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On "This Week", George Stephanopoulos asks Susan Rice, our U.N. Ambassador, about which avenues the U.S. will pursue after North Korea's missile launch:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is the United States prepared to pressure China?

RICE: We're working very closely with China. China shares the same goal that we do, which is a de-nuclearized Korean Peninsula. China also is very proximate, on the border with North Korea, and shares our desire not to see this situation escalate, and to ensure that we can achieve, George, the long-term goal, which is de- nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the six-party talk process.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But because China is right on the border of North Korea, they've been reluctant to really pressure North Korea. They're afraid that if you turn the screws too hard on North Korea, the regime is going to collapse and there's going to be chaos.

And is that why they are not going along with tougher sanctions?

RICE: Well, I think they have multiple concerns. They are looking at the large long-term goal of ensuring that we don't have a nuclearized Korean Peninsula. There have been times when we have differed as to the best means of achieving that.

But we are unified with China and others in the six parties towards the goal, George, of ensuring that we roll back this nuclear program that North Korea is pursuing.

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Via Talk Left, this disconcerting news:

President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans. Still under debate is whether to allow exceptions in extraordinary cases.

[...] Obama's changes may not be absolute. His advisers are considering adding a classified loophole to the rules that could allow the CIA to use some interrogation methods not specifically authorized by the Pentagon, the officials said. They said the intent is not to use that as an opening for possible use of waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

As Glenn Greenwald points out, such a "loophole" would constitute a violation of the UN Convention on Torture, codified as a crime under US law.

Big Tent Democrat:

If the AP is correct in its story, the incoming Obama Administration is contemplating committing crimes under US and international law. If this is what Obama plans to do, may I recommend that he first withdraw the United States from the UN Convention on Torture and ask for the repeal of US law that codified the Convention. Thus, while Obama may be engaged in barbarous actions, at least he will not be commiting a crime under US law.

Well! I know I feel better already...

    The International Atomic Energy Agency's head, Mohammed el-Baradei, has warned that the Agency faces an increasingly uphill struggle in its essential non-proliferation role due to a measly budget.

Opening the IAEA's annual assembly, Mohamed ElBaradei called for urgent steps to increase funding of the U.N. watchdog, modernise equipment and enhance its legal authority to verify the nature of nuclear programmes in suspect countries.

"We have really reached a turning point. Years of zero (real) growth budgets have left us with a failing infrastructure and a troubling dependence on voluntary support which invariably has conditions attached," he said.

"This is not just about money. We do not work in a political vacuum. Political commitment to the goals of the agency needs to be renewed at the highest level," ElBaradei told the IAEA's General Conference at its Vienna headquarters.

"It would be a tragedy of epic proportions if we fail to act (for lack of resources) until after a nuclear conflagration, accident or terrorist attack that could have been prevented."

The IAEA's budget, which at present stands at only 340 million euros ($490 million), must stretch to cover investigations of places like Iran, Syria (and soon maybe Israel -it's on the Agency's agenda finally), inspections in dozens of countries, testing, education programs and safeguard monitoring. El Baradei says that the Agency's work is presently "seriously compromised" by the lack of money.

Yet this might be OK with some nations, who apparently want the Agency hamstrung because they are consistently late in sending their contributions. Last July, the Agency warned that if some member nations didn't pay up quickly, it would be broke by September. In 2006, the Bush administration still owed the IAEA over a third of it's contribution, over $14 million. Enough money always does eventually come in to keep it operating, but there are suspicions that the money comes with strings attached, forwarding those nation's agendas in return.

Everyone says the IAEA is essential, but no-one wants to put their money where their mouth is. Maybe Obama should. It would be a good contrast to Republican zeal for bypassing arms control agreements and waving sabers at every opportunity.

I know this has been out there for a few days, but I had to post it. Hannity is the ultimate tool of the GOP, but I can't remember ever seeing him flip flop on a topic faster. We all know that this North Korean nuke deal is suspect to say the least, but Hannity fawns all over it in his opening to the segment until wingnut hero John Bolton attacks it and Hannity...well...see for yourself.

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transcript via Think Progress:

HANNITY: The news today brings a clear foreign policy victory for the Bush administration. But will the press report it that way? Joining us now for analysis, former ambassador to the U.N. and a Fox News contributor, John Bolton. What do you think this means?

BOLTON: I think it's actually a clear victory for North Korea. They gain enormous political legitimacy...In return, we get precious little. I think this is North Korea demonstrating again that they can out-negotiate the U.S. without raising a sweat.

HANNITY: Boy I tell you they've done it time and time again, and I'm sorta perplexed, Mr. Ambassador, to understand why we keep going back to the well knowing that they haven't kept the agreements in the past. Whatever happened to Reagan's "trust but verify"?

OMG, is this hysterical. Yes, will the press credit Bush with a monumental victory?----to---how could he be such a fool? The only fool is Hannity. Who needs Comedy Central when we have Sean . Should we even mention that since North Korea is one of Bush's Axis of Evil; isn't negotiating with them unthinkable? It made me think of this scene from Chinatown:

Mrs. Mulwray: I'll tell you, I'll tell you the truth.
Jake: Good. What's her name?
Mrs. Mulwray: Katherine.
Jake: Katherine who?
Mrs. Mulwray: She's my daughter.
Jake: (He slaps her.) I said, 'I want the truth.'
Mrs. Mulwray: She's my sister. (He slaps her again.) She's my daughter. (Slap.) My sister, my daughter. (Slap. Slap.)
Jake: I said, 'I want the truth!' (He throws her against the sofa.)
Mrs. Mulwray: ...She's my sister and my daughter!...My father and I - understand? Or is it too tough for you?

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Steve Clemons at The Washington Note wants to know why MoveOn.org shouldn't attack Petraueus but Bolton can smear entire National Intelligence Establishment?

On CNN this Tues, Yosemite Sam John Bolton, who previously has claimed that the threat from Iran's nuclear program is “Just like Sept. 11, only with nuclear weapons this time" and that he "absolutely" hopes that the Bush administration will bomb Iran in the coming months, insists his opinions remain unchanged following Monday's release of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. Blitzer tries to pin him down, but Bolton continues spinning every which way he can think of to downplay its findings throughout the entire interview.

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Here's just a snippet of the bamboozlement:

Bolton: Well, I think it's potentially wrong, but I would also say, many of the people who wrote this are former State Dept employees who during their career at the State Dept never gave much attention to the threat of the Iranian program. Now they are writing as (fingers quote) 'members of the intelligence community' the same opinions that they've had four and five years ago.

Blitzer: President Bush says he has confidence in this new NIE. He says they revamped the intelligence community after the blunders involving the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He says there's a whole new community out there and he has total confidence in what the National Intelligence Director is doing.

Bolton: Well, I don't ...

This is the same guy who claims he tried to get an Iranian diplomat fired after he delivered an offer of peace and reconciliation with the US from the highest levels of the more moderate (pre-Ahmadinejad) Iranian government back in 2003 (when we now learn they stopped their nuclear weapons program) following their cooperation in the war on al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Does anyone really think there's anything, and I mean anything, that the NIE could have said or for that matter, anything that Iran could possibly have done that could curb John Bolton's priaprism to drop bombs on them?

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On Friday, Yosemite Sam John Bolton was on Hannity & C to help Sean Hannity try and spin the newly released IAEA report out about Iran's nuclear program to insist that despite the report's findings, Iran is now "within one year of being capable of producing a nuclear weapon."

Now I don't pretend to know how far off Iran could be away from a nuclear weapon if it had a nuclear weapons program, which there is no evidence of, but if it did this news might move estimates up somewhat since the last IAEA report. DNI Mike McConnell estimated in February that Iran wouldn't have a nuclear weapon until 2015. Maybe an upcoming NIE will tell us more soon, but Bolton wanted to tell us more now.

When Alan Colmes asked him about "an Iranian diplomatic overture in 2003" after Iran had helped the US post 9-11 in Afghanistan that was ignored by the Bush adminstration. Bolton says "that 2003 story about an Iranian offer is a complete and utter fabrication " (see the former Iranian VP at the time confirm the offer was made in this PBS doc) in one breath and then says this in the next:

Alan Colmes: So everybody is lying about this? The Iranian ambassador is lying about it. The UN is lying. Everybody is lying about it.

John Bolton: The ambassador to France. a former Swiss ambassador who was a busybody. I recommended to Secretary Powell that we get the Swiss to fire that guy or we find a new protecting power (in?) Tehran.

What is he saying? Is he confirming there which he considered was a fabrication, but it wasn't, and that they didn't just ignore the offer, Bolton actually tried to get the messenger fired? It was nice to see Colmes actually press Bolton as hard as he did, and he really did, but he let that slide by without elaboration.

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Exhibit #12,984 of why our reputation on the world's stage has plummeted during the seven years of the Bush administration: John Bolton.  You have to love the logic of the neo-con crowd.  Appoint a blustery, combative idealogue with no concept of empathy or compromise, much less diplomacy, to represent the US around the world.   Like Juan Williams pointed out, Bolton's whole modus operandi is to get angry that every country doesn't defer to American interests.

I'd say that level of arrogant bullying and delusions of grandeur would be indicative of overcompensation for more inadequate parts of his person, but only Pammy Atlas would know for sure (sorry, I threw up in my mouth a little at the thought). 

Here is America's Diplomatic Face trying to put a good spin on the fact that he and his buddies were so wrapped up in their insane domino theory for domination in the Middle East that we dropped the ball in Pakistan:

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And here is Boltin' Bolton trashing the UN, the IAEA and Chief Inspector Mohammed alBaradei for daring to deny the official Bush Administration's stance on Iran's nuclear program.

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Transcripts below the fold

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Reuters Via Yahoo:

The United Nations wants probes to determine whether private security contractors in Iraq have committed war crimes and for governments to ensure that the rule of law is applied, U.N. officials said on Thursday.

Ivana Vuco, the U.N.'s senior human rights officer in Iraq, told a news conference that private security contractors were still subject to international humanitarian law and that meant there were specific consequences for any breach.

"Investigations as to whether or not crimes against humanity, war crimes, are being committed and obviously the consequences of that is something that we will be paying attention to and advocating for," she told a news conference. Read more...

Here's hoping the world body speaks up and makes these probes a reality. Congress is finally stepping up with legislation to hold these contractors liable for their crimes, but they need to be condemned world wide.

The Daily Show looks at the media buildup and the reality let down of the "clash" between Bush and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in competing speeches at the UN yesterday.

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Jeez, so it seems that Iran is not an aggressor nation, but a *passive aggressor* nation.

It looks like we found where Saddam hid those weapons of mass destruction...or do you suppose John Bolton was planning on taking out those ten stories he scoffed at?

CNN:

Workers found vials believed to contain the poison gas phosgene at a U.N. office building in New York Thursday.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said U.N. chemical weapons experts quickly secured the toxic material.

U.N. archivists for UNMOVIC, the U.N. chemical weapons agency, unexpectedly turned up samples of material from an Iraqi chemical weapons plant in old files.

The samples were in weapons inspectors' files dating back to the 1990s, but the substance is not believed to pose any immediate danger, U.N. officials said Thursday.

The building where the samples turned up is several blocks away from main U.N. Secretariat building along New York's East River. Tests found no toxic vapors in the offices, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. [..]

The material was taken from al-Muthanna chemical weapons plant north of Baghdad. The samples are sealed and have been there since 1996.

The samples were in containers that ranged in size "from small vials to tubes the length of a pen," Okabe said.

Ewan Buchanan, a spokesman for UNMOVIC, said the substances are in a sealed metal box and wrapped in a plastic bag, "so there is no immediate danger."

Ah....he's done so well in one Middle East crisis...I'm sure that Blair will do just fine in this new endeavor, won't he?

  Guardian UK: (h/t Gregory)

Tony Blair has landed a major diplomatic job as the international Middle East peace envoy, responsible for preparing the Palestinians for negotiations with Israel. His role, to be announced today, will be largely to work with the Palestinians over security, economy and governance.

Working from an office in Jerusalem, and possibly another in the West Bank, Mr Blair will become the special representative for the Middle East quartet of UN, EU, US and Russia. [..]

Friends of Mr Blair suggest he would make it a central purpose of his mission to work to restore Palestinian unity after the armed takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Islamist movement Hamas.

At times he has had to bend with an American willingness to bolster Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader, while ignoring the plight of 1.4m Palestinians in Gaza.

The idea of Mr Blair doing this job is understood to have originated with the prime minister himself in conversation with George Bush, who then suggested it to the UN. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is said to be a keen supporter and Washington was reported last night to have mounted "an enormous push" to ensure Mr Blair got the post.

Diplomats said there was some disquiet over the way US talks with Mr Blair were well advanced before any details were shared with the other quartet partners.

Hmmm....something tells me that Tony isn't exactly starting off on the right foot.

 When will the media ever get around to report about the Republican-led delegation that met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 1? Or will they just hold public hearings against Nancy before she gets back? CNN had on Bolton to whine about it yesterday...

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BOLTON: I don't think he's lost control, but this is a very confusing thing to do, and I think it's naive at best and possibly quite counterproductive. I'm at a loss to understand why Speaker Pelosi wants to do something like this.

Media Matters has more..

Greg Sargent has more on the NY Times hackery..."New York Times Doesn't Report Bush's Criticism Of GOPers' Syria Trip -- Only Mentions Attack On Pelosi"

  During his intellectual showdown with John Bolton Tuesday, Jon Stewart argued that Abraham Lincoln was a successful President because he brought his rivals into the cabinet to ensure all points of view were heard. His point was that the Bush administration is comprised entirely of yes men that share the same worldview which leads to stubborn and unpragmatic policies. Bolton quickly shot this down, telling Jon his historical account of Lincoln was flat wrong. In order to verify the point, Jon called up Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

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"Unless Mr. Bolton knows a different Abraham Lincoln from our 16th President, which I suppose is possible, I can categorically say, and hundreds of historians will back us up, you are historically right and he is historically wrong."

  Welcome to Iraq! UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ducked as a mortar/rocket BLAST hit behind in the the green zone...Surge on.

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Kyra Phillips from Iraq:

For [Maliki] obviously, this is just another day in Baghdad, something that happens in Iraq every day. You feel and the mortar attacks, They happen all around this country. But obviously, in this situation, it startled the new Secretary- General, his first trip to Iraq, quite a reality check for him.

A reality check..hehe, indeedy....

SilentPatriot: Apparently Banki didn't get Laura Bush's memo about that one pesky bombing.