Canada, which may have been a target of North Korea's long-range Taepodong-2 missile, is one of the few countries with diplomatic ties to Korea. In fact, Canada's then Liberal government granted North Korea diplomatic recognition in February 2001.
When North Korea launched seven missiles over a 12-hour period on Tuesday, no one thought of Canada as a potential target. The long-range Taepodong-2 was said to have had the capability of striking the United States. Unsuccessful, it crashed within a minute of launch, according to reports from the U.S. Northern Command.
But according to President George W. Bush, the long-range missile could very well have struck Canada.
"We're trying to make sure by the way that the missile (that North Korean Leader Kim Jung Il) fired wasn't headed for Canada," Bush said. "We don't know for a fact where it was headed." (Romeo St. Martin, PoliticsWatch, July 6, 2006).
Bush made the remarks shortly after his 40-minute meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the White House Oval office, yesterday.
"One thing that Stephen and I talked about is that he could be seemingly firing a missile at the United States–I don't know, this is all speculation–that could be headed to the Northwest of our country and it wouldn't take much for it to get off course and end somewhere where he may not have intended."
Canadians have been kept in the dark about their country's shameful contribution to the North Korea missile crisis.
Canada, has never taken, but needs to take a No-Candu stand.
"Pyongyang netted some $60 million from missile and missile component sales to Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen," a South Korean study says. "Such exports represent the single largest source of revenue for the Kim Jong Il regime."
Canada has played a pivotal role in North Korea's determined role to get nuclear weapons.
"The full story of how the North Koreans have come this far is not yet clear, but no one doubts that Pakistan played a role, trading its nuclear technology for North Korea's missile-making expertise." (asian Pacific Post, Oct. 24, 2002).
"and how did Pakistan attain nuclear macho status?
"Well, you can thank Canada's atomic Energy Corporation Ltd. (aECL)–the crown corporation which has sucked up over C$5 billion in taxpayer dollars making Candu nuclear reactors.
"Pakistan's nuclear research has been under the direction of men like Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudhry abdul Majeed,
"These fellows got their uranium enrichment expertise courtesy of the atomic Energy of Canada, and Sultan Mahmood learned his stuff on a Candu reactor near Karachi.
"Sultan and some 50 leading Pakistani nuclear engineers were also trained in Ontario and New Brunswick.
"If you believe aECL's assertions that the radioactive plutonium that is the raw material for Pakistan's nuclear bombs did not come from the spent fuel of Candu reactors, you are being taken for a magic carpet ride."
and this story, straight from the pages if a spy novel, doesn't end there.
In October 1995, Reid Morden was president of aECL when he helped the Privy Council put together a clandestine Candu contract with what was then and is now North Korea's best friend, China. The same China that only yesterday resisted calls for tough action against North Korea's missile, along with Russia at the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
a second phase of the Candu deal with China was signed in Ottawa during the controversial and much-protested visit of Premier Li Peng (aKa the "Butcher of Beijing"). Li Peng and former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, as well as aECL President Reid Morden, and his counterpart in the China Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), Jiang Xinxiong, signed documents. aECL and the Canadian government have never made clear the precise nature of this second-phase agreement, but Morden stated, "we are now essentially ready to complete work on a commercial contract". (www.ourtrent.com/news/archives/2005/06/trent_board_cha_1.shtml).
If the name Reid Morden sounds familiar to Canadian readers, he's a former director of the Canadian Security & Intelligence Service (CSIS).
Should his name sound familiar to american readers, he's the same Reid Morden who's Executive Director of the Paul Volcker Independent Inquiry Commission into the Oil-for-Food scandal.
Morden, recused himself of any involvement into the Maurice Strong/Tongsun Park relationship Oil-for-Food investigation because of what could be perceived as a possible conflict of interest.
On Oct. 16, 1996 Morden wrote a letter to Strong and Park requesting on behalf of atomic Energy of Canada for "the support of Mr., Park and Mr. Strong for the sale of "Candu 9" nuclear reactors during their upcoming meeting in Korea with Korean leaders.
Political intrigues aside, Canadians should know that North Korea is also infamous in criminal activity, William Triplett says in his book, Rogue Nation that North Korea functions as Kim's "family-run criminal enterprise", with his henchmen (and henchwomen) responsible for terrorist attacks and assassinations, as well as sidelines in narcotics trafficking, counterfeiting and kidnapping.
This is the nation on which Canada bestowed diplomatic recognition in 2001: The North Korea, which launched a long-range missile against North america.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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