Stephen Lendman

The neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post gave him feature op-ed space to discuss one of the vital issues of our time - the urgency of avoiding another Korean war, potentially with nuclear weapons, devastating the peninsula and beyond if used, Carter saying:

“(T)he strong possibility of another Korean war…is the most serious existing threat to world peace, and it is imperative that Pyongyang and Washington find some way to ease the escalating tension and reach a lasting, peaceful agreement.”

True enough, the problem lying squarely in Washington, not Pyongyang, for decades wanting normalized relations with America and the West.

Carter met earlier with Kim Il-sung (North Korea’s founder), Kim Jong-nam (his eldest son and successor), and president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly.

He found them and other DPRK officials “completely rational and dedicated to the preservation of their” country. They’re not madmen, as falsely portrayed by US and other Western hardliners.

Their demands are entirely legitimate, Carter explaining they want direct talks with Washington, a peace treaty ending decades of an uneasy armistice.

They want sanctions lifted and guarantees they’ll be no naked aggression on their country like during the 1950s war. They want normalized relations with the international community.

They pose no threat to America or any other country. They want their sovereign independence respected. They deserve to have their demands fulfilled.

They genuinely fear preemptive US war on their country - why they’ve pursued nuclear and ballistic missile deterrents, solely for defense, not offense.

Throughout its entire post WW II history, North Korea never attacked another country. America threatens naked aggression against all nations not bending to its will, independent ones targeted for regime change.

Because of the menace Washington poses, there’s “no…chance that (the DPRK) agree to a total denuclearization,” leaving itself defenseless.

They’re immune to tough sanctions, finding ways to deal with a bad situation. The nation’s survival matters most.

Carter urged the Trump administration to “send a high-level delegation to Pyongyang for peace talks or to support an international conference including North and South Korea, the United States and China, at a mutually acceptable site.”

Tillerson suggested talks. Trump rejects them, deplorably calling them a waste of time.

America needs enemies, invented because none exist, used to justify unjustifiable out-of-control military spending and belligerence.

Pyongyang knows what happened to Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and other countries Washington attacked preemptively.

It intends pursuing the strongest defense possible to prevent becoming its next target.

Having nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles gives Trump administration hawks pause about attacking a nation able to strike back hard, endangering its regional forces and allies.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
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