N. Korea Suggests It Can Strike U.S. First 1 hour, 24 minutes ago North Korea suggested Tuesday it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States, according to the North's official news agency. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat. "As we declared, our strong revolutionary might put in place all measures to counter possible U.S. pre-emptive strike," the spokesman said, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States." Last week, the communist country warned that it had the right to launch a pre-emptive strike, saying it would strengthen its war footing before joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises scheduled for this weekend. The spokesman also said it would be a "wise" step for the United States to cooperate on nuclear issues with North Korea in the same way it does with India. Earlier this month, President Bush signed an accord in India that would open some of its atomic reactors to international inspections in exchange for U.S. nuclear know-how and atomic fuel. The accord was reached even though New Delhi has not signed the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. North Korea has withdrawn from the treaty. link This reminds me of the Cold War Years I grew up with- Russia was going to nuke the USA, Cuban missle crisis, etc. We had to watch Civil Defense films in 1-3 grades, atomic bomb films in 4-6 grade. 1961-1966. Do you remember? Are we going to start living again with the threat of nuclear war, pre-emptive strikes and all?
I guess the North Koreans were feeling a little left out. Bush hasn't been paying any attention to them. How would you feel if you had nukes and nobody cared.
The irony in all this is that Bush administration rhetoric has done precisely the opposite of what it was intended to do. Instead of scaring "Axis of Evil" countries silly into submission, it has led directly to those nations accelerating their weapons development and aggressive rhetoric/threats directed at the US and some of its allies. Not to mention Latin America of course...has anyone been keeping up with the flourishing 'anti-American' regimes that keep coming to power in that continent? It's lovely really...
