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Clinton Vows ‘Crippling Action’ if Iran Becomes Nuclear

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Harconen
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« on: July 22, 2009, 08:11:59 pm »

Clinton Vows ‘Crippling Action’ if Iran Becomes Nuclear

Posted By Jason Ditz On July 22, 2009 @ 7:28 am In Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Following a growing trend in the Obama Administration, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today presented the US claim that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon as an absolute fact, as opposed to speculation for which even the IAEA concedes no evidence exists.

During the interview on Thai television today, Clinton warned Iran that “once they have a nuclear weapon” they won’t actually be any safer, because the US intends to take “crippling action” against them, including dramatically improviding the military capacity of US allies in the Gulf, presumably referring to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Only last week, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Secretary Clinton declared that the US wouldn’t hesitate to use its military against Iran, and had previously said that part of discouraging the nuclear program was to leave Iran wondering if the US would invade, “the way that we did Iraq.”

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, who yesterday warned the US faced a “loss of credibility” in criticizing Israeli settlement activity, condemned Clinton’s comments, saying they indicated the US was resigned to Iran having nuclear weapons. Israel has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran even over its civilian nuclear program and has vowed it will never allow the nation to have an atomic weapon.

http://news.antiwar.com/2009/07/22/clinton-vows-crippling-action-if-iran-becomes-nuclear/
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Harconen
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« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2009, 09:32:36 pm »

US ready to upgrade defences of Gulf allies if Iran builds nuclear arms

Clinton outlines policy of containment if Tehran cannot be stopped from constructing warheads
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 July 2009 15.56 BST


Hillary Clinton today outlined how the US may go about containing a nuclear-armed Iran by extending a "defence umbrella" to US allies in the region.

The US secretary of state, speaking on the way to a security summit in Thailand, later said she was not suggesting a new policy. But her comments marked the first time a senior US official has publicly contemplated the option of containment in the event of Iran's succeeding in building a nuclear weapon.

Until today such an option was a taboo subject among US government officials and their British counterparts, who have insisted Iran would be ultimately stopped from constructing a warhead.

Iran says its nuclear programme is not for military purposes, and refuses to comply with UN security council resolutions calling on Tehran to suspend the enrichment of uranium. The impasse has grown into a crisis as the enrichment programme has expanded over the past few years.

"We will still hold the door open [for negotiations], but we also have made it clear that we will take actions, as I have said time and time again, crippling action working to upgrade the defences of our partners in the region," Clinton told Thai television.

"We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment: that if the United States extends a defence umbrella over the region, if we do even more to develop the military capacity of those [allies] in the Gulf, it is unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon."

Sir Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Tehran, said: "She's implying that, if Iran became a nuclear weapon state, then the US would develop their existing defence commitments and that the US would contemplate nuclear deterrence to protect Persian Gulf states."

Clinton's remarks appeared to be aimed at influencing the decisions being made in Tehran. She was also seeking to fend off an arms race in the Middle East, where America's Arab allies are nervous about the rise of a nuclear Iran, and considering their own nuclear options.

But her comments angered America's closest ally in the region, Israel, and drew an immediate riposte from minister of intelligence and atomic energy, Dan Meridor.

"I was not thrilled to hear the American statement … that they will protect their allies with a nuclear umbrella, as if they have already come to terms with a nuclear Iran. I think that's a mistake," Meridor said on Army Radio.

Asked for clarification at press conference, Clinton said: "I was simply pointing out that Iran needs to understand that its pursuit of nuclear weapons will not advance its security or achieve its goals of enhancing its power both regionally and globally.

"The focus that Iran must have is that it faces the prospect if it pursues nuclear weapons of sparking an arms race in the region. That should affect the calculation of what Iran intends to do and what it believes is in its national security interest because it may render Iran less secure, not more secure."

The remarks appear to reflect deepening US pessimism on Iran following the June presidential elections, which brought an entrenchment by hardliners in Tehran.

Hopes had been raised in Washington that Barack Obama's warm overtures to the Iranian people and the offer of talks without preconditions would break the long-running impasse over uranium enrichment.

Iran has so far not replied to the latest offer from six major powers – the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – to provide economic help and technical assistance in building a nuclear power industry, if Iran suspends enrichment. Little hope is left in Washington or other western capitals that any response now will be positive.

The outgoing director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said recently he thought Iran was developing a breakout capacity to build nuclear weapons, as an "insurance policy" against perceived foreign threats.

The containment option is boosted by the belief that Iran is running out of uranium ore to convert and enrich. The US thinks the supply will run out by next year and is urging all uranium-producing countries to tighten control over their exports, to ensure Iran does not get hold of any more.

If that effort is successful, it would limit the size of arsenals Iran is able to build. That is the theory at least. It is very much plan B as far as the west is concerned, but it is a bow to new realities.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/22/clinton-iran-nuclear-umbrella-gulf
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« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2009, 08:23:51 pm »

Clinton: N.Korea has "no friends", must denuclearize
Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:11am EDT

By Martin Petty and Jack Kim

PHUKET, Thailand (Reuters) - North Korea has no friends left to shield it from the international community's demands that the country scrap its nuclear activities, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

Clinton said many nations had told a low-level North Korean delegation at regional talks in Thailand that they were concerned by Pyongyang's recent "provocative" behavior, which has included nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Speaking at a news conference, Clinton said North Korea's pursuit of its nuclear ambitions could provoke an arms race in North Asia, one of the world's most dynamic regions and responsible for a sixth of the global economy.

"Our partners in the region understand that a nuclear North Korea has far-reaching consequences for the security future of northeast Asia ... This would serve no nation's interests," she said on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on the Thai resort island of Phuket.

"There is no place to go for North Korea, they have no friends left that will protect them from the international community's efforts to move toward denuclearization."

Clinton said the North Korean delegation gave no sign the country was interested in ending its nuclear program, which took center stage at Thursday's talks.

North Korea, bristling at being described by Clinton this week as behaving like an unruly child, responded in kind on Thursday, calling her vulgar and less than clever. The North's KCNA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying her comments "suggests she is by no means intelligent".

"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping," KCNA said.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Addressing foreign ministers and senior officials from Asia and Europe, Clinton said the United States would work through every avenue to persuade North Korea to eliminate its nuclear program and normalize relations with the world.

"The ASEAN Regional Forum can play an important role in achieving this outcome and for continuing to work vigorously to implement Resolution 1874," she said, referring to a U.N. Security Council measure agreed after North Korea's May 25 nuclear test.

She pointed to international cooperation in ensuring that a North Korean ship, tracked by the United States in June and July on suspicion of carrying banned arms, did not dock anywhere. It appeared headed toward Myanmar before turning around.

"The bottom line is this: If North Korea intends to engage in international commerce, its vessels must conform to the terms of 1874, or find no port," Clinton told the news conference.

Clinton said she was "gratified by Burma's willingness" to enforce the resolution to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

On Wednesday she said the United States was worried about possible nuclear technology transfers from North Korea to Myanmar, also known as Burma. [ID:nSP134559]

Clinton gave Pyongyang a choice between more sanctions if it refuses to end its nuclear activities and benefits if it does.

"Full normalization of relations, a permanent peace regime, and significant energy and economic assistance are all possible in the context of full and verifiable denuclearization," she said.

Ri Heung-sik, director general of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, told reporters the incentives were "nonsense".

NO LUXURY BOATS FOR KIM

In one indication of how sanctions have begun to bite North Korea, The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Italy has blocked the sale of two luxury yachts to North Korea believed to be destined for leader Kim Jong-il.

The sale of luxury goods to North Korea is banned under previous U.N. resolutions.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said while U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea should be implemented, all sides should work to avoid an escalation of tensions.

A final communique from the ARF meeting was issued late on Thursday after disagreement with the North Korean delegation over the wording, Thai officials said.

The statement said ministers from several countries condemned the recent nuclear test and missile launches and urged full implementation of U.N. resolutions against North Korea. In the document, the North Koreans blamed Washington for the tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Many experts on North Korea have concluded from the reclusive state's belligerence that Pyongyang wants to be recognized as a nuclear weapons state and will not end its atomic activities.

(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed, Kittipong Soonprasert and Ben Blanchard in Phuket and Jonathan Thatcher in Seoul; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)


© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE56M0KO20090723
« Last Edit: July 23, 2009, 08:25:56 pm by Harconen » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2009, 08:08:34 pm »

North Korea calls Clinton vulgar, unintelligent

Posted 23 July 2009 @ 10:22 am ET
 


SEOUL - North Korea, bristling at being described by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as behaving like an unruly child, responded in kind on Thursday, calling her vulgar and less then clever.


Clinton is in Thailand for a major regional security meeting where she is urging governments to keep pressing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and enforce sanctions against the reclusive state.


"She has made a spate of vulgar remarks unbecoming for her position everywhere she went since she was sworn in," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.


It said her comments earlier in the week that North Korean behavior such as a recent spate of missile launches was like an unruly child demanding attention "suggests she is by no means intelligent."


"We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community.


"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping," the report added.


"It is our view that she can make even a little contribution to the implementation of the U.S. administration's foreign policy as secretary of State only when she has understanding of the world, to begin with."


The impoverished state insists that it is only trying to develop an atomic weapon to defend itself from what it considers as a hostile United States.


However, many analysts say North Korea's autocratic leadership under sickly ruler Kim Jong-il sees a nuclear arsenal as the one asset it can use to extract worthwhile concessions from the outside world without putting its own position at home at risk.


North Korea in April announced its second nuclear test, incurring more international sanctions.


It has sent a low-ranking official to this week's ASEAN Regional Forum in Phuket who told his Thai hosts that Pyongyang did not want to become a punchbag at the security meeting. (Reporting by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by David Fox)



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« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2009, 08:16:12 pm »

N. Korea: Clinton 'funny lady, by no means intelligent'
Story Highlights
N. Korea launches personal attack on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Spokesman called Clinton "by no means intelligent" and a "funny lady"
She had earlier likened leadership in Pyongyang to "small children"
Communist state made clear that stalled nuclear talks are effectively finished

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- North Korea launched a scathing personal attack on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday after she likened the leadership in Pyongyang to "small children and unruly teenagers and people who are demanding attention."

At a meeting of southeast Asian nations in Phuket, Thailand, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman blasted Clinton for what he called a "spate of vulgar remarks unbecoming for her position everywhere she went since she was sworn in," according to the state-run KCNA news agency.

The spokesman called Clinton "by no means intelligent" and a "funny lady."

"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping," the statement said. Read other colorful insults by N. Korea

The verbal tussle between the two countries culminated with the reclusive communist state making it clear that six-party nuclear talks, stalled for over a year, were effectively finished.

Clinton had earlier warned that North Korea's refusal to discuss its nuclear program could escalate tensions and provoke an arms race in northeast Asia. Watch as North Korea insults Clinton »

"I was gratified by how many countries from throughout the region spoke up and expressed directly to the North Korea delegation their concerns over the provocative behavior we have seen over the last few months," Clinton said at a meeting of southeast Asian nations in Phuket, Thailand.

"Unfortunately, the North Korean delegation offered only an insistent refusal to recognize that North Korea has been on the wrong course," she said. "They expressed no willingness to pursue the path of denuclearization. In their presentation today, they evinced no willingness to pursue the path of denuclearization, and that was troubling not only to the United States, but to the region and the international community."

Her remarks came after the North Koreans issued their blunt statement in response to Clinton's interview earlier in the week with ABC News.

Before Clinton's remarks in Phuket on Thursday, the North Korean delegation attempted to take the podium to speak to the media. But it was turned away by security guards.

North Korea tested a nuclear device in May and fired seven ballistic missiles earlier this month in defiance of a U.N. resolution.

At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting, Clinton said she had unanimous support for U.N. Resolution 1874, passed by the Security Council in June. It tightened sanctions on North Korea, imposing an embargo on the shipment of arms from that nation.

The North protested the resolution by saying it would enrich uranium and weaponize plutonium, according to KCNA. When enriched to a high degree, uranium can be used as weapons-grade material. Plutonium can be used in atomic bombs.

Clinton said the United States will continue to push North Korea to come to the table. She said a "full normalization of relationships" was possible if North Korea agreed to a verifiable dismantling of its nuclear program.

"The United States and its allies and partners cannot accept a North Korea that tries to maintain nuclear weapons, to launch ballistic missiles or to proliferate nuclear materials," Clinton said. "We are committed to the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner."
The United States has also expressed concern that military cooperation between North Korea and Myanmar could destabilize the region.

CNN's Dan Rivers contributed to this report from Bangkok, Thailand.

All AboutNorth Korea • U.S. Department of State • Hillary Clinton
 

 

 
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« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2009, 08:23:17 pm »

                                                       Who is next N.Korea or Iran?

                                               
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« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2009, 08:49:05 pm »






No difference this time, they'll just flip a coin....
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