The
US Kept Up Secret Plans to Attack North Korea with Nukes in Violation of
the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework
The
Nautilus Institute reveals secret documents obtained through FOIA
Jung
Wook Sik (???
??)
Source: http://www.ohmynews.com/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=81257&rel%5Fno=1&back%5Furl=
The US had agreed to withdraw all tactical
nuclear weapons from Korea in 1991 and also had signed the Agreed
Framework with North Korea in 1994. Nevertheless it was revealed recently
that the US has been harboring secret plans to mount nuclear attacks on
North Korea.
Photo: The front cover of a secret
document obtained recently by the Nautilus Institute through FOIA (Freedom
of Information Act)
These plans have come to light when
the Nautilus published its findings in a new article last week. This
article and the now declassified documents are available from the links
given at the foot of this page.
The US not only has kept up plans to
use nukes against North Korea but also has been building a theatre missile
defense (TMD) system in Korea for the purpose of destroying North Korean
missile batteries and of shooting down North Korean missiles with Patriot
anti-missile missiles.
In 1991, the Sr. Bush Administration
withdrew tactical nukes from Korea. In place of these weapons, the US had
long-range bombers and Trident nuclear submarines equipped with nuclear
missiles. The 4th Air Fighter Wing, based in the US, was placed in charge
of American nuclear attacks on North Korea.
Early in 1998, mock nuclear attacks
on North Korea were staged several times from the Seymour Johnson Air base
in North Carolina. F-15E fighter-bombers of the 4th Fighter Wing dropped
dummy BDU-38 nuclear bombs on a bombing practice field in Florida.
The dummies were made of concrete and the Florida practice field simulated
North Korean targets.
If the US president approves nuclear
attacks on North Korea, the 4th will move to bases in Guam and other locations
closer to North Korea.
Clear Violation of the 1994 Geneva Accord
Of course, the US plan to attack North
Korea with nuclear weapons goes back many decades. Right after the
Korean War ceasefire went into effect on July 27, 1953, then US Secretary
of State, Dulles, announced a massive retaliation strategy. The US
made no secret of its nuclear attack plans until October 1994 when it signed
the Agreed Framework.
Photo: A secret document obtained
and released by the Nautilus. It is available from the links given
at the foot of this page.
In the Agreed Framework, North Korea
agreed to freeze its nuclear reactor construction projects and phase out
its nuclear programme in time and the US, in return, agreed to provide
energy sources to compensate for the lost energy generation capacity and
also, to refrain from using nuclear weapons and threats of nuclear attacks
on North Korea. Thus, the US promised to make North Korea a limited
nuclear safe area (NSA).
However, the recently exposed secret
documents show that the US promise of NSA was an empty one.
The US had no intention to abide by the agreement. The secret nuclear
attack plan drawn up after the 1991 withdrawal of tactical nukes and the
1994 Agreed Framework was made official by the new Bush Administration.
The US has been leaning on North Korea to abide by the Agreed Framework
while it felt free to violate one of the basic tenet of the agreement.
Nuclear Preemptive Strikes and Missile
Defense System
It is important to look at the US nuclear
attack plans and its missile defense system. One of the reasons why
the US could not mount military strikes on North Korea during the 1993-94
crisis was that the US had no reliable capability to destroy North Korean
missile bases and to shoot down North Korean missiles in flight. After
enduring such bitter pills, the US had decided to make Korea the cutting
edge of its TMD. The US brought in advanced C4I systems, Patriot
batteries, Aegis destroyers and other offensive weapons systems.
It is interesting to note that the
primary function of the TMD is to destroy North Korean missiles still
at the launch pad and not to shoot them down en route. It is more offensive
than defensive. The South Korean military is given the task of destroying
North Korean missiles on ground. The Koreans are supposed to mount
suicidal air attacks on North Korean missile sites.
Preemptive nuclear attacks on North
Korea and a missile defense system that could knock out North Korean missiles
on ground would give the US military advantages over North Korea.
It means that the US would be free to act against North Korea. From
North Korea's point of view, it means one of its most potent deterrence
against American attacks is no longer effective. This is why the
US preemptive nuclear attack plan and its MD systems are so significant.
The US Duplicity and Hegemony Re-verified
The main reason why North Korea had agreed
to freeze its nuclear reactor construction projects and phase them out
over time was because the US had withdrawn its tactical nukes from Korean
in 1991 and had agreed to provide a limited nuclear safe area guarantee
to North Korea. However, the newly released documents show clearly
that the Clinton Administration and the new Bush Administration, the former
covertly and the latter overtly, have gone back on the most basic term
of the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework.
The US and North Korea are headed toward
a major confrontation over the broken 'agreed framework'. Some doomsayers
predict a major crisis will pop up in 2003 or 2004. This crisis may
be comparable to the 1994 crisis.
It is pathetic that most of the so-called
experts, press orgs and even the government officials in Korea are mum
on the US violations of the Geneva accord while pressing North Korea to
allow nuclear inspections. Of course, nuclear inspections are important
but one should place the horse ahead of the wagon. The US violations of
the Geneva accord should be addressed and rectified before any demands
are made to North Korea. The US must admit to its violations and
amend its attitude.
The US insistence on nuclear inspections
of North Korean nuclear sites while violating the key provision of the
Agreed Framework shows how unilateral the US is. The US threatens,
non-stop, North Korea with preemptive nuclear attacks while demanding North
Korea to abandon its nuclear programme. Such is contrary to the much acclaimed
nuclear disarmament policy of the US.
Jung Wook Sik is an Ohmynews
reporter in charge of unification and peace. He runs the Peace Network.
Kristensen
article about US nuclear planning, North Korea (Nautilus)
Posted September 6, 2002
Nautilus senior researcher
Hans M. Kristensen
obtained declassified documents under the Freedom of Information Act and
reveals in a feature article in the Bulletin
of the Atomic Scientists that analysis done as part of the 1994 NPR
concluded
that removal of nuclear weapons from South Korea in 1991 did not adversely
affect North Korea's ambitions to build weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The documents also reveal that US Strategic Command told
the 1994 NPR that, "classical deterrence already allows for adaptively
planned missions to counter any use of [weapons of mass destruction]."
The article gives examples
of US nuclear and missile defense planning against North Korea, and Kristensen
argues that progress in halting North Korea's WMD program has been achieved
through the Agreed
Framework rather than nuclear posturing.
http://www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/USA/bmd/7aftmd98.pdf
The Theater Missile Defense System in Koreahttp://www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/USA/NSNF/4fw98ex.pdf
History of the 4th Fighter Wing