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TechnoratiObama Asks Security Council to Punish N. Korea
PRAGUE - President Obama said that North Korea violated international rules when it tested a rocket that could be used for long-range missiles, and he called on the United Nations Security Council to take action.
![[President Obama said that North Korea had broken global rules in launching a rocket over the Pacific in a speech in Prague on Sunday. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/obama_prague.jpg "obama_prague.jpg")
"This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon at the Security Council but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons," Mr. Obama said. "Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something."
The United States Northern Command issued a statement that North Korea's taepodong 2 missile flew over Japan, with its payload landing in the Pacific Ocean.
"No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan," the assessment said.
White House officials said that the failure of the launch would not stop the United States from taking the matter to the Security Council. "I think there have been a number of instances now where the North Koreans have failed in these attempts," White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "The launch itself was a violation," he said, adding that the fact that the launch failed did not make a difference in pursuing punitive sanctions.
Mr. Obama's comments on North Korea were delivered here at the end of a historic speech before more than 20,000 people that, in a twist of irony, was planned in advance to lay out Mr. Obama's plans to stop the spread of nuclear arms. That North Korea had fired a rocket over Japan and into the Pacific just hours before Mr. Obama's speech lent his message an added urgency, Mr. Obama said, although White House officials disputed any suggestion that the secretive government in the North timed its rocket launch to coincide with Mr. Obama's speech.
"I hate to speculate" about North Korean motivations," said Gary Samore, the White House coordinator for nonproliferation, adding that the North Koreans had announced their launch window two weeks ago and that weather conditions had turned favorable today. "I'm not sure this is a deliberate calculated action on the part of the North Koreans."
Deliberate or not, the North Korean action served the dual purpose of lending urgency to Mr. Obama's speech while emphasizing the often tied hands of the international community with regard to stopping North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons. The Security Council may slap Pyongyang on the wrist, as it has before, but China, a permanent member, has often stood in the way of strong international action.
Nonetheless, Mr. Obama said he would push for strong Security Council action. "Now is the time for a strong international response, and North Korea must know that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons."
But it remained unclear exactly what the West would be able to do. President Bush pressed for similar sanctions after the North's nuclear test in October 2006, but they had little long-term effect.
Mr. Obama also said that he still planned to continue plans to pursue missile defense, but he tied the need for such a system to any Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons. Russia opposes locating a defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, as current plans call for, and Mr. Obama said in a letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev two months ago that if Russia were able to help the United States stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, there would be no need for a missile defense shield in in Eastern Europe.
The issue has particular resonance here in Prague, since the now collapsed government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek went to bat against popular opinion here to support the missile shield, only to have the Obama administration begin to walk back from the plan.
"Let me be clear: Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat," not just to the united States, but to Iran's neighbors and our allies," Mr. Obama said. "The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defense against these missiles. As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven."
31 Comments so far
Show All"Nonetheless, Mr. Obama said he would push for strong Security Council action."
By golly, I hope he isn't going to hold his breath.
Whatever Obama promises for the better, I always keep my fingers crossed until it actually materializes. :)
"Thousands Flee US Drone Attacks" reads a headline at the top of CD this morning.
Mr Obama says regarding N. Korean missile tests. "Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must have meaning."
Unless, of course, you are the US President, where hypocrisy is the rule of law.
"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must have meaning."
Pompous ass. I am no fan of North Korea, but we are the biggest perpetrator of violence and breaker of rules in the world. Compared with us, North Korea is small stuff. But we NEED enemies.
Joe
Mr. oBAMa:
North Korea as every other entity on Earth wants to SURVIVE. And if it will take nuclear weapon and crude delivery system then so be it. We have to pay for our agreement to tolerate domination syndrom of the US both Presidents and residents.
And pay we will.
North Korea farts up into the stratosphere and all the usual Western bullies - and western satellite Japan, of course -- are up in arms screaming, threatening, and pointing their fingers.
One wishes they would get as worked up about real problems and threats such as global warming, species extinction, and massive pollution of the ecosphere.
I just don't get it. Why is it an international crisis for N. Korea to develop a missile, and nuclear weapons, while Israel sits on more than 200 (also "illegal") nuclear weapons?
China will protect N. Korea from action by the U.N. Security Council, just as the U.S. has protected Israel for decades.
"Nonetheless, Mr. Obama said he would push for strong Security Council action. "Now is the time for a strong international response, and North Korea must know that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons."
Really? That is the path that Israel and the U.S. have taken so successfully. What makes N. Korea different?
Questions well taken!
Obama's huffing and puffing is laughable.
Well, he finally is getting the wording right... and he is correct ...
"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something."
But, he has to start at home. He cannot leave it for a Spanish judge. He can't just pick on North Korea. If this administration does not take care of the previous administration's "violations" of just about everything, how does it think that anything else they try is going to work?
And then there is Israel.
Castles built on sand.
Was it not Senator John Glenn who went into space atop an Atlas ICMB?
Was it not President Eisenhower who launched his recorded voice with a Redstone balistic missle?
It seems that the Pot is calling the Kettle black.
Sort of like GW bush, everytime Barack Obama opens his mouth to speak I grow more disillusioned.
Alright. Can someone direct me to the law that bans any nation from testing a missile?
Sure can. One caveat, can you read Hebrew?
"Hi, I am George W Bush, and I approved this president"
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
We need to negotiate with these people, not punish them. We need to normalize relations with them. It's been 60 years since the Korean Police Action. It's been 50 years since Fidel became President of Cuba. WTF. How long do we have places on this planet that OUR FREE COUNTRY says it's FREE CITIZENS can't visit? The tax money used to keep American troops stationed all over the world "protecting" some, "threatening" others, depending which way the wind blows in any particular decade, could be better used here to benefit those who pay those taxes. I would like to see Healthcare for ALL, but they say we can't afford it; I would like to see decent Public Schools EVEN IN THE INNER CITIES, but they say we can't afford it; I would like to see decent highways and bridges across the country, they say we can't afford it. God damn it, we could afford all of that and more if we would stop this worldwide military domination!
And all these motherfuckers who got these huge bonuses with the bail out money should never have been getting those bonuses in the first place. How the fuck can those kinds of excesses be justified for such an elite group just doing their job, and not available to everyone else. To me, these actions are more foreign in a country where "all are created equal" than almost anything done in any country that we are now bombing. It's not hard to see, for any one that cares to look, that a million dollars a year for the boss, and 50,000 dollars a year for the worker is virtual slavery. This should have never happened, and should never happen again. If the average wage in a country is 50,000, how can anyone be worth a million? Equal out the pay in this country.....That would be some CHANGE THAT I COULD BELIEVE IN!!! How about the highest paid person makes no more than 10 times the minimum wage. Don't you know the prices would drop dramatically? To make this Long story short( I know it's too late for that)I'm tired off all the worldwide smoke and mirrors that distract us from the real problems that are happening in our own backyard!!!!!!!!
I think the countries that wish to develop outside the Washington Concensus had better arm themselves to the teeth, or they will end up like Iraq, Palestine and Afganistan.
If Iraq had nukes, it would not now be in shambles and an utterly destroyed and occupied nation.
If the N. Koreans can develop a nuclear weapon quickly, and a means of delivering it, it might save them from total destruction for a second time. It would seem they learned their lesson from the US and the UN in the last war on the peninsula.
Then shouldn't the Security Council punish everyone who launches a missile equally?
How can America be so self-righteous when we are the only country ever to nuke another?
What exactly do the people of North Korea stand to gain by being nuclear armed anyway?
Ask the people of Palestine or Iraq what they had to gain if they had nuclear weapons.
Absolutely nothing in my opinion. These countries are located side by side with their "enemies". They cannot sit in buildings 6000 miles away and play video games with their weapons. If anyone detonates even one bomb in the region, everyone is toast even if there is no chain reaction of retaliation.
-Joe
Not much - they "won" the Korean War using frostbite as their main weapon. Oh and also, nobody really likes an invader all that much.
Joe
If anything the UN should sanction the US and its client state in the middle east for aggression and use of WMDs. Obama has a lot of nerve to threaten Iran or North Korea for doing what they have a right to do. Our new imperialist leader is following the same book as his predecessors in creating and fostering animosity to feed corporate and military agendas. Where's the change?
The Jaded Prole
The many astute comments above show how effective the authors are able to detect hypocrisy.
I'd only add that President Obama routinely violates AT LEAST Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter which prohibits the "threat or use of force" against other member states. He continues to launch attacks of state terrorism by context (killing civilians) in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Here is the best definition of terrorism by a UN Panel:
"any action . . . that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.”
www.stanleyfoundation.org/publications/report/UNND807.pdf
And the US is in clear violation of Article 6 of the NPT which requires good faith negotiations towards complete nuclear disarmament. The recent Quadrennial Defense Reviews, which President Obama has not repudiated, call for decades of nuclear weapons development. Iran has, according to Article 4 of the NPT, has the inalienable right to purse nuclear power for commercial purposes.
The US continues to undermine the NPT by supporting three nuclear powers who have not signed or ratified it: Israel, India and Pakistan.
To call for the rule of law while so obviously violating the Constitution and the treaties it calls "the supreme law of the land" (See Article 6 (2)) is standard imperial hypocrisy.
The fact that the corporate media doesn't report this is proof of their complicity regarding US war crimes and obvious "crimes against truth" or blatant fraud.
A good exception is the commentary on Bill Moyers' show on Friday night in which Glenn Greenwald said:
"Well, let's start with the fact that there is a very widespread perception, one that's growing with more and more revelations, by the day. That what the United States did over the last eight years, in terms of how we detained people, how we interrogated people, how we tortured people and kidnapped them, and shipped them off to black sites, where they were completely disappeared is something that is not only disgraceful, and a fundamental violation of what we claim our political values to be but are crimes. Very serious war crimes. If you look at political discussions that take place on most major television no shows, about that. What you'll find is this implied consensus that Americans don't want their political leaders spending time on investigations and looking to the past. And that's absolutely false. It's a case where public opinion is distorted. Polls show that large numbers of Americans, even 50 percent believe that there should be investigations into whether or not crimes were committed. Because if we don't investigate when our political leaders break the law, it means that there's no rule of law."
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/transcript3.html
Deepa
Obama would do well if he acknowledges that the US is the source of terrorism.
One of the basic definitions of terrorism in dictionaries is: “Violence or the threat of violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, carried out by states or individuals for political purposes.”
According to the academic definition: "Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby – in contrast to assassination – the direct targets of violence are not the main targets."
The US Joint Chiefs of Staff publication defines terrorism as, “The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against people or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives.”
Based on the US definition of terrorism, in July of 2006 Edward Peck has termed the US activities as terrorism. He said: "U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2331[1], and read the U.S. definition of terrorism. And one of them in here says • one of the terms, “international terrorism,” means “activities that,” I quote, “appear to be intended to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping”…Yes, well, certainly, you can think of a number of countries that have been involved in such activities. Ours is one of them."
Deepa
Unlike US, North Korea does not have a history of invasion and plundering of soverreign countries by killing millions of millions of innocent children, women and men.
It is the US that has been using weapons of mass destruction on innocent people. It continues to test and produce different kinds of weapons, missiles and weaponise the atmosphere. But there is no outrage either in the UN or UNSC.
US drone attacks on innocent civilians in Pakistan are increased. This is justified by Obama and his administration and American public.
“Two US Missile Strikes In Pakistan In Three Days Kill More Than 60,”
By Barry Grey, 17 February , 2009, http://www.countercurrents.org/grey170209.htm
Read the transcript of Iraqi Cardiologist on the genocidal violence of US and its allies.
“The transcript of the “Occupation year 7” speech by Iraqi cardiologist Dr Omar Al-Kubaisy to the European Parliament, 18th March 2009, about the horrendous consequences of the illegal, war criminal and genocidal US, UK and Australian invasion and occupation of Iraq.” “Iraq: Occupation Year 7” By Dr. Omar Al – Kubaisy, 05 April, 2009, http://www.countercurrents.org/kubaisy050409.htm.
THis is Obama's chance to finally do something that he says he is going to do! Huuray America!!
Double standards seem to be the rule in Washington these days. The Republicans were worse, but Obama is pretty bad himself. A man that campaigns one thing and does the opposite.
And yet, double standards are ultimately unsustainable.
Obama Asks Security Council to Punish N. Korea . . . maybe send in the Wall Street Bankers?
Mr obama said he was;
ready to
ask for the initiation of
talks to
resolve the situation
Feels like a nested subroutine.
Bottom line, he'll do nothing and the world will get more dangerous....
As declared just prior to Jan 20, ObamaInc is the new enemy, and its behavior proves the accusation true. ObamaInc will need to be fought even harder than BushCo because polls currently rate it favorably, much as BushCo was at its inception. We should face the fact that until the US Empire is dissolved, it is the enemy of ALL humanity, which means its rulers must be fought at every turn, regardless the name of political party or skin color of the elected Emperor.
"The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defense against these missiles."
Courageous? Are they doing this for love - or money?
Joe
Maybe North Korea is playing it smart here by flexing a little muscle...
Look what happened to Iraq after Israel bombed their nuclear reactor, the Kuwait bait'n'switch, ten years of sanctions and with Saddam disarmed of the biological and chemical warfare we gave him to fight Iran and use against the Kurds...
Iraq was ripe for the pickin... a defenseless sitting duck...
Perhaps having nukes is what has kept the West from meddling in that country's affairs... a strong offense is the best defense...