ramp up more aggression against North Korea.
Next month the US and South Korean militaries will conduct a massive military exercise practicing an attack on North Korea. American and South Korean air force fighters and bombers will practice “enemy infiltration” and “precision strike drills.” Are these not also to be seen as threatening?
What is terrorism? Maybe we should ask a Yemeni child constantly wondering when the next Saudi bomb overhead might kill his family. Or perhaps we might even ask a Pakistani, Somali, Iraqi, Syrian, or other child who is terrified that the next US bomb will do the same to his family. Perhaps we need to look at whether US foreign policy actually reflects the American values we claim to be exporting before we point out the flaws in others.
Paul, in his dotage, seems to have trouble with the word ‘sponsor’. It does not mean a person or nation are themselves directly engaged in something. For example Ford or GM can ‘sponsor’ a TV football game. They are not involved as players, coaches or referees merely providing money so the game can be televised. Got it now Mr. Paul.
@Unit472 What on earth is your point? Congressman Paul was referring to what the US State Department means by “State Sponsor of Terror”, the same definition that I would imagine all of us who read this article know and understood in the context except for you.
Well here’s another lucky winner of the weekly (soon to be daily, then hourly, etc.) Darwin Award. Just for the (explicit) “starters” there is no evidence whatever from the post that Rep. Paul has entered his “dotage”. Second, there is no objective evidence that North Korea has sponsored any “terrorism” anywhere in the world. Third, there is overwhelming evidence that the one of the biggest state sponsors of ongoing terrorism worldwide is the American “Dark State”. This particular “Unit” has apparently drunk massive amounts of the Kool-Aid and is beyond our help. It’s sad when the hopeless cases nevertheless manage to find their way to TBP only to find themselves unable to comprehend the truths of our contemporary world.
Dr Paul is spot-on right once again. The irrelevant parsing of ‘sponsor’ aside, this latest act is just the last in a long line of bullshit political devises meant to intimidate and muscle nations that are no more evil than those like Saudi Arabia who’s only saving grace is that they play ball with the d.c. imperium and slaughter the ‘right’ people. These lame ass attempts to attach some moral fig leaf to the imperium’s latest diktat is disgusting-not that that ever held back the likes of Bolton, Kristol and the other NeoRats.
The Malaysian government now has on trial an Indonesian and Vietnamese woman for smearing the face of Kim Jong Un’s brother with Vx nerve agent killing him. The women assert they were paid by a North Korean to carry out the attack as a ‘prank’.
The government of Japan has long complained about North Korea kidnapping its citizens and holding them in North Korea.
The list of crimes against South Koreans is far too long to list here but Ron Paul might want to acquaint himself with it if he doesn’t believe the Malaysian or Japanese claims.
The real problem is that Ron Paul comes across as an idiot when he refuses to recognize the obvious- The North Korean regime practices terrorism on a daily basis against its own population and its ‘diplomats’ can be found skulking about with the most unsavory people and regimes on the planet.
Oh, I get it now. Forget the ongoing genocides in Yemen and Palestine, the wanton destruction of Libya and Iraq (you know ya can’t make an omelet without…..) , Un killed a family member in Malaysia and hangs with ‘unsavory’ people. At least W used some real imagination when he dreamed up his bullshit story about WMD’s in Iraq.