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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (156846)	12/27/2002 4:26:30 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1579697

So, please, tell me how can you tell the bad guys from the good guys? Please rush your response..........I can't wait. I don't think ANYONE has had any trouble distinguishing the "axis of evil" from the other countries you mentioned. The "axis" nations are against us, the others are at least to some extent, "with" us. That's a pretty good dividing line. Yemen buys missiles from NK; Pakistan supplys nuclear components to NK; and Syria provides a true rest playing place for al Qaeda. Sorry, I still have trouble distinguishing the good guys from the bad guys, and you would too if you weren't with the Rep. party. The worse part about this is that this president probably will be long gone when our latest 'friends' decide to act up. ted

To: i-node who wrote (156846)	12/27/2002 4:29:42 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1579697

North Korea Expels Nuclear Inspectors SEOUL, South Korea (Dec. 27) - North Korea ordered the expulsion Friday of U.N. nuclear inspectors and announced it will reactivate a laboratory able to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The U.N. nuclear agency said its investigators were ''staying put'' for now. The White House denounced Pyongyang's moves, which are certain to escalate tensions over Pyongyang's plan to unfreeze nuclear facilities shut down in a deal with the United States in 1994. The inspectors were the last means that the International Atomic Energy Agency had to monitor whether the facilities are being used for nuclear weapons projects. Despite IAEA warnings, the North removed monitoring seals and surveillance cameras from the nuclear complex at Yongbyon earlier this week. In a letter to IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, North Korea demanded the inspectors leave ''immediately,'' saying there was there is no justification for them to remain here'' now that the freeze was being lifted. The letter also announced the North's intention to reopen the reprocessing lab. Pyongyang said in the letter that it had decided to reactivate the Yongbyon complex after the United States canceled a shipment of fuel oil promised in the 1994 agreement - and because President Bush labeled the North part of the ''axis of evil.'' The letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, also accused the United States of making the North ''the target for the nuclear pre-emptive strike.'' North Korea claims that it is restarting the reactor to generate badly needed electricity after the United States and its allies cut off oil shipments. The shipments were halted after recent revelations that the North Koreans had been covertly developing nuclear weapons in violation of the 1994 agreement. In Crawford, Texas, President Bush's spokesman denounced the demand for the inspectors' removal and called on Pyongyang to shut down its nuclear weapons program. ''We will not respond to threats or broken commitments,'' spokesman Scott McClellan said. The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog resisted the demand. ''At the moment, our inspectors are staying put. They are on standby,'' IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. The IAEA currently has three inspectors in North Korea. ElBaradei sent a response to North Korea's atomic energy chief, Ri Je Son, demanding the North allow the inspectors to remain and install new seals and surveillance cameras at the site. ''The departure of inspectors would practically bring an end to our ability to monitor (North Korea's) nuclear program or assess its nature. This is one further step away from defusing the crisis,'' ElBaradei said in a statement. Pyongyang said it was reopening the reprocessing lab to give ''safe storage'' to spent fuel rods that will come from the reactor it plans to restart. The IAEA did not comment on the report on the lab. The lab can be used to extract weapons-grade plutonium from spent fuel rods. North Korea already has 8,000 spent fuel rods in storage that experts say could yield four or five nuclear weapons within months. The KCNA statement, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, made no mention of those stockpiled rods. Meanwhile, the IAEA said the North was moving fresh fuel cells into the 5-kilowatt reactor at Yongbyon. By Friday, about 2,000 new rods had been moved to a storage facility at the site, up from 1,000 a day earlier, spokeswoman Fleming said. The reactor needs 8,000 rods to be started, Fleming said. North Korea is one of the more than 185 signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but it has refused to accept IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities as required by the treaty. The IAEA says North Korea is still a treaty member and must accept its inspections, but the North says its signatory status depends on its 1994 nuclear deal with Washington. South Korea on Friday convened an emergency meeting of its National Security Council to discuss the North's announcement. Earlier, South Korea's President-elect Roh Moo-hyun said North Korea's defiant attitude could make it difficult for him to continue his predecessor's policy of seeking reconciliation with Pyongyang after he takes office in February. ''Whatever North Korea's rationale is in taking such actions, they are not beneficial to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, nor are they helpful for its own safety and prosperity,'' Roh said in a statement. North Korea's government has repeatedly called for a nonaggression treaty with the United States, though economic benefits are also a priority for the destitute country. The North's state media accused Washington on Friday of using the nuclear issue as a pretext for invasion. The United States ''calls for disarming (North Korea) under the absurd pretext of its nuclear program and then launching a surprise attack on it to overthrow its political system,'' an English-language commentary by the KCNA said. AP-NY-12-27-02 1351EST Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.