North Korea is building up a formidable military in order to avoid the fate of Libya and Iraq, an American writer and retired professor says.James Petras, who has written dozens of books on international issues, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday while commenting on US threats against North Korea.
Next week, the US state of Hawaii is resuming monthly statewide testing of its Cold War-era nuclear attack warning sirens for the first time in almost three decades citing a threat of war between the US and North Korea.
Emergency management officials in Hawaii said on Monday the state is restarting the practice in preparation for a potential nuclear missile attack from North Korea, Rooters reported.
"It’s very clear that the US has taken a very aggressive position towards an essentially defensive posture adopted by the North Korean government, including its development of nuclear power," Professor Petras said.
"But I think it’s very clear that North Koreans are also interested in negotiating some kind of permanent peace treaty, and that’s been on their agenda for many, many years. And Washington has at times entered into negotiations but failed on the fundamental issue of ending sanctions and beginning a process of accommodation," he added.
"I think the US at this point has increased its military threats, and both naval, air and ground forces around North Korea to impose sanctions, and has not at all accepted ongoing negotiations that China and Russia have urged," he stated.
"I think it’s very dangerous because the US government at this time led by President Trump has made North Korea the centerpiece of a global conflict. And North Korea will not back down. It realizes that giving up its capacity for retaliation it will suffer the fate of Iraq and Libya," the analyst noted.
"So I think given the precedent of recent history where the countries which have not appropriate military capacity to resist are inviting attacks," he said.
"So I think we have to go back and reconsider the conditions of co-existence, and that begins by organizing negotiations and not increasing the military threats which provoke North Korea to look at a counterattack or counter-response," he observed.
"And this of course has escalated, and this is very dangerous at this time," concluded the scholar.