N.Korea faces unrealistic preconditions, US regime change policy made it seek nukes – Tulsi Gabbard
Washington's policy of worldwide violent regime change has spurred Pyongyang to develop nuclear weapons, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has said, adding that Pyongyang is being saddled with “unrealistic preconditions” from the West.
Gabbard took to Twitter to point out that the US already found itself “seconds away” from a nuclear attack during the Cold War in 1962. She said “peace with North Korea requires immediate and direct talks without preconditions.”
The Hawaii Rep., who is an Iraq War veteran, blamed American behavior on the international arena for creating the very preconditions for the current crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
We have seen this nuclear threat during the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the US were seconds away from an attack. Peace with North Korea requires immediate and direct talks without preconditions. pic.twitter.com/NHURYyGajN
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) 16 января 2018 г.
“Regime change war policy is the reason why North Korea sees nuclear weapons as their only deterrent from a US-led attack. Kim Jong-un sees what the US has done to Gaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the effort underway to decertify the nuclear deal with Iran.”
She said the removal of Gaddafi and Hussein from power was “a mistake” and called on the White House to “end our policy of regime change, and implement a policy of de-escalation and peace.”
“Our leaders have set unrealistic preconditions to negotiate with North Korea for decades. If we set a precondition that Kim Jong-un must get rid of his nuclear weapons, there would be nothing to negotiate. We need to invite North Korea to the table and talk about peace,” Gabbard wrote.
Regime change war policy is the reason why North Korea sees nuclear weapons as their only deterrent from a U.S.-led attack. Kim Jong-un sees what the U.S. has done to Gaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the effort underway to decertify the nuclear deal with Iran.
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) 16 января 2018 г.
House Armed Services Committee chairman, Mac Thornberry, warned Tuesday that the US administration is extremely serious about evaluating possible military options against Kim's regime. “Symbolic efforts” won’t be enough, he said. He added that the types of military forces to carry out certain tasks as well as logistics of possible military operation is currently being worked through, Tass reported.
Donald Trump and other officials from his administration has repeatedly threatened to use force against North Korea to force it to abandon its nuclear program and stop its ballistic missile tests. Also on Tuesday, US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, urged a “maximum pressure” campaign against the North and called on the nations in the region to put more effort into curtailing the illegal trade, which allows Pyongyang to bypass sanctions.
Tillerson was speaking at a meeting of 20 nations in Vancouver, Canada (January 15-17) aimed at finding a solution to the current crisis on the peninsula. Diplomats from Denmark, Greece, Norway, New Zealand and other countries are participating, but the gathering notably lacked input from the two major regional players – Russia and China.
The summit was ridiculed in Moscow and Beijing, with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, saying: “I don’t expect anything productive. Hopefully, nothing counterproductive will happen.” Moscow and Beijing were also merely promised to be briefed on the results.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, noted the format of the meeting, without key negotiators Russia and China, “will only create divisions within the international community and harm joint efforts to appropriately resolve the Korean peninsula nuclear issue.”
Russia and China have repeatedly urged all the parties involved in the Korean crisis to refrain from hostile moves and rhetoric and to engage in meaningful dialogue. Moscow and Beijing have further proposed the so-called “double freeze” plan, which envisaged Pyongyang suspending its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for the US and its allies halting military exercises in the region. During the Vancouver meeting, the US once again rebuffed the proposal.
