Please Help New English Review
For our donors from the UK:
New English Review
New English Review Facebook Group
Follow New English Review On Twitter
Recent Publications by New English Review Authors
The Literary Culture of France
by J. E. G. Dixon
Hamlet Made Simple and Other Essays
by David P. Gontar
Farewell Fear
by Theodore Dalrymple
The Eagle and The Bible: Lessons in Liberty from Holy Writ
by Kenneth Hanson
The West Speaks
interviews by Jerry Gordon
Mohammed and Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy
Emmet Scott
Why the West is Best: A Muslim Apostate's Defense of Liberal Democracy
Ibn Warraq
Anything Goes
by Theodore Dalrymple
Karimi Hotel
De Nidra Poller
The Left is Seldom Right
by Norman Berdichevsky
Allah is Dead: Why Islam is Not a Religion
by Rebecca Bynum
Virgins? What Virgins?: And Other Essays
by Ibn Warraq
An Introduction to Danish Culture
by Norman Berdichevsky
The New Vichy Syndrome:
by Theodore Dalrymple
Jihad and Genocide
by Richard L. Rubenstein
Second Opinion
by Theodore Dalrymple
Not With a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline
by Theodore Dalrymple
In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas
by Theodore Dalrymple
Defending The West:
by Ibn Warraq
Nations, Language and Citizenship:
by Norman Berdichevsky
Romancing Opiates
by Theodore Dalrymple
Which Koran?
by Ibn Warraq
Our Culture, What's Left of It
by Theodore Dalrymple
What The Koran Really Says
by Ibn Warraq
Life at the Bottom
by Theodore Dalrymple
The Origins of the Koran
by Ibn Warraq
Why I Am Not Muslim
by Ibn Warraq
Spanish Vignettes: An Offbeat Look Into Spain's Culture, Society & History
by Norman Berdichevsky
Leaving Islam
Edited by Ibn Warraq
The Danish-German Border Dispute, 1815-2001: Aspects of Cultural and Demographic Politics
by Norman Berdichevsky
What's Love Got to Do with It?: Emotions and Relationships in Pop Songs
by Thomas J. Scheff





Date: 23/05/2013
Name:
Email: Keep my email address private
Reply:
**Your comments must be approved before they appear on the site.
Authentication:  
2 + 3 = ?: (Required) Please type in the correct answer to the math question.

  
You are posting a comment about...
Nuclear incentives and lessons unlearned

With little fanfare, the deal to provide North Korea with light-water reactors, per the 1994 "Agreed Framework" deal brokered by Jimmy "Dhimmi" Carter, was finally laid to rest last week. The Associated Press reported:

The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, or KEDO, was formed in 1995 to finance and build two light-water reactors, from which it is difficult to extract weapons-grade plutonium. Those reactors were to replace a graphite-cooled reactor that can be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

[...]

A Wednesday statement from the executive board of KEDO blamed Pyongyang's "continued and repeated failure" to cooperate with the international effort to induce North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.The executive board members of KEDO are the United States, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union.

KEDO also demanded that North Korea compensate the agency for the multibillion-dollar cost of the project — a dim prospect given North Korea's isolation and belligerency.

It was not clear if the timing of the KEDO announcement was meant to influence Iran to cooperate with a similar "reactors-for-inspections" plan.

I doubt it. The precedent set by North Korea should-- should-- convince those working to resolve the standoff with Iran of the utter futility of offering nuclear and other incentives. But all appearances are that no one has connected the dots. From AFP:

VIENNA (AFP) - The United States has offered to lift some of its trade sanctions against Iran as part of a package of benefits the EU will deliver to get Tehran to guarantee it will not make nuclear weapons, diplomats told AFP.

[...]

The United States is proposing "lifting sanctions partially, not only waiving sanctions but actually lifting them," in an agreement to be worked out in multilateral talks that would start once Iran suspended uranium enrichment, said a senior Western diplomat, who requested anonymity.

Also in the past week, the US has hinted at direct talks, also if Iran suspends "disputed activities." It is worth noting that the criterion for direct talks with North Korea has always involved "complete, verifiable, irreversible disarmament (CVID)." Nautilus summarizes: 

North Korea must commit to CVID and commence tangible dismantlement before the United States will outline its roadmap of reciprocal commitments to provide security and development assistance to North Korea.

Which country is a more immediate threat? Why the lower standard?




Most Recent Posts at The Iconoclast
Search The Iconoclast
Enter text, Go to search:
The Iconoclast Posts by Author
The Iconoclast Archives
sun mon tue wed thu fri sat
    1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31  

Subscribe