A US statement on North Korea at the UNSC continued the spectacle in which the US and its allies use the international body of peace as a kind of global apartheid to justify and rubber stamp wars and sanctions, says political analyst Adam Garrie.
The US threatened to take action against North Korea after Pyongyang test-fired a new missile in violation of UN sanctions.
The statement came from Washington's ambassador to the UN during a session of the Security Council.
On Wednesday, South Korean and US forces fired missiles into the Sea of Japan in what is believed to be a warning shot toward North Korea.
RT: Washington has previously threatened to take action against North Korea if it continues missile tests. Can we expect any reaction from Pyongyang on that?
Adam Garrie: North Korea is not going to be happy about this. We have to remember: North Korea launched a missile that wasn’t intended to hurt anyone, and it did not hurt anyone. And what we saw at the UN was the continuation of the spectacle in which the US and her increasingly few allies are using that international body of peace as a kind of global apartheid to justify and rubber stamp wars and sanctions, which amount to war.
I remind you of the crippling sanctions America hoisted upon Iraq in the 1990s, and what they are doing to Syria now. North Korea would be aware of this. North Korea will also be aware that in 1952 it was America and her allies which leveled Pyongyang to the ground whereby contrast North Korea has not and frankly does not intend to attack America. They are going to be watching today’s proceedings. They are going to hate the US even more than they already do. They will see Russia and China as countries which do not necessarily always agree with them, countries which are not allies to them, but countries which do not wish them and their people harm, the countries that want to engage in peace. These are countries that could end up saving North Korea from American aggression, and they will smile upon that surely.
RT: North Korea has been provoking the international community with its weapons tests for years. What is Pyongyang trying to achieve? So far, they've only landed themselves in hot water with more sanctions and foreign pressure.
AG: I know what you mean. America can get away with actual murder because it is big and it is rich and so can its allies. North Korea doesn’t have that luxury. In this sense, North Korea and America both like sticking a big middle finger up to the wider world, of course, China and Russia have shown that they are tired with the irresponsibility of both sides. North Korea, beyond the saber-rattling, and beyond not listening to what its well-wishers say, they do have legitimate security concerns. America committed incredible acts of violence on the Korean peninsula and of course North Korea in particular.
‘N.Korea wants to secure itself from US imperial invasion’
RT: What do you make of the fact that the US has slammed China for its trade relations with North Korea? Why is Washington telling Beijing how to do business?
Brian Becker, Answer Coalition: The US is employing arm-twisting against the People’s Republic of China. Arm-twisting that I should say in advance will not work, of course. China and DPRK trade, they are border countries. They share a border. The Trump administration has tried and failed to force China to do something that China cannot do. The DPRK is a sovereign country, no foreign troops occupy its land, unlike South Korea where tens of thousands of Americans troops occupy the southern part of Korea and have a big influence. No foreign power has a lot of influence in Pyongyang. So, the US and the Trump administration are lashing out against China…North Korea is saying to the world: "Look, if you have war exercises, so-called war games, which we do not consider to be games or funny, that simulate the destruction of our country, a country that had been destroyed by the US between 1950 and 1953, we are going to take action, including gaining new nuclear and missile technology to have a deterrent."
RT: North Korea has been provoking the international community with its weapons tests for years. What's Pyongyang trying to achieve? So far, they've only landed themselves in hot water with more sanctions and foreign pressure.
BB: They want a peace treaty and an end to economic sanctions. And they want to secure their country from any kind of imperial invasion, such as took place in Iraq and Libya. They are not provoking the international community; that is the spin based on Washington’s dominance in the international community at the UN. Just three weeks ago the US carried out a bomb, a nuclear bomb-dropping drill that simulated the nuclear destruction of North Korea. Nobody called that provocative. When North Korea sends off a missile test saying, ‘we are not going to be bullied – that is provocative. The narrative of North Korea’s ‘provocative activity’ in the face of US and South Korea carrying out the largest war exercises in the world, simulating the invasion and the destruction of North Korea that is never considered a provocation. That is a double standard, and we need to stop accepting the dominant narrative offered by Washington, the Pentagon and echoed by the mainstream media.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.