Obama's Asia Team Caught Off-Guard by North Korea Launch??

(If I missed this being covered...My bad. I searched the title and nothing came)

Okay, this is embarrassing. Maybe it's yet another thing the buck doesn't stop on Obama's desk for, but these bucks of incompetence have to start stopping somewhere or the incompetence will keep building until the results are downright catastrophic one of these days soon.

The Obama administration's Asia team was caught so off guard by North Korea's Dec. 11 rocket launch, several of them actually had to put down their drinks and suddenly leave a holiday party being held in honor of the Japanese emperor's birthday.

Several top U.S. officials dealing with Asia and North Korea from the State Department, the Pentagon, and the National Security Council were relaxing Tuesday night at the Japanese ambassador's Nebraska Avenue residence in Washington when the news came over their blackberries that North Korea had launched another Unha-3 rocket with a "satellite" attached, this time with much more success than a previous attempt in April.

Source

It sounds like the membership right here at ATS were significantly better informed than President Obama's own top people. Now that's flattering and we should all be happy.....but at the same time, isn't that a really pathetic thing to say? I mean...we aren't paid to do this. This isn't our profession...and I think information here was far more timely than to have been at a party during the launch and been 'surprised' by it. I just find myself wondering who is minding the store in a very dangerous period of world history?

Saying "We didn't know" is becoming a problem in itself, not a valid excuse.

Which is exactly why the piece of Equipment is "defective"

X-37B was no coincidence. Planned in October, sure. DPRK Launch, planned way ahead of that. No one was "caught off guard"

Return to your nitpicking .

Maybe there should be an ATS member in the presidents cabinet.Fast timely news courtesy of ATS

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

As a person who worked on a intel platform in South Korea I can safely say the intel was there. Whether the higher ups give a crap about it is another thing which tends to happen. We cant expect them to use all the info that is given to them right...Sarcasm

reply to post by TheOneElectric


Actually, I'll take their own words and their own quotes, thanks. You consider it nitpicking. I call it sharing a valid news report. Different ways of seeing the incompetence starting to characterize this administration.

"Nobody in the U.S. government thought this would happen when it did," said one top Asia expert who attended the party. "A lot of the guys who do the Korea stuff both on the policy and intelligence side were at this thing. They were saying ‘We bought ourselves some time.' People were hoping it didn't happen before Christmas because they wanted to take time off."

(same link as OP)

Heck.. Drudge report had a headline that they were fueling it on the pad. That narrows the time frame dramatically for when they can launch. Oh.. Err.. I guess this administration doesn't like drudge. Tough break on missing the intel from it on this one then. Ouch. Humor would fit if the circumstance weren't so serious.

Nothing like hearing them say it themselves. Now I don't suggest the United States Air Force was caught unaware. That's foolish and I have far more respect for people in uniform than I do the civilians in the White House. The story isn't about the U.S. Air Force though, it's about the civilian team charged with making Asia their business to know as experts. Errr....Well, they have the cocktail circuit down, I'll give them that.

Are we not overdoing the " America was caught with its pants down" routine?
The US knew that they were going to launch a rocket, the timing isnt overly relevant, surely?
How long does it take for the US to respond with a strongly worded soundbite condeming North Koreas "act of aggression".
Im pretty sure, what with all that technology floating above the Earth, they would have seen said rocket being fuelled, loaded and ready to go.
Id suggest that the two countries most ITK and certainly one of them with the most clout would have been South Korea and China.
Going by the Chinese leaders response to the launch, North Korea has been a very naughty boy and you really dont p*ss off China.
I'd assume the very last thing China wants is an errant child playing war games on its doorstep.
I would take a guess here by saying that the swift depart from the Japanese Ambassadors embassy was a case of getting back to the office, just in case.
If your wife is near the time of giving birth you dont put your life on hold, you carry on as normal until you are told she has gone into labour!!
Its easy to beat up administrations and politicians but, come on, its not like they knew absolutely nothing, thats what Satellite technology and good old fashioned spying is for, right?

It appears to me that the Obama administration is pretty well caught off guard by everything. They can't even make up a good believable lie, which in itself, proves that practice does not make perfect.

Couldn't you infer from this that because Obama's officials were so shocked by North Korea shooting off a rocket that North Korea may have something to do with future, more serious (maybe planned) conflicts? Maybe the officials who abruptly left the Japanese ambassador's house were under the impression that 'it' was beginning?

I might be looking to far into this, but it's just a thought.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You just can't help yourself in making a mountain out of a molehill -- and in this case a mountain out of a quark. It was reported by various sources ahead of time that it appeared that N.K. was planning a missile launch, so I imagine the US government knew something about it.

As for being caught off-guard, it seems the Bush II's regime was caught extremely off-guard with respect to the 9/11 attacks -- that or they were in cahoots. Have you ever brought this fact up?

But you just keep on coming up with nutty, pathetic digs against the Obama administration. Not that the Obama administration hasn't done bad, incompetent and/or criminal things, but you fail to mention them; you only bring up ridiculous non-issues.

Originally posted by MrInquisitive
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

But you just keep on coming up with nutty, pathetic digs against the Obama administration. Not that the Obama administration hasn't done bad, incompetent and/or criminal things, but you fail to mention them; you only bring up ridiculous non-issues.

I'm not sure what compelled you to drop in on my thread, but I appreciate the variety of opinion. It is always good to hear all sides and views to a thing. As for my choice of topics, well...the title itself is pretty much word for word. If fact, the actual title linked from the OP is "Obama’s Asia team caught off guard, partying when rocket launched". It's on Drudge, among other sources and I look at it as a valid media story.

I'd say the debate about whether media should run reports on stories like this is a fair one.....but there is no basis for attacking folks on the point of sharing valid, properly sourced and currently posted news reports. Just my personal opinion on that, but it does bear saying.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Is it just jealousy that some "extremist" country, could pull off a big launch, without anyone knowing?
I smell envy here, nonetheless, I'm really creeped out with the way things are playing out.
Last i heard, China is setting their 2.3mill army in combat ready state..
Merry Christmas ...yeah

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

Originally posted by MrInquisitive
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

But you just keep on coming up with nutty, pathetic digs against the Obama administration. Not that the Obama administration hasn't done bad, incompetent and/or criminal things, but you fail to mention them; you only bring up ridiculous non-issues.

I'm not sure what compelled you to drop in on my thread, but I appreciate the variety of opinion. It is always good to hear all sides and views to a thing. As for my choice of topics, well...the title itself is pretty much word for word. If fact, the actual title linked from the OP is "Obama’s Asia team caught off guard, partying when rocket launched". It's on Drudge, among other sources and I look at it as a valid media story.

I'd say the debate about whether media should run reports on stories like this is a fair one.....but there is no basis for attacking folks on the point of sharing valid, properly sourced and currently posted news reports. Just my personal opinion on that, but it does bear saying.

You're trying to make it sound like the Obama administration had no idea that this was coming or possibly coming. So some government workers had to leave a cocktail party early because this happened. Big deal. I suspect that they had to go and address the matter in some way because that is their job. Are you suggesting that the Obama administration had no idea that this event was coming down the pike? Please provide evidene of this. Or are you suggesting that all government staff have to be on the job 24/7 just in case such an event occurs?

Once satellite photos showed the NK's fueling up their missile everyone in the State Department had to remain on watch until it was launched? Why? What good would that do. As you acknowledge, the military was likely aware of the situation and was following it. Why would State. Dept. or WH staff have to be monitoring it ceaselessly? You're attempting to make it look like the Obama administration was caught off-guard in some significant way, but you provide nothing to back this up. And I am calling you on that. This is why I am responding to this post of yours. I saw the headline and it looked farcical, so I checked out your post, and it bore my suspicions out, and so I called you out on it.

And I am still waiting for you to address my question of how this incident compares to the Bush II regime's being caught with its pants down on 9/11 -- that or it was complicit.

Again, you and Drudge are making a mountain out of a speck of sand. And again I will say that the Obama administration is guilty of plenty of wrongdoing, incompetency and crimes, but the wackadoodle things you bring up are not those. Seriously, there are plenty of things the Obama administration is guilty of, but you choose to bring up ludicrous matters of no consequence. Try some news sources beside the Drudge Report, Fox, Washing Times, etc.

Originally posted by MrInquisitive

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000

Originally posted by MrInquisitive
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

But you just keep on coming up with nutty, pathetic digs against the Obama administration. Not that the Obama administration hasn't done bad, incompetent and/or criminal things, but you fail to mention them; you only bring up ridiculous non-issues.

I'm not sure what compelled you to drop in on my thread, but I appreciate the variety of opinion. It is always good to hear all sides and views to a thing. As for my choice of topics, well...the title itself is pretty much word for word. If fact, the actual title linked from the OP is "Obama’s Asia team caught off guard, partying when rocket launched". It's on Drudge, among other sources and I look at it as a valid media story.

I'd say the debate about whether media should run reports on stories like this is a fair one.....but there is no basis for attacking folks on the point of sharing valid, properly sourced and currently posted news reports. Just my personal opinion on that, but it does bear saying.

You're trying to make it sound like the Obama administration had no idea that this was coming or possibly coming. So some government workers had to leave a cocktail party early because this happened. Big deal. I suspect that they had to go and address the matter in some way because that is their job. Are you suggesting that the Obama administration had no idea that this event was coming down the pike? Please provide evidene of this. Or are you suggesting that all government staff have to be on the job 24/7 just in case such an event occurs?

Once satellite photos showed the NK's fueling up their missile everyone in the State Department had to remain on watch until it was launched? Why? What good would that do. As you acknowledge, the military was likely aware of the situation and was following it. Why would State. Dept. or WH staff have to be monitoring it ceaselessly? You're attempting to make it look like the Obama administration was caught off-guard in some significant way, but you provide nothing to back this up. And I am calling you on that. This is why I am responding to this post of yours. I saw the headline and it looked farcical, so I checked out your post, and it bore my suspicions out, and so I called you out on it.

And I am still waiting for you to address my question of how this incident compares to the Bush II regime's being caught with its pants down on 9/11 -- that or it was complicit.

Again, you and Drudge are making a mountain out of a speck of sand. And again I will say that the Obama administration is guilty of plenty of wrongdoing, incompetency and crimes, but the wackadoodle things you bring up are not those. Seriously, there are plenty of things the Obama administration is guilty of, but you choose to bring up ludicrous matters of no consequence. Try some news sources beside the Drudge Report, Fox, Washing Times, etc.

You are flogging a dead horse, Sir.
My first post on this thread pretty much stated what you have said, albeit, less eloquently than you.
It seems to me, as a newbie to actual posting on ATS, threads are generally started with a point to make/discuss etc and anybody who counters it with even the slightest degree of common sense merely gets ignored and "posted" over by OP and others who concour with each other.
As yet, ive not actually read a salient argument as to why my opinion and your views are clearly wrong.
The reason is they aint!!
It doesnt fit the package, doesnt suit their view,you know, like all good Politicians you ignore and carry on regardless.
Brilliant.

reply to post by MrInquisitive
I'm not trying to make "it" sound like anything. The team President Obama has for Asian Affairs and working on things that cover issues like the launching of a North Korean Missile ....actually space launch vehicle as it happens .... (blew that one, didn't they?) was at a party and caught unaware by events. I'm not saying that, the media story I quoted is saying that.

You're trying to widen this far beyond my humble little thread to report a story I found rather interesting in looking across current events and headlines. I figured it was worth sharing. Unlike some threads I have made in the 6,000-10,000 character range, I hadn't started this one to go wandering over the hills and through the woods for topic.

I've simply posted a factual story, in that no one seems to counter it and his own people were quoted as confirming it, for what happened on a sidebar area of events relating to this DPRK launch.


Now I'm no thread Nazi. If you strike up this side-debate with someone else, more power to you. However, I am not obligated to respond to every off or...closely related topic comment made on one of my threads and I chose not to reply directly to every point. I replied to about the extent I wanted to.......since we were started a bit off the whole meaning of the thread to begin with.

Not being fanatic about OT nonsense doesn't mean I'm always up for following, either.

reply to post by LFN69

You do realize of course, your first message on the thread was being critical of the fact I even chose to share this story as well? We're on a site that is 100% user content driven. Content that rolled off the New Topics page several times an hour can now sit for as long as 90 minutes or more. Content is slowing.

I love debate with people who disagree with what I post....but it's simply self defeating and counter-productive, in my personal opinion, to be attacking anyone for the fact they ARE posting it. When 'it' is a valid, sourced and well covered story currently appearing in media, especially.

It's not as though I make these things up and sketch in detail as I go. Nor is attacking the messenger for the content of the message particularly productive. In fact, to some, it could even discourage or slow the rate of content posted....as previously noted. That's something I'd consider a BAD THING ...considering I really did like it better when more fresh content was flowing, Even some I disagreed with at times or thought was downright silly.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by LFN69

 

You do realize of course, your first message on the thread was being critical of the fact I even chose to share this story as well? We're on a site that is 100% user content driven. Content that rolled off the New Topics page several times an hour can now sit for as long as 90 minutes or more. Content is slowing.

I love debate with people who disagree with what I post....but it's simply self defeating and counter-productive, in my personal opinion, to be attacking anyone for the fact they ARE posting it. When 'it' is a valid, sourced and well covered story currently appearing in media, especially.

It's not as though I make these things up and sketch in detail as I go. Nor is attacking the messenger for the content of the message particularly productive. In fact, to some, it could even discourage or slow the rate of content posted....as previously noted. That's something I'd consider a BAD THING ...considering I really did like it better when more fresh content was flowing, Even some I disagreed with at times or thought was downright silly.

edit on 15-12-2012 by Wrabbit2000 because: minor correction.on choice of words

No it wasnt. Where in my original post was I being critical of you?
Please point out the text within that post which is critical of you bringing it to this forum.
I have not, at any stage, stated that I believe the story to be false and I have not been critical of you for bringing it to the forums attention.
I am, however, critical that salient points countering that reports "conclusion" are steam rollered over when, as you have said, this forum is about discussion and debate. I have no problems with people disagreening with me, infact I love it because it allows for good, strong meaningful discussion and dialogue, the very life blood of this forum, let alone something I actually enjoy very much.
I am very glad that you have responded to my post but less glad that you couldnt be bothered to give your views on the points and issues i raised within it.
Instead you wasted an opportunity to take the discussion forwards by taking umbridge to the fact I had the temerity to question whether you were actually reading the counter arguments and why I feel there was little response to the points raised.
Dont cut your nose of to spite your face, Sir.