10-11-06, 8:56 am
It was unnecessary because the US and its allies already suspected that Pyongyang was nuclear-capable and have held back from invasion.
It was ill timed in giving those military powers which threaten the rest of the world a ready-made pretext to justify their expanionism.
Exploding the device has driven South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun - who has had a mollifying effect on Washington, pressing the case for a policy of engagement and negotiation - back into the arms of the Bush administration.
The test is a kick in the teeth for China, which invited Japan's new prime minister to Beijing in a bid to ease regional tension caused by revived Japanese nationalism.
The most likely upshot of Pyongyang's unilateral decision is that the Pentagon will prevail upon US allies in north-east Asia to gladden the hearts of the US arms companies that funded George W Bush's presidential campaigns by lashing out on military hardware.
But the biggest damage that the North Korean test has inflicted has been on the cause of nuclear disarmament itself.
It flouts the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and will encourage other states to decide that what is good enough for North Korea is good enough for them too.
In that sense, North Korea is not a ground-breaker. India, Pakistan and Israel are all nuclear-capable states.
The US and its allies have never voiced the slightest criticism of Israel for developing a nuclear arsenal and, even with India and Pakistan, initial disapproval has given way to close alliances in the interests of increased trade and political co-operation.
As ever, it is easy to identify hypocrisy in the stance of Washington and London.
Tony Blair slammed Pyongyang, pointing out that 'the international community has repeatedly urged them to refrain from both missile testing and nuclear testing.'
President Bush did the same and insisted that the issue should be referred to the UN security council.
Mr Blair seems to forget that 'the international community' urged him and his White House commander in chief not to engage in their criminal invasion of Iraq, but it was ignored, as were the views of the UN secretary general and the UN weapons inspectors.
More crucially, Britain and the US are as much in breach of the NPT as North Korea.
Not only have the nuclear states ignored the treaty provision to reduce their arsenals and makes progress to total disarmament but Washington is engaged in researching a missile defence system that would neutralise incoming rockets and make nuclear aggression or blackmail a possibility, while Britain is edging towards upgrading its obsolete Trident nuclear submarine system.
The NPT was not established simply to preserve the existing nuclear powers' monopoly.
UN sanctions are not really the issue in this matter. Far more vital is the need to put diplomacy to the fore and restart negotiations for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
From Morning Star
