Matt Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton achieved something awesome today. N. Korea says 2 U.S. journalists will be freedAnnouncement of pardon comes after Bill Clinton meets with Kim Jong Ilhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32277010/ns/wo...ws-asiapacific/North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two jailed American journalists and ordered their release following an unannounced meeting with former President Bill Clinton, the North's state media said Wednesday.Clinton, who arrived in North Korea Tuesday on an unannounced visit, met with the reclusive and ailing Kim for talks described by Pyongyang as "exhaustive." It was Kim's first meeting with a prominent Western figure since his reported stroke nearly a year ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hitest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Awesome news indeed! I just read on CNN that the two freed journalists are traveling back to the US with Clinton. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sultan_emerr Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton achieved something awesome today. Which one is Clinton? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hitest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton achieved something awesome today. Which one is Clinton?+1 Funny Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KeithLDick Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 I smell a "Rat" a "Big F***g Rat here... Clinton couldn't free his own Bowels if he had too... There must be something going on behind the scenes with this as I doubt anyone could just have a meeting then walk away with detainees that easily... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sultan_emerr Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 I smell a "Rat" a "Big F***g Rat here... Clinton couldn't free his own Bowels if he had too... There must be something going on behind the scenes with this as I doubt anyone could just have a meeting then walk away with detainees that easily...That sounds reasonable to me. It may have all been worked out by underlings weeks ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Posted August 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 I smell a "Rat" a "Big F***g Rat here... Clinton couldn't free his own Bowels if he had too... There must be something going on behind the scenes with this as I doubt anyone could just have a meeting then walk away with detainees that easily...That sounds reasonable to me. It may have all been worked out by underlings weeks ago.Or... he did something today that a former President of the United States could do. I really hate Bush, but had he done something like this I'd give him the credit... You'd think predisposed biases wouldn't have to be part of a story like this, but no.My gosh... it amazes me how some people can find fault in something like this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hitest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 My gosh... it amazes me how some people can find fault in something like this.Agreed. I will be pleasantly surprised if any luminaries in the GOP step forward to congratulate Bill Clinton. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Posted August 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 My gosh... it amazes me how some people can find fault in something like this.Agreed. I will be pleasantly surprised if any luminaries in the GOP step forward to congratulate Bill Clinton.The thing is, hitest, they have. I flipped on Fox Noise today just to see what their reactions were to the story. To my surprise, they were even speaking positively on the matter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcl Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 I smell a "Rat" a "Big F***g Rat here... Clinton couldn't free his own Bowels if he had too... There must be something going on behind the scenes with this as I doubt anyone could just have a meeting then walk away with detainees that easily...North Korea is an attention whore. The US gave it the attention it wanted and, by sending Clinton, made it look like we take the DPRK seriously. There's no reason for the Koreans to keep the journalists after that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hitest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 My gosh... it amazes me how some people can find fault in something like this.Agreed. I will be pleasantly surprised if any luminaries in the GOP step forward to congratulate Bill Clinton.The thing is, hitest, they have. I flipped on Fox Noise today just to see what their reactions were to the story. To my surprise, they were even speaking positively on the matter.Good to hear! I don't ever watch Fox as I find their coverage a bit one-sided. I'm very happy to hear that they spoke positively about President Clinton's accomplishment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hitest Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 North Korea is an attention whore. The US gave it the attention it wanted and, by sending Clinton, made it look like we take the DPRK seriously. There's no reason for the Koreans to keep the journalists after that.Agreed. North Korea craves attention; they want to be viewed as a world player on equal footing with the other super powers. The WH played it very smart by sending B. Clinton. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 The only negative I can see is that part of the requirement for the pardon of the "prisoners" was an apology to Korea. Did we do something that required an apology? Anyone actually SEE what the apology consisted of? We caved? I dunno, the details of this part of the deal are scarce. I don't know why, but when I first heard BC was going to Korea I didn't even think about his particularly close "connection" to the State Department. Pretty sneaky on our part if ya ask me. No member of our government was officially involved, so nyaa-nyaa-nyaa Korea! My first thought upon hearing he was going was, "Oh no, another Jimmy Carter." Can't argue with the results (thank God), but I'm not so sure about what WE gave up in return (mostly "face," a concept that means more throughout Asia than it does here). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Posted August 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 I feel like a big reason that Bill Clinton went is due to Al Gore. I haven't heard anything officially mentioned on the matter, but the two journalists were employees of Al Gore's CurrentTV. Perhaps Gore reached out to him?And yeah, I'd say this ended more successfully than Carter's visit to NK. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sultan_emerr Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 (edited) I feel like a big reason that Bill Clinton went is due to Al Gore. I haven't heard anything officially mentioned on the matter, but the two journalists were employees of Al Gore's CurrentTV. Perhaps Gore reached out to him?And yeah, I'd say this ended more successfully than Carter's visit to NK. "How Bill Clinton got the job" = http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25822.html Edited August 5, 2009 by sultan_emerr Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted August 6, 2009 Report Share Posted August 6, 2009 In a mid-July phone call to their families from captivity, the two journalists passed along an astonishing offer: North Korea would be willing to grant amnesty and release them, if Bill Clinton would agree to come to Pyongyang as an envoy and seek their release. Interesting that Korean officials chose Bill Clinton (I can think of a half-dozen reasons why -- none flattering to the North Koreans). Also, interesting that we had to assure everyone this visit was solely about getting the women back. Carter's visit caused quite a ruckus, we avoided that this time. It would be very, very nice if this led to a more genial relationship with North Korea. Yeah, they need to make some changes first, but .... it's a start. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Posted August 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2009 It would be very, very nice if this led to a more genial relationship with North Korea. Yeah, they need to make some changes first, but .... it's a start.JDoors, you and I agree on something! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sultan_emerr Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 It would be very, very nice if this led to a more genial relationship with North Korea. Yeah, they need to make some changes first, but .... it's a start.JDoors, you and I agree on something! OMG!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 OMG!!! I bet we have different REASONS, however. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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