North Korea nukes came with help from Iran or Russia - report -
https://www.timesofisrael.com/north-korea-nukes-came-with-help-from-iran-or-russia-report/
Senior British officials quoted saying Pyongyang could not have made such rapid progress alone
British officials reportedly suspect that North Korea was able to develop its nuclear arsenal quicker than expected due to help from Iran and possibly Russia.
"It is not credible that North Korean scientists alone brought about the technological advances," government sources told the UK's Sunday Telegraph.
The sudden surge in technological capability by the Pyongyang regime reportedly points to help from elsewhere.
"North Korean scientists are people of some ability, but clearly they're not doing it entirely in a vacuum," an unnamed government minister told the paper.
British authorities suspect that Iran has offered behind-the-scenes technological assistance for Pyongyang's nuclear program, though others think that Russia may have provided some of the know-how.
"There is currently an investigation into exactly how the country has managed to make this leap in technological ability," UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said last week. "We are looking at the possible role that may have been played, inadvertently or otherwise, by some current and former nuclear states."
North Korean carried out its sixth nuclear test last week, and South Korea has voiced fears that it may test a ballistic missile in the coming days.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday that North Korea's nuclear and missile program represented a "global threat and requires a global response," though he told the BBC's "The Andrew Marr Show."
"We call on Korea to abandon its nuclear programs, it's missile programs, and to refrain from more testing, because this is a blatant violation of several UN security resolutions and it's a threat to international peace and stability."
Asked whether a strike against Guam would be covered under the clause that commits NATO members to come to the defense of each other, he said: "I will not speculate about whether Article Five will be applied in such a situation. What I will say is we are now totally focused on how can we contribute to a peaceful solution of the conflict."
German Chancellor Angela Mergel voiced support for a diplomatic push to end North Korean nuclear weapons and missile development along the lines of a past deal with Iran.
"I would say yes immediately if we were asked to join talks," Merkel told weekly newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
Talks between Iran and six world powers, sealed with a 2015 deal for Tehran to roll back its nuclear program and submit to inspections in exchange for some sanctions being rolled back, were "a long but important period of diplomacy" that had achieved a "good end," she added.
"I could imagine such a format for the settlement of the North Korea conflict. Europe and especially Germany ought to be ready to make a very active contribution," Merkel said.refused to say whether an attack on the Pacific US territory of Guam would trigger the military alliance's collective defense clause.
"The reckless behavior of North Korea is a global threat and requires a global response, and that of course also includes NATO,"
Arab Pundits Warn Iran Will Follow In Footsteps Of North Korea - by Ali Waked -
Arabic social media has been buzzing with commentary on the most recent nuclear test performed by North Korea, with many blaming the situation on the international community's nuclear deal with the Iranian regime.
Jamal Hweireb, an Emirati author who also serves as a government cultural adviser in Dubai wrote, "Iraq suffered a blockade for 13 years until 2003 when it was destroyed by Bush after he invented the lie about Iraq's atomic bombs all while giving a pass to two criminal countries, Iran and North Korea. Interesting."
Author, journalist and Syrian opposition figure Khatib Abdul actually expressed jealousy of Iran and North Korea, writing, "Iran declared that it will strengthen production of its missiles, North Korea has reached a hydrogen bomb all so that the West will take the two countries seriously. Us, the Arabs, what have we developed?"
Mahmoud Refaat, an international jurist from Egypt, wrote, "North Korea and Iran began their nuclear programs in the '90s. Iran took advantage of America's weakness and its difficulties when it invaded Iraq and developed its program and Korea is taking advantage of America's weakness now with Trump."
An exiled former Syrian government minister who opposed the regime of President Bashar Assad wrote, "Iran is applying the North Korean model in all regards to nuclear and ballistic armament and in all regards to its sectarian expansion in Iran, Yemen and Syria. Will we learn from our mistakes?"
Media personality Dr. Mahmoud Refaat wrote, "The hydrogen bomb was tested by the kid who controls North Korea while taking advantage of Trump's weakness as the weakest president ever in the White House. He did the test. Now he has a bomb and scares the U.S."
Director General of the Al Ummah Party in the United Arab Emirates, Hassan al-Diqqi, wrote, "Allah, may his name be blessed, is leading the tyrants of the world to their end through the actions of North Korea while they don't understand that this path will lead to their fall from power."
Senior Al Jazeera journalist Faisal al-Qasim wrote regarding China's condemnation of the test, "Here's a story, China protests the test of North Korea's hydrogen bomb. We really believe you; without you there wouldn't be a North Korea."
In an additional tweet, al-Qasim wrote, "Here's a story, Russia says it's seeking a diplomatic solution when it's clear to everyone that Moscow is the one inciting North Korea against the U.S. We've seen your diplomacy in Syria."
Abdullah al-Shayji, a political science professor at the University of Kuwait, warned that Iran may follow in the footsteps of North Korea, writing, "We will see a replay of North Korea's defiance of the international community through tests of nuclear weapons, hydrogen bombs and ballistic missiles by Iran within 10 years! How are we preparing for that day?"
An activist with the Muteb network wrote, "If Korea challenges the world, know that China wants something from the U.S. or from the international community. Korea is the hammer by which China strikes!"
Saudi activist Muhammad al-Subeyii wrote, "This stupid bear will make the world respect him and even compete to form an alliance with him. Whoever has weapons today, the whole world becomes his friend."
A war with North Korea -- the American people aren't ready
When it comes to North Korea, much digital ink as has been spilled by yours truly on these very pages concerning the dangers and challenges ahead�demonstrated by North Korea�s latest missile launch�when it comes to dealing with and deterring the so-called �hermit kingdom.�
So, let me spare you hours of reading countless articles, op-eds, and tweets.
To be honest, there is only one thing you really need to know: A war with North Korea�meaning a full-blown, all out conflict where nuclear, chemical, biological and large amounts of conventional weapons are used�would be a war like no other.Such a conflict would be nothing like the First Gulf War, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, the Second Gulf War or Libya.
One way to achieve such a result would be a North Korean attack on South Korea�s vast civilian nuclear infrastructure. Remember Chernobyl or the nuclear tragedy in Japan a few years ago? Well Pyongyang could weaponize such a disaster with ease.Oh no, this would be an epic conflict where millions of people on the Korean Peninsula, in Japan and even in the U.S. homeland could lose their lives in the most horrific of ways.
Some might call such talk fear-mongering. But I call it reality�and we need to face up to it. Now.
Accept this nightmare is all too real.
And thanks to administration after administration�Democrat and Republican�who decided taking on North Korea was just not worth the risk, who thought patience, appeasement or bribery were better choices, we now face a crisis with no easy solution.
While I have already gone into specific detail over just how horrific just a conflict would be thanks to war games I have conducted over the years, such a war would be waged on many different fronts and have many pathways towards a humanitarian disaster that this planet has not seen in decades.
For example, North Korea does not need to launch a full-out nuclear attack on America and its allies to kill scores of people�it just needs to get a little creative.
One way to achieve such a result would be a North Korean attack on South Korea�s vast civilian nuclear infrastructure. Remember Chernobyl or the nuclear tragedy in Japan a few years ago? Well Pyongyang could weaponize such a disaster with ease.
Seoul operates 24 nuclear power plants that could all come under North Korean attack. And while these plants are relatively far from the north, Kim Jong Un does not have to be a military mastermind to conceive of a way to destroy such nuclear reactors, spreading atomic materials across the Korean Peninsula and into Northeast Asia. With many of these facilities lumped together, Pyongyang could fire a salvo of missiles at these plants with devastating impact.
Or, Kim could utilize his special forces who could infiltrate the south from tunnels or who could already be in place, launching terror attacks against such facilities. If North Korea were to destroy just a few reactors, imagine multiple Chernobyl-style nuclear disasters while South Korean and U.S. forces are trying to fight North Korea�s other forces. With millions of people trying to flee the inevitable radioactive fallout, fear might just be Kim Jong Un�s best weapon.
Considering the dangers America and its allies face, the Trump Administration needs to do all it can to contain the North Korea threat. As I have said on a few occasions here, our best strategy is to eliminate any possible funds going into North Korea, driving up the costs for Kim to deploy his military assets and develop new even more dangerous weapons of mass destruction.
Team Trump should begin by asking for a new and much more robust sanctions package at the UN�something that makes Pyongyang finally pay for its risky actions. As an oil embargo is unlikely to pass and could destabilize the regime�something that could be even worse than a war�North Korea should be stopped from exporting its slave labor that it uses to make important hard currency, currency that of course goes into funding its military machine. Such a practice is nothing but revolting, and should have never been allowed in the first place.
President Trump should also announce that any entity that is caught helping the North Koreans evade sanctions, whether it�s Chinese banks or businesses or any private firm or entity from any nation, would be immediately banned from doing any business in the U.S.
In fact, President Trump should embrace a bipartisan bill crafted by Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, called the North Korean Enablers Accountability Act. The bill, if passed, would �ban any entity that does business with North Korea or its enablers from using the United States financial system, and impose U.S. sanctions on all those participating in North Korean labor trafficking abuses.� The president should push for such legislation to be passed without delay, but include a 30-day grace period so such entities could be given a chance to halt their activities. But after that, it�s time these entities suffer for enabling a regime that has as many as 200,000 in prison camps and treats their citizens like prisoners.
But whatever the Trump Administration decides to do�they need to do it now. Letting North Korea slip off our collective national security radar once again for whatever the other challenge of the day is would be a big mistake. We could end up paying for such a mistake with countless innocent American lives�a tragedy we have the power to avoid.
Harry J. Kazianis (@grecianformula) is director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, founded by former President Richard M. Nixon. Click here, for more on Mr. Kazianis.
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