Interview with Mike Billington
I don’t think we’re particularly close to a
Korean war. There could be a spark there,
but as I’ve said many times and as Lyndon
La Rouche has said many times, we are
extremely close to a global nuclear war
between the United States and Russia and
China."
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Korean War 2.0: Deescalate
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An analyst says China recognizes that the
US is using North Korea’s belligerence to
build up its military presence as a direct
nuclear threat against China.
In the background of this there has been
frightening escalation of rhetoric and threats
from both North Korea and the US in the
Korean peninsula. The US military build up in
the area includes a chemical weapons battalion
sent to South Korea and B-2 nuclear capable
bombers as well as F-22 stealth fighter jets
that have participated in drills in the area.
North Korea has reacted to this provocation
saying a nuclear war with the United States
could start at any time. The US is also
undertaking military drills with the Philippines
and Japan has openly condemned North
Korea’s threats without saying anything about
the provocative escalation of US actions.
Press TV has interviewed Mike Billington,
Executive Intelligence review, Leesburg about
this issue. The following is an approximate
transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Are we closer to a war between the
United States and North Korea or are we just
closer to a Korean war?
Billington: No I don’t think we’re particularly
close to a Korean war. There could be a spark
there, but as I’ve said many times and as
Lyndon La Rouche has said many times, we are
extremely close to a global nuclear war
between the United States and Russia and
China.
The problem in Korea, is as the
Chinese recognize, is that the US has
taken advantage of these provocations
on both sides - and there certainly are
North Korean provocations, but there
are also numerous US provocations -
They’ve taken advantage of this for a
significant military build up in the
region, which the Chinese recognize is
a ring around China.
It’s of course been going on since the so-
called pivot began, but this has brought new
ABM systems, ex-band radars and other heavy
offensive weaponry into play.
It’s interesting that Morton Halperin, a former
defense and security official in several
administrations, yesterday said at a forum in
Washington that although the US has officially
at least pledged to the Russians that there
would not be a first strike nuclear attack
against Russia’s nuclear capacities - of course
because Russia has a huge nuclear capacity -
So the mutually assured destruction works.
But thus far, according to Morton Halperin,
the US has never made that pledge to the
Chinese - that we have not in fact informed
them that we would not launch an attack
against their relatively small nuclear capacity
and therefore the Chinese have very, very good
reason to be concerned over this use of North
Korea to build up the US military forces there.
Press TV: So then, are we entering an era of a
cold war in a sense between China and the US
in the region?
Billington: I don’t think it’s that cold. The
confrontation with Russia is actually far more
serious because the US and the British are
insisting that Russia and China back down from
their absolute refusal to accept the regime
change policy in the Middle East, which has
now been going on from Iraq and Libya to
Syria and very likely to Iran in the near term.
As far as Korea itself goes, this would be an
excellent time to open talks with North Korea.
The North is open to talks. What they want is a
better relationship with the United States; to
do away with the armistice, which ended the
Korean war with no peace i.e. no official peace
treaty.
But they want a peace treaty, but it has to be
on equal terms and therefore they make these
kinds of belligerent statements and they’ve
developed their nuclear weapons - very small
scale and incapable of attacking the United
States despite their statements.
Every body knows that they’re
incapable of launching such an attack
and it would be insane and suicidal.
But they do want talks and they will
not talk on the current proposal from
the US and the British, which says
we’ll only talk if you agree to give up
your weapons first.
They see what happened to Libya; they
see what happened to Iraq, they’re not
going to do it.
But it is an excellent time... And many in South
Korea by the way agree, including potentially
the new president Park Geun Hye who wants to
have a basis of trust between North and South
Korea.

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