Posted on 09/23/2006 3:50:00 PM PDT by blam
North Korea 'makes weapon pledge'
The US has been monitoring activity at North Korean nuclear sites
North Korea has said it plans to increase the amount of plutonium it extracts for use in nuclear weapons, according to a US scholar. Selig Harrison said North Korean officials had told him they would unload nuclear fuel rods from the Yongbyon reactor by the year's end.
Mr Harrison said Pyongyang wants "to use Yongbyon as leverage" to get bilateral talks with the US.
The US insists the nuclear issue can only be addressed in six-party talks.
Pyongyang walked out of multilateral negotiations with the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea late last year in protest at US financial sanctions.
It had agreed to enter the talks when offered aid and security guarantees in exchange for dismantling its nuclear programme.
International concern sparked by the North's recent missile tests has been mounting with speculation that it may be planning to test a nuclear bomb.
Nuclear fears
Selig Harrison told reporters in Beijing he had met several North Korean officials on a recent trip to the country, including the top nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan.
Mr Harrison is one of very few US academics with close contacts with the North Korean government.
He said Mr Kim had told him the "purpose of unloading the fuel was to obtain more plutonium for nuclear weapons".
He said he had been told the move was aimed at urging the US to meet North Korea's demand for bilateral talks.
The US believes Pyongyang could be capable of producing two or more bombs every year.
Intelligence reports of heightened activity at a suspected underground site in North Korea have prompted reports that Pyongyang might be planning a nuclear test.
Mr Harrison is quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying he believes the North Korean leadership is still debating whether to conduct a test.
North Korea is just a Chinese distraction. We need to stay focused on Iran.
After their missile failure and the hysteria surrounding the non-event of a nuclear test Pyongyang is having to stretch a little for the next threat. Kim evidently thinks he can get more in a bilateral talk than he can in a multilateral talk, but Clinton isn't president anymore.
Seems like we should remain focused on both Iran and North Korea.
Bring both countries up before the security council.
Isolate both countries diplomatically and economically
Bomb their nuclear sites if the threat becomes too great.
In the mean time the US needs to gear up. US commander in Iraq mentioned that he will need more troops for the months ahead. Problem, we have enough manpower and formations in the Army and National Guard, however the units that were not deployed in Iraq had their vehicles drawn down to replace the vehicles lost by the units slated for Iraq rotation. Congress just passed a bill to fund the expansion of our production lines for military vehicles and aircraft. Many of the additional National Guard formations needed are not combat ready because their vehicles and equipment were sent to replace losses in last two years because DoD never anticipated the operation tempo nor duration of the Iraqi War. The hollowing of our military may explain why the Bush admin choose diplomacy over military confrontation with Iran and North Korea. Why it took DoD over three years to expand our production lines despite the acknowledgement of strategists at the beginning of the war, that the War on Terror is going to be a long fight (decades) really beguiles me. Sometimes I wonder, all these senior DoD guys go to all these prestiges colleges and universities (ones many Americans cannot afford nor get into) and they simply overlook the importance of a production base for bullets, steel, vehicles and spares, makes me wonder how they are taught. Oh, I forgot, they are taught to outsource our manufacturing base because it is cheaper, no need to stockpile anything because it costs money. Don't worry overseas manufacturers would provide everything we need in an emergency, especially the Communist Chinese (steel, rechargeable lithium ion batteries, uniforms) and Russians (titanium for armor).
In the mean time the US needs to gear up. US commander in Iraq mentioned that he will need more troops for the months ahead. Problem, we have enough manpower and formations in the Army and National Guard, however the units that were not deployed in Iraq had their vehicles drawn down to replace the vehicles lost by the units slated for Iraq rotation. Congress just passed a bill to fund the expansion of our production lines for military vehicles and aircraft. Many of the additional National Guard formations needed are not combat ready because their vehicles and equipment were sent to replace losses in last two years because DoD never anticipated the operation tempo nor duration of the Iraqi War. The hollowing of our military may explain why the Bush admin choose diplomacy over military confrontation with Iran and North Korea. Why it took DoD over three years to expand our production lines despite the acknowledgement of strategists at the beginning of the war, that the War on Terror is going to be a long fight (decades) really beguiles me.
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