Friday, April 25, 2003

 
50 Steps to Armageddon: How Bush Brought Us to the Brink with North Korea (updated 04/25/03)

[This article was originally posted as "37 Steps to Armageddon" back on March 5th. Obviously a lot has happened since then. Indeed, given the current state of relations with North Korea in concert with the results of the Iraq invasion, we believe that it is important to update and repost this article. (Note: To maintain historical context for the article's original publication date, we will not change the introduction)]

Two days ago (March 3, 2003) four North Korean fighter jets intercepted an unarmed United States Air Force spy plane on a surveillance mission over the Sea of Japan and came within 50 feet of the American aircraft.

Tensions increased, stakes were raised. Obviously the North Koreans aren't going to be cowed by the Administration's inflammatory policies. So what happens next? Well, in order to speculate, we should know how we got into this horrifying mess in the first place.

Let's step back in time a bit to March of 2001. Bush was recently inaugurated and ready to roll…

Step 1) - 03/11/2001
Starting his reign as newly installed president, "Bush told President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea today that he would not resume missile talks with North Korea anytime soon." In so doing, Bush has struck a dissonant chord in the otherwise improving relations between North and South Korea.

Step 2) - 03/14/2001
In response to Bush's statement that he would delay missile reduction talks with North Korea, North Korea leaders cancelled peace talks with the South Korean cabinet. Bush's policy announcement flew in the face of Secretary of State Colin Powell, who favored the missile reduction talks. North Korea denounced the policy, saying the US "only intends to step up its hostile policy to isolate and stifle" North Korea.

Step 3) - 03/20/2001
Bush told South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung that the US would not be pursuing missile reduction talks with North Korea. Now the North Korean news service has "cited reports that conservative U.S. lawmaker Jesse Helms was urging the abandonment of the agreement, under which Pyongyang agreed to freeze its nuclear program in return for two light-water reactors and annual supplies of fuel oil." The North Korea broadcast stated "If this is the attitude of the United States, we will have to adopt an extreme hard-line stance. If the U.S. imperialists demand war, we will respond a thousand-fold."

Step 4) - 04/03/2002
According to the BBC, "The US Government has announced that it will release $95m to North Korea as part of an agreement to replace the Stalinist country's own nuclear program, which the US suspected was being misused. Under the 1994 Agreed Framework an international consortium is building two proliferation-proof nuclear reactors and providing fuel oil for North Korea while the reactors are being built. In releasing the funding, George W Bush waived the Framework's requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to ensure it has not hidden away any weapons-grade plutonium from the original reactors. Bush argued that the decision was 'vital to the national security interests of the United States.'"

Step 5) - 05/17/2001
North Korea gave the U.S. notice that it was ready to dissolve the 1994 nuclear freeze deal it made with the US, citing the Bush Administration's refusal to honor its nuclear treaty obligations with the country.

Step 6) - 06/01/2001 (Article was written 10/24/2002)
Bush discovered that North Korea received nuclear weapons technology (probably centrifuges) from Pakistan.

Step 7) - 11/01/2001 (Article was written 02/02/2003)
According to the Washington Post, "In November 2001... the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory... concluded that North Korea had begun construction of a plant to enrich uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons... The findings meant that North Korea was secretly circumventing a 1994 agreement with the US in which it promised to freeze a nuclear weapons program... Although the report was hand-delivered to senior Bush administration officials, 'no one focused on it because of 9/11' ... These findings were confirmed in a June 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, a major assessment by the CIA and all other intelligence agencies. These reports are part of a complex and hidden trail of intelligence about the North Korean effort that has raised questions about why the Bush administration waited until early October 2002 to confront officials in the capital, Pyongyang, with the intelligence - and to go public several weeks later - when details had been accumulating for more than two years."

Step 8) - 01/29/2002
In a lame attempt to be like Reagan who coined the phrase "Evil Empire", Bush refers to the combination of North Korea, Iraq and Iran as the "Axis of Evil" in his State of the Union address.

Step 9) - 04/01/2002 (Article was written 11/10/2002)
Although Bush discovered that North Korea received nuclear weapons technology (probably centrifuges) from Pakistan back in June of 2001, he decided to ignore this grave threat and gave North Korea $95 million to proceed with construction of nuclear power reactors. Even more unbelievable, Bush waived the nuclear inspections required under the 1994 Framework, as he handed over the money.

Step 10) - 04/28/2002
In a desperate attempt to bring some sense of reason into the Administration's foreign policy, "North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has invited former U.S. President Bill Clinton to visit Pyongyang to play a mediating role and to cool the rhetoric from Washington, a North Korean official said on Monday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to specify whether the reclusive Kim had issued the invitation to Clinton before or after President George W. Bush's speech in January in which he branded North Korea part of an 'axis of evil' along with Iraq and Iran. 'The plan of the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il is that Mr. Clinton should end the rhetoric,' the official said."

Step 11) - 06/01/2002
In his June 1st speech to West Point’s graduating class, the president outlined a doctrine of "preemptive action when necessary" in the "war on terror." This would involve military strikes, without warning or congressional approval. The likely first target of that doctrine is Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.

Step 12) - 08/16/2002
In case it wasn't clear prior to this, Bush reiterated that he doesn’t recognize the congressional role in committing the United States to another war, "I’ll continue to consult," he told reporters on August 16th. "Listen, it’s a healthy debate for people to express their opinion.... But America needs to know, I’ll be making up my mind based upon the latest intelligence and how best to protect our own country plus our friends and allies." Fortunately, the Constitution says that decision is not Bush’s to make. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has trashed the Constitution so much since they took over, it doesn't seem to matter to them what the it says.

Step 13) - 10/17/2002
According to UPI, "North Korean officials have made the bombshell admission to U.S. diplomats that their country for years has continued a nuclear development program in secret, even though this was in clear contravention of its 1994 commitments to the United States... Why did they make such an admission at all? And above all, why did they make it now? ... North Korean leaders have made the calculation that only the fear that they already possess nuclear weapons will deter Bush from taking major military action against them at some point soon. Indeed, they may well already be convinced that Bush has already made up his mind to launch U.S. armed forces against them after Iraq is conquered. If that is the case, it would follow that only indicating obliquely but still clearly that they may already possess a nuclear deterrent will be sufficient to keep Bush off their backs."

Step 14) - 10/17/2002
From Oct. 3 to 5, Bush sent an envoy to North Korea for "security talks" - the first since Bush took office. There are now allegations that the envoy, Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, made provocative comments. "He made very arrogant and threatening remarks that if North Korea did not take any action first to solve the concerns about security, there would be neither dialogue nor improved relations," According to North Korea's official news agency, KCNA.

Step 15) - 10/26/2002
According to The San Jose Mercury News, "the Bush administration had detailed knowledge for more than a year about North Korea's program to covertly make uranium fuel for an atom bomb...North Korea's admission that the country's secretive, authoritarian government was pursuing a new route to nuclear weapons sparked international alarm last week. But interviews with experts and former Clinton administration officials, and a review of little-noticed statements by Bush officials, raise questions about why the administration waited so long to deal with this threat, now the subject of intense diplomatic efforts."

Step 16) - 11/15/2002
As of November 14, with the Korean winter settling in, Bush decided to "punish" North Korea for having a nukes program he has known about for years by refusing to provide the country with oil.

Step 17) - 12/13/2002
The Carlyle Group's (employer of George H. W. Bush and other ultra-high ranking Republicans) biggest acquisition ever - at $750 million - is its Korean office, obtained about the time G.W. launched his run for president. "We are clearly aware that former President Bush has weighed in on policy toward South Korea and we note that U.S. policy changed after those communications," says Peter Eisner, managing director at the Center for Public Integrity. FYI. Carlyle group is an investor in various military defense interests. Of course they benefit financially from war and other international tension.

Step 18) - 12/23/2002
With tensions rising, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld asserted that U.S. forces can simultaneously fight North Korea and Iraq. A Pentagon policy statement, known as the Quadrennial Defense Review, states that the military today is funded and structured to fight and occupy one enemy nation, while defeating another foe. "We're capable of winning decisively in one and swiftly defeating in the case of the other," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "Let there be no doubt about it." Once again fanning the flames of war.

Step 19) - 12/24/2002
"North Korea warned of an 'uncontrollable catastrophe' unless the U.S. agreed to a negotiated solution to a standoff over its nuclear energy and weapons programs... 'There is no need for any third party to meddle in the nuclear issue on the peninsula,' said North Korea's ruling-party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun... 'The issue should be settled between [N. Korea] and the U.S., the parties responsible for it. If the U.S. persistently tries to internationalize the pending issue between [N. Korea] and the U.S. in a bid to flee from its responsibility, it will push the situation to an uncontrollable catastrophe.'"

Step 20) - 12/29/2002
Bush adopts a plan called "Tailored Containment," to increase financial and political pressure on North Korea in lieu of continuing the policy of negotiation instituted by Clinton. This "tailored containment", although recently coined, has actually been the Administration's policy for the last two years, one that has failed miserably.

Step 21) - 12/29/2002
Secretary of State Colin Powell officially rejected North Korea's demand for direct negotiations, by offering only indirect negotiations - which North Korea has already rejected. "North Korea has said it would address U.S. concerns about its nuclear program if Washington signs a nonaggression pact. But the Bush administration has ruled out talks unless Pyongyang first gives up its nuclear ambitions." But Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Bush was wrong to have cut off talks with North Korea when he took office. "We should not be afraid to talk," Levin said on ABC. Powell, however, said North Korea had restarted its nuclear weapons program during the Clinton administration, which the US learned about in October 2001. What Powell fails to address is the fact that North Korea's nuclear program began under Bush I, when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or that the high profile Bush supporter, Sun Myung Moon gave billions to North Korea's leadership in the face of US directions.

Step 22) - 01/08/2003
According to Foreign Policy in Focus: "The victory of the liberal Roh Moo-Hyun in the December 19th South Korean presidential elections has been presented in the western media as a source of future tension in South Korean-U.S. relations. Roh, a long-time liberal and human rights advocate, when compared to his more conservative opponent, Lee Hoi-Chang, does represent a more challenging partner for future South Korean-U.S. relations. Roh's stated aims include continuing the 'Sunshine Policy' of engagement with North Korea, renegotiating the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) for the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, and maintaining a more independent foreign policy in international and regional affairs. However, it is difficult to argue that anything Roh does could place more tension on the South Korea-U.S. relationship than the Bush administration's unilateral foreign policy."

Step 23) - 01/10/2003
NY Times reports, "North Korea announced today that it was withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a decision that set off a flurry of diplomatic activity and condemnation. In a statement carried by its official news agency and monitored here, North Korea said it was acting in self-defense because it was 'most seriously threatened' by the United States... At the United Nations this morning, North Korea's ambassador said that Pyongyang would consider any attempt by the Security Council to impose sanctions on North Korea over the nuclear crisis would be a 'declaration of war.'"

Step 24) - 01/11/2003
"[Democrat, New Mexico] Gov. Bill Richardson, concluding three days of unofficial talks with two North Korean envoys, said today that the discussions had 'eased tensions a bit' between North Korea and the United States. Speaking just hours after a North Korean diplomat in China warned that his country might resume missile tests, Mr. Richardson called on the Bush administration to engage in its own direct talks with the North. 'I think what now needs to happen is that the governments need to talk to each other,' Mr. Richardson said." The Administration declined.

Step 25) - 01/15/2003
The Bush Administration insists they discovered North Korea's secret centrifuge uranium-enrichment program in 2002, before Asst. Sec. of State Jim Kelly visited the country. But, according to Talking Points Memo, "former Clinton Administration officials are saying this was known about in 1999 and 2000 and that they briefed the incoming Bush administration officials on this in January 2001... The administration's claim seems even more strained given the fact that this unclassified (i.e., public) CIA report to Congress, covering the second half of 2001, states... 'During this time frame, Pyongyang has continued attempts to procure technology worldwide that could have applications in its nuclear program. The North has been seeking centrifuge-related materials in large quantities to support a uranium enrichment program. It also obtained equipment suitable for use in uranium feed and withdrawal systems.'"

Step 26) - 01/26/2003
According to the LA Times, "One year after President Bush labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea the 'axis of evil,' the U.S. is thinking about the unthinkable: It is preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iraq... …the Bush administration's decision to actively plan for possible preemptive use of such weapons, … represents a significant lowering of the nuclear threshold. It rewrites the ground rules of nuclear combat... If that happens, the world will have become infinitely more dangerous than it was two years ago."

Step 27) - 02/05/2003
Reuters reports, "North Korea said Wednesday it had restarted and put on a 'normal footing' the atomic facilities at the center of its suspected nuclear weapons program. The move raises the stakes in a crisis Pyongyang said the US had triggered by threatening the isolated communist state... North Korea's latest defiant move came as international attention was focused on Secretary of State Colin Powell address to the U.N. Security Council designed to persuade the council and world opinion that U.N. weapons inspectors cannot disarm Iraq and that war may be the only resort. The late-night statement was issued five days after U.S. officials said American satellite surveillance had shown North Korea was moving fuel rods around the reactor complex at Yongbyon, including possibly some of the 8,000 spent fuel rods that experts consider a key step in building bombs."

Step 28) - 02/06/2003
NY Times reports, "North Korea is entitled to launch a pre-preemptive strike against the US rather than wait until the American military have finished with Iraq, the North's foreign ministry told the Guardian. Warning that the current nuclear crisis is worse than that in 1994, when the peninsula stood on the brink of oblivion, a ministry spokesman called on Britain to use its influence with Washington to avert war. 'The US says that after Iraq, we are next', said the deputy director Ri Pyong-gap, 'but we have our own countermeasures. Pre-preemptive attacks are not the exclusive right of the US.' His comments came on a day when tension was apparent in Pyongyang, with an air-raid drill that cleared the city's streets and the North's announcement that it has begun full-scale operations at the Yongbyon nuclear plant, the suspected site of weapons-grade plutonium production. Anxiety in North Korea has been rising since Washington announced plans to beef up its military strength in the area."

Step 29) - 02/07/2003
"An increasingly belligerent North Korea has warned of 'total war' with the US, predicting it would develop into the horror scenario of a nuclear conflict. Marking a further deterioration in the crisis, the chairman of the North's army joint chiefs of staff, Kim Yong-chun, has also warned his generals to prepare for a 'final showdown' with the US... The stepping up of the North Korean warnings is in response to the news that the Pentagon is prepared to deploy 24 B-52 and B-1 long range bombers to the US air base at Guam... This latest rhetoric has a new intensity and comes amid reports from Pyongyang that the regime is preparing its people for war, this week staging air raid drills. The threat of a nuclear war was raised by the official North Korean newspaper, [which] said the build-up of US forces meant that 'a new war will inevitably break out on the Korean peninsula and it will develop to be a nuclear war'.

Step 30) - 02/12/2003
CIA's George Tenet revealed that "North Korea has an untested ballistic missile capable of hitting the US... Moments earlier Tenet said it was likely that North Korea had been able to produce as many as two plutonium-based nuclear weapons." And the IAEA just referred North Korea to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions; "North Korea has said such a move would amount to a declaration of war."

Step 31) - 02/15/2003
"Japan is prepared to launch a pre-preemptive strike on North Korea if it believes the communist state is preparing a missile attack against it. In Tokyo's toughest military stand since the end of World War II, the Defense Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, said Japan would make the strike if it detected that North Korea was fueling missiles for an attack. 'It is too late if [a missile] flies towards Japan,' he said in an interview with Reuters. 'Our nation will use military force as a self-defense measure if [North Korea] starts to resort to arms against Japan.' Mr Ishiba, a hawk who was appointed defense chief last September, was at pains to portray such a strike as an act of self-defense, in line with Japan's postwar constitution, which forbids military aggression." (Read this "North Korea Threatens US: Arguing Against the First-Strike Precedent" )

Step 32) - 02/20/2002
A North Korean MiG-19 fighter intrudes into South Korean airspace over the Yellow Sea, but is chased away by South Korean jets.

Step 33) - 02/23/2002
According to Ha'aretz, "U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said in meetings with Israeli officials on Monday that he has no doubt America will attack Iraq, and that it will be necessary to deal with threats from Syria, Iran and North Korea afterwards. Bolton, who is undersecretary for arms control and international security, is in Israel for meetings about preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Step 34) - 02/25/03
The Washington Post reports, "Colin Powell ended his lightning Asia trip having made little public progress in his efforts to rally support for U.S. strategy on North Korea or Iraq... He failed to win any visible pledges in South Korea, China or Japan to bolster Washington's hard line strategy with North Korea, or to support the administration's plans to invade Iraq... In South Korea, where he attended the inauguration of Roh, attention on Powell's message was further disrupted by news that North Korea had fired a short-range missile into the sea Monday."

Step 35) - 02/26/2003
Further decreasing the Administration's credibility on the issue of North Korea, it was revealed that "The Swiss-based ABB on Friday told swissinfo that [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld was involved with the company in early 2000, when it netted a $200 million contract with Pyongyang. The ABB contract was to deliver equipment and services for two nuclear power stations at Kumho, on North Korea's East Coast. Rumsfeld...was a member of ABB's board between 1990 and February 2001, when he left to take up his current post. Wolfram Eberhardt, a spokesman for ABB, told swissinfo that Rumsfeld 'was at nearly all the board meetings' during his decade-long involvement with the company... Rumsfeld's position at ABB could prove embarrassing for the Bush administration since while he was a director he was also active on issues of weapons proliferation, chairing the 1998 congressional Ballistic Missile Threat commission. The commission suggested the Clinton-era deal with Pyongyang gave too much away because 'North Korea maintains an active weapons of mass destruction program, including a nuclear weapons program'."

And then there is this…

Step 36) - 03/03/03/03
Four North Korean fighter jets intercepted an unarmed United States Air Force spy plane on a surveillance mission over the Sea of Japan on Saturday, and came within 50 feet of the American aircraft, military officials said today. The fighters shadowed the spy plane, an RC-135S Cobra Ball, for 22 minutes in international airspace about 150 miles off the North Korean coast, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. No shots were fired, officials said. Military officials said they had no indication that United States fighter jets were scrambled to protect the routine flight by the reconnaissance plane before it broke off its mission and returned safely to its home base at Kadena Air Base in Japan.

Step 37) - 03/10/2003
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea test-fired a short-range missile into the sea Monday in what was seen as an attempt to raise tension further in the standoff over its nuclear programs and pressure the United States into negotiations.

Step 38) - 03/10/2003
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, "North Korea would launch a ballistic missile attack on the United States if Washington made a pre-preemptive strike against the communist state's nuclear facility, the man described as Pyongyang's 'unofficial spokesman' claimed yesterday. Kim Myong-chol, who has links to the Stalinist regime, told reporters in Tokyo that a US strike on the nuclear facility at Yongbyon 'means nuclear war'. 'If American forces carry out a pre-preemptive strike on the Yongbyon facility, North Korea will immediately target, carry the war to the US mainland,' he said, adding that New York, Washington and Chicago would be 'aflame'... Mr Kim, who has written a text studied by North Korean military leaders, predicted North Korea would restart its reprocessing plant to make weapons-grade plutonium this month. A nuclear weapon would be produced by the end of next month, with another five by the end of the year, he said. This was on top of a suspected nuclear arsenal of 100 weapons."

Step 39) - 03/16/2003
Japan, the only country ever to have been struck with nuclear weapons, prepares to launch spy satellites, accelerates development of missile defenses, builds commando forces and expands the range of its air force in response to what it sees as a growing threat from North Korea. In addition, a handful of hawkish politicians suggest that Japan build nuclear weapons to counter North Korea's aggressive moves.

Step 40) - 03/23/2003
In a further act of provocation, the US and South Korea conducted military exercises off the peninsula. This escalation was met with outrage by the North:

"North Korea warned that the situation on the Korean Peninsula was deteriorating to the 'brink of a nuclear war' because of US-South Korean war games. NK called military exercises being conducted by [the US and the South] a grave encroachment upon sovereignty', and accused the US of planning to attack NK once it had defeated Iraq."

They then called the Administration on their transparent tactics:

"'The violation of Iraq's sovereignty started with demanding disarmament by inspection and gradually led to war,' a spokesman at NK's foreign ministry told KCNA, the official news agency. The spokesman said the US-led war in Iraq should 'compel [NK] to do all it can to defend itself'. Separately, NK criticized Seoul's decision to put its military on heightened alert as 'an undisguised challenge and intolerable hostility'. South Korea said [on the prior] Friday its military had stepped up its readiness to guard against possible NK moves to use the war in Iraq to spike tensions on the Korean Peninsula."

Step 41) - 03/30/2003
Citing the path to Iraq's destruction, North Korea rejects nuclear inspections and disarmament. Officials there vowed to resist all international demands to allow weapons inspections or agree to disarm, saying Iraq had made this mistake and was now paying the price.

"[North Korea] would have already met the same miserable fate as Iraq's had it compromised its revolutionary principle and accepted the demand raised by the imperialists and its followers for 'nuclear inspection' and disarmament."

Step 42) - 04/01/2003
The provocative rhetoric continued as Condoleezza Rice and Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton gave an unambiguous warning to North Korea and other "target" nations:

"In the aftermath of Iraq, dealing with the Iranian nuclear weapons program will be of equal importance as dealing with the North Korean nuclear weapons program."

"Bolton then said U.S. officials hope that a decisive toppling of Saddam may give pause to other nations with secret weapons programs and 'that some of these states will back off.'"

Step 43) - 04/01/2003
The AP reports: "Japanese officials contradicted each other and their allies over reports that [North Korea] had test-fired a missile. The confusion came just days after Japan put its first spy satellites into orbit as part of a billion-dollar program aimed at monitoring moves by North Korea to develop missiles or nuclear weapons. North Korea denounced the satellite launch as a hostile act and hinted it might test-fire a missile in response. Early [last week] Japanese military and government officials announced that North Korea had launched a shore-to-ship missile from its west coast into the Yellow Sea. The U.S. Defense Department confirmed the report...But South Korea said it had no evidence of a launch, and hours later officials in Tokyo weren't so sure themselves. A senior Defense Agency official issued a retraction Tuesday evening...A military analyst said the information probably came from U.S. officials."

One needs not think for too long before realizing the dangers of falsely reporting missile launches. Novelists and others have repeatedly painted scenarios where misinterpretations or system glitches have produced erroneous reports of a nuclear strike, setting off a genuine strike in retaliation and resulting in global catastrophe.

Step 44) - 04/05/2003
North Korea said it would not recognize any ruling made by the U.N. Security Council on Pyongyang's nuclear standoff with the United States. They claimed it was ridiculous for the Council to talk about the crisis noting that the UN had "lost its mandate for failing to stop the U.S.-led war in Iraq." North Korea has said it will be the next U.S. target, insisting that the crisis was started by the United States and that the Council should "indict and punish Washington."

Step 45) - 04/09/2003
North Korea made clear that the lessons they learned from the Iraq invasion were the exact opposite of those the Administration was planning on:

"The Iraqi war teaches a lesson that in order to prevent a war and defend the security of a country and the sovereignty of a nation, it is necessary to have a powerful physical deterrent force only."

Wendy Sherman, the Clinton administration's policy coordinator for North Korea, called that comment:

"more ominous than their usual negotiating tactics... I think instead of the North Koreans having blinked by the use of our force in Iraq, they have in fact decided the only way to deter the United States from going to war against North Korea is to have nuclear weapons -- and that is not a good sign."

This is a key example of the re-proliferation mentality that the Bush Administration has instilled in the global community. First there was the "First Strike" policy. Now this. So what's next?

Step 46) - 04/21/2003
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld released a classified memo that suggested the United States "team up with China to press for the removal of North Korea's leadership."

Prior to this, the Administration offered North Korea assurances that the US is not trying to undermine its Government.

"Details of the document have emerged only days before the US and China are due to meet North Korea to try to convince it to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

It argues that Washington's goal should be the collapse of Kim Jong Il's Government, but this seems at odds with the US State Department's approach of convincing Kim, in the words of one senior administration official, 'that we're not trying to take him out'.

Hardliners in the Pentagon - and some at the White House - say the US should use its speedy victory in Iraq to drive home to North Korea that it could meet the same fate if it ignores President George Bush's demands: that it dismantle its nuclear weapons program, ship its spent nuclear fuel out of the country and open up to intrusive inspections."

Step 47) - 04/23/2003
Even as the Administration attempts to strong-arm North Korea, demanding that they abandon their nuclear ambitions, they announce that we in the US are reinstating 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."

Once again, Bush sets the precedent for nuclear re-proliferation. In addition, the extreme hypocrisy of his actions erode any remnants of credibility retained in the international community post-Iraq-invasion.

Step 48) - 04/23/2003
North Korea warns that "war may break out at any moment":

"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."

Step 49) - 04/24/2003
North Korea admits having nuclear weapons:

"North Korea's representative Li Gun pulled aside U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly on Wednesday and told him "blatantly and boldly" that the country has at least one nuclear weapon, one official said.

Gun asked, "Now what are you going to do about it?" the official said.

Gun said his country would "prove" it has the weapon "soon," implying that North Korea may test a nuclear bomb, though he did not explicitly threaten that, a source said.

Gun said it was up to the United States to determine whether there is a "physical demonstration" of such a weapon, said a senior administration official."

This revelation brought an abrupt halt to trilateral talks between China, North Korea and the US regarding the Nuclear weapons issue.

Step 50) ….So what's the next step? That's anybody's guess. Unfortunately, commonsense suggests that it will not be a positive development.

Nevertheless, one clue as to the next step in this stairway to Armageddon might be the Administration's attitude toward the latest incursion to world peace. After the North Korean jets intercepted the US spy plane, administration officials decried the acts as "reckless" and "provocative". Indeed the Administration acts as though they are blind to their own provocations represented by sending bombers to Guam. or to spying on other countries in the first place.

Oh, what a world. It's times like this that I yearn for the Clinton years. What do you think he would do in this situation? Well, why don't we let him tell you himself? On Larry King (2-6-03), he outlined a plan to persuade North Korea to end the current crisis:

"We'll make an omnibus agreement if you'll end both nuclear programs, let testing in so you can't start any thing again, end the missile program, something that they had not agreed to do. And we'll make sure you got enough food and energy. We'll teach you how to grow food and we'll give you a non-aggression pact. They want this non-aggression pact, I think that's a no-brainer. Why? Because if we ever had to attack it would be because they did some thing that violated the non-aggression pact... You cannot let them become a nuclear arsenal, because the pressure on them to sell these bombs will be overwhelming. They have no other way to make money... If we can make a comprehensive settlement that says, Here's the way you can be part of the East Asian community. Here's the way you can be part of the world community. And here's what you have to do. That's what I think we ought to do."

Anyway, barring a Clinton comeback, we can get a glimpse of what might be coming our way.

By simply projecting the Administration's attitude forward, what do you think we'll find? How about preemptive strikes on North Korea, Syria, Lebanon and Iran, (Heck, why not throw in Germany and France?), thus decimating half the planet even while the Administration whines about the dangers posed by "everyone else but us". It's Bush hypocrisy in action.

Sound ridiculous? Let's hope so.

See Also: "North Korea Threatens US: Arguing Against the First-Strike Precedent"

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posted by Thomas Ball 11:54 AM