Posted on 12/13/2002 12:57:19 PM PST by Heartlander2
U.S. President George W. Bush was facing a diplomatic nightmare Friday over the alleged nuclear weapons programs of North Korea, Iran and Iraq, the countries he has labelled the "axis of evil."
While North Korea has threatened to reactivate its nuclear facilities, both Iran and Iraq have denied they have any nuclear ambitions. Washington is, however, concerned with Tehran's announcement that it is planning to build another nuclear plant. It also argues that the arms dossier Iraq presented to the United Nations is full of holes.
On Friday, Bush told his South Korean counterpart, Kim Dae-jung, during a telephone conversation that the North's decision to reactivate its nuclear program was "unacceptable."
Bush said he won't allow "business as usual to continue" with North Korea but still seeks a peaceful resolution.
Bush called Kim to discuss renewed fears over the Communist country's suspected nuclear weapons program. North Korea, accusing the Bush administration of taking a hardline policy toward it, said Thursday it will reactivate nuclear facilities that have been frozen under a 1994 deal with Washington.
"The two heads of state agreed that they cannot accept North Korea's decision to lift its nuclear freeze, and they agreed to urge North Korea to withdraw its decision," said Kim's national security adviser, Lim Sung-joon.
But the two leaders also "agreed to continue their efforts to seek a peaceful resolution," he said.
The emphasis on seeking a peaceful solution suggested the two leaders were trying to prevent the situation from escalating into a crisis similar to one in 1994 that nearly led to war on the Korean peninsula and prompted South Koreans to stock up on food and other supplies.
Security analysts believe North Korea built one or two nuclear bombs before it froze its nuclear facilities in 1994. If reactivated, the program can quickly yield enough plutonium for several more bombs, they say.
North Korea says its facilities were built to generate electricity.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Friday urged North Korea not to move ahead with its nuclear program, saying he would not hesitate to go to the UN Security Council if Pyongyang violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"We need to continue to look for agreed solutions, a diplomatic solution to the problem," ElBaradei said in Vienna.
He later told CNN that North Korea was the closest to building a functional nuclear weapon of the three "axis of evil" countries.
Iran would be second on the list, followed by Iraq, ElBaradei added.
In Tehran, however, the government of President President Mohammad Khatami rejected U.S. claims that it was developing a clandestine nuclear program and said all its atomic power plants were open to international inspection.
"We have no nuclear activity or study without the knowledge of the International Atomic Energy Agency," government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told reporters Friday. "All our nuclear sites are for peaceful purposes and open to IAEA inspection."
Ramezanzadeh spoke a day after U.S. officials endorsed claims made by an armed Iranian opposition group this summer that two construction sites in central Iran may be used for a clandestine program to develop nuclear weapons.
Washington was also rattled by an announcement by the Iranian government Thursday that it was considering construction of a second major nuclear power plant.
Iran's Atomic Energy Council ordered a feasibility study on a second plant as the country's first nuclear-power station at Bushehr prepares to go on line next year with Russian help.
U.S. intelligence officials do not believe Iran has made any nuclear weapons. But they fear byproducts from the power plants could be used to manufacture weapons.
Meanwhile, Bush was pondering his next step in the standoff with Iraq amid U.S. accusations that Baghdad had failed to account for a number of missing chemical and biological weapons in its 12,000-page arms declaration.
The report also appears to skip over purchases that U.S. intelligence believe are related to Iraq's nuclear program, officials said.
The omissions in the dossier were "big enough to drive a tank through," one unnamed official told the New York Times.
In Vienna, IAEA's ElBaradei said Friday that most of Iraq's nuclear weapons declaration - 2,100 of 2,400 pages - is old material.
"The new part is 300 pages in Arabic that covers activities in 1991 until 2002. Part of it we also know; however, there is additional information we are going through right now," ElBaradei said.
The tentative U.S. conclusion that the report is lacking sets the stage for a critical set of decisions by Bush, who views the declaration as Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's last chance to come clean, officials said.
Bush's options include providing American intelligence on suspected weapons programs to UN inspectors or helping the world body attempt to prove that Saddam is lying, which was required under a U.S.-backed UN resolution that also created a new inspections regime in Iraq after a four-year lapse.
Bush could also simply seek more information from Iraq, a route officials said the president would not take.
After a more thorough review of the declaration, the president also could declare that Saddam was in "material breach" of the resolution, and that war was required to disarm him, officials said.
The latter step, favoured by hardliners in the administration, likely would be condemned by U.S. allies who want proof that Saddam is a threat.
But a senior U.S. official said last week that the United States was not inclined to engage in prolonged debate in the UN Security Council and might be impelled to act on its own, especially if a veto to block action loomed.
Maybe the guy was right?
If I were you I'd be worrying about what Iraq and North Korea may do. They are the ones working furiously to get those nuclear weapons finished and then spin them up to blackmail virtually everyone around them.
George W. and his advisors are holding feet to the fire, but want to deal with Iraq first, THEN North Korea. Just my opinion.
Sounds like a plan.
I agree N. Korea needs some priority but we're concerned about the mid-east as a region that's threatened by Saddam - plus his support of terrorist activities. I think N. Korea believes it can get away with asserting itself now BECAUSE we are engaged in the mid-east. As quickly as Saddam is taken care of , I believe we'll be focusing on N. Korea over the nuclear and missles issues. Be patient.
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