Wednesday, July 16, 2003

Drifting to Nuclear war over Korea: "A former United States defence secretary warned yesterday that North Korea and the US were drifting towards nuclear war as China intervened in an urgent effort to defuse the crisis. William Perry, defence secretary to Bill Clinton, said "time is running out" and "each month the problem gets more dangerous". "I think we are losing control of the situation," he told The Washington Post. "The nuclear program now under way in North Korea poses an imminent danger of nuclear weapons being detonated in American cities."

"Mr Howard added: "I don't think North Korea has any functioning weaponry, if I can put it that way, that's capable of delivering it." - another rather breathtaking comment from Howard, given the stakes, the crisis, and the comment as above by the former US Defence Secretary. Perhaps North Korea has the weaponry, perhaps it doesnt. We couldnt rely on Howard for accurate information about that issue. We do know for a fact that North Korea has nuclear facilities and has tested a missile with a range that exceeds Tokyo. If North Korean missiles can reach the US mainland, they can reach Northern Australia. One would think that the crisis should be treated with the seriousness it deserves, instead of the grossly irresponsible uncritical endorsement of current US policy, which can only be described as reckless folly.

Kevin Rudd also appeared on the TV, discounting the remarks and credibility of North Korea's "unofficial spokesman". Yes, Myung-Chol does make a strange impression, and his credibility needs to be examined, but that should not be taken as an opportunity to disregard the seriousness of the issues raised. The whole US/Korean affair strikes me as something which people are unable to grasp with the seriousness it deserves.

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