[Marxism] US stepping up ties with allies in Asia to counter DPRK -- and China-Russia reluctance on warlike measures

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Three articles, again with a nice introduction by Mark Jensen of the
Snow-news peace list. None of the indicate that the end of the world is nigh
over the N. Korea nuclear test' (It may well, for all I know, be getting
nigh about some other things).

They all indicate Obama's attempt to recapture the offensive position to end
US loss of control in various parts of the world. The offensive posture was
characteristic of the Clinton-Gore and Bush-Cheney administrations, but in
the last year of the Bush administration it took more the shape of a broad
retreat covered by bluster.

This basic policy course should serve as a reminder that it is the military
adventurism of Washington that threatens the world today, and not target
"rogue" states like Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. 

One thing all this signals is that Washington  is not very optimistic of
getting the kind of support for sweeping anti-DPRK measures that they were
hoping for in the first flush of "world" outrage over the nuclear test.
Fred Feldman

NEWS & COMMENTARY: US sharpens tone vis-à-vis North Korea

[The tone the U.S. national security state is taking toward North Korea
shifted once again on Saturday as an anonymous "senior defense official"
let it be known that "The U.S. and its Asian allies are laying the
groundwork for a tougher stance toward North Korea should negotiations
with China and Russia fail to yield a new strategy to force the government
in Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program, defense officials said
today," the *Los Angeles Times* reported.[1] -- 

China "signaled its displeasure with that prospect," Julian Barnes said. --
"China opposes the enlargement of the existing bilateral military alliances
in Asia-Pacific, which were left over from the Cold War," said a deputy
chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army in a speech to
the Asian security summit in Singapore known as the Shangri-La Dialogue,
where U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is also in attendance. -- 

The *Wall Street Journal* reported that Gates engaged in "closed-door
meetingswith the defense ministers of U.S. treaty allies Japan and South
Korea" and also "a separate half-hour discussion with a senior Chinese
general."[2] -- Peter Spiegel said that next week "a high-level U.S.
delegation" will travel to Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing led by Deputy
Secretary of State James Steinberg; the group is "also likely to visit
Moscow before week's end, officials said." -- The U.S. has no timeline
for action, according to "officials." -- 

On the Hot Air blog, Ed Morrissey commented that with respect to North Korea
the Obama administration has "covered almost all of the positions on the
card" and that he was getting a case of policy "whiplash" from the
administration's rapid shifts of position.[3] --Mark]

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8677/

1. U.S., ASIAN ALLIES GEAR UP FOR TOUGHER STANCE TOWARD N. KOREA
By Julian E. Barnes

** Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates tells South Korea and Japan to
consider unilateral measures by the three nations if talks to press North
Korea to end its nuclear program continue to founder. **

Los Angeles Times
May 30, 2009 -- 10:40 PDT (May 31, 02:40 in Korea; May 31, 01:40 in
Singapore)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-us-korea31-2009may31,0,4
603747.story

SINGAPORE -- The U.S. and its Asian allies are laying the groundwork for a
tougher stance toward North Korea should negotiations with China and
Russia fail to yield a new strategy to force the government in Pyongyang
to give up its nuclear program, defense officials said today.

In a meeting today, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told his South
Korean and Japanese counterparts that they should begin thinking about
measures the three countries could take unilaterally if the so-called
six-party talks continued to founder.

"The secretary raised the notion that we should think about this as we are
pursuing the six-party talks," said a senior defense official, speaking on
condition of anonymity because of diplomatic protocol. "We ought to think
about what more we need to do should they not prove successful."

U.S. defense officials stressed that Washington still hoped to revive the
six-party talks. A high-level delegation led by a top State Department
official, James B. Steinberg, will begin a series of meetings in Tokyo,
Seoul, Beijing, and possibly Moscow this week aimed at hashing out a
consensus on North Korea.

In April, North Korea said it would "never again" participate in the talks
after the United Nations rebuked its rocket launch over Japan.

But in the past, Gates had been dismissive of the talks, and U.S.
officials had privately worried about Russia's commitment to intensifying
pressure on North Korea.

Officials said if a multilateral approach showed signs of failing, the
U.S. would begin discussions about the need to develop "prudent measures"
that it could take with South Korea and Japan.

But China today signaled its displeasure with that prospect.

"China opposes the enlargement of the existing bilateral military
alliances in Asia-Pacific, which were left over from the Cold War," Lt.
Gen. Ma Xiaotian, the People's Liberation Army's deputy chief of the
general staff, said in a speech to an Asian security summit in Singapore.

After the speech, Ma said he understood South Korea and Japan's concerns
about North Korea's recent nuclear test, and said China shared them.

"As a close neighbor of North Korea, China has expressed our firm
opposition, our grave concern about the nuclear test," Ma said. "We are
resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation."

But it was unclear whether China would go as far as the U.S. wanted in
pressuring North Korea to give up its weapons program. Ma called on the
countries involved to "remain coolheaded and take measured measures."

In the meeting among the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, the defense
ministers discussed no specifics of new measures they should take against
North Korea.

"There is no prescription yet on what to do, but there are lots of ideas,"
said another senior defense official.

Additional measures could include moving forces around, or into, the
region and shoring up missile defenses in South Korea or Japan.

"The other prudent option is, what should we be thinking about in the
event we need to start enhancing our defenses?" the official said.

In the meeting, the officials from the three countries discussed the
necessity of not appearing to reward North Korea for its test by offering
it any concessions.

"We have evaluated the situation and pledged to craft a common response,"
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said afterward. "North Korea,
perhaps to this point, may have mistakenly believed it could be rewarded
for its behavior, but that is no longer the case."

--julian.barnes@xxxxxxxxxxx

2. GATES, ALLIES DISCUSS RESPONSE TO NORTH KOREA
By Peter Spiegel

Wall Street Journal
May 30, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124371244855069351.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


SINGAPORE -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates Saturday began to lay the
groundwork for building up U.S. and allied military defenses in East Asia
should the Obama administration fail to convince China and Russia to join
in a multilateral diplomatic response to North Korea's nuclear test.

In closed-door meetings with the defense ministers of U.S. treaty allies
Japan and South Korea -- and a separate half-hour discussion with a senior
Chinese general -- Mr. Gates said the U.S. preferred for the five
countries that have engaged Pyongyang in talks on its nuclear program to
present a unified front to punish North Korea.

But according to U.S. defense officials who attended the meetings on the
sidelines of a major international security conference here, Mr. Gates
also told the Asian leaders the U.S. was obligated to begin planning for
new defensive measures in case such talks fall through.

"The secretary made it clear and the administration's goal is to have the
five nations work together," said one senior Defense official. "What the
secretary pointed out is we certainly have to think about what happens if
that fails, and we have to start planning and taking some actions on our
own and with our allies to look at defenses."

The U.S. officials said no specifics were discussed in any of the
meetings. But another senior Defense official said such contingency
planning could include stepped-up missile defense cooperation or allied
troop movements. The U.S. has Cold War-era defense treaties with both
Japan and South Korea.

The possible defensive measures are expected to be discussed in a series
of meetings next week by a high-level U.S. delegation traveling to Tokyo,
Seoul, and Bejing led by James Steinberg, the deputy secretary of State.
The group is also likely to visit Moscow before week's end, officials
said.

Officials said the delegation will focus on finding a consensus between
the five countries on North Korea sanctions, but they are expected to
spend at least some time discussing possible defensive measures the U.S.
and its treaty allies might need to take. The officials said there is no
timeline for when the U.S. will decide whether multilateral talks have
failed and defensive measures need to be implemented.

Although the meetings with Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese leaders
here took place in private, Mr. Gates hinted at the prospect of a new tack
during a question-and-answer session following an address to the Asian
Security Summit Saturday morning.

"We have to reassess," Mr. Gates said of the so-called six-party talks,
the primary negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program. "The reality
is, given the objectives of the six-party talks that were established some
years ago, it would be hard to point to them at this point as an example
of success."

Mr. Gates said North Korea has in the past been rewarded for bad behavior
by creating a confrontation in order to force the U.S. and other allies to
"pay a price" to return to the status quo that existed before the crisis
-- a practice he said shouldn't be repeated this time.

"We have to be very tough-minded about this," Mr. Gates said. "As the
expression goes in the United States, I'm tired of buying the same horse
twice."

Following a three-way meeting between Mr. Gates and his Japanese and South
Korean counterparts, none of the ministers alluded publicly to the
prospect of building up military defenses. But all three committed to
work together on a response to North Korea. Mr. Gates's meeting with Lt.
Gen. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the People Liberation Army's general
staff and the highest-ranking Chinese representative at the summit, was
longer than originally scheduled, with U.S. defense officials saying Mr.
Gates wanted more time to discuss North Korea.

In the meeting, Mr. Gates again raised the prospect of the U.S., Japan,
and South Korea working on their own, saying it would be necessary unless
a multinational strategy is agreed to, the officials said.

"He made the point that . . . if we don't address this multilaterally,
effectively, then individual countries, in the interest of self-defense,
are going to have to take action on their own," said one of the Defense
officials.

Gen. Ma touched only briefly on North Korea in his own address to the
conference, saying Beijing was committed to a nuclear-free Korean
peninsula and restating his country's "firm opposition" to North Korea's
nuclear test this week.

Gen. Ma's remarks largely echoed similar comments from Beijing made
earlier in the week, but he added that the Chinese government understood
the concerns of Japan and South Korea, a rare show of solidarity with two
of Beijing's historical rivals.

"As a close neighbor of North Korea, China has expressed our firm
opposition, our grave concern about the nuclear test," Gen. Ma said in a
question session following his address. "Our view is the Korean peninsula
should move towards denuclearization."

--Write to Peter Spiegel at peter.spiegel@xxxxxxx

3.ADMINISTRATION: NOW NORTH KOREA IS A THREAT AGAIN
By Ed Morrissey

Hot Air
May 30, 2009 -- 12:04 PDT

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/30/administration-now-north-korea-is-a-th
reat-again/

Sometimes we need a scorecard to keep up with the Obama administration?s
positions on foreign policy and national security. The latest case of
whiplash comes from the ping-pong position shifts on North Korea. When
Pyongyang tested a long-range missile in April, Barack Obama called the
DPRK a ?regional threat? to security. Last weekend, he upgraded North
Korea to a threat to global peace. Wednesday, though, Obama?s national
security adviser James Jones dismissed Kim Jong-Il almost entirely,
claiming that he poses no imminent threat to the U.S.

Today, Defense Secretary William Robert Gates goes back to Square One: 
"The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state,
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday at an international
conference. . . . His comments came amid growing concern across the globe
over North Korea?s latest nuclear test and test-firings of short-range
missiles. . . . On Friday, two Defense Department officials said the
latest U.S. satellite imagery has spotted 'vehicle activity' at a North
Korean ballistic missile facility. 'North Korea?s nuclear program and
actions constitute a threat to regional peace and security. We
unequivocally reaffirm our commitment to the defense of our allies in the
region,' Gates said in Singapore."

Gates sounded a lot less concerned on Thursday: "Defense Secretary Robert
Gates, en route to an annual security summit in Singapore Friday, signaled
as much, saying North Korea?s actions so far do not warrant sending more
US troops to the region. 'I don?t think that anybody in the [Obama]
administration thinks there is a crisis,' Mr. Gates told reporters aboard
his military jet early Friday morning, still Thursday night in
Washington."

Anyone playing Pyongyang Bingo should note that the Obama administration
has covered almost all of the positions on the card.






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