Options on North Korea

Here are some of the interesting articles VIEWS has read on the North Korea Showdown!

An Article by Simon Jenkins in The Guardian. Views agrees with the following comment: ‘curb North Korea's ambition in the simplest possible way. Sophisticated air power, useless in counter-insurgency, has a role in the "coercive diplomacy" of non-proliferation. Israel used it effectively against Iraq's nuclear plant in 1981 and the US repeated the exercise with Operation Desert Fox in 1998…’

On the other hand we have President Jimmy Carter, VIEWS must admit, he cant stand Jimmy Carter, the worse President with Hoover included that the United States has ever had in the 20TH Century. But he still was a President and a winner of the Nobel Prize, so here is his opinion that VIEWS does not agree with at all..! ‘ What must be avoided is to leave a beleaguered nuclear nation convinced that it is permanently excluded from the international community.. ’ ( New York Times Registration Required / Free ) This is the exact impression that must be left, the UN and the USA should not back down, North Korea must learn that it can not blackmail or threaten Western powers or its neighbours.

The North Koreans are making it known that it will see any action by the USA as act of war the New York Times Reports, ‘ North Korea…. regard increased pressure from the United States as a “declaration of war ’ Japan the BBC reports is to place sanctions on North Korea, ‘ The new Japanese measures will include banning all North Korean imports and stopping its ships entering Japanese waters, a government spokesman said. ’

The UN needs to act as one or became another league of nations, the 21st Century could be defined by this week.

The Mid Term Elections and the Polls

An interesting list of the new political polls on RCP, an article in the Washington Post has the Republican losses between seven and thirty seats also the article states the following, ‘A Democratic takeover of the House is not a foregone conclusion, however. Because of congressional redistricting plans that gave huge advantages to incumbents, fewer than 50 of the 435 House seats are competitive. Democrats said internal polls show that the fallout from the Foley scandal is confined to half a dozen races.

Partly Right on North Korea

Views waited all of Sunday for North Korea to exploded its nuclear device, with Sunday over in the UK, Views thought the last prediction had been correct, that the test was not something for the International community to worry about, hours are a long time in Politics. On the Monday morning the news that North Korea had tested a nuclear device. Then as we enter Wednesday it seems the test was not as the Spin from North Korea had intended. An interesting article in the New York Times, ‘ The North Korean test appears to have been a nuclear detonation but was fairly small by traditional standards, and possibly a failure or a partial success, federal and private analysts said yesterday. ’

Fox News reports the following, ‘ Intelligence and Defense Department officials confirmed to FOX News that the test could have been a dud, but they also advised against concluding too quickly that it was a non-nuclear event. ’

The BBC state the following, ‘ The lack of information over the blast has cast some doubts over North Korea's claim, with suggestions that the blast may have been produced by conventional explosives as part of a ruse. ’

In a sense the above does not matter, the UN and the United States have to act as if North Korea has the bomb. This is a chance for President Bush; this could be his Cuban Missile Crisis. If possible with the backing of the UN, the USA and her allies should blockaded North Korea, check every ship, the USA should do this no matter if the UN says yes or no. President Bush can use this in the Mid Term Elections; place National Security at the heart of the debate.