Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
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US blueprint to bomb N Korea
WORLD EXCLUSIVE by Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor
April 22, 2003
THE Pentagon has produced detailed plans to bomb North Korea's nuclear plant at Yongbyon if the communist rogue state goes ahead with reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods that would yield it enough plutonium for half a dozen nuclear weapons within six months.
According to well-informed Canberra sources close to US thinking, the elaborate Pentagon plan also involves a US strike against North Korean heavy artillery nestled into the hills above the border with South Korea. The artillery directly threatens the giant city of Seoul, as well as about 17,000 US troops stationed just south of the Demilitarised Zone.
North Korea sent shockwaves around the world this week when a report on its government website said it was "successfully reprocessing more than 8000 spent fuel rods at the final phase".
It was accepted later that this could have been a mistranslation, the Korean version suggesting it was moving towards reprocessing but had not yet started.
Western intelligence believes no reprocessing has yet taken place.
In the Pentagon plan, the US strike would come as a response to North Korea beginning such reprocessing.
The Pentagon plan emerges from the assessment that such reprocessing could furnish North Korea with enough plutonium for six nuclear weapons by October.
There is a hawkish faction within the Pentagon that believes such a situation would be disastrous for the US, leading not only to a nuclear-armed North Korea, but also to sales by Pyongyang of nuclear weapons to its friends in the Middle East, such as Syria, Libya and Iran.
The Pentagon hawks believe the precision strikes envisaged in the plan would not lead to North Korea's initiating a general war it would be certain to lose.
The US would inform the North Koreans it was not aiming to destroy the regime of Kim Jong-il, but merely to destroy its nuclear weapons capacity.
However, the Bush administration has made no decision to accept the hawks' view.
Instead, Bush administration spokesmen have emphasised that they believe diplomacy can work with North Korea.
They have also repeatedly promised not to invade North Korea, although that language does not rule out the sort of surgical strike envisaged in the Pentagon plan.
Canberra sources close to US thinking believe it more likely that even if the regime were to proceed with its reprocessing plans, the US would reluctantly accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and bend all its efforts to preventing it from selling nuclear weapons, or the attendant technology, to outsiders.
At the same time, a diplomatic strategy of isolation and economic sanctions could be pursued, with China as the key. The US would be more likely to be able to bring such a strategy into place if North Korea were publicly producing weapons-grade plutonium at Yongbyon.
North Korea shocked Washington by admitting last October that it was pursuing a highly enriched uranium program. This would also yield it nuclear weapons material, but over a longer time frame than reprocessing at Yongbyon.
Bush administration spokesmen have said consistently in recent weeks that they believe diplomacy can bring about a solution in North Korea, but the existence of the Pentagon contingency plan demonstrates that the military option is not off the table.
The US, North Korea and China are scheduled to hold multilateral talks in Beijing later this week.
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Prometheus
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Registered: 5th Apr 03
Location: NE
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Jesus. Thats not good ! Is it me or are we on the brink of WW3?
I mean we have N.Korea stand off. US threatening Syria. They've just attacked Iraq and Afganistan. Palistine and Isreail next?
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Colin
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Registered: 4th Apr 02
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Bomb the bastards
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CORSA NUT
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Registered: 3rd Aug 01
Location: Wirral
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If america attack korea all hell will break lose! Ground troups will not be an option.
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-Aliba-
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Registered: 15th Apr 02
Location: Ayrshire
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Notice how the US have attacked two of the "weakest" of opposition to them????
Iraq - I think i may have more toy planes thaniraq has real jets.
These two battles have only been so that bush is re-elected to power.
The US haven't got the balls to attack korea. Next, they'll be wanting to attack china!
They'll get slapped about stupit!!!
Why not attack saudi arabia??? There are more terrorists in that country than afgan or iraq!!! But, no, there "their" pals!???
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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How long til they go in then do you reckon?
I hope it aint this year - i got plans that will be (f)ucked up big style if it kicks off properly.
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-Aliba-
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Registered: 15th Apr 02
Location: Ayrshire
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Fuck knows how long.
If they do go in, then it'll be no easy push over like the previous 2. Real fuckn war from the cowboys!
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PaulW
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Registered: 26th Jan 03
Location: Atherton, Greater Manchester
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Great...
Here comes WW3, as if this does happen, whats the betting Korea will retaliate with a nuclear attack??
Best start digging a nuclear bunker!!
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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Start digging? Im already down to 20 ft.
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Cybermonkey
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Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
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I do hope Blair doesnt follow him in this time. That would be a mistake. I dont wanna get called up, only to be melted in nuclear blast. Who is this Greg Sheridan anyway?
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Tiger
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Registered: 12th Jun 01
Location: Leicestershire Drives:Astra VXR
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This was an excluscive from an australian newspaper.
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Cybermonkey
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Registered: 22nd Sep 02
Location: Sydney, Australia
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ha ha, those who think australian, drink australian!!
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