NATION/WORLD
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
N. Korean
diplomat says
Trump tweet
declared war
UNITED
NATIONS
(AP) — North Korea’s top
diplomat said Monday that
a weekend tweet by U.S.
President Donald Trump
was a “declaration of war”
and North Korea has the
right to retaliate by shooting
down U.S. bombers, even in
international airspace.
It was the latest escalation
in a week of undiplomatic
exchanges between North
Korea and the U.S. during
the U.N. General Assembly’s
annual ministerial meeting.
Foreign Minister Ri
Yong Ho told reporters that
the United Nations and the
international
community
have said in recent days that
they didn’t want “the war
of words” to turn into “real
action.”
But he said that by
tweeting that North Korea’s
leadership led by Kim Jong
Un “won’t be around much
longer,” Trump “declared the
war on our country.”
Under the U.N. Charter,
Ri said, North Korea has
the right to self-defense
and “every right” to take
countermeasures, “including
the right to shoot down
the United States strategic
bombers even when they’re
not yet inside the airspace
border of our country.”
Hours later, the White
House pushed back on
Ri’s claim, saying: “We
have not declared war on
North Korea.” The Trump
administration,
referring
to the tweet, stressed that
the U.S. is not seeking to
overthrow North Korea’s
government.
U.S. Cabinet officials,
particularly Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson, have
insisted that the U.S.-led
campaign of diplomatic
and economic pressure on
North Korea is focused
on eliminating the pariah
state’s nuclear weapons
program, not its totalitarian
government.
But the more Trump
muddies the picture, the
tougher it may become to
maintain cooperation with
China and Russia, which
seek a diplomatic solution
to the nuclear crisis and not
a new U.S. ally suddenly
popping up on their borders.
It also risks snuffing
out hopes of persuading
Kim’s
government
to
enter negotiations when its
survival isn’t assured.
Trump tweeted Saturday:
“Just heard Foreign Minister
of North Korea speak at
U.N. If he echoes thoughts
of Little Rocket Man, they
won’t be around much
longer!” Trump also used
the derisive “Rocket Man”
reference to Kim in his
speech to the U.N. General
Assembly on Sept. 19, but
this time he added the word
“little.”
This was not the first time
North Korea has spoken
about a declaration of war
between the two countries. In
July 2016, Pyongyang said
U.S. sanctions imposed on
Kim were “a declaration of
war” against the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea
— the country’s official
name — and it made a
similar statement after a
new round of U.N. sanctions
in December. The North
Korean leader used the
words again Friday.
The foreign minister’s
brief statement to a throng
of reporters outside his
hotel before heading off in
a motorcade, reportedly to
return home, built on the
escalating rhetoric between
Kim and Trump.
“The United States has
great strength and patience,
but if it is forced to defend
itself or its allies, we will
have no choice but to totally
destroy North Korea,”
Trump told world leaders
Sept. 19. “Rocket Man is on
a suicide mission for himself
and for his regime.”
Kim responded with the
first-ever direct statement
from a North Korean leader
against a U.S. president,
lobbing a string of insults at
Trump.
“I will surely and
definitely tame the mentally
deranged U.S. dotard with
fire,” he said, choosing the
rarely used word “dotard,”
which means an old person
who is weak-minded.
East Oregonian
Page 7A
Feds rush aid to Puerto Rico
while Trump tweets about debt
By MICHAEL BIESECKER
and ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
U.S. ramped up its response
Monday to the humanitarian
crisis in Puerto Rico, even
as President Donald Trump
brought up the island’s
struggles before Hurricane
Maria struck — including
“billions of dollars” in debt
to “Wall Street and the banks
which, sadly, must be dealt
with.”
The Trump adminis-
tration has tried to blunt
criticism that its response to
Hurricane Maria has fallen
short of its efforts in Texas
and Florida after the recent
hurricanes there.
Five days after the
Category 4 storm slammed
into Puerto Rico, many of
the more than 3.4 million
U.S. citizens in the territory
were still without adequate
food, water and fuel.
Flights off the island were
infrequent, communications
were spotty and roads were
clogged with debris. Offi-
cials said electrical power
may not be fully restored for
more than a month.
Trump himself pointed
out
some
differences
between the two states and
the island in a series of
tweets Monday night.
“Texas & Florida are
doing great but Puerto Rico,
which was already suffering
from broken infrastructure
& massive debt, is in deep
trouble.”
Trump also noted that the
island’s electrical grid was
already “in terrible shape.”
Still, he promised, “Food,
water and medical are top
priorities - and doing well.”
In Washington, officials
said no armada of U.S.
Navy ships was headed to
the island because supplies
could be carried in more
efficiently by plane. The
Trump administration ruled
out temporarily setting
aside federal restrictions on
foreign ships’ transportation
of cargo, saying it wasn’t
needed. The government had
waived those rules in Florida
and Texas until last week.
Though the adminis-
tration said the focus on
aid was strong, when two
Cabinet secretaries spoke
at a conference on another
subject — including Energy
Secretary Rick Perry, whose
AP Photo/Carlos Giusti
La Perla resident Maritza Rosado stands inside her roofless home after Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, Monday. The island territory of more than 3 million U.S. citizens is reeling in the devastating wake of
Hurricane Maria.
AP Photo/Carlos Giusti
National Guard Soldiers arrive at Barrio Obrero in Santurce on Saturday to dis-
tribute water and food among those affected by the passage of Hurricane Maria,
in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
agency is helping restore the
island’s power — neither
made any mention of Puerto
Rico or Hurricane Maria.
Democratic lawmakers
with large Puerto Rican
constituencies back on the
mainland characterized the
response so far as too little
and too slow. The confirmed
toll from Maria jumped to at
least 49 on Monday, including
16 dead in Puerto Rico.
“Puerto
Ricans
are
Americans,” said Rep.
Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y.,
who traveled to Puerto Rico
over the weekend to assess
the damage. “We cannot and
will not turn our backs on
them.”
Trump himself was
expected at the end of last
week to visit Puerto Rico
Church shooting suspect charged with murder
NASHVILLE,
Tenn.
(AP) — The pastor shouted
“Run, run, gunshots!” and
congregants hid under pews
or in bathrooms as a masked
man armed with two guns
opened fire at a Tennessee
church, killing one person
and wounding six before
being subdued.
Burnette Chapel Church
of Christ member Minerva
Rosa said members were
talking about the success of
their yard sale the previous
day when they heard
gunshots Sunday outside
the building in a Nashville
neighborhood. The church
pastor, David Spann, 60,
then shouted for everyone to
run, according to a witness.
The gunman, Emanuel
Kidega Samson, 25, entered
the church from the back
after fatally shooting a
woman outside, police said.
He then walked through the
church silently, shooting
six more people before an
usher subdued him, police
said. Police later recovered
another pistol and a shotgun
from the suspect’s vehicle.
Rosa said the reading
that day had been from
Luke, Chapter 8, and she
recalled the part about a
woman who touched Jesus
and was cured of bleeding.
By the end of the shooting,
she was on her knees, her
dress stained with blood,
putting pressure on the
gunshot wound in Pastor
Spann’s chest. She and others
got on their phones to call 911.
Robert Engle, 22, tackled
Samson and suffered injuries
when he was pistol whipped.
In the struggle, Samson shot
himself, although it wasn’t
clear if it was on purpose or
an accident. Engle retrieved
his own gun from his car and
held him until police arrived,
police said.
Samson came to the United
States from Sudan in 1996 and
is a legal U.S. resident.
and the U.S. Virgin Islands,
after they had been ravaged
by Hurricane Irma. But the
trip was delayed after Maria
set its sights on the islands.
The head of the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency, Brock Long, and
White House homeland
security
adviser
Tom
Bossert landed in San Juan
on Monday, appearing with
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo
Rossello at a brief news
briefing. Though Rossello
had urgently called for more
emergency assistance over
the weekend, he expressed
his gratitude for the help so
far.
The governor said the
presence of Long and
Bossert was “a clear indica-
tion that the administration
is committed with Puerto
Rico’s recovery process.”
Long said, “We’ve got a
lot of work to do. We realize
that.”
Perry
and
Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke made
no mention of Puerto Rico
or the hurricane during a
joint appearance before
the National Petroleum
Council, a business-friendly
federal advisory committee.
News reporters were not
allowed to ask questions.
Perry had traveled with
Trump to Texas and Florida
following
hurricanes
Harvey and Irma.
Energy
Department
crews are working in Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands,
coordinating
with
the
Puerto Rico Electric Power
Authority, FEMA and a team
from the New York Power
Authority, among others.
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