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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Responding to mounting criticism from
the left, President Bush reassured the American public that
any potential war with North Korea "is not about rice."
While the Bush Administration continues to condemn Pyongyang
for reactivating its nuclear reactors, expelling U.N. inspectors,
and pulling out of a 1994 global nonproliferation treaty,
there's no active interest in asserting control over North
Korea's rice industry.
"North Korea threatens the very fabric of our American
values," a defiant President Bush told reporters Tuesday.
"To imply that any military action on the Korean Peninsula
is solely to protect our foreign rice interests is ludicrous."
Bush's comments came after hundreds of demonstrators in hemp
shirts rallied outside the White House chanting their new
battle cry: "Bush-Bush-He's A Phony! We Won't Die for
Rice-A-Roni"
North Korea's nuclear ambitions have sparked fears in Washington
that dictator Kim Jong II could use his military clout to
intimidate the Asian theatre and ultimately threaten the United
State's rice-producing allies. Coupled with public concerns
about the price fluctuations in the rice market, a war could
take on a double meaning.
"I am not sending my husband off to die because Americans
want to make Oriental-style dinners or pay a few cents less
on Uncle Ben's Mix Bowls, however delicious and convenient
they may be," Nancy Carrol of nearby Arlington said.
"I'm here to say that a potential war in North Korea
is about other stuff —like the fact that they hate our
freedom. I just know it's not about rice, okay!"
Bush also took the opportunity to push forward his proposal
to create large rice-farming areas in the Alaskan wilderness,
a move criticized by environmentalists and questioned by farmers
who concluded that rice paddies can't flourish under 12 feet
of ice.
"Our reliance on foreign rice must be reduced, and my
plan will help accomplish that goal," Bush said. "Besides
we'd just be hungry again in an hour."
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