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| Axis of Evil |
| Oil runs dry in NKor... |
| 2002-11-19 |
| An oil tanker arrived in North Korea Tuesday carrying the last shipment of U.S.-funded fuel oil to the communist state unless it halts a banned nuclear weapons programme. Washington and its allies decided last week to stop vital fuel oil aid to penalise Pyongyang for breaking a series of non-proliferation pledges. The cuts will hit North Korea just ahead of winter, which brings sub-freezing temperatures. Yes, we've heard of the Brutal Korean Winter. Tusk-tusk. Terrible, y'know? The United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union agreed to suspend the fuel oil shipments to North Korea from December. But they allowed delivery of the 42,500-tonne November batch, which was already on the high seas. It's because of that warm milk they drink... North Korea has not yet responded to the decision to cut the fuel shipments — a move Pyongyang envoys have said would be viewed as a hostile act. And developing nuclear weapons isn't? Under a 1994 agreement, the North promised to freeze its nuclear weapons programme in return for fuel oil, paid for by Washington, and two light water reactors that cannot easily be converted to produce atomic weapons material. And they didn't, so we won't. That sounds fair. They seem to need nukes more than they need fuel oil... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 Im not looking for tribute, I just wonder if its wise to put a wounded coyote in a corner. It seems to me that we've got to give these folks some reasonable chance to save face. We know they are losing, They know they are losing, the Chinese know they are losing, but sometimes, you just need to give people an honorable way to walk away from the table. I dont know how to do that of course, but its something I think about with these guys. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-11-20 10:11:30 |
| #3 Well, we and the S.Koreans have been paying for years under the Carter brokered deal under Clinton. However, to paraphrase Lincoln over a diplomatic incident with Great Britian during the American Civil War, one war at time please. Franks is eating up all our strategic reserve, mobility, and stockpiles to pad the Gulf effort. So, buying a little time between major engagements has a certain degree of wisdom. |
| Posted by: Don 2002-11-20 09:59:05 |
| #2 So we mush pay tribute, eh Frank? What will they demand NEXT so that they won't attack us? And after that? AND THAT? |
| Posted by: Ptah 2002-11-20 08:33:33 |
| #1 Wasn't cutting off oil what caused the Japanese to go 'crazy-eight bonkers" and attack our base at Pearl Harbor? |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-11-19 16:19:10 |