'Axis of evil' validated!
President Bush took a lot of heat for identifying three nations as comprising an "axis of evil," hearkening back to WWII. His critics said he was overstating his case, that there was no call to lump Iran and North Korea in with Iraq. Indeed, some said that even Iraq did not deserve the designation.
Today, those critics just took a sucker punch to the gut, as North Korea admitted to carrying out a nuclear weapons research program in direct violation of the 1994 agreement.
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a startling revelation, North Korea (news - web sites) has told the United States it has a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of an 1994 agreement with the United States, the White House said Wednesday night.
Spokesman Sean McCormack called the North Korean disclosure a serious infringement of the agreement, under which Pyongyang promised not to develop nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea told U.S. officials that it was no longer bound by the anti-nuclear agreement.
Chalk one up for the President. Now, what are we going to do about it?
Talk.
McCormack said the United States is consulting with it allies, South Korea (news - web sites) and Japan, and with members of Congress on next steps."We seek a peaceful resolution of this situation," McCormack said. "Everyone in the region has a stake in this issue and no peaceful nation wants to see a nuclear-armed North Korea."
"The United States and our allies call on North Korea to comply with its commitments under the nonproliferation treaty and to eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable manner."
That'll teach 'em!
Here's the scary part:
Until now, the United States' main concern with North Korea has been its sale of ballistic missiles to Syria, Iran and other countries. Now North Korea's nuclear program is added to the mix.The United States has been suspicious about North Korea's nuclear intentions for some time despite the agreement.
A CIA report in January said that during the second half of last year, North Korea "continued its attempts to procure technology worldwide that could have applications in its nuclear program.F
"We assess that North Korea has produced enough plutonium for at least one, and possibly two, nuclear weapons."