U.S. intensifies containment

Pyongyang

The U.S. put 24 bombers on high alert this week, preparing to deploy them to Guam as a deterrent to North Korean aggression. Pentagon officials said the move should signal North Korea that the U.S. will not ignore events in the Pacific even if it goes to war against Iraq. But Pyongyang, which threw International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors out of its nuclear plants in December and is suspected of building nuclear weapons, remained defiant. “In an attempt to crush us to death, the U.S. military is scheming to beef up forces in Japan and South Korea,” North Korea’s Central Radio reported. “This is a policy of aggression and a policy of war.”

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