Western Double Standards on North Korea
Politics / North Korea Feb 07, 2016 - 03:55 PM GMTBy: Stephen_Lendman
North Korean military related activities are solely for self-defense - given longstanding US-led Western hostility and forced isolation.
Provocative US-led NATO military activities are far more extensive and menacing, preparing for premeditated wars alliance members frequently wage.
Throughout its history, North Korea never attacked another nation. It threatens none now. It remains justifiably concerned since Harry Truman launched naked aggression in June 1950.
A shaky, unprecedented in length, July 1953 armistice excluded a peace treaty. A state of war persists. Washington misportrays North Korea as a belligerent threat.
Any military related activity it undertakes is automatically called hostile, irresponsibly considered a threat to neighboring countries and America - despite no evidence proving it.
Longstanding US-led Western hypocrisy is notorious. Do what we say, not what we do is official policy. Pyongyang seeks normalized relations with all nations.
Washington wants its government used as a punching bag, a convenient enemy the way it treats all independent nations.
On Sunday, Pyongyang announced the successful launching of a long-range rocket, deploying a Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite (named after the late Kim Jong Il) into space, orbiting the earth every 94 minutes.
At the request of Washington, Japan and South Korea, an emergency Security Council session will be held later on Sunday, discussing a nonexistent threat, solely to beat up on Pyongyang like always.
Banning its use of ballistic missile technology is wholly unjustified. Western and regional nations feature it. North Korea’s rights are no less than theirs.
Instead, its victimized by consistent US-led bashing. John Kerry duplicitously responded to Sunday’s launch as expected.
He lied, calling it “major provocation,” absurdly claiming it threaten(s) not only the security of the Korean peninsula, but that of the region and the United States as well.”
Pentagon officials confirmed the launch posed no threat to North America. Pyongyang justifiably said it’s “legitimately exercising the right to use space for independent and peaceful purposes.”
It intends launching more satellites, what Western and many other nations do routinely, no criticisms heard about their activities, only against independent nations like North Korea - bashed for doing the same thing, with no evidence suggesting its space program threatens any nation.
Security Council resolutions unjustifiably prohibit Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology. No such ban exists against Western and numerous other countries - a notorious double standard.
Sunday’s launch was North Korea’s sixth. Last month, it announced its fourth underground nuclear test, claiming it successfully detonated a small thermonuclear bomb, whether true or not isn’t clear.
US-imposed sanctions on North Korea are longstanding. Congress is moving to impose new ones, including against Chinese companies doing business with Pyongyang, intensifying Washington/Beijing tensions.
Expect more international sanctions to follow. Washington and its Asian allies want tougher ones imposed - deepening longstanding US-led anti-North Korean hostility.
It bears repeating. Anything military related or technologically sophisticated Western nations and their allies undertake is OK.
North Korea doing some of the same things is irresponsibly called hostile and threatening. The double standard is glaring.
By Stephen Lendman
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.
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