North Korea

Thursday September 22, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 22, 2022

Putin flirts again with grim prospect of nuclear war – this time he might mean it

“This is not a bluff.”

February 25, 2022

The message from Vladimir Putin’s ominous morning speech, which marked the biggest escalation of the Ukraine war since the invasion on 24 February, was clear: Russia is willing to use nuclear weapons if Ukraine continues its offensive operations.

While the longtime Russian leader has previously flirted with the grim prospect of using nuclear weapons, experts say his latest statements went further, raising fears around the world of an unprecedented nuclear disaster.

Addressing the nation on Wednesday, Putin confirmed he was planning to annex four partly occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine after this weekend’s Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums”.

He added that he was prepared to use “all means” to defend the “territorial integrity” of the Russian-occupied lands and their people.

February 18, 2005

“Putin’s statements go beyond the Russian nuclear doctrine, which only suggests Russian first use in a conventional war when the very existence of the state is threatened,” said Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher in the Weapons of Mass Destruction and other Strategic Weapons Programme at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.

Ukraine, which has been making rapid military gains over the past few weeks, has stressed that it will continue its efforts to liberate occupied lands, with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, stating on Wednesday that referendums will “act step by step to liberate our country”.

This means Putin’s resolve will probably be tested in the coming weeks.

Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian politics, also said Putin’s nuclear threats were unprecedented but questioned whether the Russian leader was willing to go through with his threats, which would de facto mean nuclear war.

June 25, 2019

“It’s glib to assume anyone claiming they are not bluffing is bluffing, but the credibility of a threat to risk thermonuclear Armageddon if Ukrainian forces continue to move in territories still Ukrainian by law is questionable.”

Instead, Galeotti argued, the apocalyptic threats could have been intended to force the west and Ukraine into accepting Russia’s territorial gains in the war.

Zelenskiy, in an interview with the German newspaper Bild on Wednesday, likewise said he did not believe Putin would use nuclear weapons. “I don’t think the world will allow him to use those weapons,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader, however, did not rule out the possibility of a Russian nuclear strike, saying “we can’t look into Putin’s head”.

For millions of Russians, the most worrying takeaway from Putin’s speech will be that they and their loved ones could soon be fighting and dying for their president’s illusory aims. (The Guardian) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

Tuesday June 25, 2019

June 25, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 25, 2019

Will Iran get the North Korean treatment from Trump?

The Trump administration ratcheted up tensions with Iran last week, blaming the Islamic Republic for attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and for shooting down an unmanned American drone in what America claims were international waters. (Iran denied responsibility for the tanker attacks and claimed the drone overflew its territorial waters.) The administration was prepared to launch a series of strikes on Thursday, before the president called them off at the last minute.

May 11, 2018

Why the sudden reversal? Trump claims that he found out on the brink of giving the go-ahead that the casualty estimate for the strikes was as high as 150 people, which he — rightly — considered disproportionate to the Iranian offense (which caused no casualties). Others have noted that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, one of Trump’s favorite talking heads, has been whispering in the president’s ear, warning him away from his hawkish advisors and from starting a shooting war with Iran. Perhaps he deserves the credit for moderating the president’s stance?

Either or both explanation may be correct. But I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve seen this movie before.

January 16, 2018

In his first year in office, Trump promised “fire and fury” against North Korea, a rhetorical escalation that was met by similar threats from Pyongyang against American territory in Asia. Numerous observers were worried that America was on a path to a war. But after raising tensions, Trump dramatically dispelled them by agreeing to face-to-face talks with Kim Jong Un. Since their first summit, Trump has consistently touted his excellent personal relationship with the North Korean dictator and has responded insouciantly to both the failure of their talks to produce much of substance and to North Korea’s subsequent provocations.

Are we about to see a repeat performance, this time with Iran center stage? 

October 12, 2018

It’s not impossible. During his presidential campaign, Trump expressed limited concern about Iran as a threat, arguing against his predecessor’s nuclear deal primarily on the grounds that it was too favorable to Iranian interests. (He later withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in his first year in office.) Now, in the wake of calling off the strike, Trump has repeatedly called for patience in dealing with Iran and expressed a willingness to enter into direct, face-to-face talks with the Iranian president without preconditions, something he has expressed an openness to in the past. He has also reiterated that his concern is about Iran’s nuclear capability, implicitly sidelining concerns about human rights that have rarely exercised this presidency but also Iran’s regional ambitions and support for terrorism. (The Week) 

 

Monday December 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday December 24, 2018

A President In Praise Of Strongmen And Dictators

October 12, 2018

President Trump can be stinging and sarcastic. It’s part of his charm, for those who find it charming. He has the audacity of discourtesy, if you please, whether calling a woman “Horseface,” as he did this week, or ridiculing African nations as … something I quoted on the air only once.

But the president reveals a softer side when he talks about strongmen and dictators.

He’s said there may be “severe” consequences if Saudi leaders ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. But when the president received Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House last March, he told reporters, “We understand each other. Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation, and they’re going to give the United States some of that wealth, hopefully.”

July 18, 2018

The president has often been magniloquent in his praise of those who control the press, suppress dissent, and strike down dissidents. He praised Vladimir Putin, saying before the 2016 election, “The man has very strong control over a country. Now, it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president.”

When Bill O’Reilly, then of Fox News, called Putin “a killer,” Trump memorably replied, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”

The president lauded President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, while human rights groups say his police and vigilante groups killed more than 7,000 drug dealers and drug users, without arrest or trial.

June 12, 2018

“Many countries have the problem, we have a problem,” Trump told him, “but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

President Trump celebrated with President Xi of China when his parliament prepared to approve a change to allow President Xi to stay in office indefinitely. “I think it’s great,” Trump told him at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “Maybe we’ll give that a shot some day.”

And of course the president has gotten almost dewy-eyed over Kim Jong Un of North Korea, telling Fox News, “He’s got a very good personality, he’s funny, and he’s very, very smart.” Later he told a rally in West Virginia, “He wrote me beautiful letters. And they’re great letters. We fell in love.”

Flattery is free, and presidents have sometimes had to praise despots — Stalin during World War II, or Mao Zedong when the door to China was thrown open — for larger national interests. President Trump often scores political points with sarcasm. But when the president pours praise on so many despots, he sounds nothing but sincere. (Source: NPR) 

 

Tuesday June 12, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 12, 2018 

Escalating Clash With Canada, Trump Is Isolated Before North Korea Meeting

June 9, 2018

President Trump escalated a bitter clash with some of America’s closest allies on Sunday, lashing out through his advisers at Canada’s prime minister in unusually personal terms and leaving himself with a diplomatic crisis as he arrived in Asia to negotiate a nuclear agreement with North Korea.

A day after Mr. Trump refused to sign a communiqué of the Group of 7 major industrial economies, he and his advisers went on the attack, accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “betrayal” and a “stab” in the back, even as Canada, Germany and France pushed back against what they called the American president’s “insult” and “inconsistency.”

June 2, 2018

The exchange left Mr. Trump estranged from America’s partners at the very moment he is about to stride onto the most important world stage he has assumed since taking office. Aides attributed his outburst over the weekend to his feeling undercut as he prepared to meet with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, while critics said he had stiff-armed his friends at the expense of a unified front.

Whether Mr. Kim sees Mr. Trump’s combative approach as a sign of strength or weakness, the rupture with other major powers was sure to shadow the session between the two in Singapore on Tuesday, the first time leaders of the United States and North Korea will have met in person. Mr. Trump’s strategy for pressuring Mr. Kim to give up his nuclear weapons has depended on isolating North Korea, but he arrived in Singapore looking isolated himself.

March 10, 2018

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Robert D. Hormats, who advised Republican and Democratic presidents at a dozen Group of 7 summit meetings, starting at the first in Rambouillet, France, in 1975, when it was still the Group of 6.

“The irony is this institution that was designed largely by the United States was really designed to shore up alliances and political relationships and resolve economic issues. This just served to do the opposite of that.”

The latest meeting, held in Canada, was tense amid disputes over trade, security and other issues. But after negotiators for all seven countries crafted a final communiqué that even the reluctant American delegation agreed to, Mr. Trump abruptly lashed out on Twitter from Air Force One on Saturday night.

October 11, 2017

He refused to sign the communiqué, saying Mr. Trudeau had made “false statements” at an end-of-summit news conference, and calling the Canadian leader “dishonest & weak.”

By Sunday morning, Mr. Trump’s aides were adding fire to the attack on Mr. Trudeau. Larry Kudlow, the president’s economic adviser, said that Mr. Trudeau’s comments were “a betrayal” and that he had “stabbed us in the back.” Mr. Trump “is not going to let a Canadian prime minister push him around,” Mr. Kudlow said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program, adding, “He is not going to permit any show of weakness on the trip to negotiate with North Korea.” (Source: New York Times) 

 

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Saturday June 9, 2018


Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday June 9, 2018

Trump at G7: misses Macron meeting, suggests bringing Russia back

President Donald Trump sounded defiant departing for the Group of 7 summit on Friday, vowing to confront the leaders of America’s closest allies over trade. But he arrived so late to the conference in remote Canada that he missed his first scheduled sit-down. And he’s planning to cut short his visit by several hours a day later.

May 1, 2018

The series of events opened what promises to be a day-and-a-half of open animosity between Trump and infuriated western leaders, who are intent on airing their grievances before the President departs for his talks in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The stark reality of a US president skipping out on fuming western allies to have what he’s described as a “friendly negotiation” with the North Korean despot has not been lost on diplomats and leaders assembled in the Canadian woods.

And Trump has done little to ease their jitters.

December 17, 2016

He suggested just before touching down in Quebec that Russia should be allowed to rejoin the summit after five years in exile — a break in the united front allies had hoped to put forward against Moscow’s destabilization efforts in the US and Europe.

The remark seemed destined to only escalate the existing tensions between Trump and the six other leaders gathered at a riverside resort here. The annual G7 conference is usually a fairly news-free endeavor, with agreements on the global economy hammered out well before world leaders gather for two days of talks.

This year the normally staid affair has been imbued with uncertainty and bitterness. Few expect the assembled leaders will even agree on language for a joint “communique” that typically concludes the summit.

May 24, 2017

In the mid-afternoon, Trump emerged with fellow world leaders and smiled broadly for a “family photo.” The underlying tensions weren’t visible as the Saint Lawrence River glinted in the background. But the group retreated quickly behind closed doors for the start of their talks.

Before leaving the White House, Trump previewed a harsh tone for his foreign counterparts.

“We’re going to deal with the unfair trade practices,” Trump said. “If you look at what Canada, Mexico, the European Union, all of them have been doing to us for many, many decades, we have to change it. And they understand it’s going to happen.”

Trump was initially due to meet mid-morning with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who he’d lambasted a night earlier on Twitter. But Trump emerged from the White House South Portico 30 minutes late on Friday morning, and spent another 20 minutes talking to reporters. (Source: CNN) 

 

 

Meanwhile, today the U.S. President embarks on his first trip to Canada to discuss trade issues… #lotsanews

Posted by Graeme MacKay – editorial cartoonist on Friday, June 8, 2018

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