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Obama Imposes New Sanctions On North Korea In Response To Sony Hack

TheDemSocialist

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[h=2]Here’s the White House Press Secretary statement:[/h]
Today, the President issued an Executive Order (E.O.) authorizing additional sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This E.O. is a response to the Government of North Korea’s ongoing provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The E.O. authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the Government of North Korea. We take seriously North Korea’s attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a U.S. company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression.

As the President has said, our response to North Korea’s attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment will be proportional, and will take place at a time and in a manner of our choosing. Today’s actions are the first aspect of our response.


Read more @: Obama Imposes New Sanctions On North Korea In Response To Sony Hack

The thing that interests me the most here, is the last sentence in the White Houses press release. The "first aspect". Is that denying that the US government was behind the attack that lead to the DPRK's whole internet going completely dark? But always, more sanctions on the DPRK, expect the DPRK to try to make some noise with their petty rhetoric and actions.

 
Great, we are pressing forward with sanctions that will do little against a nation that may not have been directly involved in the Sony attack in the first place.
 
Great, we are pressing forward with sanctions that will do little against a nation that may not have been directly involved in the Sony attack in the first place.
You really have to have unreasonable hatred for the administration to make North Korea the victim in this.
 
You really have to have unreasonable hatred for the administration to make North Korea the victim in this.

No, I just question why the Sony hack is the excuse used for sanctions. There seems to be question on their involvement in this.
 
No, I just question why the Sony hack is the excuse used for sanctions. There seems to be question on their involvement in this.
I haven't seen any debunking. I've only read skepticism.
 
I'm surprised there were sanctions we hadn't already unleashed on that totalitarian hellhole.
 
No, I just question why the Sony hack is the excuse used for sanctions. There seems to be question on their involvement in this.

There were also several other reasons given for the sanctions as well other than just the Sony Hack.
 
I'm surprised there were sanctions we hadn't already unleashed on that totalitarian hellhole.

This is my concern, why all of a sudden now given North Korea's actions over the past several years?
 
And if Obama had not imposed these sanctions, GOP Senators like Rubio would be complaining.
As Rubio gets set to try to impose new sanctions on Iran.
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians .

There were also several other reasons given for the sanctions as well other than just the Sony Hack.
 
This is my concern, why all of a sudden now given North Korea's actions over the past several years?

Given their nation's hellish inner workings, pathetic threats, and all the sanctions we've already put, and rightfully so, on them, I don't know what you're whining about.
 
I'm supportive of this move, although as Van Basten notes there can't possibly be much in the way of sanctions that are left unused with little or no direct change in behaviour to date.

I'm surprised those who championed Obama's rapprochement with Cuba aren't calling for a similar move with North Korea. It's been a good 50 plus years that North Korea has been isolated by America and subject to American trade embargoes and other sanctions with no appreciable result - pretty similar to Cuba. Since many seem to believe that rapprochement with Cuba will lift the lifestyles of everyday Cubans and move the country away from communism and the Castros, why not try the same tactic in North Korea? Aren't you tired of the cost of stationing 40,000 American troops on the border of the demilitarized zone?
 
I'm supportive of this move, although as Van Basten notes there can't possibly be much in the way of sanctions that are left unused with little or no direct change in behaviour to date.

I'm surprised those who championed Obama's rapprochement with Cuba aren't calling for a similar move with North Korea. It's been a good 50 plus years that North Korea has been isolated by America and subject to American trade embargoes and other sanctions with no appreciable result - pretty similar to Cuba. Since many seem to believe that rapprochement with Cuba will lift the lifestyles of everyday Cubans and move the country away from communism and the Castros, why not try the same tactic in North Korea? Aren't you tired of the cost of stationing 40,000 American troops on the border of the demilitarized zone?

I see them as completely different situations. Cuba had normal relations with many countries outside of the US and managed to achieve a, while poor, decent life style for the citizenry. Not that I am commending them, rationing toilet paper is not a good thing under any circumstances nor are the conditions that cause that requirement. While Castro was an ass, he was not an insane almost comic book level supervillian.

NK is completely different. They are totally closed off even from their supportive neighbors like China and thrive on that situation (or the people at the top do, more specifically). I am not sure normalizing relations with them is even possible. NK's government would want that first and I see no evidence that they do. There is probably little we can do with them short of war and that would be a bloody guerrilla campaign (which they have been prepping for for half a century now) and frankly not worth the cost to treasure and lives in my opinion. I just don't see a way of getting them to open up right now that wouldn't be very bloody.
 
I see them as completely different situations. Cuba had normal relations with many countries outside of the US and managed to achieve a, while poor, decent life style for the citizenry. Not that I am commending them, rationing toilet paper is not a good thing under any circumstances nor are the conditions that cause that requirement. While Castro was an ass, he was not an insane almost comic book level supervillian.

NK is completely different. They are totally closed off even from their supportive neighbors like China and thrive on that situation (or the people at the top do, more specifically). I am not sure normalizing relations with them is even possible. NK's government would want that first and I see no evidence that they do. There is probably little we can do with them short of war and that would be a bloody guerrilla campaign (which they have been prepping for for half a century now) and frankly not worth the cost to treasure and lives in my opinion. I just don't see a way of getting them to open up right now that wouldn't be very bloody.

Fair enough, but the point remains the same. Sanctions and isolation has had little or no effect on the government structures of North Korea and the US in particular has spent hundreds of $billions, if not into the $trillions, isolating and containing them. China, in my view, is far more effective at containing North Korea and they have a far greater national interest in the area in continuing that containment. After 50 plus years of US supports and foreign aid, South Korea should be well able to defend themselves now, at least initially, if not completely.

I guess, as I get older, I'm more inclined to support a more isolationist approach to foreign affairs in Asia and the Middle East.
 
The most recent articles Ive seen indicate the SONY hack was an inside job done by disgruntled former employees and not North Korea.

"Stammberger said a team of nine analysts dug through data including Norse's worldwide network of millions of Web sensors, internal Sony documents and underground hacker chat rooms. Leads suggesting North Korea as the culprit turned out to be red herrings and dead ends, he said.
Instead, the data pointed to a former employee who may have collaborated with outside hackers. The employee, who left the studio in a May restructuring, had the qualifications and access necessary to carry out the crime, according to Stammberger.
Moreover, names of company servers and passwords were programmed into the malware that infiltrated the studio's network, suggesting hackers had inside knowledge of the studio's systems, Stammberger said."
Sony insider -- not North Korea -- likely involved in hack, experts say - LA Times

Sanctions are apparently a great idea for oppressive communist regimes NOT occupying Cuba...but one cant help but hope the reasons and rationale are at lest legit.
 
Fair enough, but the point remains the same. Sanctions and isolation has had little or no effect on the government structures of North Korea and the US in particular has spent hundreds of $billions, if not into the $trillions, isolating and containing them. China, in my view, is far more effective at containing North Korea and they have a far greater national interest in the area in continuing that containment. After 50 plus years of US supports and foreign aid, South Korea should be well able to defend themselves now, at least initially, if not completely.

I guess, as I get older, I'm more inclined to support a more isolationist approach to foreign affairs in Asia and the Middle East.

The time will be right when their government collapses, which may be soon given how unstable things are right now.

At least thats how I see it, i am far from a foreign policy expert though.
 
The time will be right when their government collapses, which may be soon given how unstable things are right now.

At least thats how I see it, i am far from a foreign policy expert though.

If the North Korean rule hasn't collapsed in over 50 years with far more stringent sanctions and economic impacts than on Cuba, what makes you realistically presume it's going to collapse anytime soon?

Yours is the reverse argument of those who supported the Cuba move who claimed that sanction hadn't gotten rid of the Castros so maybe it was time to try friendship and love.

I'm being a bit of a devil's advocate here since I support the North Korean move and thought the Cuban move was a mistake.
 
If the North Korean rule hasn't collapsed in over 50 years with far more stringent sanctions and economic impacts than on Cuba, what makes you realistically presume it's going to collapse anytime soon?

Yours is the reverse argument of those who supported the Cuba move who claimed that sanction hadn't gotten rid of the Castros so maybe it was time to try friendship and love.

I'm being a bit of a devil's advocate here since I support the North Korean move and thought the Cuban move was a mistake.

the old cult of personality is gone with Kim senior's death. It has nothing to do with sanctions, but internal power dynamics.
 
You really have to have unreasonable hatred for the administration to make North Korea the victim in this.

You really have to be excessively partisan to make this about the administration, rather than the action itself.
 
the only sanction I approve of, in regards to NK, is.... "you get nothing ... ever... nothing, zip ,zilch , nada...we won't give to you, we won't sell to you, and we don't acknowledge you exist on this planet... please die."

the very least we can do, if we won't take direct actions against the unfathomable human rights denials there, is to completely and utterly ignore them.... let them all die.
 
the old cult of personality is gone with Kim senior's death. It has nothing to do with sanctions, but internal power dynamics.

I don't think the cult of personality has waned even a little bit... there's no evidence of it waning, anyways
 
The most recent articles Ive seen indicate the SONY hack was an inside job done by disgruntled former employees and not North Korea.

"Stammberger said a team of nine analysts dug through data including Norse's worldwide network of millions of Web sensors, internal Sony documents and underground hacker chat rooms. Leads suggesting North Korea as the culprit turned out to be red herrings and dead ends, he said.
Instead, the data pointed to a former employee who may have collaborated with outside hackers. The employee, who left the studio in a May restructuring, had the qualifications and access necessary to carry out the crime, according to Stammberger.
Moreover, names of company servers and passwords were programmed into the malware that infiltrated the studio's network, suggesting hackers had inside knowledge of the studio's systems, Stammberger said."
Sony insider -- not North Korea -- likely involved in hack, experts say - LA Times

Sanctions are apparently a great idea for oppressive communist regimes NOT occupying Cuba...but one cant help but hope the reasons and rationale are at lest legit.


Heya VM. :2wave: I saw that to. I had this up in Northern Lights Thread on something similar.




This is Lizard Squad, the nebulous hacker group now tied to the Sony hack......

Best known among gamers, Lizard Squad is both despised and revered for their seemingly random assaults on the video game world. They've claimed attacks on Call of Duty, Xbox, Sony Playstation, and now are being linked to the Sony Pictures hack. And now, at least one security firm is tying Lizard Squad to the Sony hack. Earlier this week, Los Angeles cybersecurity firm IntelCrawler told Bloomberg that both Lizard Squad and Guardians of Peace, the unknown group that has taken credit for Sony, share the same hacking timelines and slang.

The nebulous group was able to take these servers down through a DDoS, or distributed denial of service, attack in which it directed Internet traffic to overwhelm its targets' servers. Less than a week later, Lizard Squad made headlines when it tweeted a fake bomb threat to American Airlines and successfully grounded the plane. Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley was on the flight.....snip~

This is Lizard Squad, the nebulous hacker group now tied to the Sony hack - CSMonitor.com


http://www.debatepolitics.com/break...not-hack-sony-according-security-experts.html
 
You really have to be excessively partisan to make this about the administration, rather than the action itself.
I think we're more in agreement than you think.
 
I think we're more in agreement than you think.

Not when it comes to you automatically accusing anyone who questions these sanctions of being blinded by hatred for the Obama administration. I like Obama on some things, I dislike him on others. This is one of the things he has done while in office that I vehemently disagree with. Has nothing to do with partisanship or my personal opinion of the man and I'm sure the same could be said for OrphanSlug, who seems to be largely unpartisan from what I've seen.
 
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