Bush In 2003: ‘We Will Not Tolerate Nuclear Weapons in North Korea’

[kpete]

Bush In 2003: ‘We Will Not Tolerate Nuclear Weapons in North Korea’

In May 2003, President Bush said the United States would “not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea” and “will not settle for anything less than the complete, verifiable, and irreversible elimination of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.”

Three years later, North Korea has offered the first “manifest proof” of its nuclear capabilities, and Bush has moved the goal posts. Yesterday, Bush said the US “would hold North Korea fully accountable” if they transferred nuclear material to other states or “non-state entities.”

The difference is striking. Back in 2003, the administration was riding high after declaring “mission accomplished” in Iraq. Today, the Iraq war rages on, sapping resources and energy away from other crises around the world.

For six years, the Bush administration has refused to engage in direct talks with North Korea. The country now may possess enough weapons-grade plutonium for as many as 13 nuclear weapons.

Video and Transcript:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/10/bush-tolerate-korea/

[enigma000]

1. Bush Warns Iran On Nuclear Weapons

Thursday, June 19, 2003:

President Bush said Wednesday the international community must make clear to Iran that "we will not tolerate" construction of a nuclear weapon.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200306/19/eng20030619_118555.shtmlby Tehran

[RC]

2. Ya think maybe, just maybe if this horse-stick cowboy

would not have threatened North Korea and had not stopped the ongoing negotiations that William Jefferson Clinton had going with them, that we would not be having this crisis now. The seals on their nuclear facilities would still be in place and and North Korea would not be the threat they are at the moment. Ya think you dumb ass?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

3. Does Dubya believe his own hype? "Elimination" of NK's nuke program

as a goal apparently has led to an unspeakable disaster that may open the floodgates of nuclear proliferation in South Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries. The day of the inevitable accidental launch that may bring about the end of Planet Earth has drawn closer during the past few days.

A similar goal for Dubya in 2001 for dealing with international terrorism seems to have led to the same kinds of consequences for the World Trade Center and Pentagon:

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From http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/08/rice.transcript :

"Transcript of Rice's 9/11 commission statement - Apr 8, 2004

We also moved to develop a new and comprehensive strategy to ELIMINATE the al Qaeda terrorist network. President Bush understood the threat, and he understood its importance. He made clear to us that he did not want to respond to al Qaeda one attack at a time. He told me he was "tired of swatting flies.""

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A writer for Washington Monthly wrote about Dubya's policy on NK nukes:

"The pattern of decision making that led to this debacle--as described to me in recent interviews with key former administration officials who participated in the events--will sound familiar to anyone who has watched Bush and his cabinet in action. It is a pattern of wishful thinking, blinding moral outrage, willful ignorance of foreign cultures, a naive faith in American triumphalism, a contempt for the messy compromises of diplomacy, and a knee-jerk refusal to do anything the way the Clinton administration did it...."

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2361272