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Gates sees no threat of N. Korea's military action from U.N. sanctions
WASHINGTON, June 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has shown no military response to discussions at the U.N. Security Council of further sanctions for the North's nuclear test last month, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday.

"I don't think that there has been a commensurate change in the posture of the North Korean military that would suggest an intent to undertake operations," Gates said upon arriving in Brussels for a NATO defense ministers' meeting, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon "Intelligence does not indicate warlike changes in the North Korean military dispositions."

Gates added, "Military operations are pretty routine at this point, so that's a source of some comfort. Intelligence information indicates that North Korea is not mobilizing troops or moving troops and equipment."

"They are so unpredictable you can't completely discount them," he said. "It's a very unpredictable regime, so it is probably not wise just to dismiss out-of-hand the rhetoric."

China Tuesday approved the draft resolution as the U.S. and its allies agreed to a demand by Beijing to change the word "decide" to "call on" in the provisions of the draft in an apparent effort to make them voluntary.
Thus rendering them toothless, which has been the Chinese goal all along.
Susan Rice, U.S. permanent representative to the U.N., Thursday expressed satisfaction.
Since she's also edentulous ...
"We're very pleased with the outcome," she told a Fox News Channel program. "This is a very strong comprehensive resolution with financial sanctions that are much tougher and broader -- comprehensive export ban for arms; a much, much strengthened inspection regime for suspect cargo on the high seas; and more North Korean companies and individuals that will be subject to sanctions and asset freezes."

Rice urged North Korea to return to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear ambitions. "The message to North Korea is to halt its nuclear program, halt its ballistic missile program and return without conditions to a process of negotiations, implement the steps it has committed to do already in an irreversible way," she said.
No, the message to the Norks is that China still has their back ...
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, also told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, "We remain willing to engage North Korea to resolve our differences through diplomacy, including bilaterally, within the framework of the six-party process."

"A central tenet of the Obama administration's foreign policy approach to date has been a willingness to engage in dialogue with those with which we have had differences, sometimes very serious differences," he said.

Bosworth reiterated the Obama administration "will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state," but added, "The U.S. has no hostile intent towards the people of North Korea. Nor are we threatening to change the North Korean regime through force."

On the allegations that Washington will relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism after the North's recent nuclear and missile tests, he said, "I would note that a redesignation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism would not result in any new material penalty to the North Koreans since many of the activities that we are talking about are covered under other sanctions applied to North Korea under other provisions of U.S. law."
Posted by: Steve White 2009-06-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=271789