Korea Redux And Jimmy

From the Associated Press:

North Korea stoked regional tensions Wednesday, threatening more nuclear tests and saying additional sanctions imposed on it would be considered an act of war, as nervous neighbors raced to bolster defenses and punish Pyongyang.

South Korea said it was making sure its troops were prepared for atomic warfare, and Japan imposed new economic sanctions to hit the economic lifeline of the communist nation's 1 million-member military, the world's fifth-largest.

North Korea, in its first formal statement since Monday's claimed atomic bomb test, hailed the blast as a success and said attempts by the outside world to penalize North Korea with sanctions would be considered an act of war.

Further pressure will be countered with physical retaliation, the North's Foreign Ministry warned in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Then, the Bush Administration indicated:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States would not attack North Korea, rejecting a suggestion that Pyongyang may feel it needs nuclear weapons to stave off an Iraq-style U.S. invasion.

Rice told CNN that President Bush has told the North Koreans that "there is no intention to invade or attack them. So they have that guarantee -- I don't know what more they want."

But she also said that the decision by Pyongyang to go ahead with its nuclear program means it likely will see "international condemnation and international sanctions unlike anything that they have faced before."

You may not be aware, but there are still over 29,000 US soldiers stationed in South Korea, following the 1953 end of the Korean War. US Army General B. Bell, commander of our forces in South Korea, responded to the threat from North Korea:

Be assured that the alliance has the forces necessary to deter aggression, and should deterrence fail, decisively defeat any North Korean attack against South Korea. U.S. forces have been well- trained to confront nuclear, biological and chemical threats."

Japan is considering additional sactions as well:

National Public Safety Commission Chairman Kensei Mizote said following an emergency security meeting late Wednesday that the government had decided to impose additional sanctions, including a total ban on North Korean vessels.

Of course, due to the nature of the history of the Framed Agreement and the questions regarding Jimmy Carter's role in 1994 when send "behind the scenes" by then-President Clinton, Mr. Carter took it upon himself to write this wonderfully self-serving piece today, with some highlights noted below:

Responding to an invitation from President Kim Il-sung of North Korea, and with the approval of President Bill Clinton, I went to Pyongyang and negotiated an agreement under which North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit inspectors from the atomic agency to return to the site to assure that the spent fuel was not reprocessed. It was also agreed that direct talks would be held between the two Koreas.

But beginning in 2002, the United States branded North Korea as part of an axis of evil, threatened military action, ended the shipments of fuel oil and the construction of nuclear power plants and refused to consider further bilateral talks. In their discussions with me at this time, North Korean spokesmen seemed convinced that the American positions posed a serious danger to their country and to its political regime.

Responding in its ill-advised but predictable way, Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, expelled atomic energy agency inspectors, resumed processing fuel rods and began developing nuclear explosive devices.

Time out. Comments: Of course, Jimmy, how horrible is it that we had a president that would lower himself, actually deign to tell the truth about the nature of evil. So I suppose we should have, at that time, continued oil shipments, continued shipping them anything on their Nuclear Shopping List and continued having a nice chat, all the while knowing that Pyongyang just slammed a homer up the previous administration's butt?

And what's the deal, Jimmy, with the line about responding in an "ill advised" but "predictable" way? Predictable then moves "ill advised" into the "acceptable" category?

More:

What must be avoided is to leave a beleaguered nuclear nation convinced that it is permanently excluded from the international community, its existence threatened, its people suffering horrible deprivation and its hard-liners in total control of military and political policy.

Article tag line: "Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, is the founder of the Carter Center and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize." Change to read: "Jimmy Carter, universally thought to be the weakest functioning American president of the 20th century, wrote this article to reaffirm the remarkably high esteem unto which he holds himself as the final arbiter of what is proper for the World."

Carter oddly omits the part where North Korea cheated on every aspect of the deal the moment Carter turned back to his limo.

Everyone also conveniently omits the part where North Korea deals in and sells heroin and methamphetamine, and also how it has been systematically counterfeiting ONLY American currency ($100 bills) in such a way as to meet or exceed our printing capabilities.

Just thought everyone might like to know.

BZ