SORRY, TEAM OBAMA DOESN’T GET TO REWRITE HISTORY TO COVER PRESIDENT OBAMA’S LOUSY FOREIGN POLICY RECORD: Glenn’s posted on the Fareed Zakaria CNN Obama CYA. Truth wills out on Instapundit. In an election year Obama drew a tough guy’s red line forbidding the use of chemical weapons. A year later? Obamanoid fecklessness. The bottom line: Obama lied, Syrians continue to die.

THE CASE FOR CASELESS AMMUNITION:

The U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army agree they may have finally found a caseless ammunition design that will work reliably in combat and be much (37 percent) lighter than conventional 5.56mm ammo.

Al JAZEERA HAS NO MEMORY OF OBAMA: An Al Jazeera opinionizer slams the Trump Administration for its “ambivalent approach” and a “non-consistent” policy in Syria. He does recognize that “Assad’s hopes of a US-Russian deal to his benefit are fading” and Trump has raised “the moral cost of supporting Assad.” OK, but inconsistent, ambivalent and outright fraudulent describe Obama’s Syrian legacy.

AN F-15 MESSAGE FOR KIM JONG UN: It’s a rather impressive USAF “reminder” photo taken at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The air wing is conducting an “elephant walk” — taxiing in close formation. The F-15s are fully armed. In a war time situation, aircraft on a strike operation would want to take off quickly and not waste time loitering. The photo reinforces the diplomatic message Rex Tillerson delivered in March: Strategic patience is over.

MY LATEST NEW YORK OBSERVER COLUMN: Barack Obama’s Syrian chemical weapons mess. Someone ought to remind Congressional investigators worried about Russian political interference that Obama embraced Vladimir Putin and gave the Kremlin a major role in U.S. Syrian policy vis a vis the use of chemical weapons.

BRITAIN’S FOREIGN SECRETARY ON ASSAD’S CHEMICAL WEAPONS:

Boris Johnson:

“Assad uses chemical weapons because they are not only horrible and indiscriminate. They are also terrifying.

“In that sense he is himself an arch-terrorist, who has caused such an unquenchable thirst for revenge that he can never hope to govern his population again. In that sense he is himself an arch-terrorist, who has caused such an unquenchable thirst for revenge that he can never hope to govern his population again.

“He is literally and metaphorically toxic, and it is time Russia awoke to that fact. They still have time to be on the right side of the argument.”

He also said British scientists had confirmed that “sarin or a sarin-like substance” was used in the April 4 attack. Sarin is a nerve agent. Obama didn’t get rid of Assad’s chemical arsenal. Obama lied. People continue to die.

KOREA, AND MORE KOREA: Well, East Asia is on the edge of war –renewed war, for the Korean War never officially ended. Today on ABC New’s This Week, National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster sent Kim Jong Un a very specific message regarding his military technology.

Hours after North Korea paraded its weaponry and attempted a missile launch, President Trump’s national security adviser said the U.S. leader will not allow Kim Jong Un’s regime to have the capacity to threaten the U.S.

“While it’s unclear and we do not want to telegraph in any way how we’ll respond to certain incidents, it’s clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States,” Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz in an exclusive interview on “This Week” Sunday. “Our president will take action that is in the best interest of the American people.”

North Korea rolled out ballistic missiles and other weaponry at a huge parade Saturday and later in the day, at 5:21 p.m. ET, made a failed attempt to shoot off a missile, which exploded immediately after launch.

McMaster said the launch “fits a pattern of provocative and destabilizing and threatening behavior on the part of the North Korean regime.”

The article includes a tweet from President Trump: “Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!”

Yes, art of the deal meets art of war. China got a taste of that in December 2016.

As for North Korea, McMaster made it clear the U.S. prefers a peaceful solution.

“What (is) particularly difficult about — about dealing with this regime, is that it is unpredictable,” he said. “It’s time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully,” he said.

The Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace agreement. That’s not an irrelevant point. The Kim regime thinks it can still win.

B-24 LIBERATOR MEMORIAL: In WW2 my uncle, Burt Jones, flew the US Navy’s anti-submarine warfare variant of the B-24 Liberator. StrategyPage’s WW2 aircraft series has two B-24 photos of the Army version. One is a dramatic snapshot of a B-24 bomb strike. The other photo shows a single B-24 in flight. Its caption mentions the Navy model PB4Y-2 Privateer. I recall Uncle Burt telling me that his squadron began operations in North Africa using Army B-24s. The planes had some modifications for anti-submarine warfare and long-range over-water patrol, but the Army Air Forces and the Navy basically flew the same bomber. Wikipedia says the USN didn’t get the Privateer variant until 1944, so it looks like the historical record reinforces the memory. After WW2 Uncle Burt became a commercial helicopter pilot. He spent a lot of time supporting firefighting operations in the Pacific Northwest. He passed away last month, on March 12, at the age of 93. Easter is a day of peace. Uncle Burt was the kind of courageous man who defended freedom and made peace. My family cherishes his service and his memory.

CHINA AND JAPAN TAKING PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN THE EVENT OF A MILITARY CONFRONTATION WITH NORTH KOREA: A dire headline.

More:

As political scientist John Delury stated regarding the “pre-emptive strike” scheme for a March 10 report, “The role of a South Korean president, whether liberal or conservative, is to be the person who gently takes that option off the table. The South Korean president has to be saying, ‘If you take out their missile pad, they take out our capital.’ But that hasn’t been happening.”

RELATED: The Korea Times reports that the U.S. and North Korea may be holding back channel discussions. It’s poorly sourced and the so-called “deal” is rather absurd. The Korea Joongang Daily has more details on North Korea’s new missiles and palace intrigue in Pyongyang. Here’s the real diplomatic and historical context, to include the economic “soft power” appeals to North Korea that didn’t work.

CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE THE SPURIOUS SYRIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS DEAL OBAMA MADE WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN: How much influence did Putin have in the Obama Administration? Syrians continue to die and it sure looks like Obama lied. (It’s my latest Observer essay.)

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SOUTH KOREA’S JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Latest North Korean missile test failed.

The communist state attempted to launch an unidentifed missile from the port city of Sinpo on its east coast in the morning, and the launch is presumed to have failed, the JCS said.

Good.

MY LATEST NEW YORK OBSERVER COLUMN: The April 4th nerve gas attack revealed Obama’s reliance on Russia to remove Syria’s chemical weapons was a delusion if not an intentional masquerade. Obama didn’t eliminate Syrian WMD. He lied and Syrians continue to die.

VP PENCE REASSURES ALLIES AS NORTH KOREA MAKES MORE THREATS: Pence is in South Korea at the moment. He will visit Japan.

Meanwhile, the Yonhap news agency reports the South Korean military believes that North Korea’s April 15 parade included new types of ICBMs. Read the article for details.

Seems South Korea is fed up with the North’s threats and tantrums:

On Friday, the North’s military issued a statement threatening the “toughest counteraction” to destroy American military bases and South Korea’s presidential compound in case of aggression against Pyongyang.

It argued that the Trump administration’s “serious military hysteria has reached a dangerous phase which can no longer be overlooked.”

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff strongly denounced the North for the latest threat.

It urged the North to immediately halt such threats and “rash” acts, saying it will only face the “strong and resolute retaliation” of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the destruction of its own regime.

Here’s more background on the Kim regime, its weapons programs and Kim Jong Un’s increasingly belligerent behavior.

A KOREAN WAR SB-29: StrategyPage’s WW2 aircraft series stretches out a bit. The SB-29 Superfortress variant was rigged for air-sea rescue duty. Note the one in the photo carries a droppable boat. SB-29’s also flew in WW2.

MY LATEST NEW YORK OBSERVER COLUMN: Syria’s chemical weapons mess and Obama’s lies. Obama’s media buddies thought his red line meant military action.

TURKEY’S LOSE-LOSE REFERENDUM:

VOA commentary:

Regardless of whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan succeeds in bolstering his increasingly authoritarian clout in Sunday’s constitutional referendum, one thing is clear: despite a crackdown on his critics and the media, the country is deeply divided, with signs that the gap is growing.

That is bad, not only for Turkey, but for just about everyone with interests in the region, given the country’s economic power and historically strategic location as a bridge between East and West – particularly with Syria’s civil war and the fight against so-called Islamic State raging on its border.

NORTH KOREA’S LATEST MILITARY PARADE: Two hours of soldiers and missiles. The parade honored the birthday of Kim dynasty founder Kim Il Sung. Here’s the deep context.

CONFIDENT PROPAGANDISTS LOVE TO PLAY “NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG”:

Assad’s AFP interview reprised the “nothing to see here” trope: “You have a lot of fake videos now,” (Assad) said. “We don’t know whether those dead children were killed in Khan Sheikhun. Were they dead at all?”

Assad’s “fake videos” remark intentionally mocked President Trump.

OTHER AIRLINES RESPOND TO UNITED AIRLINES’ VIOLENT AND STUPID EJECTION OF A PASSENGER: Delta will offer passengers up to $9,950 in compensation if they are willing to give up their seats on an overbooked flight.

Other airlines said they were examining their policies. American Airlines updated its rules to say that no passenger who has boarded the plane will be removed to give the seat to someone else.

THE MESS OBAMA LEFT IN SYRIA: It wasn’t smart diplomacy.

SYRIANS CONTINUE TO DIE BECAUSE BARACK OBAMA LIED

NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR TEST SITE IS PRIMED AND READY: This is a 38North.org report analyzing activity at Pyongyang’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. It’s excellent.

VERY MUCH RELATED: Last night’s post linking to NBC’s report that Washington is preparing to strike North Korea if it tests a nuclear device. (Bumping it.)

NBC NEWS REPORTS U.S. PREPARED TO STRIKE NORTH KOREA IF NORTH KOREA TESTS NUCLEAR DEVICE: NBC said “multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials” provided the information. That description usually means the reporter received an official, coordinated leak. U.S. officials also said South Korea must agree to the preemptive attack. In any case, strategic patience is over. For context, here’s the relevant history and background.

UPDATE: North Korea threatens its own “preemptive strike.” Sheesh. I know from personal experience that’s nothing new.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN NIGERIA: Boko Haram Islamist militants continue their terror campaign — but they’re having trouble recruiting suicide bombers. So they’ve turned to coercion.

“…by the end of 2016 most of the suicide bombers were women (often teenagers) and children (some as young as ten)…Attacks using female suicide bombers tended to use kidnapped girls convinced or coerced to make such attacks. Sometimes young girls (under 10 years old) are used, usually to wear bomb vests that can be detonated remotely. These bombers often do not know they are wearing explosives.

Where’s the media outrage?

UPDATE: It’s been three years since the mass school girl kidnap in Chibok. How’d Michelle Obama’s “#BringBackOurGirls” work out? Boko Haram still has 195 of the 276 girls. Many of those who were freed ” had babies in captivity.” That tells me they were raped.

NBC NEWS REPORTS U.S. PREPARED TO STRIKE NORTH KOREA IF NORTH KOREA TESTS NUCLEAR DEVICE: NBC said “multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials” provided the information. That description usually means the reporter received an official, coordinated leak. U.S. officials also said South Korea must agree to the preemptive attack. In any case, strategic patience is over. For context, here’s the relevant history and background.

FORMATION FLYING: B-25s on the prowl. StrategyPage’s WW2 bomber photo series continues. (The bombers are in formation over water, preparing to strike railroad targets in northern Italy.)