Posted on 04/04/2002 6:00:25 PM PST by freespeech1
The US Government has announced that it will release $95m to North Korea as part of an agreement to replace the Stalinist country's own nuclear programme, which the US suspected was being misused.
Under the 1994 Agreed Framework an international consortium is building two proliferation-proof nuclear reactors and providing fuel oil for North Korea while the reactors are being built.
In releasing the funding, President George W Bush waived the Framework's requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to ensure it has not hidden away any weapons-grade plutonium from the original reactors.
President Bush argued that the decision was "vital to the national security interests of the United States".
Deal under threat
North Korea has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the agreement in recent weeks.
The row has heightened tensions on the peninsula
It has been angered by President Bush's accusation that Pyongyang was part of an "axis of evil" producing weapons of mass destruction.
This annoyance was compounded by Washington's decision to withhold this year's certification that North Korea is keeping its side of the Agreed Framework.
It has systematically refused to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into its nuclear facility at the Yongbyon research base north of the capital.
Delayed
Pyongyang has justified its refusals by pointing out that the reactors are way behind schedule.
They were originally expected to have been completed next year, but now construction is not expected to even begin until August.
Another issue is the different interpretations of the inspections' timing.
According to the Framework, North Korea should be fully compliant with IAEA safeguards when "a significant proportion" of the project is completed.
The builders say that will be around May 2005, and given the inspections will take at least three years, this means that North Korea should start admitting inspectors now.
But Pyongyang believes that they should only allow the inspections to start, rather than finish, by that date.
The head of the Non-proliferation Policy Education Centre in Washington, a critic of the Agreed Framework, has warned that even when the new reactors are completed they may not be tamper-proof.
"These reactors are like all reactors, They have the potential to make weapons. So you might end up supplying the worst nuclear violator with the means to acquire the very weapons we're trying to prevent it acquiring," Henry Sokolski told the Far Eastern Economic Review.
In retrospect, the "axis of evil" was just a nice catchphrase. They were only words and nothing more. Just like with Clinton.
But what should we expect from someone who has violated his oath to uphold the Constitution (by signing CFR), expanded the power and size of the federal government, and consistently caved into the liberals?
Not What They Say
As Allah wills.
What's the whole difference between Gore and Bush!? Or Clinton for that matter!?
Conservatives are going to have to stop being so fickle, and swooning each time Bush fires up the ranks with a strong speech--all the while this usual bullshit goes on.
Axis of Evil my foot. We are beginning to see exceptions all over the place. I CANNOT IN MY MIND IMAGINE RONALD REAGAN DOING ALL THIS CRAP OVER A SPAN OF TWO MONTHS!
White House invites foreign fighter pilots to patrol US skies
By Rick Wiles
Could the citizens of the United States of America be witnessing a silent military takeover of their nation by foreign powers?
The Bush White House plans to invite Norwegian fighter pilots to guard USA airspace. The F-16 pilots will be given presidential authority to shoot down any aircraft they deem as a threat to US skies. The foreign pilots will be granted the same authority as American pilots to intercept and shoot down hijacked airliners.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met this week with Norwegian Defense Minister Kristen Devold announced they are in basic agreement on the unprecedented military operation to have foreign pilots fly potential combat missions in USA airspace. “We have offered F-16s to the US, and the signal is that they might be needed,” stated Devold.
Devold said Denmark and the Netherlands would join Norway with the deployment of F-16 fighter jets and pilots over the USA later this year if requested by the Bush White House.
This is the second time the Bush White House has invited foreign soldiers to patrol USA skies. After September 11, President Bush became the first president in the history of the USA to invite foreign troops to guard the homeland. NATO allies from Norway, Germany, and Italy have provided crews to fly AWAC surveillance planes for USA air defense. AWAC surveillance planes are used by the Pentagon to provide both warning of incoming aircraft into US airspace and to direct aerial bombing attacks on enemy troops and facilities.
Secretary Rumsfeld said the foreign pilots are needed because US military forces are strained by the global war on terrorism and UN peacekeeping missions. Permitting foreign pilots to fly over the USA “is a very important thing, given the scarcity of a number of assets,” said Mr. Rumsfeld.
With Russia planning to join NATO later this year, two questions must be asked. Will Russian fighter pilots be flying over USA airspace by next year? Is this another step in a gradual plan to merge the militaries of numerous nations into a global army under the command of the United Nations?
By Matthew Jones
Published: April 3 2002 16:35 | Last Updated: April 3 2002 17:40
The Harwell atomic research site in Oxfordshire was on alert on Wednesday after it emerged thieves had stolen keys to the site's nuclear control room.
The keys were snatched from a car parked at Reading railway station on March 23 but the news was only made public following a leak from the British Transport Police.
An official from the UK Atomic Energy Authority, which manages the Harwell plant, said the keys had been left in a black briefcase locked inside the car by a junior member of the site's emergency response team.
Also included in the theft was a list of contact telephone numbers for senior members of staff, plans for the emergency evacuation of the plant, a mobile telephone and shortwave radio. None of the items have yet been recovered.
The incident follows a warning in December by the International Atomic Energy Authority that security must be stepped up at civil nuclear installations in the light of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The IAEA fears that terrorists will increasingly try to steal nuclear material for use in "dirty bombs" - conventional bombs primed with radioactive material that could be used to spread panic.
Harwell's experimental reactors are no longer operational but the site does contain an indermediate level nuclear waste store. The UKAEA official said there had been "no risk" of the thieves gaining access to this and that the company would not be reviewing its safety procedures.
"This was simply a communications control room, which is not a sensitive area, and all locks were changed immediately," he added.
The UKAEA's independent police force is looking into the incident in addition to the Transport Police, but the employee involved is not expected to face disciplinary action.
The incident follows a series of embarrassing thefts of briefcases from MI5 agents in the last few years that have led to a review of security in the secret service.
I'm very close to emulating you on this. I am so sick and tired of his soft-on-communist stances it is nausiating.
However, on the other hand, if this is true, we have a problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.