Asia News Digest
North Korea Halts Peace Talks on U.S. Provocations
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon told the UN General Assembly on Sept. 27 that the DPRK is "unable to participate" further in the Six Party Talks on nuclear weapons, because the U.S. Bush-Cheney Administration is not negotiating in good faith, but instead acting to overthrow his government. "The danger of war is snowballing," Choe said, "due to the U.S. extreme moves to isolate the DPRK and threats of preemptive strikes against it."
Choe's announcement came as the New York Times claimed on Sept. 26 that the "CIA is circulating warnings that North Korea may conduct its first nuclear test, before the U.S. Presidential election." The Pentagon and the Japan Defense Agency also mobilized a fleet off North Korea on Sept. 21 to watch for what they claim is an imminent test of a long-range ballistic missile. Such reports may be overblown, but there is no doubt that Cheney's "perpetual war" doctrine had made the world a far more dangerous place.
Choe's remarks were consistent with the policy paper of last Dec. 12 by the DPRK Ambassador Li Gun, who made clear that North Korea will never unilaterally disarm. Li noted that Washington, by simply repeating the demand that Pyongyang do so anyway, was attending the talks with an "ulterior motive"to deliberately blow up the negotiations, and overthrow the regime.
Neo-Cons Pit Japan vs. the Ultimate Target: China
A plan for the ultimate attack on China, as well as Russia, was laid out in a Sept. 18-21 series in Tokyo's Yomiuri News and in more detail by veteran Japanese reporter Yoichi Funabashi in the Sept. 28 Asahi News in the first of a three-part feature. "U.S. Force Transformation: Frustration with Japan Mounts."
The U.S. is pushing Japan to become a base for deployments into the entire "arc of instability" from Africa and the Balkans, to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China, Funabashi reports after a Sept. 18-21 trip to Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "Force Transformation" would make Japan a host for U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps bases controlled entirely by the U.S. command in Guam, violating Japan's "no-war" constitution and exceeding the bounds of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. "As Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith told Congress, 'combat commanders no longer own forces in their theaters, " Funabashi notes. "Instead of keeping troops for 'fighting in place,' it aims to improve their 'ability to the move to the fight.'...
"In the long view, the transformation targets Asia, which is expected to be directly affected by the rise of China as a central player, Funabashi says. "All it [the Pentagon] needs in Japan is an advance base that the Air Force in Guam can use in emergencies. The thinking strongly reflects the awareness that China is a potential military threat...."
Armitage Weighs in on Myanmar
UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, veteran Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, held talks with on Sept. 27 with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, to convey a message to the Myanmar leadership to launch "meaningful" dialogue with the National League for Democracy (NLD). Razali had initiated talks between the NLD and the ruling State Peace and Development Council in October 2000, which collapsed in 2003.
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli reported on Sept. 29 that Razali and Armitage "agreed on the need for the ruling Council to release NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, as well as other political prisoners, and on the importance of beginning a meaningful dialogue on national reconciliation and steps for the establishment of democracy."
Iran Seeks Indian Radar Systems
According to the Daily Times of Pakistan Sept. 27, citing industry sources in Iran, "Iran is negotiating with India to buy advanced radar systems to help protect its nuclear weapons facilities." The sources told the Daily Times that the systems are designed for fire control and surveillance of anti-aircraft batteries. Iran is seeking an unspecified number of Upgraded Support Fledermaus Radar Systems from India's Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). The deal could be as high as $70 million and mark the first major defense agreement between New Delhi and Tehran.
The source claim that Tehran had made this request about a year ago. New Delhi has not rejected the offer, but is under pressure from Washington not to sell the radars to Iran.
India To Raise Issue of Undermining Arafat with Israel
India's Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed, who visited Yasser Arafat at Ramallah in early September, told the Delhi-based news daily, the Hindustan Times, that he "saw the suffering of President Arafat and how he has been confined to his house.... President Arafat narrated to me the sufferings of his people. I will take this up with the Israeli government." Ahmed was also quoted as saying Israel's treatment of Arafat "was an affront to the Palestinian people" and must stop forthwith.
India regards Arafat as the elected leader of the Palestinians. Ahmed pointed out that India considers "the already tense and uncertain situation in West Asia could only be exacerbated by irresponsible pronouncements regarding President Arafat."
Afghan Warlords Threaten Elections
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch group released a 51-page report on Sept. 28 which said local warlords are involved in widespread intimidation and threats of violence aimed at postponing the Oct. 9 Presidential elections in Afghanistan. Accusing the U.S. government of complacency, Human Rights Watch pointed out in its report, entitled "The Rule of the Gun," that the power of the warlords is so complete in some provinces, that political activists and journalists are censoring themselves for fear of retaliation.
On Sept. 27, the head of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, issued a warning saying: "Clearly, for all terrorist organizations in the region, disrupting the free election that is pending here in Afghanistanand of which they are not a partappears to be a shared objective." Barno, who like most Americans in Afghanistan would like to blame everything on al-Qaeda, said: "We see some indications that al-Qaeda is apparently encouraging attempts to disrupt the election process.... We also see al-Qaeda and foreign-fighter involvement, particularly in the southeastin the Paktia, Khost area, in that border region opposite North and South Waziristan [both inside Pakistan], which is where the Pakistanis have been conducting a number of their operations."
Vote or No Vote, Poppies Will Bloom in Afghanistan
With more than 1.5 million Afghans involved in the drug trade, which is officially estimated to be worth US$2.5 billion annually (EIR notes that is seems to be a gross underestimate; it is actually closer to $10 billion), trying to change the situation overnight could backfire, and lead to deteriorating security and stability, according to Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime.
Elaborating on her thesis, Costa said: "Dismantling the opium economy will be a long and complex process. It simply cannot be done by military and authoritarian means. That has been tried in the past and was unsustainable. It must be done with instruments of democracy, the rule of law, and development."
A Western diplomat pointed out that democracy would have little effect on the drug trade. "[Interim President Hamid] Karzai's natural constituency is the Pushtuns, and Pushtun farmers are the ones growing the poppies. If he bulldozes in and destroys crops, if he arrests and punishes farmers, they are definitely going to think that the Taliban have a point when they say the government is bad."
Meanwhile, Moscow has begun to exert pressure on Kabul. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sept. 23, "They are doing almost nothing," Interfax agency quoted him as telling the head of Russia's drug control agency.
Al-Qaeda's Uzbek Bodyguards
Despite daily "arrests" of al-Qaeda operatives announced by Islamabad, the fact remains that the Pakistani forces have achieved little in their attempt to wipe out the 600-700-strong al-Qaeda fighters operating in the area, says Owais Tohid of the Christian Science Monitor in an article from Peshawar on Sept. 27. Tohid also reports his discussions with the head of the U.S. forces, Lt. Gen. David Barno, who told him that he believes that the top al-Qaeda leaders could very well be in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Uzbek militants, leaving their homes in Uzbekistan, now form the bulwark of al-Qaeda's defenses in South Waziristan, located in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan's northeastern provinces. The Central Asians are filling the ranks left open by the Arab fighters who have left the region to operate in Iraq, or elsewhere, ostensibly under orders from Osama bin Laden, Tohid says. Within this group of Uzbek militants who provide the inner core of security, live the "big fish"Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan To Go It Alone on Pipeline, if Necessary
Pakistani Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Amanullah Jadoon, told newsmen that irrespective of whether or not India participates in the joint venture to lay the pipelines to bring in gas from the Iranian gas fields, the project will be completed, The Dawn of Islamabad reported Sept. 29. If necessary, Pakistan will go it alone in laying the pipelines.
These are encouraging words. The gas pipeline referred to is the one that would bring Iranian gas to India via Pakistan. India and Iran had been discussing this project for years. The Indians claim that Pakistan's unclear position on whether it will allow the pipeline to go through its territory, is one of the major obstacles. India and Iran had assured Pakistan that if it allows the pipeline to cross its territory, Islamabad would receive as much as $800 million annually as the transit tax.
Although the project got entangled with the Kashmir issue, and was delayed in recent weeks, there had been some forward movement. Jadoon's statement is indicative that Islamabad wants to put a priority to the project. Recently, a meeting took place between India's Minister of State for External Affairs Mani Shankar Aiyar, and the Pakistan Foreign Minister Mahmud Kasuri, that discussed the pipeline issue in a positive environment, reports indicate.
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