Posted on 11/24/2002 1:57:02 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Stung by reports that North Korea has failed to abandon its nuclear weapons program as part of a 1994 deal negotiated by his administration, ex-President Bill Clinton revealed this week that he threatened the rogue nation with war in order to get them to comply.
In remarks that went completely unreported by the mainstream press, Clinton told an audience at the University of California's Davis campus last Sunday that eight years ago, "we literally threatened to attack and planned to attack North Korea if they didn't end their nuclear weapons program."
Clinton seemed anxious to minimize his administration's North Korean blunder, arguing that Pyongyang's nuke program was a far more serious threat in 1994 than it is now. He even suggested at one point that he didn't believe the "axis of evil" nation was in full violation of the deal he signed off on, telling the UC Davis crowd, "We reached an agreement with them which they have honored."
The ex-president's claim that Pyongyang was still in compliance with the 1994 "Agreed Framework" comes despite North Korea's admission last month that it had violated the terms of the U.S. deal.
Beyond trying to minimize the degree to which he had been snookered by Pyongyang's reclusive leaders, Clinton maintained that the country's rush to acquire nuclear weapons should be viewed more as a cry for help than a threat to the peace and security of the world.
"I don't believe North Korea wants to drop a bomb on us," he said "I don't even think they want to sell the bomb to somebody else. I think they're screaming for the world to say they still matter and to pay a lot of attention to them."
Although the university promised on its Web site last week that a transcript of Clinton's address would be posted by Tuesday, it has yet to make one available. However, the school did post a video webcast of the ex-president's remarks late Friday.
Clinton's full comments on North Korea were as follows:
"North Korea just admitted that it was working on trying to develop a bomb. I think I should put that in some kind of context. In 1994 we literally threatened to attack and planned to attack North Korea if they didn't end their nuclear weapons program at that time.
"That program was much bigger than this one. They had planned to use the spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors to extract plutonium to make six-to-eight bombs a year. I could not allow that to happen.
"North Korea is a country whose cash crop has been missiles and weapons. They can't grow food. When their soldiers defect they weigh less than 100 pounds, typically. They're the most isolated society on earth.
"They were going to sell those weapons and we couldn't permit it to be done. So we reached an agreement with them which they have honored.
"Then they agreed to stop testing their missiles in 1998, which means if they sold any long-range missiles they, in effect, wouldn't have a warranty. And we almost got them to agree in 2000 to end their missile program - something I still think is possible.
"So now that they're making up with South Korea and Japan, they up and admit they're trying to build one nuclear weapon out of highly enriched uranium in a laboratory effort.
"We can't permit that to happen either. But I think that the Bush administration and the Chinese and the Russians and the Japanese and the South Koreans are doing the right thing in trying to resolve this in a diplomatic fashion because I don't believe North Korea wants to drop a bomb on us. I don't even think they want to sell the bomb to somebody else.
"I think they're screaming for the world to say they still matter and to pay a lot of attention to them and go ahead and work through the remaining steps to try to figure out how they can transition into a more modern relationship with the rest of the world.
"But we can't take the chance so we can't let them have the bomb. So we should condition all future assistance on the termination of this program and the provable termination of this program." (End of Excerpt)
Clinton's full address to UC Davis can be viewed at:
http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/clinton/schedule.lasso.
Kind of like Bill.
What!??? Didn't even think about UN Security Council approval first, did ya?
Yeah, Bill. Sure.
Tell us another one...
Bullshit.
xxxlinton like a school psychologist talking about a bully
Yeah yeah, sure sure...
Every time Bush accomplished something, The Bent One always come back with "We did that..." or whatever!
Would somebody shut him up? For good?
Heeeeeeee's back!
If the mainstream press didn't report this , the reason is they were too embarassed to even attempt to feed us this drivel.
Clinton is beyond disgusting. His attempts to hang on to a legacy have pushed him to utter explanations his friendly press won't touch. LOL
I can just hear that threat:
Either you guys accept a multimillion dollar fast breader reactor, millions of gallons of fuel oil to tide you over, hundreds of millions in REAL dollars and food, OR I LAUNCH EXACTLY EIGHT CRUISE MISSLES AT YOUR A$$ to show you how serious I am.
What a friggin' little girl this puke is.
... I think they're screaming for the world to say they still matter and to pay a lot of attention to them ...Their nuclear program is a cry for help?
Unfreakinbelievable.
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