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China-Japan-Koreas
No deadline for deciding on next steps for Korea policy: Rice
2005-06-06
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States has no deadline for deciding on next steps in policy toward North Korea, rejecting a comment by a senior Defense Department official that new measures may be in place by the end of June.

The Pentagon official, speaking to reporters aboard Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's plane during a swing through Asia, said the administration may be poised to refer the matter of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program to the United Nations.

Rice noted that President George W. Bush said recently that the administration "still believes that there is life left" in the stalled six-party process. "I think that the idea that we're going to decide one way or the other is a little forward leaning," Rice said Sunday. "I would say, you know, I don't put timelines on things." Rice acknowledged that the administration will look at options beyond the six-party format.
Posted by:Steve White

#11  phil_b: Yeah, I have trouble believing it, too. Still Tesla did some truly odd things, and I believe some of his ideas about vacuum might be right. Though I don't have enough education to judge. I think a nuclear bomb test is possibility.

I'm much more certain about the Aum Shinrikyo-North Korea link. When Aum Shinrikyo first appeared in the 1980s, it was as a political party. I think it was a Soviet/NKor effort to penetrate the government, much as they had done with communist parties in European parliaments. AM wasn't elected to the Diet, so the next best thing was a religion, I suppose.

It seems to me that the Russians (understandably) lost interest after about 1991, but the North Koreans carried on. However, the NKors started to use AM to target Russian scientists and technology.

In Plague Wars, the authors reveal that before the successful sarin attack, AM also tried to attack US military bases with anthrax. This was unsuccessful. It is also mentioned, in passing, that AM tried to get ahold of drawings for the MiG 29. Who, in 1993, would try to steal MiG 29 drawings?

Posted by: Rory B. Bellows   2005-06-06 21:42  

#10   "1993 seems to predate the global air sampling regime."

;)
Posted by: Haliburton; Agent control division   2005-06-06 17:28  

#9  North Korean>Nicola Tesla>Aum Shinkrikyo>Banjawarn Station>Brightskies.

Hummmm..You've forced my hand Rory.

It's deep, so don't ask and by all means don't tell.

We have an entity placed in a very tenuious strange quarter(area 540 MeV). Nontheless for the challenge, Agent X has managed to penetrate
the matters you've commented about and keeps us informed and upto date with the latest, very encourageing.


Earnesty is the feature most admired about X. That's a *GOOD* thing, because He/She (i can't divulge) is very elusive. In fact X comes from a long line of earnest agents we call Spembles, most charming and lightweight.

If agent X were a beverage, it would best be described as something less than near beer, flavorwise that is.

Posted by: Haliburton; Agent control division   2005-06-06 17:24  

#8  Rory, an interesting story. But I have a hard time believing anyone has a working directed energy weapon that can target on the other side of the planet. I wouldn't discount a small nuclear explosion as 1993 seems to predate the global air sampling regime.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-06-06 16:31  

#7  Phil B. - Not sure why my links came out in bold. Yeah, I saw the Brightskies material. I have it linked under "fantastic".

Red Dog - The speculation is that the Banjawarn Station events were actually some sort of directed energy weapon. Such a weapon might be based on the work of Nicola Tesla, who was a very interesting fellow. I think it's entirely possible the US gov't sits on large amounts of knowlege and technology.

I believe Aum Shinkrikyo is a front for North Korean intelligence.

Posted by: Rory B. Bellows   2005-06-06 12:21  

#6  Not a Nuke physicist but...if a "mystery" nuke were to be set off in the Ausie bush it wouldn't be a mystery for long.

Quite a few countries test for atmospheric radioactive isotopes(fall out)regulary. In addition we have sats that monitor the "double flash" for clandestine tests or the real thing.

If, if somtin somtin did happen its more likely to be a unexotic natural cause .

OTOH it could have been flying monkeys comming out of Crocodile Dundees butt. ;)
Posted by: Red Dog   2005-06-06 05:35  

#5  Sorry Rory, I didn't realize the bolded words were links. The Banjawarn Station incident is even stranger as this link documents. I have travelled through this country and it is extremely remote and sparsely populated. Hiding physical evidence of a nuclear explosion and missile test is entirely feasible.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-06-06 04:50  

#4  Rory, care to share those 'suggestions'.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-06-06 04:33  

#3  I've long thought that Bush's strategy in North Korea is simply a waiting game. The idea, apparently, is that North Korea is going to collapse anyway, so it really isn't worth going to war over. The six party talks are a perfect way to fritter time away while appearing to care about the problem. Tom Holsinger has been on the case for a while now. He believes that a recent WaTimes report may indicate that the regime's collapse is weeks away. The report says North Korea will turn out city folk to work on farms in the countryside.

There may also be the possibility that North Korea has acquired some sort of strategic deterrent. Beating a country with a strategic deterrent is possible, because WMDs don't offer much flexibility. After all the USSR lost in Afghanistan, the US lost S. Vietnam. (And yes, I'm aware of some of the debate on the latter, but I believe the point still holds.) The new generation of states that have acquired WMD have made calculations more difficult. I repeat it can be done, but gingerly: it's still a matter of brinksmanship.

North Korea has always played closer to the edge in that regard. When I first read some suggestions about what North Korea's weapon of choice might be, I was incredulous. It was too fantastic, too ridiculous to be true. But I've since opened up to the possiblity that it might not be all tall tales, I still have difficulty believing. And that's probably a good thing!
Posted by: Rory B. Bellows   2005-06-06 04:14  

#2  I think you've jumped the shark, bubba.

Bush has handled the NorKies as well as, no make that better, than could be expected after having had a fait accomplis, NorKs with Nukes, dropped in his lap by the Clintoon fuckwits.

That we do not put ourselves in a box, limiting our choices and keeping the asshats guessing, is a good thing - it is not a lack of stones. The General doesn't speak for the Bush Admin, Dr Rice does. He may find himself in Greenland tending the snow gauges if he barks again.

Separate this issue, NorKs with Nukes, from the others and you've got a deal. If only the Pub Senators had half the wits and balls that Bush & Co display every day.

BTW, Dr Rice doesn't brown nose - she works for Bush because she believes in the same things - and they're smarter than the MSM paints, by light years. Her job, now, is to communicate the US position in fairly restrained speech. Better her than you or me, eh? Sigh. I feel as frustrated as you do, but look at where we were in 2000 and ask yourself who could have done better - or even would have considered doing the good things Bush has done? al Gore? al Skeery?
Posted by: .com   2005-06-06 01:24  

#1  Are they tiptoeing around this for some clever reason or has every Republican in this country been secretely castrated? Maybe Rice is a yes-man, er, yes-woman. I can't believe my party of choice has become such a brothel of jellyfish.

Suggestion 1. Tell everyone in the whole world to get the hell out of the way until we get this war on terror thing sewn up.
Suggestion 2. Make, don't ask, the congress and senate work on a majority rules principal again.
Suggestion 3. Quit going around trying to brown-nose every freak and deviant in the country for votes you know that you will never get anyway.

I have a list of about 30,000 other suggestions if anyone would like to hear them.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2005-06-06 00:14  

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