The U.S.
is to Blame for the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
The Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced last week that it had detonated a
nuclear device and had joined the ranks of the nuclear weapons states. The United States
was quick to denounce the nuclear test and has now pushed through an emergency
UN Security Council resolution imposing economic sanctions on the DPRK. The
Security Council resolution was adopted unanimously. However, China and Russia
have warned against any attempts to vigorously enforce the sanctions and China has
stated that it will not conduct inspections of goods destined for the DPRK. The
DPRK has stated that it considers sanctions to constitute an act of war.
The
condemnations of the DPRK represent hypocrisy of the highest order. The
Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all nuclear weapons tests, was signed
in 1996. However, it has not come into effect because seven states – the U.S., China,
Israel, Colombia, Egypt,
Indonesia and Iran – have not
yet it. In addition, three states – the DPRK, India
and Pakistan
– have not yet even signed the treaty. In other words, an international
agreement banning nuclear tests is not in effect because many of the countries
which are condemning the DPRK for its tests want to retain the right to conduct
their own nuclear tests in the future. In particular, the U.S. has been
discussing the possibility of a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons,
such as “bunker buster” devices. India, which has been quite
vociferous in condemning the DPRK for its test, itself
defied the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the 1990s
when it acquired nuclear weapons in 1974 and conducted a number of tests over
the years, the latest in 1998. It too retains the right to test further nuclear
devices in the future.
In addition, the
nuclear weapons states, especially the U.S., have violated the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the past in order to arm their allies with
nuclear weapons. Both Israel
and the South African Apartheid regime acquired nuclear weapons with the active
assistance of the U.S.,
which not only supplied them with nuclear technology but also with
weapons-grade plutonium. The U.S.
has also recently concluded a deal with India
for the exchange of nuclear technology, despite the fact that India refuses
to sign the NPT or to accept IAEA supervision of its nuclear facilities, and
the exchange of such technology is, therefore, illegal. In other words, an
international double standard exists on the issue of nuclear proliferation,
with select allies of the nuclear powers being quietly armed with nuclear
weapons, while a huge furor is raised if any other country attempts to acquire
such weapons.
However, in the
case of the DPRK the issue goes beyond just a matter of a blatant double
standard. For almost two decades the DPRK has been offering to abandon its
nuclear weapons program in exchange for a promise of non-aggression from the U.S. Not only
has the U.S. consistently refused to make such assurances, but for the past
several years the Bush regime has been openly threatening to launch pre-emptive
nuclear strikes against the DPRK, Iran, Iraq and any other country which even
attempts to match the U.S. in military spending. It is commonly acknowledged
that, despite the numerous lies told by the U.S.
administration about Iraq’s
supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. only invaded Iraq when it was certain that no
such weapons existed. The gunboat diplomacy of the U.S., its blatant disregard
for international law and its open bullying of the UN Security Council, the
IAEA and other international bodies in order to get its way has created an
international climate of fear in which small countries like the DPRK feel that
their only hope for security against American aggression is through the
acquisition of a nuclear deterrent. Therefore, responsibility for the current
crisis in the Korean peninsula must be placed squarely at the feet of the United States.