Eric Margolis

NORTH KOREA IS THE REAL THREAT

WASHINGTON DC - This column has steadily warned for the last five years of the growing threat from North Korea. In mid-January, I reported North Korea was fast acquiring capability to deliver nuclear warheads to North America by means of a new, long-range, three-stage missile.

Two weeks later, on 2 Feb., CIA Director George Tenet testified to Congress that North Korea was on the verge of producing long-ranged missiles that could ‘deliver large payloads to the continental United States.’

‘I can hardly overstate my concern about North Korea,’ Tenet said, adding. ‘..the situation there is more volatile and unpredictable.’ Amen. This column does not have the CIA’s $26 billion annual intelligence budget, but it came to the same conclusion, only five years before Langley.

Other US intelligence sources confirm North Korea has resumed secret production of nuclear weapons, adding to the 2-3 devices it already has. North Korea is also improving and expanding delivery systems for its extensive arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.

North Korea recently deployed at least two Taepo Dong MRBM’s capable of hitting much of Japan, and US bases in Okinawa, with nuclear, chemical, or biological warheads. In the event of a new Korean conflict, North Korea has repeatedly vowed to devastate Japan with such weapons if Tokyo allows the US military to use vital bases near Tokyo, and in Okinawa for reinforcement and logistics. North Korea’s 100,000-man special forces, the world’s largest, are training to attack US bases in the western Pacific.

Tenet’s dramatic testimony confirms the total failure of President Clinton’s Korea policy. When confronted in 1994 by incontrovertible evidence North Korea was building nuclear weapons and delivery systems, Clinton chose to bribe rather confront Pyongyang. He dragooned South Korea and Japan into joining the US to offer North Korea an amazing US $4.6 billion in oil, food, and light-water nuclear reactors in exchange for its promise to halt building nuclear weapons and producing plutonium.

By contrast, Clinton chose to repeatedly bomb Iraq, which offered almost no threat to anyone, while bribing extremely dangerous North Korea. Of course, there was no domestic lobby in the US demanding the destruction of North Korea, as there was for Iraq.

Unlike the Mideast, where American forces face little danger, aside from occasional car bombs, the 37,000 US military personnel in South Korea are prime targets for massive North Korean attack. The US 2nd Inf Div, whose forward positions I have visited, is based hard on the DMZ, well within range of North Korean artillery, rocket batteries, and assault by armor, infantry and commandos. North Korea has repeatedly vowed to ‘totally destroy American imperialist troops’ in South Korea, and to ‘burn all of Seoul’ with chemical weapons.

North Korea pocketed Clinton’s massive bribe, and continued building weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. While claiming it was facing famine, and gulling credulous aid organizations with pictures of scrawny babies, Pyongyang found money to expanded its army and artillery arm, continued excavating vast, underground military storage sites, and emplaced more long-ranged, 175mm guns under concrete along the DMZ. North korean infiltration raids and spy missions against the south increased sharply.

North Korea’s growing ability to upgrade the medium-ranged Taepo Dong2 missile into an ICBM by adding a third stage was validated last fall when it fired a long-ranged missile right over Japan, producing howls of impotent rage in Tokyo. At best, the US and Japan hoped North Korea’s new missiles would be used for blackmail and extortion, rather than actually striking against ‘the nest of imperialist vipers in Tokyo and Washington’ as Pyongyang constantly threatened.

These developments forced Clinton to drop his opposition to an anti-missile shield for the US, reverse gears, and propose a $6.6 billion, five-year ABM program. The badly shaken Japanese may join. Due to the past failure by Congress and Clinton to take action, the US ABM program has floundered, meaning North Korea’s ICBM’s could threaten the US before it can develop an effective shield against limited missile strikes.

Interestingly, Israel, which is currently deploying the Arrow ABM system, funded by the US with $1.2 billion in grants, has reportedly offered to sell the system to the US.

North Korea should never have been allowed to develop the capability to hit the US with nuclear, chemical, or biological warheads. Clinton has committed a major, unforgivable dereliction of duty by exposing the US to this danger. If this column could warn of the threat five years ago, the White House and CIA were obviously equally aware of it. They hid from the problem. True to style, President Clinton chose empty posturing and bribery rather than decisive action.

North Korea’s nuclear capability must be destroyed. Each day we delay, means it will be more difficult and dangerous to confront Pyongyang when the time inevitably comes. Ignoring this very real problem, while beating the dead camel of Iraq, is both absurd and perilous.

While the US daily blasts what’s left of Iraq - to prevent Saddam from somehow threatening Kuwait or Israel, says the Pentagon - North Korea is being handed US taxpayer’s money and left peacefully alone to build weapons capable of destroying North America.