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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (312)	12/3/2002 5:59:23 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15987

As I predicted on the FADG thread months ago, China and Russia pressure N. Korea on their nuke program. China cannot tolerate seeing a nuclear N.Korea on its border. And I'm sure the Bush administration challenged the Chinese government to manage this situation, so the US doesn't have to.. : telegraph.co.uk Give up nuclear weapons, Kim told By Damien McElroy in Beijing (Filed: 03/12/2002) China and Russia, North Korea's closest allies, turned on the reclusive Stalinist regime yesterday and told it togive up its nuclear weapons programme. The unprecedented call, at a summit in Beijing between Presidents Jiang Zemin and Vladimir Putin, was a triumph for Washington, which is unwilling to go to war with North Korea and is relying on diplomatic pressure to bring it to heel. Two months ago North Korea admitted that it had pursued secret research into nuclear weapons, despite a 1994 promise not to, alarming China and Russia as well as America and its allies in the Far East. In their summit statement yesterday Mr Jiang and Mr Putin said: "The sides consider it important for the destiny of the world and security in North-East Asia to preserve the non-nuclear status of the Korean peninsula and the regime of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "In this context, they stress the extreme importance of normalising relations between the United States and the DPRK [North Korea] on the basis of continued observation of earlier reached agreements, including the framework agreement of 1994." The wording was so strong that it amounted to a rebuke for Pyongyang, which withdrew from the 1994 agreement unilaterally after America persuaded other signatories to suspend supplies of fuel oil to the Communist country. The size and state of North Korea's nuclear programme remains obscure, and the country has refused to admit United Nations weapons inspectors to assess activities at suspect research sites. Active support from Beijing and Moscow is vital to Washington's hopes of persuading Pyongyang to make a full declaration of its nuclear weapons capability as a first step to abandoning weapons of mass destruction. North Korea relies on Beijing for fuel, food and military aid to sustain its isolated regime. Similarly, Mr Putin's personal diplomatic efforts to woo the eccentric North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, have ensured that Russia remains one of his few significant diplomatic allies. China is unlikely to cut off its aid to North Korea for fear of triggering the final collapse of the regime, which presides over a famine-stricken economic wasteland. Instead it is signalling that it and Russia are willing to use their diplomatic weight to force Pyongyang into a deal with Washington, avoiding a confrontation over the nuclear weapons issue. There was no immediate reaction from Pyongyang. The summit was the latest in a series of grand gestures by Beijing and Moscow to recreate a closeness in international affairs as a counter to Washington's perceived overwhelming dominance. Afterwards Mr Putin said: "There are no longer any more or less irritating questions left in our relations. "On the contrary, we have become partners in a strategic partnership that is beginning to give real results."

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (312)	12/3/2002 8:59:14 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 15987

Hawk. You think this kind of thing can/will spread? Tombstone militia will risk arrest Monday, December 2, 2002 Group to patrol stations set up to aid entrants By Ignacio Ibarra ARIZONA DAILY STAR The leader of Tombstone's fledgling citizens militia says the organization intends to conduct its operations on public lands, patrol routes leading to water stations and have volunteers apply for state-issued concealed weapons permits. "We're stepping onto public lands, and I dare the government to come and arrest 50 people," said Chris Simcox, owner of the Tombstone Tumbleweed, a weekly newspaper, and organizer of a citizens militia he now calls the Civil Homeland Defense. The goal of the organization is to deter terrorists, criminals, drug dealers and illegal entrants, he said. Its initial strategy will be to conduct patrols in areas where humanitarian water stations and beacons have been established to aid illegal entrants. The group will be "humanely assisting those who are attracted to them by way of making sure they have water and blankets and any immediate medical attention they may need," he said. They will then be placed under citizen's arrest and turned over to the Border Patrol. "If all these other people are setting up ways to help illegal aliens, why can't we then patrol those same areas?" Simcox asked. John Fife, a former leader of the Tucson-based Sanctuary Movement, rejected Simcox's attempt to cloak his organization with humanitarian cover and called on managers of public lands along the border to carefully review the group's proposed activities and determine if they are appropriate. "In my judgment, vigilantes have no place on lands that belong to all the people. There's a huge difference between humanitarian life-saving efforts and vigilantes' running around with guns hunting human beings and putting all sorts of peoples' lives in danger . . . it is a dangerous and gross violation of human rights, " said Fife, a pastor at Southside Presbyterian Church and spokesman for Tucson-based Samaritan Patrol. A spokesman for Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based human rights group, agreed. "When you organize a group of people to carry guns and patrol the border, it's a militia; it seems like they're trying to disguise that. We're talking about violating peoples' human rights, people taking the law into their own hands," said Jose Matus, executive director of Derechos Humanos. The adjustment in strategy for Civil Homeland Defense was forced by the "tremendous pressure" from the media and government officials that caused property owners to back away from cooperating with his organization, Simcox said. Despite the growing pressure, Simcox said he intends to "keep the flame burning on high" until the federal government puts troops on the border or the governor calls in the National Guard. So far, attempts to communicate with President Bush and Gov.-elect Janet Napolitano about his efforts have been ignored or rebuffed, Simcox acknowledged. But he remains undeterred. Until he hears from Bush or Napolitano, Simcox said, "We will continue to train American citizens, bring them into this group and then deploy them." Napolitano has no intention of ordering the National Guard to the border, said Kris Mayes, a spokeswoman for the governor-elect, who added that she was unaware of any attempt by Simcox to reach Napolitano. "She believes it is not the mission of the Guard, which is stretched enough with its current responsibilities, to patrol the border," Mayes said, "And as Gov.-elect Napolitano has said a number of times, there is just no room in Arizona for vigilantism." On Saturday, the first 50 of more than 600 volunteers will be inducted and begin a course of training that includes qualification for a state-issued concealed weapons permit, Simcox said. "We're going to use the government to screen our volunteers," he said. "Everyone who comes will have to get a concealed weapons permit and will have to go through that screening . . . a felony background check and an FBI check." Civilian Homeland Defense members will wear no uniform and carry only defensive sidearms during operations, said Simcox, who now claims he and some members of his organization have been conducting patrol operations in Cochise County for nearly a year. "We do not allow rifles, and no one is allowed to wear (camouflage)," he said. "We do not pretend to be Border Patrol or military in any way. We've always dressed as average citizens." azstarnet.com