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Officials: U.S. reviews military options amid Korea tensionsBut Bush committed to peaceful resolution, White House says
From Barbara Starr and Suzanne Malveaux
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. military and intelligence officials told CNN on Saturday that the Bush administration has been involved in what one official called "prudent planning" for military options against North Korea. The planning has been going on for several weeks, since the recent increase in tensions with the communist country, the officials said. North Korea has announced it is restarting its nuclear program, frozen under a 1994 agreement, and plans to withdraw from the 1970 nuclear nonproliferation treaty. But the United States "has no intention of invading North Korea," White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said. President Bush "has indicated he wants to find a peaceful resolution to the current situation North Korea has brought upon itself." A State Department spokesman also said Saturday that he was not aware of any discussion about possible plans for military action against North Korea and reiterated the U.S. position: "We have demonstrated through our statements from Secretary [of State Colin] Powell, his spokesman Richard Boucher and our ambassador our intentions. We have no hostile intentions toward North Korea." Still, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that planning included "all sorts of contingencies" when he talked to reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon. "You would expect the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the whole Department of Defense community to be working on all sorts of contingencies for various situations, and you can be assured that's happening," Myers said. When pressed, he added, "We were doing that before North Korea declared that it was not going to be part of the [nuclear] nonproliferation treaty, and we are continuing." Options updated whenever tensions riseSources said the work does not indicate that the United States is planning military action against North Korea, but instead is part of the military planning options that are updated whenever tensions rise anywhere in the world. Absent any increase in tensions in an area, regional war plans are generally updated every two years. The goal of the review is to be prepared to offer options to the president if the North Koreans make an unexpected move that might indicate sudden and rapid progress in their nuclear weapons capability, sources said. The planning is being carried out by U.S. Pacific Command, which oversees regional war planning, and the Strategic Command, which is responsible for a classified non-nuclear targeting program known as Global Strike. The program requires the military to be ready to strike any target, anywhere in the world, within hours of receiving an order. Strategic Command's involvement in the North Korean situation indicates the Pentagon is focusing on developing strike options against a narrow range of nuclear targets, sources said. Special operations choices being examinedOfficials are also discussing the possibility of covert raids by special operations troops aimed at disabling targets rather than destroying them. Many of the potential targets' key parts are imported and would prove difficult for the North Koreans to replace. But sources emphasized that none of the military options against North Korea are considered optimal, and there is a consensus that the North Koreans might retaliate by staging an attack across the Demilitarized Zone. Myers also addressed the recent increase in North Korean patrols in the Demilitarized Zone and the North Koreans' accelerated winter training cycle. "I don't see issues with either of those that would tell me that North Korea is on a different footing today than they were, let's say, 30 days ago," Myers said. "We know this is the most intensive time of training for them. That's always the winter training cycle, where they conduct the majority of their training, their most intensive training."
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