© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
US drills with South Korea are not the same as North Korea's missile and nuclear tests, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters Thursday.
Comment: No Nauert, they are the same.
"These are all things that have taken place since the 1950s. So that wouldn't change," Nauert said, describing the drills as lawful and longstanding.
"We do these kinds of exercises and have relationships like this all over the globe. If China and Russia decide to come out against that, that is not going to change our position," she added.
Comment: The belligerent US will not change course now because they would lose face. It's not really about the nukes but about encircling Russia and China.
Moscow and Beijing have called on Washington and Seoul to freeze large-scale military exercises in an attempt to calm tensions on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang test-fired a missile it said could reach the US mainland.
The US diplomatic offensive to pressure and isolate North Korea is still in its early stages, according to the State Department spokeswoman.
"We continue to believe that China can do a whole lot more to try to bring additional pressure to North Korea," Nauert said, adding that China has "unique leverage" with Pyongyang because of the "strong trade relationship" between two countries.One of the measures the US has proposed to other countries is to drastically scale back the number of North Korean guest-workers, Nauert said. She also referenced last week's decision by the US Treasury Department to sanction a Chinese bank that did business with Pyongyang, although she declined to say whether more such sanctions were in the works.
Earlier Thursday, Russia declined to endorse the US-proposed UN Security Council statement condemning the North Korean missile launch, citing an assessment by the Russian Defense Ministry that the rocket tested could not be classified as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
"We are not in a position to agree to this classification on behalf of the whole council, since there is no consensus on this issue," said the email from the Russian mission, as cited by Reuters.
My guess is that the missiles can be targeted and fired remotely from an orbiting satellite. That way we get the war we have been drumming for while appearing the innocent bystander.
We provoke the North Korean leader with wild rhetoric about our fear of his instability, and secretly hope he does something rash so we can use the missiles. The media chases mad stories that only abets this craziness.
South Korea is not going to allow the missiles to be functional much less targetable.
But then as Mr Bush was so fond of saying: "Only the appearance matters."