Logic 101 and the Axis of Evil

["Richard Fidler" <rfidler@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This comment by Reg Whitaker was on a couple of lists I'm on: Socialist
Register, and Inroads (a Canadian left-liberal-social democratic list).
Can't resist passing it on....

 Let's see if I can get this right: we know that Iraq, numero uno in the
Axis of Evil, got its biochemical WMDs from the USA. Number Two in the
Axis, North Korea, is now revealed to have got its nuclear WMDs from
Pakistan, America's staunch ally in the war against terrorism and
against the Axis of Evil. And Condeleeza Rice distinguishes between Iraq
and North Korea by indicating that Saddam "is still the only leader to
have actually used a weapon of mass destruction against his neighbors" -
the neighbour in question being Iran, the third pillar of the Axis of
Evil. Makes sense, does it not?

Reg Whitaker

--


U.S. Says Pakistan Gave Technology to North Korea

By DAVID E. SANGER and JAMES DAO


New York Times October 18, 2002

American intelligence officials have concluded that Pakistan, a vital
ally since last year's terrorist attacks, was a major supplier of
critical equipment for North Korea's newly revealed clandestine nuclear
weapons program, current and former senior American officials said today.

The equipment, which may include gas centrifuges used to create
weapons-grade uranium, appears to have been part of a barter deal
beginning in the late 1990's in which North Korea supplied Pakistan with
missiles it could use to counter India's nuclear arsenal, the officials
said.

"What you have here," said one official familiar with the intelligence,
"is a perfect meeting of interests -- the North had what the Pakistanis
needed, and the Pakistanis had a way for Kim Jong Il to restart a
nuclear program we had stopped." China and Russia were less prominent
suppliers, officials said.

The White House said tonight that it would not discuss Pakistan's role
or any other intelligence information. Nor would senior administration
officials who briefed reporters today discuss exactly what intelligence
they showed to North Korean officials two weeks ago, prompting the
North's defiant declaration that it had secretly started a program to
enrich uranium in violation of its past commitments.

The trade between Pakistan and North Korea appears to have occurred
around 1997, roughly two years before Gen. Pervez Musharraf took power
in a bloodless coup. However, the relationship appears to have continued
after General Musharraf became president, and there is some evidence
that a commercial relationship between the two country's extended
beyondSept. 11 of last year.

A spokesman for the Pakistan Embassy, Asad Hayauddin, said it was
"absolutely incorrect" to accuse Pakistan of providing nuclear weapons
technology to North Korea. "We have never had an accident or leak or any
export of fissile material or nuclear technology or knowledge," he said.

The suspected deal between Pakistan and North Korea underscores the
enormous diplomatic complexity of the administration's task in trying to
disarm North Korea, an effort that began in earnest today.

In Beijing, two American diplomats, James A. Kelly and John R. Bolton,
pressed Chinese officials to use all their diplomatic and economic
leverage to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.
The subject is expected to dominate a meeting next week between
President Bush -- who a spokesman said today "believes this is troubling
and sobering news" -- and President Jiang Zemin of China, at Mr. Bush's
ranch in Texas.

Mr. Bush did not address the North Korean revelation at appearances in
Atlanta and Florida today. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld did
talk about the disclosures at the Pentagon, but one official said the
effort to play down the topic was part of an administration strategy of
"avoiding a crisis atmosphere."

At the same time, White House and State Department officials argued that
what they called North Korea's "belligerent" announcement to a visiting
American delegation two weeks ago demonstrated the need to disarm Iraq
before it enjoys similar success.

"Here's a case in North Korea where weapons have proliferated and put at
risk our interests and the interests of two of our great allies," Japan
and South Korea, Richard L. Armitage, the deputy secretary of state,
said today. "It might make our case more strong in Iraq." Some Democrats
agreed, while opponents of a military strike against Iraq argued the
reverse, saying the administration's muted reaction to North Korea, and
its announcement that it wanted to solve the problem peacefully, should
also apply to Baghdad.

There were conflicting explanations today about why the administration
kept the North Korean admission quiet for 12 days.

The White House said it simply wanted time to consult with Japan, South
Korea and other Asian nations, and with members of Congress, before
deciding its next step. But some of the administration's critics
suggested that the real reason was that the administration did not want
to complicate the debate over Iraq in Congress and the United Nations.

On Capitol Hill, conservative Republicans argued that the 1994 accord
that froze North Korea's nuclear program -- an agreement the North
Koreans now say is "nullified" -- should be scrapped, and talked about
new efforts to isolate North Korea. But within the Bush administration,
it has been a matter of some controversy whether to abandon the
Clinton-era accord. Hard-liners have argued that it should be scrapped.
But other officials, including some at the State Department and the
National Security Council, are warning that walking away from the accord
carries a major risk: it could free North Korea to remove from storage
"canned" nuclear fuel rods with enough plutonium to produce upwards of
five nuclear weapons.

American officials said their suspicions about North Korea's new nuclear
program only came together this summer. Mr. Bush fully briefed Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan on American suspicions when the two
leaders met in New York in September, according to Japanese and American
officials. But it is unclear how strongly Mr. Koizumi raised the issue
later with Kim Jong Il during his visit to North Korea.

Today, several of Mr. Bush's top aides argued that North Korea and Iraq
were separate cases -- and while North Korea might have more advanced
weapons, it could be contained through diplomacy and the 37,000 American
troops stationed in South Korea. Appearing on ABC's "Nightline" tonight,
Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Bush's national security adviser, said that
"Saddam Hussein is in a category by himself, as still the only leader to
have actually used a weapon of mass destruction against his own people,
against his neighbors." She said that Mr. Kim was also a dictatorial
leader, and that North Korea had a record of exporting missiles and
other weaponry around the world. But she said "we do believe that we
have other ways to deal with North Korea."

etc, etc.


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