“It is interesting that the White House would be dismissing it, because what you’ve got is an imminent action by the North Koreans, which violates their U.N. security council obligations,” Evans Revere, a former principal deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs in the George W. Bush administration, told me.
Revere, who met with North Korean leaders as recently as February, says the launch also violates an agreement established between the United States and North Korea, and shows North Korea is serious about refining its intercontinental ballistic missile capability.
“I’m not suggesting we should panic, I’m not suggesting the end of the world is near. But it is an important event,” Revere said.
Vietor disagrees: “This is just a rerun of a bad propaganda film that we’ve seen before,” he said.
UPDATE: Vietor emails some of President Obama's remarks from his recent trip to Korea, emphasizing that the administration takes the launch seriously:
We discussed regional security, and that obviously includes the issue of North Korea. Last month, North Korea agreed to a series of steps, including a moratorium on long-range missile launches. This month, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a missile launch. As President Lee mentioned, this would constitute a direct violation of Pyongyang’s own commitments and its international obligations. Moreover, it would only deepen North Korea’s isolation, damage further its relations with its neighbors, and seriously undermine the prospect of future negotiations.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/04/white-house-warns-media-on-north-korea-119998.htmlLet me get this straight......instead of warning NK he is warning his fawning press?
