By Kim Chan Il

Pyongyang -- The imperialists" undisguised strong-arm policy is now a matter of grave concern of the international community.

In the past the imperialists, while putting forward such logic as the "iron curtain", viciously manoeuvred to emasculate and obliterate socialism from the face of the earth.

After World War II the United States set out the strong-arm policy as the basic factor in the state strategy in order to check the Soviet Union and strangle the progressive countries, to say nothing of the socialist countries. In the years of the Cold War the United States had a craze for the arms buildup, annually appropriating hundreds of billions of dollars for military expenditure. It went so far as to threaten the socialist countries by mapping out a space war plan called the "star war".

After the termination of the East-West Cold War the imperialists machinated more and more so as to reign over the world as its only dominator by relying on their military ascendancy, while raving about the "victory of the West".

After the "September 11" incident, the United States, the chieftain of the imperialists, while advocating the "building of the powerful United States", set out the strong-arm policy as the main factor in the state strategy and subordinated everything to it. Clamouring for the extermination of terrorism, the Bush regime embarked on triggering off undisguised wars of aggression. While branding anti-imperialist, independent countries as "dangerous countries" or "terrorism supporting countries", it is carrying on wars of aggression against sovereign states at will on the one hand in defiance of objections from the UN and the world and is dragging the forces trailing after it into these wars of aggression on the other, thus committing such a criminal act as expanding them worldwide. The Iraqi and Afghan wars afford an irrefragable proof of this.

The imperialists are currently advertising as if their strong-arm policy would prove effective, while advocating "victory" in the aggressive "war on terrorism", but they cannot escape their bankruptcy.

This is connected with the fact that their strong-arm policy extremely runs counter to the principle of independence and equality officially recognized in international relations.

Carving out one"s destiny independently as the master of the world is the common aspiration of mankind and putting an end to all manner of domination and subordination and building an impartial world is the demand of the present era.

On the globe there are large and small countries, but there can be neither countries of high position nor countries of low position. The time is already past when the imperialists were able to hold sway over the destiny of mankind and the settlement of international issues, while acting in a high-handed manner such as the domination, subordination, threatening and blackmailing of other countries.

In those countries where the imperialists made the pro-US, pro-Western forces hold the seat of power by dint of force in the past progressive forces have now come back to power and are exercising sovereignty.

Many African countries which had lived under the imperialists" domination for hundreds of years declared themselves independent and are now following the road to independent development. In the Latin American region, too, which was regarded as the quiet backyard for the United States in the past, pro-US regimes are being disintegrated and anti-US, independent countries are on the increase in number.

Inevitable is the bankruptcy of the strong-arm policy on account of its own contradiction.

The more the present US Administration follows the road of war in reliance upon the anachronistic strong-arm policy, the deeper it becomes plunged into an uncontrollable political crisis.

Not only the people within the United States but also its allied countries are also declaring themselves against the strong-arm policy of the United States.

A spokesperson of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement and pointed out that the Iraqi issue should be settled not by a military but by a political method.

The failure of the United States in its strong-arm policy is becoming reality in Korea. It has been occupying one half of the Korean territory and has been pursuing the hostile policy toward the Democratic People"s Republic of Korea for more than 60 years.

However, the Korean people have overcome all hardships and trials and are now striving to build a great, prosperous and powerful socialist country. The present developments in Korea prove that the strong-arm policy the United States has been enforcing for several decades is on the brink of bankruptcy.

Source: Korea Today, January 2008 (No 619)