Op-ed:

Iran...Vietnam Revisited...Maybe, Maybe Not

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor 

This opinion piece is my opinion alone, and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.or google.com 

...Simply, once Iran's nuclear facilities were left being but deep craters in the sand; once the head of the snake that is the terrorist regime was removed from its body; the fact is that not only did freedom for the Iranian people get knocked down a peg or two on Trump's “to do list,” but we and they saw their plight actually being replaced by what turned this war into Iran vs. the U.S. for control of the oil shipping corridor know as the Strait of Hormuz.

And here might I add that this, for the most part, unwanted war has a consequence few ever wanted to see in that not only has Iran not yet lost this war, but that we have not won said war either.

A very sad commentary on the war itself in that “We the People” were originally told by our president that the war would last but four to five weeks...a “short term excursion” he said...and yet this what still is a justifiable war is now actually expanding to one degree or another throughout countries in the Middle East. A time frame promised yet a time frame far from being adhered to no matter that Israel...that Netanyahu...wanted to finish this war...as in get the job done...last summer, but Trump emphatically told Israel “no,” that he wanted to give diplomacy a chance first, no matter his originally saying that Iran must “unconditionally surrender.”...Read entire article here.

Op-ed: 

Iran...Vietnam Revisited...Maybe, Maybe Not

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor

This opinion piece is my opinion alone, and does not necessarily represent the views of blogspot.or google.com 

Last summer when our “Operation Epic Fury” joined together with Israel's “Operation Roaring Lion” to successfully take out Iran's nuclear facilities we basked in the glory of an operation well done. And so too did the people of Iran...both the freedom fighters and protesters...who saw this as a long awaited sign that their decades long nightmare courtesy of an islamic regime run amok would soon be coming to an end, and that soon freedom coupled with free and fair elections would be returning to Iran in a relatively short period of time.

And so they patiently waited and watched as Israel “took out” most of the top tier of Iran's terrorist driven regime one-by-one until little was left of their tormentors, just the son of the now finally buried Ayatollah Khomeini...the son who still has yet to be physically seen...a man likely more dead than alive whose persona might well just be the face of the IRGC in disguise.

But sadly, what the Iranian people saw as last summer's victories being a true harbinger of freedom and peace has yet to be seen even after they had literally begged President Trump for help with Trump telling them that, “help is on the way.” But to this day, as I write this, said help, except for the bombs that go “boom,” has yet to arrive, now leading a growing number of folks to ask the question, “How did last summer's victories turn into the mess we now seem to be mired down in?”

Simply, once Iran's nuclear facilities were left being but deep craters in the sand; once the head of the snake that is the terrorist regime was removed from its body; the fact is that not only did freedom for the Iranian people get knocked down a peg or two on Trump's “to do list,” but we and they saw their plight actually being replaced by what turned this war into Iran vs. the U.S. for control of the oil shipping corridor know as the Strait of Hormuz.

And here might I add that this, for the most part, unwanted war has a consequence few ever wanted to see in that not only has Iran not yet lost this war, but that we have not won said war either.

A very sad commentary on the war itself in that “We the People” were originally told by our president that the war would last but four to five weeks...a “short term excursion” he said...and yet this what still is a justifiable war is now actually expanding to one degree or another throughout countries in the Middle East. A time frame promised yet a time frame far from being adhered to no matter that Israel...that Netanyahu...wanted to finish this war...as in get the job done...last summer, but Trump emphatically told Israel “no,” that he wanted to give diplomacy a chance first, no matter his originally saying that Iran must “unconditionally surrender.”

And here was Trump's first big mistake for in his saying “no” to Israel he either forgot, simply ignored, or was misinformed to the fact that wars must be either won or lost...there is no middle ground...and that diplomatic attempts at making deals with the enemy only prolongs a war even longer than it had to be. And such is indeed the case with Iran for not only did President Trump play the diplomacy game with avowed terrorists...a cardinal rule he so foolishly broke...but he actually gave these terrorists “extension after extension” even as they did laughingly cross his numerous “red lines” given...“red lines” they knew Trump never really had the courage to follow up on what with with “extensions” being seen by the enemy as a form of “capitulation”... “capitulation” unseen since the days of the highly unpopular Vietnam War.

And so in this still ongoing war with Iran, to put it in quite simplistic terms, we are right now in a stalemate of sorts with Iran for while we still see Trump...even after he ordered the bombings of Iran to continue in both scope and intensity after the recent Iranian caused deaths of three American service members stationed in Jordan and one in Iraq...not having ceased in his desire for a deal to be made to end this war...which again draws parallels to the last ditch attempts made to end the above stated Vietnam War back in the 1970's.

How so...because just like in Vietnam, Iran continues to militarily be able to fight back no matter what we throw at them or for how long.

Right from day one Trump misread the enemy...as in the islamic regime...just like we did with Vietnam back in the 1960's and '70's. How so...because in both wars we truly expected a very quick and easy “asymmetric” military victory. We thought we could “outgun” them, if you will, but instead the enemy's armies prevailed, and we ending up having to leave...to withdraw from Vietnam...in what was truly defeat in 1975. And now in Iran, and much to our surprise, we seem to have underestimated the sum total of their military equipment, hence Iran's ability to not just fight back, but to escalate the scope of the war itself.

And while the Iran war is not an actual protracted war of attrition per se...a war where victory is achieved solely by outlasting one's enemy as did happen in Vietnam with we being the enemy...we now as did Johnson and Nixon back then...never expected to be fighting against an enemy so dedicated to their cause...in Iran's case to an islamic ideology and mindset...that they were then just as Iran is now willing to give up everything if need be. And this includes down to the last man, woman, and child forfeiting their lives if need be...better that than to surrender or agree to make a deal just to be able to “save face” in the eyes of a now war weary world.

So here the question becomes two-fold, first can we prevent this war with Iran from turning into Vietnam revisited; and second can we see the war's end before this November's midterm elections or at least before the all-important 2028 presidential election?

To answer both parts of that question requires a five step answer, because we cannot allow Iran to claim any sort of victory by still being able to militarily cause havoc to Israel or its U.S. aligned Arab neighbors.

First: In my opinion, President Trump needs to publicly state that regime change is an absolute must along with the total dismantling of the IRGC, for without either action being taken we might find ourselves revisiting Iran sometime in the very near future.

Second: I believe the only way to prevent this war from becoming another Vietnam both logistically and time wise is by us securing a total, complete, and unquestionable military victory over Iran. We must no longer respond to Iran's still continuing military actions by just intensifying of our bombing raids, because while we are busy focusing on bombing, Iran is busy planning their next tactical move. And this matters because while Iran just might be buying time in an effort to take our focus off what are now their remaining military vulnerabilities, it could just as well be a “back channel” timed maneuver to secure more weapons through negotiations with countries that don't like us very much. And here I do not mean Russia or China, but Pakistan and North Korea.

Third: A conclusive end-game time frame must be put into place for us to be leaving Iran as the victor, because the last thing we want is another long drawn out war...read Vietnam and Afghanistan here...or to be deemed “military occupiers.”

Fourth: I strongly believe that we cannot and must not allow Iran to win the always ongoing PR war simply by their “winning by not actually surrendering.” A formal surrender is a must for to allow Iran to bypass that formality shows great weakness on our part...“capitulating” to the enemy even if it's just so that the enemy can garner some semblance of “saving face.” The optics of that on the world stage would for us be absolutely humiliating, as well as being a slap in the face to our military.

Fifth: I seriously doubt we will see the war with Iran being over before the midterm elections being less than four months away. Logistics and the war now extending into Iran's neighboring Gulf States has seen to that as it helps to bolster Iran's image of standing strong against the U.S. And as far as 2028 is concerned as long as JD Vance continues on in his defaming of Israel, as long as President Trump keeps spouting the words “ negotiation” or “deal,” we just might see not only two elections lost but Vietnam revisited. Case closed.

Copyright @ 2026 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

************************************************************************************************** For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article, The Iran War – Options vs. Alternatives Part 1.

**************************************************************************************************************************

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE! 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 21st from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Iran...Vietnam Revisited...Maybe, Maybe Not'; 'The Iran War – Options vs. Alternatives Part 1'; and important news of the day. Tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click 'LISTEN LIVE.'

Op-ed:

Unmasking the Truth About Biden's Domestic and Foreign Policies

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on Right Side Patriots Radio

 

Tuesday is Election Day and this election is probably the most important election since Ronald Reagan helped change the course of generational American politics. Ushering in a time of fiscal conservatism, we also saw on Reagan's watch the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall being torn down while America remained a symbol of hope for those still living under dictatorial oppression. And while the Clinton era saw us remaining somewhat economically strong, corruption and malfeasance tainted the White House via a President who was...and still is...morally corrupt. And the George W. Bush White House, though morally strong, saw us being dragged into wars some of which we sadly are still fighting today.

But nothing could have prepared us for a White House so rife with corruption, influence peddling, moral debauchery, and replete with a promise that only a “fundamental change” would save us...as in replacing our constitutional republic with socialism 101. And with Barack HUSSEIN Obama then the occupier of the White House, we also bore witness to our president becoming the ultimate divider as he willingly and with malice intended not only stirred the pot of racial discontent, but his policy initiatives, both foreign and domestic, clearly showed his goal was to destroy the very country he was elected to be steward of.

Thankfully, a non-politician...a businessman...named Donald J. Trump ended Obama's dream of Hillary Clinton becoming his defacto third term in office, And with his failure we saw American exceptionalism once again on display not just here at home but on the world stage as well. And the economy Obama helped to destroy began soaring as President Trump's economic policies helped to create a record number of jobs, allowed stifling regulations to be lifted, and saw American companies based overseas bringing manufacturing jobs back home...that is until a nasty little virus from China dealt a blow to our country that we're still in the process of recovering from.

And now we find ourselves at a crossroads for while we're seeing slow but steady economic recovery taking place after our economy was basically forced to shut down, President Trump is facing Obama's former Vice-President Joe Biden, a man as corrupt as Obama was, what with Obama's pretending to be all black.

Joe Biden...a puppet sold to the highest foreign bidder and a now proven to be liar...a man mentally, physically, and morally unfit to hold the office of President of these United States...now wants us to believe that he will do a much better job as president and commander-in-chief than the businessman who has garnered three Nobel Peace Prize nominations for his initiating the beginnings of peace and stability throughout the volatile Middle East region...a man whose economic policies not only saw black and Hispanic Americans better off financially than ever before, but whose policies enabled middle class Americans to keep more of their hard earned dollars in their own pockets, thus allowing consumer confidence to increase across all levels of the socio-economic board.

A man of the people vs. a bought-and-paid-for career politician...you'd think the choice would be easy, but with politics being what it is it seems that, for the masses, lies do become truth if repeated enough with the actual truth being buried by a media in cahoots with the liars. And sadly, it's then left to “We the People” to sift through all the political garbage to arrive at what we believe to be the truth...two truths actually that not only see the Democrats trying to steal the election...Joe Biden himself recently admitted just that in an October 24th interview with 'Politico' where he said, “we're in a situation where we have put together, and you guys did it for President Obama's administration before this, we have put together, I think, the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics”...but also that Joe Biden would not be president for long...as socialist mouthpiece Kamala Harris would soon be the occupier of the White House. Hope you all understand the ramifications of what I just said for with Kamala Harris comes the “Squad” and tag-along mouthpiece Nancy Pelosi.

And while that scenario will only happen if Joe Biden were to win, let's briefly delve a bit more into three key issues as the reason why Biden must not win. So let's start with the economy and but five of Biden's hushed up what would be disastrous economic policies...after all, the economy remains the number one issue for the majority of voters.

1. Joe Biden has repeatedly stated that he will raise taxes on day one of his administration and would start by repealing Trump's (highly successful) “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” and that he would then raise the U.S. corporate income tax rate to a rate even higher than that of Communist China...wouldn't that serve his family well. And Biden's claim that his plan would “ease the economic burden on working people” is a lie for his plan would actually see a family of four earning the median income of $73,000 now facing a $2,000 tax increase each year which directly violates Biden's pledge not to raise taxes on any American making less than $400,000 per year. And with his repealing the Jobs Act, which included doing away with the ObamaCare individual mandate tax, millions of low and middle-income Americans would again be forced to pay the then reinstated mandate tax to a tune of between $695 to $2,085.

2. Then there's his plan to lower Medicare eligibility to age 60, allowing those who wish to retire early to leave their employer plans, the public option, or any other plans they access through the (Un)Affordable Care Act...an act soon to be known as BidenCare...and to do so even before they officially retire. What an additional monetary drain that would put on Social Security, a program already facing serious monetary issues. Now couple those issues with Joe Biden's promise that any federal cost associated with this option would be financed out of “general revenues” in the hope that it would protect the Medicare Trust Fund is but also a lie, thus forcing we taxpayers to once again foot the bill for yet another Democrat disaster.

3. And Biden, the man who made it impossible for student loans to be forgiven with his " Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act," is now that he's running for president and needs the young adult vote, is all for forgiving student loan debt but only for low-income and middle class folks who have attended public colleges and universities. Forgiveness with a catch, for Biden's plan sees those who attend private colleges and universities, which always cost more than public funded schools, will get no debt relief whatsoever. Translation: attend one of our government sanctioned schools of higher indoctrination and you, dear comrade, won't have to pay a dime to do so.

4. Joe Biden has also vowed to convert the current deductibility of traditional retirement contributions into matching refundable credits for 401(k)s and IRAs, a change that industry experts warn could force some small companies to cut those benefits, thus directly affecting tax preferences of one's individual retirement accounts. And Biden's claiming that it would “level the playing field” of tax deferral in traditional retirement accounts while at the same time boost savings amongst low-income earners is pure nonsense, because by reducing the benefits that higher earners receive, Biden's plan actually increases the likelihood of businesses abandoning those retirement benefits altogether. And why...because it would place a crippling monetary burden on both small and large business owners while also reducing the net worth of one's long invested in IRA's and 401(k)s.

5. Also of economic concern is the farce known as climate change. Now catering to the progressive faction of his party, Biden just a few months ago released two new climate plans, one targeting a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035, and another he refers to as “environmental justice” that would see an investment of $2 trillion over four years going to climate solutions...as if he can control the “weather.” And Biden has also promised that we will achieve a 100% clean energy economy and reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050...just more empty promises that cost money and that cannot logistically or dollars and cents wise be delivered without a substantially huge raise in our taxes.

And the second issue high on the list of what voters consider important is crime in America having increased tenfold while police departments are being defunded or actually being done away with...done away with in order to placate the wants of a small but vocal minority embedded within the minority of America's 12.4% black population. And here are four key areas where Joe Biden, as opposed to President Trump who remains totally supportive of law enforcement, is seen as pandering to said minority with his criminal justice plan which includes:

1. Cutting down on rates of incarceration; increasing government oversight of local police and prosecutors; increasing the rights and resources for those no longer incarcerated including providing them with “guaranteed housing” upon finishing their sentence...in other words Joe Biden's criminal justice plan would reward those who commit crimes; call to task those who help prevent crimes; while at the same time making America's streets less safe for we law abiding citizens.

2. Biden's criminal justice plan would also see $20 billion being allocated for a grant program to promote crime prevention among state and local governments (eliminating the all-important parent responsibility factor), while at the same time offering incentives (read bribes) to states that enact programs to reduce incarceration through measures like eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent crimes.

3. If elected, Biden says he will push the Justice Department to investigate police and prosecutors across the country for “questionable actions and misconduct;” will create a separate task force on “prosecutor discretion” to combat what they consider discrimination; and would not only call on the DOJ to focus on prosecuting “hate crimes,” but would increase federal funding for public defenders' offices but not for federal prosecutors.

4. And Joe Biden wants to end cash bail; end the use of private prisons; and do away with the death penalty. In other words, Joe Biden wants to make the prosecution of criminal offenses easier for public defenders to offset by legally removing the fear of serious punishment from those who commit crimes.

And the last key issue for voters is foreign affairs. And with President Trump now having garnered the aforementioned three Nobel Peace Prize nominations for helping to broker a deal that will bring peace to the Middle East, the very man who has always scorned senseless wars now finds himself up against the very man who actually voted for war...which Biden did in October 2002 when he voted to give then President George W. Bush the authority to “use force” in Iraq. And while he's still trying to justify that vote, Biden's current overall foreign policy platform is far more dangerous then that one vote was. And here are four reasons why.

1. Not so long ago Joe Biden uttered the words, “I want China to succeed” and “They're no competition for us”...but now the man who got rich off his and his son's dirty dealings with said communist nation wants us to believe he will get tough with China...I don't think so. And why...because as president, Biden would have to decide whether to keep or raise the billions of dollars in tariffs now being levied against Chinese imports; whether he'd stay with or renegotiate the partial trade deal Trump made with China; whether he'd continue the sanctions imposed on Chinese officials for their ongoing human rights violations; and whether he'd continue to cut off Chinese technology companies’ access to American intellectual property. And know that any decision Biden makes regarding China...even military decisions...would always be peppered by how it would affect the padding of his personal pocketbook.

2. Joe Biden, who calls Russia “an opponent” and said, “Russia not China is the greatest threat to the 2020 election,” cannot be trusted to deal with Putin especially with the February 25, 2021 expiration of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) fast approaching. And if a new deal or at least an extension of the current treaty...a treaty that limits the size and strength of each country's nuclear arsenals...is not reached on or before the February date, then the threat of nuclear conflict with Russia increases. And instead of Biden working to better relations with Russia's leader, Biden has promised a “forceful response” (whatever that means) for both Russian election interference we have no proof even happened, and for Russia's alleged bounty payments to the Taliban that targeted American troops in Afghanistan, again something there's no proof positive of. Simply, Joe Biden's policy towards Russia is to negate any progress Trump has made in regards to what remains a verbal cold war.

3. As for Iran and North Korea...Joe Biden wants our country to reenter Obama's very bad nuclear deal (JCPOA) with Iran, the very deal Trump rightfully removed us from, no matter that Iran is no longer limiting its uranium enrichment capacity or nuclear research. And Biden not only sees diplomacy alone as the answer to a country hell bent on regional control, but he also wants to “ease up” on the very sanctions that have helped to keep Iranian aggression in check. And as for North Korea, as expected after Biden called Trump's meetings with Kim Jung-un just “photo-ops,” diplomacy alone is again Biden's course of action. In fact, Biden wants the U.S. to “engage our allies and coordinate with China” as the means by which to advance negotiations with Kim...cozying up to China again, huh Joe.

4. And then there's Biden's Middle East/Israeli policies key of which is his saying that he would not only do away with Trump's stance against Iran, his support for Saudi actions in Yemen, along with his setting aside criticism of the Saudi's domestic policies...policies which have allowed for both the kingdom’s policy shift regarding Israel and for the signing of the Abraham Accords by the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan...but that he will also reject Israel’s extension of sovereignty into any new... actually rightfully recaptured territory...by Israel as well. And Biden also stated that he would force Israel back to the negotiating table with the Palestinians and would push for a two-state solution, thus forcing Israel to compromise its security by turning over land it can ill afford to lose. Simply, Joe Biden would continue Obama's policies of stabbing Israel in the back.

And so, dear reader, when you go to vote this Election Day, please remember all President Trump has accomplished during these past four years and compare that with what I've laid out as to what a Biden administration will look like. Maybe now the choice will be easy as to which lever to pull...I truly hope for America's sake that it is.

Copyright © 2020 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All rights reserved.  

***************************************************************************************************************************                                                    For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot, to read his latest article, Biden - On a Foundation of Quicksand. 

**************************************************************************************************************************

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Tomorrow, Friday, October 30th, from 7 to 9pm EST,  RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Unmasking the Truth About Biden's Domestic and Foreign Policies'; 'Biden - On a Foundation of Quicksand'; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on rspradio1.com. Click 'LISTEN LIVE' starting at 6:50 pm EST with the show beginning at 7pm EST.

Op-ed: 
Negotiations on Hold...But for How Long 
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

“Sometimes you have to walk.”
- President Donald Trump's words after the failed Vietnam Summit

It was a summit too many expected too much from...68 years of animosity cannot be expected to end overnight... yet it was a summit that saw truly unrealistic demands being made by one country's leader while the other country's leader held strong by simply walking away. After all, the demands that were made were at best but a bad joke.

So by now we all know that the Vietnam Summit between President Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un...their second summit in under a year...ended with no agreement being reached regrading denuclearization in exchange for sanctions being lifted. And even though President Trump stated that no fair proposals were made, and with Kim Jong-un of course countering that fair proposals were indeed made but not accepted, thankfully no harsh words of personal condemnation were made by either man.

Simply, President Trump turned his back on negotiations going nowhere and walked away with both a luncheon and the hoped for photo-op signing ceremony being cancelled...a signing ceremony that was to be like last years truly historic diplomatic breakthrough where both Trump and Kim Jong-un signed a document in Singapore agreeing to work towards the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." 
 

Seems the North Korean dictator had his fingers crossed behind his back or at the very least sneakily and ever so calculatedly misled the world...as some of us always expected he would do.

And how right President Trump was to simply walk away because Kim Jong-un not only wanted Trump to lift all...yes all...international sanctions against his country in exchange for the dismantling of his main Yongbyon nuclear facility...one of many nuclear facilities...but Kim Jong-un wanted...demanded...those sanctions be lifted before he would even entertain the prospect of committing to total denuclearization...with total meaning the shutting down of secretive missile and warhead programs as well.

Unacceptable for sure, especially when President Trump simply asked Kim Jong-un to please do more regarding his “intentions to denuclearize,” with Kim's answer being that he was “unprepared to do that” at this point in time. This left our president with no other choice but to end these “dog and pony show” negotiations post-haste while at the same time wisely choosing to end the talks on a somewhat amicable note. This allowed Trump to leave Hanoi and fly back to Washington with the door open for possible future talks between the two men...two men who obviously live in what amounts to being two totally different whelms of both reality and truth.

And by the simple act of Trump's turning his back and walking away...for he is no enemy condoner nor placator as was his predecessor nor will he make what he truly knows is a very bad deal simply to say he made a deal...President Trump actually, but obviously not intentionally, publicly humiliated the man he once referred to as “little rocket man.” I guess Kim Jong-un forgot that while he was making his unreasonable demands that it's we...the United States of America...who call the shots not him. 
 

So what was Kim Jong-un left to do but to try and “save face”...something very important in oriental culture...and he tried to do so by claiming that it was President Trump alone who made an realistic proposal about lifting the sanctions. In fact, adding to Kim's words and in a rare press conference, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho stated that the original deal put forth at last summer's summit in Singapore was that if even “some of the sanctions” were lifted only then would his country close its Yongbyon nuclear facility. 

Continuing on, Ri Yong Ho added that Kim Jong-un was ready to offer "in writing" a permanent halt of the country’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, and that Washington had wasted an opportunity that “may not come again.”

But we all know or should know that is simply not true as President Trump has always stated that all...as in each and every one...of North Korea's nuclear facilities must be fully dismantled or in the process of being dismantled before any sanctions are lifted, and he has not and will not rightfully waiver from that. 

America first for President Donald J. Trump...always has been...always will be...and was proven by his walking away.

  

So while this newest summit did indeed start on a high note, what with Kim Jong-un alluding during a question-and-answer session that he is "ready to denuclearize," and that, “If I’m not willing to do that, I won’t be here right now,” Kim Jong-un also for the first time answered a U.S. reporter's questions about not only his outlook for this summit...where he stated that, "It's too early to say. I won't make predictions. But I instinctively feel that a good outcome will be produced"...but also answered when asked if he was willing to allow the U.S. to open an office in Pyongyang. Saying, "I think that is something which is welcomable"...left President Trump to state that, "We're in position to do something very special.”

But, unfortunately, as we all know, sometimes things that start off good can end very badly, and this summit was one such thing for in the end it was all about lifting sanctions not about denuclearization, and thus came crashing to a screeching halt.

And that halt led Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in Hanoi with President Trump, to say, “We were hoping we could take another big swing when the two leaders got together”...and "We the People" were hoping that as well. Also saying that “lower-level diplomacy between the two sides could resume quickly,” directly led North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui to tell reporters that, “Mr. Kim was finding it difficult to understand why the U.S. left the talks,” and that the "young North Korean leader may have lost his will” to continue the talks. 

I guess citing age does have its advantages when one is being pushed into a corner...or so Kim Jong-un thinks.

So where does that leave our two countries at this point in time? First, we must give President Trump high praise for his not backing down or acquiescing to the rogue nation's leader just to keep him at the negotiation table. Second, with Kim Jong-un being pressured not just from the U.S. but from many of the world's nations...nations who are also telling him to dismantle his nuclear weapons program...it's that very international pressure that actually protects us and our allies from seeing a mushroom cloud appear over any of our respective countries.

And to give up that collective pressure before Kim Jong-un does capitulate and gives up his nuclear ambitions... which in the end he will ultimately be forced to do as his country is on the verge of total economic collapse...that giving up would put America, the world, and especially South Koreans...at risk.

How so for South Korea...South Korea desperately wants an actual formal "in writing" end to the Korean War as well as to begin constructive and lasting inter-Korean relations...family reunification most especially...and they believe that can only be accomplished by seeing a nuclear disarmament deal being both secured and put into effect between Washington and Pyongyang. It is as simple as that.

So as this summit ended not as expected, the political fallout here at home continues to ratchet up but surprisingly Congressional leaders, including some key Democrats, are praising President Trump in a surprising show of bipartisanship...but with some caveats that is.

Republicans are rightfully heralding Trump's decision to walk away, with Sen. Lindsey Graham retweeting Trump's, “it's better to walk away than sign a bad deal,” and with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that, “President Trump should be commended for walking away when it became clear insufficient progress has been made on denuclearization.” And McConnell also said that it was “smart" to meet with Kim Jong-un in both Singapore and Vietnam to show him the "economic prosperity" that is possible for his country if North Korea abandons its nuclear and missile programs.

And on the Democrat side there's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is usually out for Trump's blood, saying that President Trump surely “did the right thing by walking away and not cutting a poor deal for the sake of a photo op.” Then there's former Vice-President Joe Biden who while speaking at the University of Nebraska said that, “The president did the right thing by walking away." Even Obama's infamous National Security Advisor Susan Rice, also no fan of President Trump, stated in an NPR interview that, "For the United States to have agreed to lift all sanctions in the absence of real and complete denuclearization would have been a tremendous mistake."

But the infamous Nancy Pelosi played it both ways by first saying, “Mr. Trump was right not to take a bad deal,” but added that Mr. Kim was the “big winner” for having secured two personal summits with an American president and easing his country’s “pariah status” without having made any significant concessions. 
 
Can't let your hatred for President Trump go can you Nancy...Hillary lost...please for our country's sake get over it already.

In fact, some on both sides of the political aisle have said that President Trump actually “enhanced his bargaining position” by showing both the North Koreans and all the world that he was more than willing to risk short-term setbacks to achieve positive long-term goals...paramount of which is North Korea's total denuclearization. And what many seem to forget is that there needs to be not just a beginning, but a middle, and an end to diplomacy before any final and lasting agreement can be reached.

So while both sides are now licking their wounds, so to speak, after having returned to their respective home countries, they need to access the damages done by a summit gone bust. And as far as President Trump is concerned the only faux par...the only mistake...I believe he made was in taking Kim Jong-un's word that he did not know about the brutal treatment received by Otto Warmbier, the American college student who in 2016 was "detained"...jailed actually...in North Korea only to be returned to the U.S. in a coma in 2017, and who died soon afterward. Saying he will "take [Kim] at his word" that he was unaware of the torture was surely not a wise thing for our president to say about a man who for sport routinely murders his own people...that man's word should never be trusted nor believed.

But I wonder though if President Trump, the very man who secured Otto Warmbier's release, truly believes Kim Jong-un or was he somehow told to say what he said in order to keep the negotiations on track...only time will tell I guess.

And as for Kim Jong-un, even he has to know that it would make no sense for North Korea to exit negotiations at this stage of the game, or to start making threats, or even resume provocative acts like launching missiles into the Sea of Japan. His country's economy is in serious trouble, truly on the verge of collapse, and his people are starving...and starving people can only take so much before even they will start to fight back. And dare Kim Jong-un forget public perception for to act up now would only prove to the world that President Trump was correct for not trusting Kim’s assertions of his good intentions and improved behavior.

And while he cannot show outward weakness per se...he must “save face” after all...Kim Jong-un has not yet said "no" to another chance for negotiations...negotiations that have not been shutdown just sidetracked for awhile. And things can surely get back on track if only Kim would both stop lying and stop taking his "marching orders" from China. Kim Jong-un must instead start listening to the U.S., for on some level even he knows that his and North Korea's only hope for the future lies with America and with President Trump, and not with a country who would throw him under the proverbial bus if need and necessity be.

It cannot be said any clearer or more directly than that.

Copyright @ 2019 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved.

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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Craig Andresen's blog The National Patriot to read his latest article For Liberals...Truth is the New Hate Speech.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

Tuesday, March 5th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Negotiations on Hold...But for How Long'; 'For Liberals...Truth is the New Hate Speech'; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history...or on Tune-In at: https://tunein.com/radio/American-Political-Radio-s273246/

Op-ed: 
25 Years vs. 500 Days  
By: Diane Sori and Craig Andresen / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

It's been almost 70 years...70 long years of animosity and mistrust and it all came to an end on Tuesday, June 12th at around 2:30 am EST when President Donald J. Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un signed a document at the Singapore Summit putting the past behind, together signaling a new day not just for our two nations but for the world as well.

And getting to that new day has seen many bumps along the way but the fact is we're here now. And some are still in awe as to how we got here...and what took so long...but to understand that we must visit the past to truly appreciate the great possibilities the future now holds.

Let's start with the fact that U.S. policy towards North Korea has always been to “deter conflict” on the peninsula, prevent North Korea from developing both nuclear weapons and its corresponding delivery systems, and more recently forcing the North to improve its human rights record. At the same time North Korea wanted the removal of U.S. forces from South Korea, wanted to be recognized as a nuclear power and world “player,” and sought food and energy assistance via sanctions relief.

And while in the past there have been a few back channel communications via the DPRK Mission to the U.N., there have been no formal diplomatic contacts between the U.S. and North Korea since April 2012, with the collapse of the 'Leap Day Agreement' (LDA)...until Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met secretly with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang this past Easter Sunday.

But what was the 'Leap Day Agreement' and why did it collapse? The LDA was simply a “backdoor agreement” that saw North Korea agreeing to a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches, and uranium enrichment activity at Yongbyon while also allowing IAEA inspectors to monitor the moratorium on said uranium enrichment. In return, the U.S. agreed to provide North Korea with 240,000 metric tons of food aid. However, said agreement went by the wayside when on April 13, 2012 North Korea launched its Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung.

And basically dead silence until then, but to understand the true complexities of a situation that did not end until Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un shook hands on a stage in Singapore, one must go back to where it all began... back to the end of World War II when Korea was divided into two “spheres of influence” along the 38th parallel with the U.S. controlling south of the line and Russia controlling the north, later on ceding their “influence” to China. Then on June 25, 1950 after the Soviets boycotted the U.N. Security Council over their decision to exclude China from membership, then-U.S. President Harry Truman secured a resolution to use force against North Korea after the North Korean Communist army...equipped with Soviet weapons...crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the south in an attempt to take the entire peninsula as their own.

And so the Korean War began.

By the time the war...the “police action” as we called it... ended on July 27, 1953 after then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower threatening to use nuclear weapons to end what was a stalemate...three million North Koreans, one million Chinese, 58,000 American soldiers, and close to one thousand British troops lay dead. However, while Communist expansion was halted to some degree and many prisoners were exchanged, no official peace treaty between the two Korea's was signed, instead a supposedly in good faith “armistice”...an armistice which was supposed to lead to eventual talks to end the political discourse... created the Korean 'Demilitarized Zone' which officially separated North and South Korea, and does so to this day.

And while some claim the creating of such a zone was ground zero of the Cold War...it was not...what it did do was set policy for future American presidents in their dealings with North Korea...especially in regards to capitulation which remains a touch point with Kim Jong-un. And know that any discussions between our country and North Korea must allow Kim Jong-un to “save face” with total capitulation not an option. That's why Kim is pushing so hard for an official peace treaty to be put in place between the two Koreas, because he deems a peace treaty as a necessary formality to the achievement of security on the peninsula...security for his regime most especially...security without capitulation.

In fact, back in 1974 in a letter to Congress, then leader Kim Il-sung publicly invited the U.S. to join negotiations for a peace treaty to replace the armistice. Neither the Nixon nor the Ford administrations responded to this request, and when Kim Il-sung again raised the idea of working on a peace treaty with Jimmy Carter as usual nothing was done...in fact Carter wanted to withdraw American forces from South Korea thus leaving the South ripe for North Korea's picking. Talk about capitulation...for the wrong side that is.

And while our beloved Ronald Reagan increased U.S. troop numbers in the South in an effort to keep North Korea in check, he for whatever reason was philosophically opposed to a peace treaty. And while his successor, George H.W. Bush, withdrew nuclear weapons deployed abroad and reduced U.S. troop numbers in South Korea somewhat, he too did not seriously consider negotiating a peace treaty...thankfully President Trump does.

And then there's President Bill Clinton, who actually visited North Korea in 2009, and here is where all really goes down hill for here is where capitulation sadly becomes America's middle name. Remember, Lyndon Johnson already capitulated to the North in 1968 with that shameful admission of spying so as to secure the release of the captured USS Pueblo crew. But now to make matters worse than just admitting things that were not true, comes Billy-Boy Clinton throwing money at a problem which allowed North Korea to become even more embolden as we see capitulation...on our part...becoming the rule of the day.

Let's start with the fact that Bill Clinton did broker a deal with North Korea in October 1994 over its threat to go nuclear. Negotiating a deal known as the 'Joint Framework Agreement' in which the North promised it would freeze and eventually dismantle its graphite-moderated reactors and related facilities in exchange for alternative energy, economic, and diplomatic benefits...including two light-water reactors which were believed to be more difficult to use to make weapons than North Korea's already in existence plutonium reactor. However, what this $4 billion deal actually was, was the ultimate capitulation known as bribery in the sense that sanctions against the North would be lifted as soon North Korea signed on the dotted line thus allowing money to flow back into a country who leaders could not be trusted to keep their word or honor any agreement signed.

And of course this agreement failed...and thankfully it did...with North Korea now seeing itself as being listed as a “rouge regime” under George W. Bush after admitting they had been secretly conducting a nuclear-weapons program for several years. Now withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...a treaty whose intent they had no intention of following anyway...North Korea now revved up it's nuclear program.

And that brings us to Barack HUSSEIN Obama and his dealings...or should I say capitulation...in regards to North Korea...with capitulation in this case being his usual weak stance of leading from behind. Remember, throughout his presidency Obama criticized North Korea for testing nuclear weapons and starving his own people all while he begged China to step in to help him tone down North Korea's rhetoric and aggression. Begging... the leader of the world's strongest nation could not handle North Korea's continuing threats against the U.S. all by his lonesome it seems. If that's not capitulation we don't know what is...if that's not failed diplomacy bordering on cowardliness we don't know what is.

Now as for President Trump, we see in him a strong leader who not only leads from the front, but a leader who calls all the shots. Deeply affected by the death of Otto Warmbier...the young man held by the North Koreans for stealing a souvenir poster...the young man released by his captures solely so his death wouldn't happen on their soil...Otto's death set in motion the chain of events that led up to two once adversaries shaking hands with the above stated promise to leave the past behind helping to set the doomsday clock back a bit.

And the plight of Otto Warmbier was only the beginning of the 500 days, but it clearly set the tone for the event that would make history.

From President Trump’s first days in office and following his campaign promises to get tough on North Korea, the president embarked in a war of words and actions that turned the tide in the long stalemate between the two countries.

To fully understand the president’s first 500 days with regards to North Korea, one really needs to go back to the 2016 campaign where in a debate then candidate Donald Trump called North Korea’s regime leader, Chairman Kim Jong-un a maniac. “Nobody ever mentions North Korea, where you have this maniac sitting there, and he actually has nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and perhaps a couple of other places. But certainly North Korea.”

Even before becoming a presidential candidate back in 2013, citizen Donald Trump had North Korea on his mind, tweeting in 2013, “North Korea is reliant on China. China could solve this problem easily if they wanted to but they have no respect for our leaders,” adding a month later in April 2013, “North Korea can’t survive, or even eat, without the help of China.”

And even before that Donald Trump had a clear and unobstructed view of North Korea when he told Tim Russert in an interview, "Do you want to do it in five years when they have warheads all over the place, every one of them pointing to New York City, to Washington and every one of us, is that when you want to do it, or do you want to do something now?” Trump said. “You'd better do it now. And if they think you're serious...they'll negotiate and it'll never come to that.”

But one could look at April 2013 as the moment Donald Trump set the tone for his first 500 days in office when via a tweet he warned Obama, “Our President must be very careful with the 28 year old whack job in North Korea. At some point we may have to get very tough-blatant threats.” And just months before the 2016 election candidate Trump floated that he would be willing to hold talks with the North Korean regime leader, and when the inevitable blow back came his way Trump’s response was classic Trump...“What the hell is wrong with speaking? It’s called opening a dialogue.”

The rhetoric by now is well known, referring to Kim Jong-un as the “little rocket man,” making it known that as president, Trump had a bigger red button on his desk that worked better than the one on the North Korean leader’s desk. Telling the world a year ago, in June of 2017 that the “era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed,” and then on August 8, 2017 amid the “little rocket man’s” continuation of firing ballistic missiles over the heads of our allies in the region, President Trump issued a dire warning...“fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.” The President then added..."Let’s see what [Kim] does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before – what will happen in North Korea.”

The escalating rhetoric had the mainstream media spreading fears of a nuclear war with North Korea and questioning President Trump’s fitness for the office because of it, but what they didn’t realize or want to admit, was that there was a method to that rhetoric, and that Trump was right to use it.

As a businessman, Donald Trump often had to get tough with those unwilling to make a deal, and as the president he understood the only tone that a rogue dictator like Kim Jung-un would respect is strength. If President Trump really wanted to bring North Korea to the table he would first have to get the attention of North Korea's leader... something no president over the past quarter of a century had been able to do...and President Trump knew exactly how to do it.

President Trump knew that the one and only way to deal with Kim Jong-un was face-to-face. Kim wasn’t going to respect the prospect of meetings between underlings...as in Secretaries of State or U.N. Ambassadors...it would have to be the two leaders themselves or it would simply be a repeat of the last 25 years.

Also, from his first day in office, President Trump knew what his predecessors either couldn’t bring themselves to embrace or in the case of Obama, steadfastly refused to acknowledge...acknowledge that the U.S. had the upper hand. President Trump knew that the U.S. could put trade pressure on China and promise to ease some of that pressure should China take steps to pressure Kim Jong-un...and militarily Trump knew that North Korea was no match for U.S. might.

Previous presidents, both the Bush's and Bill Clinton, had worried far too much about the optics of meeting one on one with any North Korean leader, and feared the political fallout should they even suggest such a thing. So their answer to North Korea was a decade’s long series of bribes and payoffs that North Korea gladly took advantage of and had no respect for. Obama even sent then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over for a handshake knowing it was but a facade, and that North Korea was aiding and abetting his pals in Iran with their nuclear weapons program. Obama didn’t want to do anything against or with North Korea as long as North Korea was assisting Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

President Trump knew that as businessman Trump, if he and in this case the U.S. held the upper hand, that great risks often produce great rewards, and setting up a one-on-one, face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong-un was a great risk...but that if done right, it could result in great rewards.

President Trump knew that he and only he had to be in complete control of any such meeting or summit, and he made absolutely sure of it with one last volley of rhetoric when he called the now arranged summit off on May 24th of this year...and Kim Jong-un sent his top envoy, Kim Yong-chol, to the White House begging for the summit to be put back on the calendar.

Just eight days after pulling the plug on the June 12th summit, President Trump, then firmly in control of the entire situation, announced that he would travel to Singapore and meet with Kim Jong-un on June 12th.

In a mere 500 days, President Trump used every tool at his disposal combined with a firm knowledge that the U.S. held the upper hand, and accomplished what no other president since the dawn of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program had been able to do...he brought the North Korean leader to the table and opened an official dialogue...face-to-face...that was to say at the very least...historic.

This of course leaves the question…what can we expect going forward from this point?

To begin, we do not expect North Korea to change overnight is completely unrealistic and we don’t believe that President Trump believes they will, but we do expect some positive actions in a relatively short period of time.

There is a great deal of work to be done setting up the ground rules for what is expected or desired from North Korea. Remember, what was signed on June 12th by President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un was only a document...a declaration to begin the process of desired changes. It was not a “deal” per se as many mainstream media sources are trying to portray it.

We expect Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to be meeting soon with his North Korean counterpart to begin hammering out details which will include the close oversight of the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. Such oversight will likely include officials from the IAEA, South Korea, and from the United States as well.

Before the dismantling can begin it will be necessary to send in investigators to verify exactly what North Korea has and where they have it, closely monitoring the situation to make sure elements of their nuclear weapons program aren’t being moved and hidden away from such inspectors...something the George W. Bush administration accused North Korea of doing. And North Korea's response...they kicking out the international inspectors that had already been sent in under the Clinton administration.

It’s not so much a matter of “trust but verify” as it is a matter of “don’t trust and oversee the operations like a hawk.”

We also expect President Trump to insist on key changes to North Korea’s human rights situation, as in accounting for all Japanese citizens held in North Korea along with their immediate release, and possibly the release of all political prisoners held by the rogue nation’s regime. That is something Kim Jong-un could do almost immediately as a sign of good faith, and it would signal to the world that the North Korean leader is serious about making wholesale changes in his country.

It is also likely that President Trump will seek assistance from China in moving North Korea to some form of what they currently call their economic system...as in a "socialist market economy”...with some elements of capitalism involved in exchange for loosening trade tariffs, a move we believe would benefit China as well as North Korea by beginning the process of making North Korea less of a drain on the Chinese government and economy.

And if Kim Jong-un is serious and truly wants change, complete denuclearization...as per the experts...could be accomplished in as little as two years ten years tops, but a quantum shift in his country’s ideology remains undetermined at this point in time.

One thing not many are talking about is the oversight needed to prevent North Korea’s nuclear scientists and engineers from drifting to rogue nations like Iran once North Korea’s nuclear weapons program comes to a halt. We’re talking about thousands of highly specialized personnel who have been trained to do nothing but produce nuclear weapons and along with their corresponding delivery systems. The last thing we want...the last thing President Trump wants...is to have those people lured into the clutches of the mullahs where they would expedite the nuclear weapons capabilities of Iran or any islamist group.

Along those same lines also falls North Korea’s nuclear weapons documents, potentially millions of them which, if they haven’t already shared them with Iran, and we most surely believe they have, would also fetch a staggering price on the terrorist open market. Those documents will be much harder to keep under wraps than will be the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear weapons and sites themselves.

Yet when all is said and done the bottom is that right now North Korea is a nuclear nation but it is the U.S....it is President Donald J. Trump...who is negotiating from a position of strength. President Trump should relish in the opportunity to do what his predecessors have failed to do in his offering North Korea what amounts to peace for denuclearization thus welcoming them out of isolation and into the 21st century. If President Trump can have accomplished in just 500 days what his predecessors couldn’t accomplish in the previous 25 years, he will go down in the annuls of history as one of the greatest American presidents of all time.
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Below is the 4-minute video 'The Future Remains To Be Written' that President Trump brought with him to the Singapore Summit that he showed to Kim Jung-un.


Copyright © 2018 Diane Sori and Craig Andresen / Right Side Patriots / Investigative Reports / All rights reserved.

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE! 

Today, Friday, June 15th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss their Special Report '25 Years vs. 500 Days'; and important news of the day.

Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history