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Washington (CNN) — Drone strikes are a necessary evil, but one that must be used with more temperance as the United States’ security situation evolves, President Barack Obama said Thursday.

America prefers to capture, interrogate and prosecute terrorists, but there are times when this isn’t possible, Obama said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington. Terrorists intentionally hide in hard-to-reach locales and putting boots on the ground is often out of the question, he said.

Thus, when the United States is faced with a threat from terrorists in a country where the government has only tenuous or no influence, drones strikes are the only option — and they’re legal because America “is at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and their associated forces,” Obama said.

He added, however, “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance. For the same progress that gives us the technology to strike half a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power — or risk abusing it.”

Increased oversight is important, but not easy, Obama said. While he has considered a special court or independent oversight board, those options are problematic, so he plans to talk with Congress to determine how best to handle the deployment of drones, he said.

Obama speaks on anti-terror strategy

Obama defends secret drone program

Obama’s counterterrorism policy

The battle to force feed Gitmo detainees

The nation’s image was a theme throughout the speech, as Obama emphasized some actions in recent years — drone strikes and Guantanamo Bay key among them — risk creating more threats. The nature of threats against the United States have changed since he took office — they’ve become more localized — and so, too, must efforts to combat them, he said.

“From our use of drones to the detention of terror suspects, the decisions that we are making now will define the type of nation and world that we leave to our children,” he said.

Today, al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan worry more about protecting their own skin than attacking America, he said, but the threat is more diffuse, extending into places such as Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and North Africa. And al Qaeda’s ideology helped fuel attacks like the ones at the Boston Marathon and U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi.

Obama said the use of lethal force extends to U.S. citizens as well.

On Wednesday, his administration disclosed for the first time that four Americans had been killed in counterterrorist drone strikes overseas, including one person who was targeted by the United States.

“When a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America — and is actively plotting to kill U.S. citizens; and when neither the United States, nor our partners are in a position to capture him before he carries out a plot — his citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected from a SWAT team,” Obama said.

To stop terrorists from gaining a foothold, drones will be deployed, Obama said, but only when there is an imminent threat; no hope of capturing the targeted terrorist; “near certainty” that civilians won’t be harmed; and “there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat.” Never will a strike be punitive, he said.

Those who die as collateral damage “will haunt us for as long as we live,” the president said, but he emphasized that the targeted individuals aim to exact indiscriminate violence, “and the death toll from their acts of terrorism against Muslims dwarfs any estimate of civilian casualties from drone strikes.”

It’s not always feasible to send in Special Forces, as in the Osama bin Laden raid, to stamp out terrorism, and even if it were, the introduction of troops could mean more deaths on both sides, Obama said.

“The result would be more U.S. deaths, more Blackhawks down, more confrontations with local populations and an inevitable mission creep in support of such raids that could easily escalate into new wars,” he said.

The American public is split on where and how drones should be used, according to a March poll by Gallup.

Although 65% of respondents said drones should be used against suspected terrorists abroad, only 41% said drones should be used against American citizens who are suspected terrorists in foreign countries.

Guantanamo to shut down?

Guantanamo Bay also threatens to create new enemies of the state and diminish the country’s moral standing in the world, Obama said, revisiting a campaign promise he made before his first term.

“The original premise for opening Gitmo — that detainees would not be able to challenge their detention — was found unconstitutional five years ago,” he said. “In the meantime, Gitmo has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.”

Because of what Gitmo represents, some allies are reluctant to cooperate on investigations with the United States if a suspect might land at the controversial detention center, Obama said.

That’s not to mention the economic implications, the president said. The country spends $150 million annually to imprison 166 suspects, and the Defense Department estimates that keeping Gitmo open may cost another $200 million “at a time when we are cutting investments in education and research here at home,” he said.

Explaining that no prisoner has ever escaped a supermax or military facility — and noting U.S. courts have had no issue prosecuting terrorists, some more dangerous than those at Guantanamo — Obama said he would push again to close the detention center and appoint State and Defense department envoys to make sure the detainees are transferred to other countries.

Seventy percent of respondents to a February 2012 ABC/Washington Post poll said they approve of keeping the facility open for suspected terrorists. Only 24% said it should be closed.

One of his initiatives aims to lift a moratorium on transferring prisoners to Yemen, long a volatile land but now ruled by a government regarded by the United States as a “willing and able partner.” Yemenis make up a significant portion of Guantanamo inmates.

In a statement issued through its embassy in Washington, Yemen’s government welcomed the U.S. decision and vowed to “work with the United States to take all necessary steps to ensure the safe return of its detainees and will continue working towards their gradual rehabilitation and integration back into society.”

Obama said he will insist on judicial review from every Guantanamo detainee, and when it’s appropriate, terrorists will be transferred stateside to stand trial in courts and “our military justice system.”

“Given my administration’s relentless pursuit of al Qaeda’s leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened,” the president said.

There are 86 inmates at Guantanamo who have been cleared for transfer, 56 of them from Yemen.

While Obama worked to close Guantanamo early in his first term, Congress enacted significant restrictions on the transfer of detainees from the prison that made its closure impractical.

This year, the State Department reassigned the special envoy who had been tasked in 2009 with closing the facility and lowered the post’s profile by assigning the job to the department’s legal adviser’s office.

The problem has been exacerbated by the fact more than half the facility’s inmates engaging in various forms of hunger strike, more than 20 of them being force-fed.

New dangers have emerged

Obama made the case that the al Qaeda terror network in the Afghan and Pakistan region has been weakened but that new dangers have emerged as the U.S. winds down operations in Afghanistan after more than a decade of war triggered by the 9/11 attacks.

Threats that have emerged come from al Qaeda affiliates, localized extremist groups and homegrown terrorists, like the two men suspected of attacking the Boston Marathon last month.

The administration has been considering shifting control of lethal drone operations from the CIA to the military. One senior administration official said the “military is the appropriate agency to use force,” not to rule out the range of options needed to deal with threats.

By law, the military is not able to act in the covert way the CIA can in this particular arena and must answer to Congress.

In his confirmation hearing for CIA director, John Brennan expressed a desire to move the agency away from paramilitary operations and back to traditional areas of espionage.

“The CIA should not be doing traditional military activities and operations,” he said.

Obama rejected the idea of a global war on terror in favor of a more focused approach that will engage on specific networks of extremists who threaten the United States.

The administration plans to avoid operations that will cause civilian casualties and wants to work with partners in its operations.

Use of force will be part of a larger strategy to deal with instability and hostility. Obama discussed strategies for promoting democratic governance and economic development and fostering U.S. engagement around the world.

Holder: Drone strikes have killed four Americans since 2009

The president also raised the unpopular topic of foreign aid, presenting it not as charity but as a means of national security. It amounts to less than 1% of the national a budget but is integral to fighting terrorism, he said.

“For what we spent in a month in Iraq at the height of the war, we could be training security forces in Libya, maintaining peace agreements between Israel and its neighbors, feeding the hungry in Yemen, building schools in Pakistan, and creating reservoirs of goodwill that marginalize extremists,” he said.

Republican: Obama speech ‘a victory’ for terrorists

Several Republicans panned Obama’s speech.

Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized the idea of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison and said, “The president’s policies signal a retreat from the threat of al Qaeda.”

“The Obama administration’s return to a pre-9/11 counterterrorism mindset puts American lives at risk,” the Texas Republican said. “This war will continue whether the president acknowledges it or not.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said that announcing plans to close the facility “sends the message to … detainees that if they harass the dedicated military personnel there enough, we will give in and send them home, even to Yemen.”

“The president’s speech today will be viewed by terrorists as a victory,” Chambliss said.

But at least one Republican, Sen. John McCain, pledged that he’d work with Obama and his administration.

“In light of the president’s speech today, we will pledge our willingness to work with (Obama) to see that Guantanamo Bay is closed,” said the Arizona Republican.

The reproaches didn’t only come from the right.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s leader — even as he cheered plans to close the Guantanamo prison and allow for more oversight on drone strikes — criticized “still insufficient transparency” regarding drones, what he called “unconstitutional military commissions” and the lack of what he’d call a “clear plan” to end “indefinite detention.”

“President Obama’s efforts to repair his legacy in the eyes of future historians will require that he continue to double down if he is to fully restore this nation’s standing at home and abroad,” Anthony Romero said in a statement.

CNN’s Elise Labott, Chris Lawrence, Barbara Starr and Dan Merica contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/politics/obama-terror-speech/index.html?eref=edition

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a military factory in this undated picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on Friday, May 17. North Korea launched several short-range guided missiles into the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast May 18, South Korea’s semi-official news agency Yonhap cited the South Korean Defense Ministry as saying.

Kim Jong Un visits the Ministry of People’s Security on Wednesday, May 1, as part of the country’s May Day celebrations.

A North Korea soldier gestures to stop photographers from taking photos from a Chinese tour boat as other soldiers look on along the North Korean bank of the Yalu River near the town of Sinuiji across the Chinese city of Dandong in Liaoning province, China, on Saturday, April 6.

North Korean soldiers gather by the docks in Sinuiju near the Chinese border on Thursday, April 4.

North Korean soldiers patrol along the Yalu River in Sinuiju across the border from the Chinese city of Dandong on April 4.

Kim Jong Un is briefed by his generals in this undated photo. On the wall is a map titled “Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S.”

Kim Jong Un works during a briefing in this undated photo.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects drills by the Korean People’s Army navy at an undisclosed location on North Korea’s east coast on March 25 in a photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Kim makes his way to an observation post with North Korean soldiers on March 25.

Kim uses a pair of binoculars to look south from the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea’s Taeyonphyong Island on March 7.

Kim is greeted by the family of a soldier as he inspects Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea’s Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province on Thursday, March 7, in a photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Kim is surrounded by soldiers during a visit to the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment near South Korea’s Taeyonphyong Island on March 7. North Korea has escalated its bellicose rhetoric, threatening nuclear strikes, just before the U.N. Security Council passed tougher sanctions against the secretive nation on March 7.

Kim arrives at Jangjae Islet by boat to meet with soldiers of the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province on March 7.

Soldiers in the North Korean army train at an undisclosed location on March 6.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses with chiefs of branch social security stations in this undated picture released by North Korea’s official news agency on November 27.

Kim celebrates with staff from the satellite control center in Pyongyang, North Korea, during the launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, in a photo released by the official North Korean news agency on December 12.

A crowd watches as statues of the nation’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son Kim Jong Il are unveiled during a ceremony in Pyongyang on April 13, 2012. Photos from North Korea are rare, but the country was on full display in April 2012 as it celebrated the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung.

A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of an UNHA III rocket at the Tangachai-ri Space Center on April 8, 2012.

In April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket, which broke apart and fell into the sea. The UNHA III rocket is pictured on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea.

A closer look at the UNHA III rocket on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea.

A military vehicle participates in a parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

North Koreans wave flags in front of portraits of Kim Il Sung, left, and his son Kim Jong Il during celebrations to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean soldiers relax at the end of an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012.

Kim Jong Un applauds as he watches a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

A North Korean soldier stands on a balcony in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean soldiers march during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

Soldiers board a bus outside a theater in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean performers sit below a screen showing images of leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean soldiers salute during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

Kim Jong Un visits the Rungna People’s Pleasure Ground, which is under construction in Pyongyang, in a photo released on July 3, 2012, by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korean soldiers listen to a speech during an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012.

Members of a North Korean military band gather following an official ceremony at the Kim Il Sung stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012.

North Korean military personnel watch a performance in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

A North Korean controller is seen along the railway line between Pyongyang and North Pyongan province on April 8, 2012.

A North Korean military honor guard stands at attention at Pyongyang’s airport during a diplomatic visit on May 2, 2001.

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(CNN) — A personal envoy to North Korea’s leader indicated Kim Jung Un was open to restarting nuclear disarmament talks, a move that came as China’s leader delivered a blunt message to Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table, Chinese state-run media reported Friday.

Kim’s personal envoy, who was on a three-day visit to China, hand-delivered a letter from Kim to President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing before returning to North Korea on Friday, according to state media.

While the contents of the letter were not released by the government, the envoy — Choe Ryong-hae — told Chinese officials that his country is willing to “take positive actions to solve problems through dialogue, ” the state-run China Daily reported.

Choe did not offer any details on when or how it would jumpstart the so-called six-party talks. The talks, which include the United States and China, fell apart in 2008 when Pyongyang pulled out over disagreements over proposed nuclear inspections.

Most observers agree that Pyongyang is unlikely to return to talks where there are pre-conditions that it rid itself of nuclear weapons. North Korea is believed to have a limited nuclear ballistic missile capability, but with a low reliability.

Choe said Kim’s goal with sending the letter is to “improve, consolidate and develop” relations between North Korea and China, state news agency Xinhua reported.

During the meeting, Xi told Choe that North Korea needed to “stick to solving problems through dialogue and consultation,” according to China Daily and CCTV.

Xi’s demand comes just two weeks before he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in California.

In another meeting, Chinese Gen. Fan Changlong told Choe that recent tensions have “jeopardized the peace and stability of the peninsula,” Xinhua reported.

Tensions between Pyongyang, Beijing and Washington spiked this year amid a flurry of fiery North Korean threats against the United States and South Korea.

The angry rhetoric appeared to be fueled by tougher U.N. sanctions against the North after it carried out its third underground nuclear test in February, as well as by annual military drills in the region by the United States and South Korea.

The intensity of the North’s rhetoric appears to have subsided in recent weeks, and the U.S.-South Korean drills finished at the end of April.

This month, North Korea test-fired rockets after criticizing the presence of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at a South Korean port and its reported participation in joint naval drills.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/world/asia/china-north-korea-nuclear/index.html?eref=edition

Mount Vernon, Washington (CNN) — Washington’s governor estimated Friday it will take about $15 million to fix a bridge on Interstate 5 that collapsed into a river after being struck by an 18-wheeler, shutting down a portion of the state’s main artery to Canada.

The news came at the start of the busy holiday weekend as state and federal investigators worked to figure out what led to Thursday’s collapse of the bridge, which sent vehicles tumbling into the Skagit River near Mount Vernon, about 60 miles north of Seattle. While at least three people were taken to hospitals, there were no fatalities.

Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in Washington’s northwestern counties of Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom, noting that the highway is a major conduit and its closure — for a “significant period” — will hurt the area’s economy and its residents.

It’s unclear how long the interstate will be closed for the bridge repairs.

National Transportation Safety Board inspectors were expected to spend 7 to 10 days investigating the crash, said NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman.

Showing ‘its age’

An initial investigation shows the 1,111 foot-long bridge collapsed when a tractor-trailer hauling an oversized load hit one of the bridge’s overhead tresses, known as the “superstructure,” Hersman said.

“Obviously, this is a bridge that has lived a very long life,” she told reporters.

While the bridge built in 1955 is showing “its age,” it appears to have been structurally sound.

As part of the investigation, the NTSB will review the state’s maintenance and inspection records as well as any damage reports and repairs made to the bridge, Hersman said.

A heavy traffic backup along Interstate 5 was reported in both directions by midday Friday as cars and trucks inched along a cumbersome detour that took vehicles off the interstate and onto county roads. Roughly 70,000 vehicles travel that portion of the interstate a day, according to the state Department of Transportion.

The collapse apparently was the result of a collision between the tractor-trailer’s cargo and the bridge, Washington State Patrol Sgt. Kirk Rudeen told CNN on Friday.

The truck was hauling equipment for a drilling rig, he said.

‘Hold on’

Dan Sligh was driving behind the 18-wheeler when he saw it strike one of the bridge’s overhead support structures, and then saw the bridge give way.

He slammed on the brakes, but the momentum of his pickup and camper trailer carried Sligh and his wife off the bridge and into the water dozens of feet below, he told CNN affiliate KOMO Thursday, hours after the incident some 60 miles north of Seattle.

“You hold on as tight as you can,” Sligh said. Then, a “white flash and cold water.”

The impact dislocated his shoulder, but the Navy veteran just popped it back in and dragged his unresponsive wife to safety.

Crews survey the scene of a Skagit River bridge collapse on Interstate 5 near Mt. Vernon, Washington, on Thursday, May 23.

Authorities believe an 18-wheeler may have struck part of the bridge, causing the collapse.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee addresses the media at the scene of the bridge collapse on May 23.

People examine the collapsed section of the bridge in this photo shot by iReporter Adrian Adrande.

Search and rescue boats comb the water for victims after the collapse on May 23.

A helicopter leaves the scene as night falls after the collapse on May 23.

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Photos: Washington bridge collapses

Witness: The bridge was just gone

A second vehicle with one person inside also fell from the bridge, according to state officials.

Amazingly, no one died.

Sligh’s wife, Sally, was the only one of the three who remained hospitalized Friday. She was in stable condition, according to Skagit Valley Hospital.

“Rough day,” Dan Sligh told KOMO. “Glad to be here breathing.”

‘Functionally obsolete’

The bridge had been rated “functionally obsolete,” according to a federal database, but state officials said it was safe to drive on.

That category is for bridges that may have narrow lanes or shoulders, or spans that don’t provide enough vertical clearance to let tall trucks pass, according to Washington’s DOT.

The bridge was inspected as recently as November, said Dave Chesson, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Transportation.

“We wouldn’t be having drivers drive on this bridge if we thought there were any concerns whatsoever,” he said Friday.

Sligh told KOMO he was traveling south on the interstate behind the tractor-trailer when he realized the load appeared to be about four feet too wide to fit through the bridge’s superstructure.

“Any time he wants to go over to the left would be OK,” Sligh said he told his wife.

But another tractor-trailer appeared to hem the truck in to the right lane.

“There was a big puff of dust, and I hit the brakes.”

Dale Ogden told CNN affiliate KING that he was driving near the tractor-trailer’s pilot car when he saw a device on that car designed to indicate whether a truck can clear an obstacle hit the top of the bridge.

He then watched in his rear-view mirror as the truck struck the bridge, he told KING.

“It almost tipped the truck over but it came back down. It tipped it up to about a 30-degree angle to the left and it came back down on its wheels, and almost instantaneously behind that I saw girders falling in my rear-view mirror,” he said.

The tractor-trailer did not go into the water. The driver was questioned but not detained, state police said.

Emergency funding

The U.S. Department of Transportation released $1 million in emergency funding for the bridge, Inslee said Friday on Twitter. Inslee said the accident starkly demonstrates the need for additional funding for roads and bridges.

“We have some work to do on our bridges whether or not this accident happened, and we have some discussions in Olympia” — the state capital — “about making sure that we make investments in bridges to prevent this kind of thing from happening,” he told reporters.

In March, President Barack Obama called on Congress to provide $21 billion for infrastructure construction, including improvements to existing roadways.
READ MORE: How safe is that bridge you’re driving on?

Katharine Barrett reported from Mount Vernon; Chelsea J. Carter and Ben Brumfield wrote and reported from Atlanta; CNN’s Michael Pearson, AnneClaire Stapleton, Jake Carpenter and Dave Alsup also contributed to this report

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/us/washington-bridge-collapse/index.html?eref=edition

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a military factory in this undated picture released by the Korean Central News Agency on Friday, May 17. North Korea launched several short-range guided missiles into the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast May 18, South Korea’s semi-official news agency Yonhap cited the South Korean Defense Ministry as saying.

Kim Jong Un visits the Ministry of People’s Security on Wednesday, May 1, as part of the country’s May Day celebrations.

A North Korea soldier gestures to stop photographers from taking photos from a Chinese tour boat as other soldiers look on along the North Korean bank of the Yalu River near the town of Sinuiji across the Chinese city of Dandong in Liaoning province, China, on Saturday, April 6.

North Korean soldiers gather by the docks in Sinuiju near the Chinese border on Thursday, April 4.

North Korean soldiers patrol along the Yalu River in Sinuiju across the border from the Chinese city of Dandong on April 4.

Kim Jong Un is briefed by his generals in this undated photo. On the wall is a map titled “Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland U.S.”

Kim Jong Un works during a briefing in this undated photo.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects drills by the Korean People’s Army navy at an undisclosed location on North Korea’s east coast on March 25 in a photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Kim makes his way to an observation post with North Korean soldiers on March 25.

Kim uses a pair of binoculars to look south from the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea’s Taeyonphyong Island on March 7.

Kim is greeted by the family of a soldier as he inspects Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near South Korea’s Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province on Thursday, March 7, in a photo from the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Kim is surrounded by soldiers during a visit to the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment near South Korea’s Taeyonphyong Island on March 7. North Korea has escalated its bellicose rhetoric, threatening nuclear strikes, just before the U.N. Security Council passed tougher sanctions against the secretive nation on March 7.

Kim arrives at Jangjae Islet by boat to meet with soldiers of the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment near Taeyonphyong Island in South Hwanghae province on March 7.

Soldiers in the North Korean army train at an undisclosed location on March 6.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, poses with chiefs of branch social security stations in this undated picture released by North Korea’s official news agency on November 27.

Kim celebrates with staff from the satellite control center in Pyongyang, North Korea, during the launch of a rocket carrying a satellite, in a photo released by the official North Korean news agency on December 12.

A crowd watches as statues of the nation’s founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son Kim Jong Il are unveiled during a ceremony in Pyongyang on April 13, 2012. Photos from North Korea are rare, but the country was on full display in April 2012 as it celebrated the 100th birthday of Kim Il Sung.

A North Korean soldier stands guard in front of an UNHA III rocket at the Tangachai-ri Space Center on April 8, 2012.

In April 2012, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket, which broke apart and fell into the sea. The UNHA III rocket is pictured on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea.

A closer look at the UNHA III rocket on its launch pad in Tang Chung Ri, North Korea.

A military vehicle participates in a parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

North Koreans wave flags in front of portraits of Kim Il Sung, left, and his son Kim Jong Il during celebrations to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean soldiers relax at the end of an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012.

Kim Jong Un applauds as he watches a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

A North Korean soldier stands on a balcony in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean soldiers march during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

Soldiers board a bus outside a theater in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean performers sit below a screen showing images of leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

North Korean soldiers salute during a military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, 2012.

Kim Jong Un visits the Rungna People’s Pleasure Ground, which is under construction in Pyongyang, in a photo released on July 3, 2012, by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.

North Korean soldiers listen to a speech during an official ceremony attended by leader Kim Jong Un at a stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012.

Members of a North Korean military band gather following an official ceremony at the Kim Il Sung stadium in Pyongyang on April 14, 2012.

North Korean military personnel watch a performance in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012.

A North Korean controller is seen along the railway line between Pyongyang and North Pyongan province on April 8, 2012.

A North Korean military honor guard stands at attention at Pyongyang’s airport during a diplomatic visit on May 2, 2001.

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(CNN) — A personal envoy to North Korea’s leader indicated Kim Jung Un was open to restarting nuclear disarmament talks, a move that came as China’s leader delivered a blunt message to Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table, Chinese state-run media reported Friday.

Kim’s personal envoy, who was on a three-day visit to China, hand-delivered a letter from Kim to President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing before returning to North Korea on Friday, according to state media.

While the contents of the letter were not released by the government, the envoy — Choe Ryong-hae — told Chinese officials that his country is willing to “take positive actions to solve problems through dialogue, ” the state-run China Daily reported.

Choe did not offer any details on when or how it would jumpstart the so-called six-party talks. The talks, which include the United States and China, fell apart in 2008 when Pyongyang pulled out over disagreements over proposed nuclear inspections.

Most observers agree that Pyongyang is unlikely to return to talks where there are pre-conditions that it rid itself of nuclear weapons. North Korea is believed to have a limited nuclear ballistic missile capability, but with a low reliability.

Choe said Kim’s goal with sending the letter is to “improve, consolidate and develop” relations between North Korea and China, state news agency Xinhua reported.

During the meeting, Xi told Choe that North Korea needed to “stick to solving problems through dialogue and consultation,” according to China Daily and CCTV.

Xi’s demand comes just two weeks before he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in California.

In another meeting, Chinese Gen. Fan Changlong told Choe that recent tensions have “jeopardized the peace and stability of the peninsula,” Xinhua reported.

Tensions between Pyongyang, Beijing and Washington spiked this year amid a flurry of fiery North Korean threats against the United States and South Korea.

The angry rhetoric appeared to be fueled by tougher U.N. sanctions against the North after it carried out its third underground nuclear test in February, as well as by annual military drills in the region by the United States and South Korea.

The intensity of the North’s rhetoric appears to have subsided in recent weeks, and the U.S.-South Korean drills finished at the end of April.

This month, North Korea test-fired rockets after criticizing the presence of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at a South Korean port and its reported participation in joint naval drills.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/world/asia/china-north-korea-nuclear/index.html?eref=edition

Editor’s note: Will Bunch is the author of “October 1, 2011: The Battle of the Brooklyn Bridge,” Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future,” as well as “The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama.” He is senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, where he writes the Attytood blog.

(CNN) — You might have seen the video last week. I’m talking about Lt. Col. Will Adams, away from his family for nearly two years while he served in Afghanistan, taking off a catcher’s mask and surprising his 9-year-old daughter in a well-executed stunt as she threw out the first pitch at a Tampa Bay Rays game.

When you watched third-grader Alayna Adams run to embrace the father who’d been away at war for so long, you might even have shed a tear.

The reunion was so heartwarming that you could easily forget that this 9-year-old girl had not even been born when President George W. Bush launched the military action in Afghanistan in 2001. Indeed, could anyone have imagined that U.S. troops would still be fighting and dying in that mountainous, isolated country 7,500 miles away a dozen years later?

Thank God that Lt. Col. Adams is home safely, but about 63,000 other American troops are still in country, and generals envision as many 8,000 to 12,000 troops still “over there” when — or if — the U.S. combat role winds down next year.

On the same day the Adams family was reunited in South Florida, two American soldiers and four U.S. contractors were among the dead when a bomb struck a military convoy in Kabul.

And yet I’d bet that the average American who wept watching the first-pitch video could not give a good answer when asked what fighting men like Adams or his killed comrades are doing in Afghanistan today. It all made sense in 2001, when the rubble of the World Trade Center was still smoldering, for Congress to pass the Authorization for the Use of Military Force act, which gave the White House the OK to wage the war. It seemed wise, certainly, to target Afghanistan, where an unfriendly Taliban government had harbored 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and allowed his al Qaeda minions to train there.

Inside a firefight with the Taliban

Bags of cash to Hamid Karzai?

Since then, the Taliban has been ousted, bin Laden has been killed, and al Qaeda shattered, with many of its top lieutenants killed or in American custody. Yet ongoing warfare in a nation beset by violence for decades continues to claim U.S. lives, and it’s difficult to see how it improves the safety of citizens here at home.

The authorization for military force act has been invoked to justify drone strikes and other types of military action in places that no one could have predicted in 2001: places like Yemen and, increasingly, Africa. President Barack Obama, after earning what seemed to be anti-war bona fides by opposing the 2003 Iraq invasion, has driven this expansion.

Some critics are calling the fighting that began in 2001, branded as “the global war on terror,” America’s “forever war.” I say some critics because frankly most Americans have stopped paying attention, which the White House and the Pentagon are probably counting on. Just hours before Lt. Col. Adams reconnected with his daughter last week, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, Michael Sheehan, went before a congressional hearing on the topic of that 2001 war authorization.

Yet few if any members of the Senate Armed Services Committee seemed eager to end the authorization act after 12 years; instead, senators such as Arizona’s John McCain — increasingly the pied piper of American military intervention — spoke of expanding the measure, to make sure that new terrorist groups that formed after 2001 could be legally targeted by U.S. weapons. What Sheehan told the senators must have sounded like a Hallmark Channel ad for the romance of “the forever war.”

The Pentagon official told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, that the war against terrorism “is going to go on for quite a while, and, yes, beyond the second term of the president,” adding a second later, “at least 10 to 20 years.”

That’s mind-numbing. The Pentagon believes that we could still be fighting the conflict that began on 9/11 in the year 2033. It’s hard to even find the right analogy. Imagine if U.S. involvement in World War II that began at Pearl Harbor was still taking place in 1973, a long strange trip from the Andrews Sisters to Led Zeppelin. I’m the parent of a 20-year-old — will I be telling my grandson someday not to worry, that the war should be over before he hits draft age?

The “forever war” might be defensible is it were making you, me and all other Americans safer. The cold reality is that the effect has been the opposite, that the increasing length and scope of the war puts us at greater risk.

The trillions of dollars in debt to pay for the war has left us in deeper hock to China and other foreign creditors. At home, or “the homeland” as it came to be called, the war has been used to justify a flurry of civil rights abuses, including warrantless wiretaps and monitoring of e-mails, harassing whistle-blowers and clamping down on press freedom.

Since 9/11, the all-too-human desire to avenge the attacks has trumped common sense. The ultimate goal, after all, is to stop any further attacks on Americans. But too many actions such as the abuses of waterboarding, and lack of trials for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and the flurry of drone strikes that have killed innocent civilians along with terrorists, have provoked rising anti-Americanism and possibly motivated newer attackers.

In other words, revoking the 2001 war authorization would save money and lives. It should be a no-brainer, but for some hard-to-explain reason it requires a courage that can’t be found in either the White House or the halls of Congress.

Yes, it was joyous to watch a 9-year-old girl welcome her father home from Afghanistan. But the notion that her elementary school pals could someday fight in the same war should blow the American mind.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Will Bunch.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/opinion/bunch-forever-war-afghanistan/index.html?eref=edition

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

Drones, by the numbers

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is home to the U.S. naval base that has held terror suspects since January 2002. Early in the war on terror, the Bush administration argued these detainees were “enemy combatants” who didn’t have the protections accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Click through for a look inside the controversial facility. Pictured: A detainee stands at an interior fence at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A Navy sailor surveys the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009. Shortly after his first term began, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, but the move do so has stalled. Congress passed legislation preventing detainees from being transferred into the United States. However, the administration says Obama remains committed to closing the facility, also known as Gitmo.

U.S. military guards move a detainee inside the detention center in September 2010. At its peak, the detainee population reportedly exceeded 750 men at Guantanamo.

Muslim detainees kneel during early morning prayers in October 2009. Cells are marked with an arrow pointing in the direction of Mecca, regarded as Islam’s holy city.

A soldier stands near a placard on the fence line of the detention facility in January 2012.

A Quran sits among a display of items isssued to detainees in September 2010. The suspects are given a prayer mat and a copy of the Muslim holy book as well as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and clothing.

A U.S. military guard walks out of the maximum security section of the detention center in September 2010.

A German shepherd police dog undergoes training exercises in October 2009 at Guantanamo Bay.

A camp librarian views artwork painted by detainees in September 2010.

A detainee rubs his face while attending a “life skills” class inside the Camp 6 high-security detention facility in April 2009.

A seat and shackle await a detainee in the DVD room of the maximum security Camp 5 detention center in March 2010.

U.S. Marines join in martial arts training at the U.S. naval base in September 2010.

Members of the military walk the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

Guards move a detainee from his cell in Cell Block A of the Camp 6 detention facility in January 2012.

A detainee waits for lunch in September 2010. The cost of building Guantanamo’s high-security detention facilities was reportedly about $54 million.

Marines get an early-morning workout at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A bus carries military guards from their night shift at the detention center in September 2010.

A military guard puts on gloves before moving a detainee within the detention center in September 2010.

Members of the U.S. Navy move down the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

A U.S. military guard holds shackles before preparing to move a detainee in September 2010.

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Photos: Inside Guantanamo Bay

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

CNN Explains: Drones

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/opinion/bergen-nine-myths-drones-gitmo/index.html?eref=edition

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN at 9 p.m. today.

Washington (CNN) — In the past few weeks, we’ve seen a British soldier hacked to death with a meat cleaver on the streets of London and bombers blowing up spectators at the Boston Marathon.

On the surface, terrorism is alive and well.

So how should the United States react to these continuing threats?

For the first time on Thursday, President Obama laid out the full scope of his proposed counterterrorism strategy, and it boiled down to this: George W. Bush’s endless war on terror is over.

And that’s appropriate, since the enemy Bush went to war with after September 11 has largely been defeated.

Obama’s speech at the National Defense University in Washington was designed to lay the political groundwork to wind down America’s longest war, the war that began when al Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center and a wing of the Pentagon 12 years ago.

Thursday’s speech was the first time Obama had delivered an overarching framework for how to conceptualize the conflict that has defined U.S. national security policy since 9/11.

Obama defends secret drone program

King: Obama’s tone was wrong

President Obama interrupted by heckler

CNN Explains: Drones

Other speeches by Obama have focused on aspects of that conflict, such as Guantanamo and the Afghan war. But no speech has made such an expansive examination of the war against al Qaeda and its allies in all its manifestations, from drone strikes to detention policies to a clear-eyed assessment of the scope of the threats posed by al Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as by those “homegrown” extremists who attacked the Boston Marathon in April.

Much of the coverage of the speech has centered on the measures the president outlined to impose greater constraints on CIA drone strikes and to try to hasten the eventual closing of Guantanamo.

But the most significant aspect of the speech was the president’s case that the “perpetual wartime footing” and “boundless war on terror” that has permeated so much of American life since 9/11 should come to an end.

Obama argued that the time has come to redefine the kind of conflict that the United States is engaged in: “We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us.”

This is why the president focused part of his speech on a discussion of the seemingly arcane Authorization for the Use of Military Force that Congress passed days after 9/11 and that gave Bush the authority to go to war in Afghanistan against al Qaeda and its Taliban allies.

Few, if any, in Congress who voted for the authorization understood at the time that they were voting for a virtual blank check that has provided the legal basis for more than a decade of war. It is a war that has expanded in recent years to other countries in the Middle East and Africa, such as Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has engaged in covert military operations against al Qaeda-affiliated groups.

Theoretically, when U.S. combat troops finally withdraw from Afghanistan in December 2014, the authorization should simply expire, and the nation will no longer be at war. After all, once combat operations are over in Afghanistan, why would you want to keep in place an authorization for a permanent war?

However, there are now some in Congress who would like to expand the scope of the Authorization for the Use of Military Force beyond its present parameters to include military operations against terrorist groups that were not involved in the 9/11 attacks, which could prolong America’s wars indefinitely and add additional terrorist groups to the United States’ list of enemies it is at war with.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, ranking member of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for instance, last month called for an expansion of the scope of the authorization.

Obama made it quite clear in his Thursday speech that he would oppose such an expansion, saying he hopes instead to “ultimately repeal the AUMF’s mandate. And I will not sign laws designed to expand this mandate further.”

In short, Obama intends to end a seemingly endless war.

That’s because, according to Obama, “the core of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on the path to defeat. Their remaining operatives spend more time thinking about their own safety than plotting against us.”

On Thursday, Obama asserted (in my view, correctly) that what remains of the terrorist threat, while significant and persistent, is nothing on the scale of the al Qaeda organization that launched the 9/11 operation and instead consists of “less capable al Qaeda affiliates, threats to diplomatic facilities and businesses abroad, homegrown extremists.”

These threats, the president further asserted, can be managed by carefully targeted drone strikes overseas and efforts to counter extremist ideology at home and do not require some kind of broader war.

Obama is also looking to his legacy and the presidents who will follow him and is trying to begin to create the public consensus and legal framework that will help to ensure that the United States isn’t “drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight, or continue to grant presidents unbound powers more suited for traditional armed conflicts between nation states.”

Obama clearly hopes to leave office in 2016 as the commander in chief who finally ended America’s longest war.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/opinion/bergen-end-of-terror-war/index.html?eref=edition

(CNN) — A personal envoy to North Korea’s leader indicated Kim Jung Un was open to restarting nuclear disarmament talks, a move that came as China’s leader delivered a blunt message to Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table, Chinese state-run media reported Friday.

Kim’s personal envoy, who was on a three-day visit to China, hand-delivered a letter from Kim to President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing before returning to North Korea on Friday, according to state media.

While the contents of the letter were not released by the government, the envoy — Choe Ryong-hae — told Chinese officials that his country is willing to “take positive actions to solve problems through dialogue, ” the state-run China Daily reported.

Choe did not offer any details on when or how it would jumpstart the so-called six-party talks. The talks, which include the United States and China, fell apart in 2008 when Pyongyang pulled out over disagreements over proposed nuclear inspections.

Most observers agree that Pyongyang is unlikely to return to talks where there are pre-conditions that it rid itself of nuclear weapons. North Korea is believed to have a limited nuclear ballistic missile capability, but with a low reliability.

Choe said Kim’s goal with sending the letter is to “improve, consolidate and develop” relations between North Korea and China, state news agency Xinhua reported.

During the meeting, Xi told Choe that North Korea needed to “stick to solving problems through dialogue and consultation,” according to China Daily and CCTV.

Xi’s demand comes just two weeks before he is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in California.

In another meeting, Chinese Gen. Fan Changlong told Choe that recent tensions have “jeopardized the peace and stability of the peninsula,” Xinhua reported.

Tensions between Pyongyang, Beijing and Washington spiked this year amid a flurry of fiery North Korean threats against the United States and South Korea.

The angry rhetoric appeared to be fueled by tougher U.N. sanctions against the North after it carried out its third underground nuclear test in February, as well as by annual military drills in the region by the United States and South Korea.

The intensity of the North’s rhetoric appears to have subsided in recent weeks, and the U.S.-South Korean drills finished at the end of April.

This month, North Korea test-fired rockets after criticizing the presence of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at a South Korean port and its reported participation in joint naval drills.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/24/world/asia/china-north-korea-nuclear/index.html?eref=edition

Editor’s note: Geoff Hiscock is a former Asia business editor for CNN.com and is the author of “Earth Wars: The Battle for Global Resources,” published by Wiley.

(CNN) — The decision to grant permanent observer status to China and five other nations by the Arctic Council meeting in Sweden Wednesday reflects the heightened interest by some of the world’s most powerful economies in an area rich in oil, gas, minerals, fish and new transport possibilities.

For new observer nations China, Japan and South Korea, shorter shipping routes to Europe through Arctic waters could open up prospects of new energy supply options later this decade, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Yamal Peninsula in northwest Siberia.

It could also lessen China’s dependence on oil and gas shipped from the Middle East, which must pass through the Southeast Asian chokepoint of the Strait of Malacca. Allied to China’s interest of getting oil and gas delivered from new pipelines across Myanmar and Central Asia, the potential of the Arctic trade routes loom large in China’s strategic thinking.

Five years ago, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) described the vast Arctic continental shelf as potentially the “largest unexplored prospective area for petroleum remaining on Earth.” A new U.S. Arctic policy unveiled by the Obama administration last week cites that 2008 study, which estimated that about 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered gas lies north of the Arctic Circle.

Glaciers melting around the world

Shell weighs risks in Arctic drilling

In a 2012 update, the USGS put the mean undiscovered estimate of recoverable oil in Russia’s Arctic provinces alone at 28 billion barrels, plus about 27 trillion cubic meters of gas.

China is keen to be more than just a customer for this Russian oil and gas. In February, the heads of China’s three state-controlled oil and gas majors — China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) — met one of Russia’s most influential players in the energy sector, Igor Sechin, chief executive of state-owned oil company Rosneft. The following month, Rosneft struck a deal with CNPC, giving it access to Arctic resources.

The Arctic Council, made up of the United States, Russia, Canada and the five Nordic nations — Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland — was set up in 1996 to coordinate policy in a resource-rich but environmentally sensitive part of the world. Before Wednesday’s decision there were already six observer states: the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands.

Now the permanent observers are being joined by China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore and Italy, meaning that all of the key Asian economies now have a seat at the Arctic table, even though they will not have a vote on the Arctic Council. The European Union, the other major body seeking observer status, had its application affirmed but “deferred,” a rebuff that is likely related to an unresolved dispute with Canada over the fur seal trade.

Both China and India already have polar research stations in the northern part of Norway, as do most of the other observer nations.

The Arctic’s importance has gained extra strategic and economic significance as melting ice in the polar region strengthens the feasibility of nations to use the Northern Sea Route (NSR) across the top of Russia and the Northwest Passage through Canada’s Arctic archipelago. Canada claims the passage, which links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, runs through its internal waterways. The U.S. and other countries contest this, maintaining it is an international strait.

For China, the main transportation focus is the NSR, which runs along the northern coastline of Siberia from Novaya Zemlya to the Bering Strait. It is open only for about five months of the year, from late June to November or early December, and requires icebreakers to cut a path through the Arctic ice for specially strengthened oil and gas carriers.

But the route cuts as much as three weeks from shipping times between Europe and Asia. For example, Murmansk to China’s Ningbo port near Shanghai is 13,000 km via the NSR, compared with 22,000 km via the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Indian Ocean and Strait of Malacca.

In August to September last year, China sent its one and only icebreaker Xue Long (Snow Dragon) on a successful two-way test run of the NSR. It plans to add a second icebreaker to its fleet in 2014-15.

Over the past two sailing seasons, Russian oil and gas companies have tested the route for gas condensate and LNG shipments. In June 2011, Novatek, Russia’s biggest non-state gas company, sent 60,000 tons of gas condensate from Murmansk to the Chinese port of Ningbo aboard the MV Perseverance on a three-week voyage. At the end of 2012, Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom sent a 66,000-tonne cargo of LNG from Statoil’s Hammerfest terminal in Norway to the Japanese port of Tobata between November 7 and December 5. The route was cleared by three Russian icebreakers.

For now, the NSR is still very much in a test phase. According to the Centre for High North Logistics, an Arctic-focused information center based in Kirkenes, Norway, 46 vessels used the NSR in 2012, carrying about 1.26 million tons of cargo. That was an increase of more than 50% from 2011.

China envisages exporting consumer goods aboard container ships to Europe and receiving LNG cargoes via the NSR. Novatek, for example, is building a new port at Sabetta on the Yamal peninsula to service the LNG trade to Asia, with expectations of first gas in 2016 and exports of 15 million tons a year by 2018.

The NSR’s shortcomings are considerable: a short sailing season, the cost of hiring icebreakers, the operational hazards of extreme northern waters and the environmental risks of oil spills, collisions or sinkings. Even so, this Arctic shipping route is likely to be the focus of intense interest by China over the next decade.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/16/business/china-arctic/index.html?eref=edition

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MAY 24 – LONDON, ENGLAND: On May 23, 2013, a police officer stands in a hail storm close to a crime scene where a soldier from Wellington Barracks was killed in Woolwich on May 22. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the “appalling” attack appeared to be terrorism related. He added that “nothing in Islam … justifies this truly dreadful act.”

MAY 23 – NEW DELHI, INDIA: A boy minds his family’s containers as people fill theirs with water. High temperatures are causing a strain on water supplies in Delhi, with many residents having to rely on water being brought in by trucks on a daily basis.

May 22 – VALPARAISO, CHILE: Demonstrators are dispersed by police water cannons during clashes in Valparaiso. Students in Chile have been demanding a fairer education system which would allow those from poorer backgrounds access to the best schools.

MAY 21 – MOORE, OKLAHOMA : Debris covers the ground after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20. It tore through a highly populated area, wiping out entire neighborhoods, schools and other buildings.

MAY 20 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Young South Koreans participate in a traditional Confucian coming-of-age ceremony in Seoul. The ceremony celebrates young people who have turned, or are going to turn, 20 this year and is meant to increase their awareness about the responsibilities of adulthood.

MAY 17 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Name cards with wishes of Buddhist followers are attached to lotus lanterns during a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of Buddha at Jogye temple. Buddhism is one of South Korea’s largest and most active religions with millions of followers. Although the exact date is unknown, Buddha’s official birthday is celebrated according to the lunisolar calendar, on the eighth day of the fourth month.

MAY 15 – NEW YORK, U.S.: The new “Rain Room” installation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City creates a field of falling water that stops in the area where people walk through, allowing them to remain dry. The piece releases a 260-gallon of water per minute.

MAY 14 – POPOCATEPETL, MEXICO: Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano has been rumbling with explosions and expulsions of ash and gas, prompting authorities to bar people from getting close to a crater that is within sight of Mexico City and many of its 19 million residents.

MAY 13 – WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron meet in the White House to foster the “special relationship” between their countries. Despite talk of Britain considering an EU exit, the bonds between U.S. and UK remain strong.

MAY 11 – CAIRO, EGYPT: A supporter of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak holds his portrait outside the Egyptian police academy in Cairo, on the first day of the retrial on May 11, 2013. Mubarak is appealing against his conviction for the murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters during the 2011 uprising.

MAY 10 – LAHORE, PAKISTAN: Supporters of former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif stand on a wall overlooking the field where he held the closing rally of his campaign on May 9, 2013. 86 million voters are due to go to the polls on May 11; the election will be the first civilian-to-civilian transition of power in the country’s 66-year history.

MAY 09 – MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russian soldiers march in Red Square during a Victory Day parade. Fighter jets scream overhead and heavy tanks rumble over cobblestones as Russia flexes its military muscle on the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

MAY 08 – LONDON, ENGLAND: Queen Elizabeth II arrives to the State Opening of Parliament in London. The monarch will mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation later this year and despite being 87 years of age, she’s shown no inclination to step down.

MAY 07 – NEW DELHI, INDIA: Om Dubey, 20, shows off his moves as elderly yoga practitioners sit in the courtyard of a mosque. India’s under-30s, comprising 60% of its 1.2 billion population, represent what experts call the “demographic dividend” of young workers that can help power the economy.

MAY 06 – KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor cut a cake to celebrate the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition victory, which has ruled for 56 years. Vote-rigging allegations and violence marred the most hotly contested election in Malaysian history.

MAY 03 – SAVAR, BANGLADESH: A lady believes her missing relative may be trapped in the rubble of an eight-storey garment factory collapse in Savar on April 24. The rising death toll has surpassed 500 and the country’s PM says Western retailers are partly to blame.

MAY 02 – KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan woman takes part in a pro-democracy demonstration condemning the victory of former mujahideen groups that led to the start of Afghanistan’s 1992-1996 civil war. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the conflict.

MAY 01 – JAKARTA, INDONESIA : Protestors around the world took to the streets to mark the May Day. In Jakarta, crowds demanded higher minimum wages and better working conditions.

APRIL 30 – AMSTERDAM: Queen Beatrix abdicates in favor of her son, King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands. Now known as Princess Beatrix, she greets the crowds accompanied by princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane.

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Editor’s note: Each day, CNN brings you an image capturing a moment to remember, defining the present and claiming its place in history. The photographs we select will look ahead to the future and chronicle our changing world.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/defining-moments/index.html?eref=edition