Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper Tuesday.The question arises as to just why--with Iran around--the Jerusalem Post is suddenly so interested in North Korea?
"Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means ... as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as "offensive" in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls US attempts to invade it.
The tough talk came as South Korea and the US lead an effort at the UN Security Council to have the North punished for its nuclear test with tough sanctions.
David Hazony addresses the question:
Oh, and if you wonder why Israelis are so concerned about North Korean nukes, maybe it’s because Israelis feel in their bones what many Americans have yet to figure out: that there is no better indicator as to how the administration will really handle the Iranian threat tomorrow than to look at how it handles North Korea today. There is, potentially, a direct link between American failure here and the likelihood of an Israeli attack there.
The link is even stronger seeing that North Korea has changed its tune from claiming their nuclear arms is purely for defensive purposes to now threatening to use it for offensive purposes--Iran has claimed that it has no intention to create nuclear arms at all. If we are content to rely on the say-so of countries such as these, we are going to get burned.
Israel does not have the option to rely just on words--and if this is the best the US can come up with, then it is clear that Israel cannot rely on the US either.
Technorati Tag: Iran and North Korea.
3 comments:
Another possibility is that North Korea provides a preview of the technical abilities of Iran!
Can any sensible person not believe that the U.S. has tacitly accepted a nuclear-armed Iran? To me, it is more than obvious. When Bush did not order a preemptive strike at the end of his term, how can anyone believe that Obama will do anything? Appeasement is the policy of the day - and keep in mind what appeasement led to in the 1930's.
The talk about what the US will do to Iran if they drop a nuclear bomb on Israel supports you point that the US sees it as inevitable.
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