Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN7753
2006-10-11 10:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
how-toVZCZCXYZ0015 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHAM #7753 2841031 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 111031Z OCT 06 FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4786 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0451 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1382 RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUMICEA/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA// IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS AMMAN 007753
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN,
B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN
USAID/ANE/MEA
LONDON FOR TSOU
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON NORTH KOREA
Editorial Commentary
-- "The Korean earthquake"
Columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of centrist,
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (10/11): "North Korean shook the
international community, and while the nuclear explosion registered
a 4.5 degree earthquake on the Richter scale, the political
earthquake is much larger.... The problem with the nuclear weapon
is that its exceptional enormity is exactly its weakness and
deficiency. It is the last resort that is almost useless. It was
used only once by the United States during World War II when no one
else had it, but the moment others started to own it, it became
useless in war because it means mutual annihilation.... The
nuclear weapon in North Korea's hands can be considered a means of
defense in extreme cases of attack against the regime. Otherwise,
it provides no privileges. North Korea is a regime in a crisis. It
suffers from backwardness, weak economy and low standard of living.
America is very much able to maintain its policy of economic siege
against it and the ownership of a nuclear weapon will do North
Korean no good. The weapon in North Korea's hands is an isolated
incident that can be coped with.... The most serious thing however
is that North Korea may pass this weapon to friends who have not
been able to own it yet, like Iran. This is what is going to worry
the United States. This is where the strategic political earthquake
lies, in the fact that a country like North Korea owns that
weapon."
-- "Veering off dangerous course"
Centrist, elite English daily Jordan Times editorial (10/11)opines:
"So, North Korea goes through with its declared intention to conduct
a nuclear explosion and gets immediate condemnation from the US and
its allies. Israel, on the other hand, is a renowned and
accomplished member of the nuclear club, but does not admit it
possesses the nuclear weapon. It does not only escape condemnation
but is rewarded by the expression of Western "understanding" of its
need for an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction as a deterrent.
One is to understand that some countries have the right to test and
develop nuclear bombs while others, rated as second-class states, do
not. This preferential treatment is the crux of the problem facing
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that Pyongyang is accused of
violating. Of course, North Korea should not have acted on its
threat to conduct a nuclear test, because the last thing that the
international community needs is to add a new member to the
seven-nation nuclear club. But neither should the other nuclear
states have been allowed to embark on the using science to develop
weapons of mass destruction. The US, in particular, cannot claim
the high moral ground and lecture other nations on developing
nuclear weapons, having been the first and only nation on the face
of the earth to have deployed them on civilian targets, in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.... This being said, we join the other countries of
the world in protesting, in the strongest possible terms, North
Korea's decision to test a nuclear device."
RUBINSTEIN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN,
B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN
USAID/ANE/MEA
LONDON FOR TSOU
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR JO
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON NORTH KOREA
Editorial Commentary
-- "The Korean earthquake"
Columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back-page of centrist,
independent Arabic daily Al-Ghad (10/11): "North Korean shook the
international community, and while the nuclear explosion registered
a 4.5 degree earthquake on the Richter scale, the political
earthquake is much larger.... The problem with the nuclear weapon
is that its exceptional enormity is exactly its weakness and
deficiency. It is the last resort that is almost useless. It was
used only once by the United States during World War II when no one
else had it, but the moment others started to own it, it became
useless in war because it means mutual annihilation.... The
nuclear weapon in North Korea's hands can be considered a means of
defense in extreme cases of attack against the regime. Otherwise,
it provides no privileges. North Korea is a regime in a crisis. It
suffers from backwardness, weak economy and low standard of living.
America is very much able to maintain its policy of economic siege
against it and the ownership of a nuclear weapon will do North
Korean no good. The weapon in North Korea's hands is an isolated
incident that can be coped with.... The most serious thing however
is that North Korea may pass this weapon to friends who have not
been able to own it yet, like Iran. This is what is going to worry
the United States. This is where the strategic political earthquake
lies, in the fact that a country like North Korea owns that
weapon."
-- "Veering off dangerous course"
Centrist, elite English daily Jordan Times editorial (10/11)opines:
"So, North Korea goes through with its declared intention to conduct
a nuclear explosion and gets immediate condemnation from the US and
its allies. Israel, on the other hand, is a renowned and
accomplished member of the nuclear club, but does not admit it
possesses the nuclear weapon. It does not only escape condemnation
but is rewarded by the expression of Western "understanding" of its
need for an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction as a deterrent.
One is to understand that some countries have the right to test and
develop nuclear bombs while others, rated as second-class states, do
not. This preferential treatment is the crux of the problem facing
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that Pyongyang is accused of
violating. Of course, North Korea should not have acted on its
threat to conduct a nuclear test, because the last thing that the
international community needs is to add a new member to the
seven-nation nuclear club. But neither should the other nuclear
states have been allowed to embark on the using science to develop
weapons of mass destruction. The US, in particular, cannot claim
the high moral ground and lecture other nations on developing
nuclear weapons, having been the first and only nation on the face
of the earth to have deployed them on civilian targets, in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.... This being said, we join the other countries of
the world in protesting, in the strongest possible terms, North
Korea's decision to test a nuclear device."
RUBINSTEIN