Video: Reaction to North Korea's Second Nuclear Test

On Tuesday, North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted its second underground nuclear test, producing an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7. The first test in October 2006 was followed by protracted negotiations in which Pyongyang would disable its nuclear facilities in return for energy aid and removal of its name from a US list of states supporting terrorism. However, from February 2009, North Korea once again moved towards nuclear armament.

International reactions and background follow the video of President Obama’s statement:

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- President Obama: “Grave concern to all nations.”

- Gordon Brown: “Erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world.”

- European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana: “Provocation and we strongly condemn them.”

- NATO: "These irresponsible actions by Pyongyang pose a serious challenge to peace, security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and are being universally condemned by the international community. We call upon Pyongyang to refrain from any other actions which could contribute to raising tensions and to restore dialogue within the Six-Party framework. The Alliance will continue to carefully monitor developments with deep concern."

- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon: “I am deeply worried by a report of nuclear test by Democratic Republic of Korea.”

- Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith: “Provocative.”

- The Kremlin: “Deep regret and the most serious concern.”

- Chinese Foreign Ministry: “Resolutely opposed.”

- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso: “Unacceptable and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions."

France called on the UN Security Council to impose further sanctions against North Korea and the South Korean Prime Minister Lee Myung-bak called an emergency meeting of cabinet members. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tried to convince the international public that he had nothing to do with North Korea’s nuclear test, declaring, “We oppose the production, the amassing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

— 1994: Under agreement with US, North Korea pledges to freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for help building two safer power-producing nuclear reactors.

— Aug. 31, 1998: North Korea fires suspected missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, calling it a satellite.

— Sept. 13, 1999: North pledges to freeze long-range missile tests.

— July 2001: U.S. State Department reports North Korea is developing long-range missile.

— December 2001: President George W Bush warns Iraq and North Korea will be "held accountable" if they develop weapons of mass destruction.

— Jan. 10, 2003: North Korea announces withdrawal from Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

— August 2003: North Korea joins first round of six-nation nuclear talks in Beijing with China, U.S. Japan, Russia and South Korea.

— July 5, 2006: North Korea launches seven missiles into waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, including a medium-range Taepodong-2.

— July 15, 2006: UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1695 demanding North Korea halt missile program.

— Oct. 9, 2006: North Korea conducts underground nuclear test blast after citing "extreme threat of a nuclear war" from U.S.

— Oct. 15, 2006: UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1718 condemning test, imposing sanctions and banning North Korea from all activities related to its nuclear weapons program.

— Feb. 13, 2007: North Korea agrees to disable its main nuclear facilities in return for energy aid and other benefits.

— July 14, 2007: North Korea shuts down main Yongbyon reactor, later starts disabling it.

— June 27, 2008: North Korea destroys cooling tower at Yongbyon.

— Sept. 19, 2008: North Korea says it is restoring nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.

— Oct. 11, 2008: U.S. removes North Korea from a list of states that sponsor terrorism.

— Feb. 15, 2009: North Korea claims it has the right to "space development."

— Feb. 23: South Korea says North Korea has a new type of ballistic missile capable of reaching northern Australia and Guam.

— April 5: North Korea launches long-range rocket from its base on the country's northeast coast.

— April 13: UN Security Council condemns launch.

— April 14: North Korea announces withdrawal from disarmament talks and says it will restore partly disabled nuclear facilities.

— April 25: North Korea announces start of reprocessing of spent fuel rods from its nuclear plant. A UN Security Council committee approves new sanctions on three major North Korean companies in response to the rocket launch.

— April 29: North Korea threatens to conduct nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests unless the UN Security Council apologizes for criticizing its long-range rocket launch.

— May 7-12: Special U.S. envoy on North Korea visits Asia, says Washington is ready for direct talks with Pyongyang.

— May 8: North Korea dismisses talks with U.S. as useless, citing Washington's "hostile policy".

— May 25: North Korea announces it successfully conducted a nuclear test.

It is obvious that North Korea did not keep an account of what the majority of ‘others’ said, but the following days will show us to what extent Obama Administration’s leadership and effectiveness in handling the situation can bring a solution which can allay and satisfy its partners. All eyes are now looking curiously for the next line in the timeline of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs…

Video: Brzezinski on MSNBC --- Warnings after North Korea's Nuclear Test

Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, spoke on MSNBC’s Morning Joe
about North Korea’s recent nuclear test. He underlined the importance of a multilateral approach, given that the US is still involved in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Brzezinski warned that a military strike against North Korea would get the US stuck in the Far East. Instead, he put hope in Chinese involvement in a diplomatic initiative, since a prudent China does not want a war next to its borders and North Korea’s foreign trade is primarily with and through China.

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Video Update on It's-Not-Torture: How Many Seconds Would You Stand Waterboarding?

Last year, writer Christopher Hitchens wrote in Vanity Fair about his experience of waterboarding. (He endured 11 seconds.) Now radio talk show host Matthew Erich “Mancow” Muller, has tried out the "enhanced interrogation" technique.

His reaction? “Absolutely torture” --- for all of the six seconds he lasted.

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George W. Bush: Iraq Was a Biblical War Against Gog and Magog

In 2003, just before the Iraq War, former President George W. Bush tried once more to get the support of France. His approach to French President Jacques Chirac was straightforward, drawing on thousands of years of history and on higher authority: "This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins." This, he added, was the "holy" war in the Middle East, predicted in the Bible, against Gog and Magog.

For you heathen out there, Gog and Magog are first mentioned in the Old Testament books of Genesis and Ezekiel, prophesied to come out of the north to attack Israel. They make their big appearance in Revelations, Chapter 20, Verse 7-9, as the Devil's commanders in the final battle of Good and Evil:

7 - And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 - And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 - And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Some evangelists believe that Arab nations, supported by others, have to attack Israel in The Apocalypse for Gog and Magog, the enemies of Israel, to return and be defeated before the return of Jesus Christ to Earth.

More importantly, some people in very important political positions believe this. Chirac's advisors, according to a 2007 article in the university review Allez Savoir and now Chirac's memoirs, were concerned enough to ask the advice of Thomas Romer, a professor of theology at the University of Lausanne.

And it was not the only time Bush held up his wars as a religious duty. In June 2003, he told the Palestinian foreign minister that he was on "a mission from God" in launching the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and was receiving commands from the Lord. About the same time, US military officers were adding Biblical quotes to the cover slides of intelligence reports from Iraq.

This is not to deny that there were other reasons for the US wars from 2001 to 2009, and of course the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, irrespective of Gog and Magog, is still going strong. Still, rest assured that America's wars --- of Earthly or Biblical necessity --- were overseen by a "true believer" in the Bush years.

The Implications of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Sales between Moscow and Tel Aviv

Here's an international military manoeuvre to de-cipher: according to the Jerusalem Post, Israel is planning to expedite production of unmanned aerial vehicles for Russia.

There are two starting points for an analysis. In summer 2008, when Russia was at war with Georgia, Amos Gilad, the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Diplomatic-Security Bureau, visited Moscow and took away the guarantee that Russia would not sell the S300 defensive missile system to Iran. And only last week, Russia announced that it had decided to halt the sale of advanced MIG-31 fighter jets to Syria.

Contrary to a long-standing assumption, it appears that Moscow has not had significant leverage over Tehran’s nuclear enrichment. This may be partly because of Iran halted its nuclear weapons design and weaponization activities in fall 2003, as the latest CIA report reiterates.

Thus, Russia has to find other bargaining chips in the Middle Eastern game. And it need not worry --- even without a nuclear weapons programme, Iran has enough conventional weapons initiatives for either pretext or genuine fear, and there are other countries such as Syria who will have to be kept in their proper military place.