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April 06, 2004

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The world is busy looking at Iraq. In the meantime, there's plenty of scary stuff happening right here in Asia, courtesy of your friendly despotic republic of North Korea. The head of KEDO has told how the North Koreans can make as many nukes as they like.Comforting stuff. It seems this member of the Axis of Evil has been put in the containment basket until the USA and the rest of the world, including China, can work out what the hell to do with them.

North Korea can probably make unlimited quantities of nuclear weapons from its own plutonium stocks, the head of a consortium that until recently was building nuclear power stations there said Monday. "I feel very confident that their plutonium program is now in full operation and it's one that can produce almost unlimited quantities of nuclear weapons," Charles Kartman, executive director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) told the European parliament.
It is about time China, who are the only ones who wield any influence over the North Koreans, started solving one of the bigger threats to regional stability and world peace, right on its doorstep. If China wants to step up into being a world power, doing the right thing on North Korea would be a good start.

 posted by Simon on 04.06.04 at 11:48 AM in the




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Comments:

whilst the shrub is busy sending troops to their deaths in iraq, no concrete action has been taken as yet on the democratic republic of congo for allowing north koreans, chinese and somesuch to buy plutonium there. even the congolese minister of wotsit has no idea whatsoever - or pretended - as to the goings-on at the mines. pathetic or what.

 posted by: breanagh on 04.06.04 at 01:45 PM [permalink]

It's getting desperate there. I think we better seriously think about sending Jimmy Carter to Pyongyang...

 posted by: kennycan on 04.06.04 at 02:00 PM [permalink]

And it was Kim Jong Il with the "plutonium" in the Congo, not Saddam with "yellowcake" in Niger. Sort of like a game of clue.

Saddam was looking for "just plain cake". To feed his people. Shrub just got the two confused. The scales have fallen from my eyes! Vote for Kerry - he'll nuke the Norks! Or at least talk them to death by boredom.

 posted by: kennycan on 04.06.04 at 02:05 PM [permalink]

Sending in Jimmy Carter - that'll teach 'em. Send in Kissinger for the real full court press.

 posted by: Simon on 04.06.04 at 05:12 PM [permalink]

I don't think the Chinese want to do a good deed. They do want to be a world power, but they also like having a crazy cousin to use to threaten the rest of the world.
China likes the situation just fine. If NK stays the same, they have their 'crazy cousin'. If NK falls, then South Korea has to absorb a country of people with absolutely no concept of any society approaching normal. Just look at the situation after Germany reunited. The former East Germany is still a basket case and most former West Germans don't like them. Korea would be worse, SK isn't as well off as Germany was in 1989 and NK is much worse off than East Germany.

I don't see any way China will help us unless Bush threatens to nuke NK. They probably wouldn't like a huge, glowing, radioactive crate right next door.

There's no really good answer to NK. They're too fricking crazy to negotiate with.

posted by: Veeshir on 04.09.04 at 08:17 AM [permalink]




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