Former UN Inspector Doubts Korean Claims
Tue July 15th, 2003 22:47 MSTA former UN weapons inspector doubts the North Korean claim to have reprocessed all of its fuel rods. The claim, if true, would mean that the North Koreans would have enough Plutonium for 5 or 6 more nuclear weapons.
However, the inspector also said:
“It could be done [ALREADY] if [the North Koreans] used shortcuts and wanted to risk [nuclear] contamination.”
Thus his doubts are based on the North Korean’s desire to avoid contamination. This is hardly reassuring! This is the government which just starved millions of its peasants, mostly because it felt it didn’t need them! They are not likely to be worried about nuclear contamination, and maybe hazards to their workers.
His confidence would appear to be misplaced.
Yikes!
Yikes! is right.
Some people need to wake up to the fact that reasonable suppositions only apply to men of reason.
Unfortunately, we have to take statements like these from North Korea at face value. In the post-9/11 world it is fine for this inspector to feel this way and state it, but it is not ok to base policy on a statement like this.
President Bush, and other world leaders, can’t risk this inspector being wrong.
Do we have a “smoking gun” to prove this statement is right or wrong? No. And we probably never will. So the danger must be assumed to be real until proven otherwise, regardless of what this UN inspector thinks.
Hell, a lot of people thought Usama was bluffing when he declared jihad against America also.
Yes… As I said in the article, since the North Koreans may not mind the risk of radiation leakage and exposure, the scary thing is the inspector’s statements that it could be done (meaning NOW… I will edit the statement to make that clear) right away.