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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (113206)	8/28/2003 6:38:46 PM
From: E	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I guess maybe many sillyheads thought that "can't wait" in the same sentence with "clear evidence," "peril," and "mushroom cloud" meant George was saying the danger was imminent. Maybe he was just saying it might be imminent -- and we couldn't take the chance because of the WMD that might "suddenly and fully emerge" as Iraq "strikes" us. I think that most likely he was trying to imply to the citizenry, without using the word, that the danger was imminent, by using "can't wait" in the same sentence with "clear evidence," "peril," and "mushroom cloud," and other such remarks. It wouldn't be surprising, would it, if people concluded that the danger was imminent? Speaking of WMD, not to mention means to deliver them imminently, here's from the Financial Times. N Korea ready to declare nuclear capability By Andrew Ward in Seoul and James Kynge in Beijing Published: August 28 2003 19:51 \| Last Updated: August 28 2003 19:51 The six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme were thrown into confusion on Thursday night as the communist state was reported to have announced its intention to declare itself a nuclear state. Reports quoting unamed US officials in Washington said North Korea had threatened formally to announce its possession of nuclear weapons and carry out its first nuclear test. If confirmed, North Korea's statement would threaten to scupper diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear row and plunge the divided Korean peninsula into deeper crisis. Kim Yong-il, North Korea's deputy foreign minister, was also reported to have told the six-nation gathering in Beijing that his country had the means to deliver nuclear weapons, an apparent reference to the North's highly developed missile programme. There was no immediate confirmation of the report by the US, leaving open the possibility that it could have been planted by hawkish elements in president George W. Bush's administration that want this week's talks to fail. The US government is split between those in favour of negotiations with North Korea and others who want to bring about regime change through economic sanctions or possibly military action. The reports shattered hopes that the six-party talks, involving the US, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia, would make progress towards a peaceful resolution of the nuclear crisis. Earlier, Asian officials had expressed optimism that the three-day meeting, which ends on Friday, was heading for a successful conclusion. Alexander Losyukov, Russia's deputy foreign minister and a delegate to the talks, said the six countries had reached "a basic agreement" to resume negotiations within two months in China's capital, Beijing. Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry said all parties had agreed to the mutual goal of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and diplomats said the six countries were planning to enshrine the pledge in a joint statement. A threat by North Korea to declare itself a nuclear state and test a bomb would almost certainly cause the talks to end in failure. North Korea's comments, if confirmed, would not be entirely new. Pyongyang told the US in private during talks in April that it possessed nuclear weapons. However, Kim Jong-il's regime has never publicly announced its nuclear capability. An official declaration by North Korea that it is a nuclear state would strengthen the hawks in the Bush administration who favour regime change in Pyongyang. The reported statement fits North Korea's longstanding pattern of aggressive brinkmanship, designed force the US into granting concessions to Pyongyang in return for peace. However, brinksmanship has so far proved ineffective against a US government that has repeatedly insisted that it will not submit to North Korea's "nuclear blackmail". Failure of this week's talks would be embarrassing to China, which has led international efforts to bring North Korea and the US to the negotiating table. Pyongyang's reported belligerence could further strain Beijing's patience with its neighbour and former Cold War ally. Even if a joint statement could be salvaged from the talks, it was not expected to contain much substantive detail because the US and North Korean positions remained far apart. "If there is a statement, it may only say that there was a meeting, that each side listened to and comprehended each other's positions and agreed to meet again," said one western diplomat in Beijing. "But even this would be seen as quite a success." Although the US and North Korea held one-to-one talks on the sidelines of the six-way talks this week, there was no sense on Thursday on whether the two sides made any progress in resolving differences. North Korea has demanded a non-aggression pact from the US in return for abandoning its nuclear weapons and it is also assumed to want aid for its stricken economy. The US says it will not provide North Korea with diplomatic, political or economic incentives until Pyongyang "completely and verifiably" stops developing nuclear weapons. The crisis was sparked last October, when the US accused North Korea of secretly developing nuclear weapons in violation of a 1994 agreement. Pyongyang has since expelled United Nations inspectors, withdrawn from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and begun producing plutonium for nuclear weapons to add to the one or two it may already have. A three-nation meeting in Beijing in April broke up in acrimony after North Korea's delegate told his US counterpart that Pyongyang already possessed some nuclear bombs and was busy making more. Even before Thursday's development, analysts were predicting that if this week's talks failed, North Korea might declare itself a nuclear state by testing a bomb for the first time.