U.S. Allows North Korea To Sell Weapons to Ethiopia, in Violation of Sanctions

Technorati Tags: North Korea, Ethiopia, illegal arms sales

Could anything sum up the cynicism and hypocrisy of Bush administration foreign policy better than this?

Three months after the United States successfully pressed the United Nations to impose strict sanctions on North Korea because of the country’s nuclear test, Bush administration officials allowed Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from the North, in what appears to be a violation of the restrictions, according to senior American officials.

The United States allowed the arms delivery to go through in January in part because Ethiopia was in the midst of a military offensive against Islamic militias inside Somalia, a campaign that aided the American policy of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa.

Cross-posted at Shakesville.