Friday, October 18, 2002

Boy, This Foreign Policy Mess Sure is Complicated, Isn't It George? The New York Times has discovered that: American intelligence officials have concluded that Pakistan, a vital ally since last year's terrorist attacks, was a major supplier of critical equipment for North Korea's newly revealed clandestine nuclear weapons program, current and former senior American officials said today. The equipment, which may include gas centrifuges used to create weapons-grade uranium, appears to have been part of a barter deal beginning in the late 1990's in which North Korea supplied Pakistan with missiles it could use to counter India's nuclear arsenal, the officials said. "What you have here," said one official familiar with the intelligence, "is a perfect meeting of interests [~] the North had what the Pakistanis needed, and the Pakistanis had a way for Kim Jong Il to restart a nuclear program we had stopped." The trade between Pakistan and North Korea appears to have occurred around 1997, roughly two years before Gen. Pervez Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup. However, the relationship appears to have continued after General Musharraf became president, and there is some evidence that a commercial relationship between the two country's extended beyond Sept. 11 of last year. The suspected deal between Pakistan and North Korea underscores the enormous diplomatic complexity of the administration's task in trying to disarm North Korea, an effort that began in earnest today. There were conflicting explanations today about why the administration kept the North Korean admission quiet for 12 days. The White House said it simply wanted time to consult with Japan, South Korea and other Asian nations, and with members of Congress, before deciding its next step. But some of the administration's critics suggested that the real reason was that the administration did not want to complicate the debate over Iraq in Congress and the United Nations. It's becoming increasingly obvious that there's more than a hint of obsession in the administration's focus on Iraq. Note this disfigurement of logic: White House and State Department officials argued that what they called North Korea's "belligerent" announcement to a visiting American delegation two weeks ago demonstrated the need to disarm Iraq before it enjoys similar success. 7:59:18 AM     What do you think? ()

How Sick Am I? The two gentlemen who packed our belongings to be moved left at around 5:00 last night. By 5:15, I was viscerally aware of the fact that all of my books had been packed, and I had nothing to read. My wife and I took a walk and got some dinner, and before heading home, I just had to go into the local Barnes & Noble to get something to tide me over until I can start unpacking later this afternoon. I ended up getting copies of Beckett's Endgame (which I actually did read some of last night) and Krapp's Last Tape. 7:46:16 AM     What do you think? ()

© Copyright 2003 Morgan N. Sandquist. Last update: 11/2/03; 10:29:50 AM.

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