Negroponte 'Confirms' North Korea's Nuclear Test

Raise your hand if you trust John 'Death Squads' Negroponte, the same man who sat right behind Colin Powell at the UN Security Council back in 2003 when Powell gave his infamous Iraq/WMD speech just before the invasion.

Here's what's posted on his website today and what is being reported by worldwide media as 'confirmation' of North Korea's alleged nuclear test last week.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ODNI News Release No. 19-06
October 16, 2006

Statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
on the North Korea Nuclear Test

Analysis of air samples collected on October 11, 2006 detected radioactive debris which confirms that North
Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of Punggye on October 9, 2006. The explosion yield was less than a kiloton.

The Toronto Star has details about how the testing was carried out, but it also notes that:

China, South Korea, Russia and Japan also have the technology and military means to conduct secret flights to monitor North Korea's air, ground and water for the telltale signs of a nuclear explosion.

To this point, there has not been any independent confirmation by those countries of the presence of radioactive particles over North Korea's air space.

Is it possible that North Korea really did test a nuclear weapon? Absolutely. Should we trust the word of John Negroponte without independent verification? Absolutely not. Are the media revisiting their blind faith in the Bush administration's so-called pronouncements about intelligence just as they did before the Iraq war? Yes. One would think they'd be just a bit more cautious this time, especially since the UN Security Council resolution passed on Saturday was done so under Chapter VII.

Although the Security Council's vote was unanimous China, whose ambassador objected the demand to inspect cargo when the resolution was passed. isn't exactly cooperating fully, as much as the headlines would have you believe:

...Chinese customs inspectors examined trucks bound for the North on Monday in the border city of Dandong. Officers opened the back of each truck and looked at its cargo, but didn't open individual boxes or bags.

Rice is off for an Asian tour on Tuesday but the US doesn't have much leverage with China since it is in a prime position to seriously screw up the US economy if it feels too threatened.

Meanwhile, as I reminded readers last week about Pakistan's ties to the North Korean nuclear program, that country is now denying any such link.

During a Bush press conference last week, the president blasted the Clinton administration's use of bilateral talks which, he concluded, were unsuccessful. He then went on to say that he will continue (stay the course) with his approach of multi-lateral talks which, despite the fact that the situation has escalated to this serious point, he believes are actually working. That's par for the course with The Decider. See: War, Iraq and War: Afghanistan.

A new CNN poll shows that 53% of Americans blame the Bush administration for the current situation with North Korea while 43% still blame Clinton. Regardless of who anyone wants to blame, it's now up to this government to fix it and while the administration may be emboldened by the passage of Resolution 1718, the real challenge now comes in enforcing it along with the fact that North Korea's government still asserts that it's arming itself to avoid a military incursion by the US. And this president has certainly not taken military action against North Korea off the table.