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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit



HAWKS AND THE HELICOPTER



Have hawks in the Pentagon covertly set in motion an effort to

derail the recent agreement between Washington and the Democratic

Peoples Republic of Korea?



Let's look at the facts. On Dec. 17 a U.S. helicopter flew across

the highly visible demilitarized zone separating north and south

Korea. Tensions were particularly high because U.S. and south

Korean forces were carrying out "war games" all along the DMZ.



The copter was shot down four or five miles inside the north. One

man was killed in the crash. The DPRK returned his body to U.S.

authorities. They continue to hold the pilot, Chief Warrant

Officer Bobby Hall, while they investigate the incident.



Gen. Gary E. Luck, commander of U.S. forces in south Korea,

claims the intrusion was a result of "navigation error." However,

there have been many such "errors" over the years. The most

celebrated was the case of the Pueblo, a U.S. spy ship captured

in north Korean waters. Washington swore up and down it was an

ordinary patrol boat, but the commander of the Pueblo spilled the

beans and confessed.



The U.S. and the DPRK signed an agreement in October to end the

confrontation over Korea's nuclear energy program and establish

normal diplomatic relations. Ever since, right-wing hardliners in

the U.S. have been grumbling.



We're reminded of 1979, when President Jimmy Carter tried to

carry out his pledge to reduce U.S. forces in Korea. He ran up

against a furious campaign by an entrenched military bureaucracy

backed up by the most powerful capitalist corporations and banks.

Carter retired Gen. John K. Singlaub for openly defying him, but

caved in on the issue. The troops remained.



Now members of the U.S. State Department are threatening the DPRK

that the recent agreement may not go forward unless the captured

pilot is released immediately. The Koreans have affirmed their

right to continue the investigation and take appropriate action

once the facts are known. After all, their territory was violated

by a military aircraft of a hostile power. How would the U.S.

government react if an enemy plane flew over its territory?



The U.S. media are full of speculation over what this means about 

the internal politics of the DPRK. None of them even ask what it

reveals about U.S. politics. Is the Clinton administration, which

has been scrambling to placate the right since the November

election, being set up to ditch the recent agreement?



The unbridled militarists can't be allowed to derail the

long-overdue move to normalize relations on the Korean peninsula

and end the threat of war there. The struggle of independent

forces to stop the war-makers must be stepped up.



                           -30-



(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted

if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World,

55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@wwp.blythe.org.)





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