The Command Post - Iran, North Korea & Other Hotspots - North Korea's actions add up to nuclear blackmail

July 03, 2003

North Korea's actions add up to nuclear blackmail

Lesley Kemeny in The Canberra Times

The larger danger is the possible sale of highly enriched uranium, plutonium, fissile materials, manufactured nuclear weapons and missiles to Yemen, Syria, Iran, Pakistan or terrorist groups. This is an unacceptable risk which requires an immediate global response. To counter these threats, a logical conclusion is that the only non-military solution is to engineer North Korea's complete economic collapse by extended sanctions and a naval blockade. The global community will not tolerate nuclear blackmail.

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Posted by Oskar van Rijswijk at July 3, 2003 03:39 PM

Comments

Isn't France part of the global community? They'll tolerate anything as long as it doesn't interfere with their commercial pursuits.
On the other hand, they could vote for sanctions and then secretly sell whatever is embargoed to the NKs, which they learned, prior to Operation Enduring Freedom, to be a lucrative enterprise.
On a serious note, this would mean that all the countries that count would have to be on the same page, the major players in the EU included, and the commitment would have to advance beyond endless debate at the "Security" Council. Otherwise, it would once again come down to the Coalition Of The Willing.

Posted by: Seth at July 4, 2003 03:20 AM