Rice Tries To Prevent Asian Arms Race

In Japan To Discuss Implementation Of N. Korea Sanctions

(CBS/AP)  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the swift and effective implementation of sanctions against North Korea on Wednesday, arguing that the United States had no desire to escalate the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear test.

Rice also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the defense of Japan, its top ally in the region and home to 50,000 U.S. troops. North Korea's nuclear test last week has raised concerns of an arms race in the region.

"The United States has no desire to escalate this crisis. We would like to see it de-escalate," Rice told reporters in a joint news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso. "This is not a blockade or a quarantine," she added, referring to the U.N. sanctions.

Aso, meanwhile, reiterated that Japan had no plans to develop a nuclear weapons. Many fear that such a move by Japan could encourage South Korea to follow suit and anger China, rising tensions in the region.

"The government is absolutely not considering a need to be armed by nuclear weapons," Aso said. "We do not need to acquire nuclear arms with an assurance by U.S. Secretary of State Rice that the bilateral alliance would work without fault."

Rice arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday for talks with Japanese officials amid fears North Korea could be readying for a second nuclear test.

After Aso, Rice was to meet with Defense chief Fumio Kyuma on Wednesday and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday before heading with Aso to Seoul.

Of immediate concern was the prospect of North Korea following its Oct. 9 test with a second nuclear detonation, a move that would heighten tensions further.

U.S. satellites have detected new construction and vehicle activity at the testing grounds that could be preparations for another test, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. But there is not much U.S. officials like negotiator Chris Hill can do except issue warnings.

"I think we would all regard a second test as a very belligerent answer on North Korea's part to the international community," said Hill.

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that North Korea has said privately it intends to conduct three more underground nuclear tests.

One of the reasons the North may be eager to conduct a second test, U.S. officials tell Plante, is because the first one appears to have been a failure, yielding a much smaller explosion than they had probably hoped for.

South Korea urged the North on Wednesday not to take any action that would conflict with a U.N. resolution sanctioning Pyongyang for the test.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that Rice's second stop, in South Korea, could prove more challenging for the senior diplomat than her stay in Tokyo.

Rice will ask South Korea to fulfill its obligations on the nuclear proliferation security initiative, which includes stopping and inspecting ships bound for North Korea. But, Pizzey pointed out, the South is wary of taking any action that could lead to cross-border skirmishes with its old foe.

"Of all the countries in the standoff, the stakes are highest for the South Koreans, because North Korea has South Korea hostage," Peter Beck, Director of the North East Asia Project’s International Crisis Group, told Pizzey.

Rice arrived in Tokyo as Japan was debating how far it can go to join in helping the U.S. military to board and search North Korean ships as allowed under U.N. Security Council sanctions passed over the weekend.

Japan's pacifist constitution bans the armed forces from offensive actions, and it was unclear whether such searches on the high seas would violate the charter.

The national Yomiuri newspaper reported Wednesday that Japan was expected to offer naval backup for those searches when Rice arrived in Tokyo.

Japan plans to dispatch destroyers, P-3C patrol aircraft and surveillance planes to waters near Japan to search for or pursue suspicious vessels and assist the inspections, the paper said.

Rice told reporters accompanying her to Japan that Washington was concerned the North Korean test could spark an arms race in the region, and that it was important to tell U.S. allies Japan and South Korea that Washington's defense umbrella was dependable.

Abe has pledged that Japan — the only country ever attacked with atomic weapons — would stick to its ban on possessing or producing nuclear weapons, but some officials have said that Tokyo should discuss its defense options.

U.S. intelligence has concluded that the North Korean device blown up in last week's underground test was nuclear, and likely used plutonium, as opposed to uranium.

Martin said U.S. intelligence assessments indicate North Korea has enough plutonium for six to 10 bombs, but also has the ability to make more.

[mjv2944]

I think that China, Russia and all of NK's neighbors should be the ones worrying, as these goof balls will probably have a screw up and pelt them with radiation. If they don't care about their people, they for sure don't care about anyone else.

[emtak1]

I doubt North Korea has the time or resources for a sustained arms race with anyone. They're a decrepit, corrupt government whose only strength is its military. They'r eprobably on borrowed time.

The little Asian nation may be at the beginning of its end. We can't expect their reactions to sanctions to be sane or necessarily peaceful. If they commence hostilities, they commence hostilities.

Its not like the United States and South Korea haven't tried to build a reasonable relationship with this regime for over half a century.

And enforcing nuclear sanctions from collective government decisions may be a terribly vital policy for securing a relatively safe Earth for our children and grandchildren in the 21st century. Just as the Geneva conventions helped prevent widespread chemical weapons usage in the 20th.

Strong expectations ,set now for nuclear weapons development, could jhelp prevent unprecendented tragedy being visited upon the human race in the 21st century..

[meboard]

Let's see, so far the administration has been unable to keep Iran advancing in nuc tech; promoted democracy in Lebanon, only to have them vote in terrorists; allowed the taliban to regain footing in Afganistan; is doing a BANG-UP job in Iraq. I bet Condi gets off the plane in DC annoucing "mission accomplished"--p.s. watch out when they say that...it doesn't really mean what you think it does!

[bluestardad]

Rice has no credibility.

[exusmcsgt]

Rice states that "the United States had no desire to escalate the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear test". Really now. Pushing sanctions through the U.N. is a means of de-escalation, I presume.

De-escalation would require diplomatic negotiations, something this administration is loathe to do. They prefer a showdown approach, a game of chicken to see who blinks first...confrontation is their hallmark.

And at the same time, the administration insults our collective intelligence with this "we don't want an escalation" BS. They just ratcheted up the confontation another notch.

[exusmcsgt]

meboard-

You left off secret prisions, domestic spying, 9 billion dollars unaccounted for and unpursued with Halliburton, torpedoeing the Geneva Conventions and becoming a laughing stock on the world stage for your list of Bubba Dubya's achievements.

[KOOLSTUF]

This "little" country may be small geographically,
but it has a monstrously-sized military, capable
of swarming over its neighbors like a colony of
fire ants -- and defensive reactions of those then
invaded is very likely to escalate to the nuclear level.

Given the reality its economy is in shambles, and
most of its population is starving, their Maniac's
goal is obviously making nuclear products ready
for the highest bidders -- terrorists. Being
interrupted in the process is certain to cause
the dictator to react violently -- but it MUST be
done.

Given that Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumstead (oops,
but Rumsfield reminds me so of Bumstead!) have
collectively mishandled their entire tenure, so
we have no armed forces to relocate to N. Korea,
there's but one solution -- aside from having the UN be the enforcer. (Duh! What a laugh ....)

The real deal is a Special Ops Team who pounces
and causes that Maniac to simply evaporate. If
that process had been applied to deal with Hussein, all the human and dollar costs of Iraq
would've/could've been avoided. Can anyone doubt
we have the expertise to do that, with a minimal
loss ???

All in all, that's the quickest and cheapest end
to impacts of all such tyrants, once they're duly
certified as such .....

[exusmcsgt]

KOOLSTUF-

Interesting scenario, but I must ask how you would square it with our laws prohibiting assasination....

[meboard]

exusmcsgt, thanks for adding on. The list has grown too long to keep all of the lies and misdeeds on the top of one's head. I'm from Texas and grew up watching the Bush bros run every venture they got their incompetent hands on into the ground. I knew we were S C R E W E D when he was appointed President in '01. Sad!!! The world's only superpower and we get a man who can't even conjugate a sentence. And to top that off, 51 percent of us go off and reelect this dumb-azz back into office.

[exusmcsgt]

meboard-

I, as well, am from Texas (Houston) and could not believe that Bubba Dubya (even with Rove's packaging job) could ever get elected, much less re-elected.

Kind of scary to see that a moron can make it to the top chair, isn't it?

[peterbaldwin-2009]

The Chinese and Russians must be toasting each other with shots of sake and vodka over this latest unfolding saga of the collaspe of American prestige as a mighty world power. Like an overanxious tag team wrestler, Iran is waiting in the wings for its turn to beat on America's most famous draft dodger. Condi "What July 10th meeting?" Rice forgot to deal with the North Korean manace for eight years and now is running around from place to place like a fool with her hair on fire screaming "The sky is falling", "a second test is imminent". Only a week ago she was saying "Maybe it wasn't really a nuclear blast. North Korea is still trying to fool us." All the real fools are crammed into one dysfunctional White House.

[exusmcsgt]

P.S. meboard-

After graduating from Harvard, he still can't pronounce "nuclear".....

[meboard]

KOOLSTUF, good thought on the assassination plot. I bet you can elisted the aid and mega-money support of our "dear christian friend" Pat Robertson. I understand he's big on assassination fixes to problem leaders. I guess he only got the abridged version of the 10 commandments?

[meboard]

exusmcsgt, the only way I can keep my faith in our democracy is to think to myself that ANYBODY can be President of the United States! The Republican power machine really found a great egomaniac to be their posterchild. Just keep the little monkey think'n he's in charge while the rich put the screws to the middle-class. And the middle class is too stupid to realize we're getting screwed. WAKE-UP my friends. Most of you don't make enough money to be Republicans!

[KOOLSTUF]

EXUSMCSGT:

While it's a scary thought -- outsourcing ANY powers of assissination, that Special OPS Team
could function under the UN, with the USA having
VERY CLOSE oversight.

So long as our laws permit states to enforce death
penalties (which I condone), why not also enforce
that on a global level ??? I can -- can you --
justify the immorality of killing tyrants who've
caused torture and deaths of hundreds, thousands, and even hundreds of thousands, of innocents young and old ???

Think: if prospective tyrants might ponder consequences of that nature, they may decide not to act so rampantly !!!

And not so incidentally, I'll express heartfelt
THANX for YOUR service to me, mine, our nation !!!

[agnim]

If we really wanted to prevent Asian arms race, we would have vacated the Korean Peninsula a long time ago, as the Russians did.

As long as we occupy other people's space, we are a threat to the peace of the region. As with the Vietnamese, expect the Koreans to try any and everything to rightly evict us.

We wouldn't stand for Mexican or Canadian troops occupying US space.
Other humans (whom we may arrogantly disrespect in our super power-drunk state) have similar strong feelings about THEIR SPACE!

This is that time to 'cut and run'; rather than to 'stay the course' that leads only to a hellish place.

Bush didn't even 'cut and run' from Vietnam.

Bush 'ran and hide' from Vietnam.

Now this heartless man is intent on sacrificing American lives. Tsk-tsk

[sharncedar]

"If we really wanted to prevent Asian arms race, we would have vacated the Korean Peninsula a long time ago, as the Russians did"

Here we go - the other side of the coin of our disasterous foreign policy. Bush's know-nothing aggression is the same personality, different day as the liberal's know-nothing avoidance.

We are like sociopaths in the world. Like some sociopath, we either act out in unpredictable violence or complete withdrawal and apathy.

We need to deal with Asian armament. We need to deal, really engage and work hard at it, with China's bid to become a little trade dictator of the Asian region. The stakes are high because of the trade implications etc, we need to deal with it in some way which is not a) a nutso attack without purpose (Bush), or b) self-blaming bizarre withdrawal and apathy (Nancy Pelosi).

We need to deal with our border issues with Mexico. We need to deal with it in a manner that is not a) a nutso aggressive, or b) apathetic and just letting the problem continue. No we are doing b) because they tried a) and met some resistence. So Congress gave up and went home. What else is new.

What is wrong with this country? Can anyone do anything, other than insane violence or giving up? Is there anyon willing to work at things and do the constructive work?

Our motto is now, "If you can bomb it, bomb it, if you can't, ignore it"

[sharncedar]

"We wouldn't stand for Mexican or Canadian troops occupying US space."

In fact, Mexico is occupying us with over 35 million troops at this point. They are in position, their attacks won't begin until they feel it is a good time - though the recent "day off" protest was a little test of their power. What was that other than an attak on the country by foreign troops? An attempt to harm our economy and intimidate our leaders through "peaceful" or negative action, perhaps the action gets less peaceful each time, what can we do about it.

Most Mexicans will in honesty admit they consider this a reconquest, which, my friemd, is an act of troops, not phony "hardwoking" phony illegals (never really saw their fat wives or 10 children working hard)

[agnim]

SharnCedar

"We need to deal with Asian armament. We need to deal, really engage and work hard at it, with China's bid to become a little trade dictator of the Asian region."

Why don't the Russians, French, Germans, Chinese, Indians, etc, etc feel so compelled as you to 'deal with it'?

Understand that your kind of eagerness to 'deal with' and interfere in any and everything is what makes America just about the ONLY target for the disgruntled on the planet.

Imagine Russia and China share borders with Korea, and they are the least bit concerned about Korean nuke tests on KOREAN TERRITORY?
After all, those countries did not consult Korea when they were doing their own nuke test.

We need to do on the Korean Peninsula as bush did with Vietnam, not 'cut and run' but 'run and hide and get drunk'. LOL