North Korea nuclear test - Iraq war a mistake
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Think the Bush administration is feeling the heat now that N Korea just tested a WMD. Iraq war is now seen to be a big mistake and the US intentions are under scrutiny.
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what has one got to do with the other?
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They should.... excerpts from the article.
Rummy's North Korea Connection What did Donald Rumsfeld know about ABB's deal to build nuclear reactors there? And why won't he talk about it?By Richard Behar Research Associate Brenda Cherry
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/05/12/342316/index.htm
May 12, 2003
(FORTUNE Magazine) – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rarely keeps his opinions to himself. He tends not to compromise with his enemies. And he clearly disdains the communist regime in North Korea. So it's surprising that there is no clear public record of his views on the controversial 1994 deal in which the U.S. agreed to provide North Korea with two light-water nuclear reactors in exchange for Pyongyang ending its nuclear weapons program. What's even more surprising about Rumsfeld's silence is that he sat on the board of the company that won a $200 million contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors.
The company is Zurich-based engineering giant ABB, which signed the contract in early 2000, well before Rumsfeld gave up his board seat and joined the Bush administration. Rumsfeld, the only American director on the ABB board from 1990 to early 2001, has never acknowledged that he knew the company was competing for the nuclear contract. Nor could FORTUNE find any public reference to what he thought about the project. In response to questions about his role in the reactor deal, the Defense Secretary's spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told Newsweek in February that "there was no vote on this" and that her boss "does not recall it being brought before the board at any time."
ABB, which was already building eight nuclear reactors in South Korea, had an inside track on the $4 billion U.S.-sponsored North Korea project. The firm was told "our participation is essential," recalls Frank Murray, project manager for the reactors. (He plays the same role now at Westinghouse, which was acquired by Britain's BNFL in 1999, a year before it also bought ABB's nuclear power business.) The North Korean reactors are being primarily funded by South Korean and Japanese export-import banks and supervised by KEDO, a consortium based in New York. "It was not a matter of favoritism," says Desaix Anderson, who ran KEDO from 1997 to 2001. "It was just a practical matter."
Even so, ABB tried to keep its involvement hush-hush. In a 1995 letter from ABB to the Department of Energy obtained by FORTUNE, the firm requested authorization to release technology to the North Koreans, then asked that the seemingly innocuous one-page letter be withheld from public disclosure. "Everything was held close to the vest for some reason," says Ronald Kurtz, ABB's U.S. spokesman. "It wasn't as public as contracts of this magnitude typically are."
However discreet ABB tried to be about the project, Kurtz and other company insiders say the board had to have known about it. Newman, the former ABB executive, says a written summary of the risk review would probably have gone to Barnevik. Barnevik didn't return FORTUNE's phone calls, but Newman's Zurich-based boss, Howard Pierce, says Rumsfeld "was on the board--so I can only assume he was aware of it."
In his final days in office, Clinton had been preparing a bold deal in which North Korea would give up its missile and nuclear programs in return for aid and normalized relations. But President Bush was skeptical of Pyongyang's intentions and called for a policy review in March 2001. Two months later the DOE, after consulting with Rumsfeld's Pentagon, renewed the authorization to send nuclear technology to North Korea. Groundbreaking ceremonies attended by Westinghouse and North Korean officials were held Sept. 14, 2001--three days after the worst terror attack on U.S. soil.
The Bush administration still hasn't abandoned the project. Representative Edward Markey and other Congressmen have been sending letters to Bush and Rumsfeld, asking them to pull the plug on the reactors, which Markey calls "nuclear bomb factories." Nevertheless, a concrete-pouring ceremony was held last August, and Westinghouse sponsored a training course for the North Koreans that concluded in October--shortly before Pyongyang confessed to having a secret uranium program, kicked inspectors out, and said it would start making plutonium. The Bush administration has suspended further transfers of nuclear technology, but in January it authorized $3.5 million to keep the project going.
Sooner or later, the outspoken Secretary of Defense will have to explain his silence. -
US wont attack NK one.....
Remember there's China. -
The Bush administration has got 120,000 American troops locked down in Iraq, with additional thousands in support or operational roles contributing to the Iraqi conflict. They have an additional 20,000 troops in Afghanistan. As such, the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is taking up so much manpower and resources that the United States does not possess a viable deterent military option against North Koreans. This is one of the key factors that has emboldened Kim Jong Il to play his little game of brinksmanship and leave the U.S with no alternative but to play the tacit game of diplomacy. One can argue that the Americans will never attack North Korea - that is a sound arguement which is probably true. However, if the Americans had not ben stucked in Iraq and Afghanistan, the stakes at the table would have been very different in this game with the Korean dictator.Originally posted by the Bear:what has one got to do with the other? -
OIl is more impt remember!Originally posted by highway69:Think the Bush administration is feeling the heat now that N Korea just tested a WMD. Iraq war is now seen to be a big mistake and the US intentions are under scrutiny.
"i'm the decider and i decides everything!" -
Dear Mr Bush, Sir.,
There's your WMD - now go and bomb the crap out of North Korea!
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i heard dat China is pissed off wif N.korea now
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Tat doesn;t mean China and Russia will back any aggression against north korea.. remember, China is North Korea's closest ally and china cannot keep quiet tis time regarding bout tis nuclear test by the north korea and have to "make some noise" to show the international community tat its against it..but who knows? deep inside, they might even be congratulating their ally for the success?Originally posted by Lighty:i heard dat China is pissed off wif N.korea now
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just wait till Iran tests a nuclear bombOriginally posted by highway69:Think the Bush administration is feeling the heat now that N Korea just tested a WMD. Iraq war is now seen to be a big mistake and the US intentions are under scrutiny.
then Bush is stuck
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China has been humiliated by North Korea's nuclear test because of its implacable support for Pyongyang and appeals from Beijing that the test not go ahead, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday.
He was speaking after carpeting North Korean Ambassador Chon Jae Hong over the test and pledging Canberra's support for any sanctions the United Nations may impose.
'I said it was one thing to be offensive to the United States and Britain and Australia and their allies, but it's another thing to treat the Chinese, who have been such stalwart supporters of North Korea for such a long time, in this way,' Downer told reporters after the 15-minute meeting with Chon at Parliament House.
Downer added: 'North Korea have humiliated the Chinese government. The Chinese government had been working intensely to try to stop this testing taking place.'
Noting that China provided 80 per cent of humanitarian aid and that half of the Stalinist state's trade was with China, Downer said that the 'North Koreans have treated China extremely shabbily in this particular situation.'
Australia, which is one of the few countries to maintain embassies in both North Korea and South Korea, said no further visas would be issued to North Korean nationals.
'North Korea depends on food aid from the international community, including from Australia, to keep its people alive while it spends billions and billions of dollars developing nuclear weapons,' Downer said after admonishing Chon.
Questioned by reporters on his way into Parliament House for the meeting with Downer, the ambassador said his country had developed nuclear weapons for security reasons.
'We are under extreme threat of United States of nuclear war,' Chon said.
Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating said a nuclear North Korea would prompt Japan to go the same way.
'My great concern is that Japan may use the impasse with North Korea and this testing of nuclear weapons to move into nuclear weapons itself, eschewing the nuclear protection provided to it by the United States under its umbrella,' Downer said. 'Such an outcome would be very affronting and confronting to the Chinese, encouraging them to adopt an altogether different posture in respect to Japan. And if China adopts an altogether different posture in respect to Japan, the world we know today changes."
Instability over the crisis is likely to hit fuel prices in Australia, with independent watchdog Fueltrac warning consumers to expect a rise in the coming week.
The crisis may also derail India's efforts to buy Australian uranium amid fears of a regional arms race. -
Kim Jung Il is the world's most retarded idiot.
Down with him! -
Chinese President Hu Jintao late on Monday held talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in a previously arranged telephone call, exchanging views on bilateral ties and the nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
During the talks, Hu expressed China's willingness to work with the U.S. side, in a bid to promote the comprehensive and in-depth development of the China-U.S. constructive partnership.
He said that the leaders of both countries had maintained frequent exchanges of views and consultations on major international and regional issues of common concern, which was conducive to the sound and stable development of bilateral relations, and which was also in the interest of safeguarding peace and stability in Northeast Asia and that of the world at large.
The Chinese president's remarks were echoed by his U.S. counterpart.
Concerning the nuclear test by the DPRK, Hu said that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had issued a statement, demanding the DPRK to stop any activity that might worsen the situation while calling for calm responses from all parties concerned and urging them to stick to the policy of a peaceful resolution of the issue through dialogues and consultations.
The Chinese president said that it was China's firm and consistent stance to realize non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and oppose proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Bush, for his part, said that the nuclear test by the DPRK was a dangerous move, which deserved a public, calm and resolute response from the international community.
The United States considers that the nuclear issue of the Korean peninsula can still be solved through diplomatic channels, and will continue to communicate with the Chinese side to this effect, Bush said.
U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk (R- IL), co-chairman of the House U.S.-China Working Group, told Xinhua on Monday that he thanks China for timely informing the United States of the claimed nuclear test by the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"I want to thank China for giving early warning on the test. We understand that North Korea informed China 20 minutes ahead of the test. China immediately informed the United States. A lot of people in the United States appreciate that," Kirk said in an interview with Xinhua.
Kirk also commended China's "very positive" role in trying to resolve the DPRK nuclear issue. "The Chinese government was very clear against upsetting the balance in Asia and Chinese government 's position after the test was very encouraging," he said.
After the DPRK claimed that it had conducted a nuclear test, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the Chinese government is "resolutely" opposed to the nuclear test and demands the DPRK to live up to its commitment to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
"I think that means China is right in the line with all the other major powers in Asia," Kirk said, adding that both the United States and China are working very closely together and "the statements they made in public are very similar."
As the DPRK nuclear test might start an arms race in Asia, Kirk said the Bush administration will ask China to restrict trade with the DPRK and cooperate on making sure that the DPRK can not ship any nuclear weapons to other countries. "China has a key role to play in the crisis," he said.
"The United States and China are key players in resolving the crisis, and if the United States and China speak with one voice, we have a very strong opportunity to resolve this," Kirk said.
As to the U.S. Congress, Kirk said when it returns to session in mid-November, it will call for "very strong" actions against the DPRK, including sanctions and searching all DPRK ships to make sure nuclear weapons are not leaving the country.
Earlier Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush said the United States condemns the claimed nuclear test and demands immediate UN Security Council action.
"Such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The United States condemns this provocative act," Bush said in a statement.
Bush said he has held conversations with leaders of China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. "We reaffirm our commitment to a nuclear-free Korea peninsula, and all of us agree that the proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council," Bush said.
The DPRK claimed Sunday night that it had successfully set off its first nuclear test.
The nuclear test came about a week after the country announced it would undertake an unprecedented nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed.
According to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency, there was no such danger as radioactive emission in the test as it was carried out under "a scientific consideration and with careful calculation." -
Kim Jong Il: Small man, with Small Mind....
.. digging up BIG trouble for himself. -
That's what he always wanted, didn't he?Originally posted by ShutterBug:Kim Jong Il: Small man, with Small Mind....
.. digging up BIG trouble for himself.
NK Anti-american propaganda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uatcZk0vZWs -
Oh I forgot to add one more, here's the amendment:
Kim Jong Il: Small man, with Small Mind & weird hairstyle....
.. digging up BIG trouble for himself.
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His hairstyle looks like they tested the nuclear weapons on him...
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bush played his last card with iraq....the result of lobbyist power in american politics....the amount of money spent on iraq could have gone to the 30 mil poor in america....
north korea is a time bomb....literally. the circus clown has no reservation about releasing the nukes whenever wherever.....small country like sg should refrain from passing 'comment'....... -
Will we hear any of our dear and wise leaders say anything about the situation?Originally posted by countdracula:bush played his last card with iraq....the result of lobbyist power in american politics....the amount of money spent on iraq could have gone to the 30 mil poor in america....
north korea is a time bomb....literally. the circus clown has no reservation about releasing the nukes whenever wherever.....small country like sg should refrain from passing 'comment'....... -
What we have now is an impasse in the whole situation now we know that the North has the ability to let one rip. The United States can never possibly agree to the North Korean demand for bilateral talks, as it'll justify the actions of the North Koreans and lead us down a slippery slope with states like Iran. Similarly, it isn't feasible to plot the overthrow of Kim Jong Il. A state already on the brink of anarchy when overthrown would simply breed more anarchy. If any of the nuclear technology comes into the possession of a rogue individual, we might see it make it's way to groups like Al-Qaeda. Furthermore, the United States does need a reason to maintain it's bases in Japan and South Korea, which has over the past years come under unpopular scrutiny from local citizens. The precense of American Forces in the region serves not only as a deterent to North Korea, but also as a counter act to China. The precense of American Forces in Japan and South Korea serves to deal with not only the situation in the Korean Peninsula, but also assure Taiwan's quasi-independence. As things stand, the most ideal solution from both sides is the return to six party talks, but from what Condi Rice said to the media, it seems that the Americans are not interested in talking anymore. What beckons for the world?
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they have already said some things....this is like staring into the eyes of a bully, the clown with the weird hairdo may just 'test' the nuke here...Originally posted by Croaking_Toad:Will we hear any of our dear and wise leaders say anything about the situation? -
Yep....
One.... just one friggin nuke this way.... lands smack dead center (kranji area)
... no more Kiasuism, no more Kiasism....
..nada...
Any idea what the radius of a nuclear warhead explosion upon impact?
total and complete DECIMATION.
from Kranji to Woodlands Causdeway and into JB area, from Kranji southward to PSA ports, radiates sideways to the east Changi, to the west Tuas Second Link - COMPLETE DECIMATION.
No more ranting, no more High Costs of Living, no more misery from our gov... -
no more u..no more me..no more everyone....Originally posted by ShutterBug:Yep....
One.... just one friggin nuke this way.... lands smack dead center (kranji area)
... no more Kiasuism, no more Kiasism....
..nada...
Any idea what the radius of a nuclear warhead explosion upon impact?
total and complete DECIMATION.
from Kranji to Woodlands Causdeway and into JB area, from Kranji southward to PSA ports, radiates sideways to the east Changi, to the west Tuas Second Link - COMPLETE DECIMATION.
No more ranting, no more High Costs of Living, no more misery from our gov... -
IMO, there are several reason why the US has no qualms dealing with Iraq than N Korea.
1) Oil- US is and will always be the largest consumer. If Iraq being one of OPEC, falls into Saddam's hand, the result will be disastrous for the US economy and military. Even though the US has other energy sources, these are few and very expensive to run and maintain. Its miltary no doubt has nuclear powered ships and subs, still rely heavily on oil for their other fighting machines which tend to be in large numbers.
2) 911 - After the twin towers came down to earth, this gave Bush the chance to strike behind the facade of going after terrorism. With this notion, he garnered support from his people and US long time allies, Britain and Australia. Take note they all speak the same language. The Europeans were not keen as they have little at stake.
3) China and Russia - The cold war may have ended but still waters run deep. These two will not tolerate US soldiers so close to their borders. Not too long ago, there was this dramatic incident of a US spy plane being forced down in China.
4) Korean and Vietnam legacy - The US have fought in both wars and came out losers back at home and in Asia. A woman whose pleas to see her son back home from Iraq , fell on deaf ears. The large casualities and living testimonies of the two wars has scarred America for eternity. Japan, being US only Asian ally, also do not welcome US troops on their soil.