Obama: North Korean Treat 'Overblown' by Critics

Dan Garvey
CNR
June 12, 2009

President Obama has earned flak from critics for his so-called inaction against North Korea; now it seems there's a reason why. According to a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President believes that the threat posed by the North Koreans is "overblown."

"The President doesn't want to act either positively or negatively based on the short-term actions by a country," the spokesperson stated. "He also does not want to act on something that he feels has been exaggerated by his political rivals."

When asked what the President thought of the UN resolution to sanction North Korea, he stated that Mr. Obama was "very upset."

Raymond Downing, an adjunct professor at Princeton, tried to explain the President's actions. "It is very clear to see a connection here," he said. "During the lead up to the Iraq war, President Obama did not join the public and start blindly accusing Iraq of so-called weapons of mass destruction. In the end, he was right to vote against the war.

"The same is happening now," Downing continued. "The right is calling bloody murder over North Korea launching their weapons, when the real threat is not what they say. The President is right to look at the situation in every way he can.

"It's his responsibility," he concluded.

In a circular distributed by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the rationale was made more clear.

"The President will always try to understand all sides of a conflict; it is a stated goal that he has made while a candidate and as President. To abandon it now would be wrong.

"It is also clear that the United States' actions against North Korea can only be so much," the classified memo continues. "We cannot invade the North because of a few provocative actions, and we must always give nations a chance to redeem themselves. In truth, the North has done nothing to warrant substantial penalties."

Despite the President's claims, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates disagrees. According to one of his press representatives, "Mr. Gates believes that the threat posed by North Korea is a real one, and that to allow them to continue on their destructive path unabated could prove disastrous.

"It is the hope of Mr. Gates that the President will come to the same conclusion that he has come to," the press rep also stated.



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