Thursday, April 24, 2003

 
North Korea: War at any moment

The Administration has gone to great lengths to ensure the rest of the world that they will crush all who do not conform to their allowable version of reality. They've invaded, threatened and provoked based on speculation, exaggeration and outright lies. And, they've embraced a level of hypocrisy unseen in recent history.

First they rightly crushed the Taliban, a regime empowered and enabled by the Reagan - Bush Sr. Administration.

Next, they decapitated Iraq, a sovereignty with a "regime" and an arsenal built by…you guessed it… Reagan and Bush Sr.

Now they are attempting to strong-arm North Korea, demanding that they abandon their nuclear ambitions even as we in the US resume ours.

"The United States says it has regained the capability to make nuclear weapons for the first time in 14 years and has resumed production of plutonium parts for bombs.

The Energy Department's announcement on Tuesday marks a symbolic and operational milestone in rebuilding America's nuclear weapons complex, which began a long retrenchment in the late 1980s as the Cold War ended and the toll of environmental damage from bomb production became known.

Under a Bush Administration plan, the Energy Department will begin limited production of plutonium parts for the country's stockpile of nuclear weapons and begin laying plans for a new factory that could produce parts for hundreds of weapons a year."

Ahhh! Nothing like a little nuclear re-proliferation to settle things down in the international arena. Chalk up one more catastrophic foreign policy decision by the Bush Administration.

And speaking of "catastrophic", just yesterday Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov was quoted as saying that the Korean peninsula remained on the brink of disaster as the United States and North Korea began talks on solving a tense standoff:

"It is probable that as early as tomorrow events may take a disastrous course."

Unfortunately, North Korean officials agree.

"North Korea is sticking by its demand that Washington end its "hostile policy" towards Pyongyang, saying that in the present situation war may break out at "any moment" on the Korean Peninsula.

In its statement carried Thursday on the North Korean state news agency, Pyongyang said that the U.S.-led war in Iraq has shown that the only way for a country to protect itself was to have a powerful deterrent.

"In actuality, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a war may break out any moment due to the U.S. moves."

True, the North Korean leadership might be crazy but they certainly are not stupid:

"In its statement Thursday, the North said the recent war in Iraq had shown that demands for arms verification were a pretext for war.

"The inspection and disarmament forced by the U.S. upon an independent state in violation of its sovereignty and its right to existence without any proper reason and ground are only aimed to justify and legalize aggression and war," the statement said. As a nuclear weapons state itself, the North's statement went on, the United States should open its weapons facilities to inspections too.

"The [North Korea] - U.S. talks should, therefore, discuss and settle the issue of the U.S. renunciation of its hostile intention and policy toward [North Korea] before talking about the 'verification' and the dismantlement of physical deterrent force."

Nevertheless, In yet one more act of gross hypocrisy, the Administration assured the world that it would "not be blackmailed" and that it has no plans to invade North Korea or to resort to any kind of military action.

Even so, the Administration insists that the North must immediately end production of nuclear weapons and establish an intrusive inspections regime. And what do you think will happen if "the North" tells the Administration to blow it out their ass? Let me guess, perhaps an invasion or some kind of military action?

So we have to wonder. Does the Administration genuinely not recognize the existence of their own hypocrisy? Are they so totally and completely blinded by partisan loyalty that they can't see the long-term consequences of their actions?

Or is it that they are completely aware but don't care, that these actions are but means to an end. I would wager the latter. And that is the problem. As with a suicide bomber, it doesn't matter what the consequences are, so why not shoot for your goal with whatever tactics you can imagine?

As with suicide bombers, there is no reasoning, no negotiation. Only death and destruction.

As with suicide bombers, there is only one way, the way of the suicide bomber.

Unlike the suicide bomber, unfortunately, the Bush Administration continues to live, moving from one hapless target to the next, unconcerned about eventual, inevitable backlash.

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posted by Thomas Ball 10:30 AM

 
Bush, Iraq and North Korea News Summaries

N.Korea Urges End to 'Hostile' U.S. Policy in Talks (Reuters) North Korea said arms verification had been a pretext for the U.S.-led war on Iraq and Washington should change its "hostile" policy toward Pyongyang. KCNA said the United States should renounce its "hostile" intent before there could be discussions about dismantling the North's nuclear project and verification -- two key U.S. demands. "The U.S. should show its political will to make a bold switchover in its hostile policy toward (North Korea)," KCNA said in a report that analysts said came right from the top. "This is the master key to making the talks fruitful."

U.S. Warns Iraqis Against Claiming Authority in Void (NY Times) The American military moved today to strip Baghdad's self-appointed administrator of his authority and warned Iraqi factions not to take advantage of the confusion and the political void in the country by trying to grab power. Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of ground forces in Iraq, issued a proclamation putting Iraq's politicians on notice, saying, "The coalition alone retains absolute authority within Iraq." He warned that anyone challenging the American-led authority would be subject to arrest.

U.S. to Seek Iraqi Interim Authority (Washington Post) The Bush administration hopes to establish an Iraqi Interim Authority to begin to take over some government duties by June 3, when the current mandate of the U.N. oil-for-food program expires. Once the authority is established, administration officials said yesterday, it can begin collecting, and spending, Iraqi oil revenue. The administration has scheduled a second conference of selected Iraqi leaders to take place inside the country next Monday. The plan is to continue the meetings with ever-increasing attendance from the first gathering, held last week, with each session adding new religious, ethnic, political and civic representatives. At some point, the administration has said, the expanding conference group will select the members of the IIA, which will gradually take over government functions from the United States and eventually pave the way for democratic elections.
 
IRAQI OFFICIALS CAUGHT (Sky News) Three more Iraqi officials on the US list of 55 most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime have been captured, US Central Command has said. The latest arrests bring to 11 the number of the most-wanted officials in US custody. The three have been named as the Iraqi air defence force commander, Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti; the director of military intelligence, Zuhayr Talib Abd al Sattar al Naqib; and the minister of trade, Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih. And US-led special operations troops have captured another Iraqi Intelligence Service officer. This officer was formerly in charge of American operations, a senior US official said.
 
Arafat, Abbas Agree on New Palestinian Cabinet (Washington Post) Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat and his nominated prime minister agreed today on a new cabinet after weeks of intense international pressure to initiate the reforms that President Bush demanded before he would release a proposed Middle East peace plan. Today, with Arafat and Abbas refusing to speak to each other face-to-face or by telephone, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak sent his chief of intelligence to Ramallah to mediate before a legal deadline of midnight for establishing the new cabinet.
 
U.S. Ready to Put 'Shoulder to Wheel' on Mideast Peace (Reuters) The United States on Wednesday called for quick confirmation of a Palestinian cabinet and vowed to put its "shoulder to the wheel" to implement a long-delayed Middle East peace plan. "The next step would be the submission of the cabinet to the Palestinian legislature and (they) would need to quickly approve it," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "We see no need for that to take any length of time." Confirmation would trigger release of the "road map" peace plan on behalf of the mediating Quartet comprised of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
 
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posted by Thomas Ball 7:51 AM