North Korea No Longer On Axis Of Evil?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Terrorism, The War On Terrorism, The WorldCould this be a sign that our policy of engaging in carrot and stick diplomacy actually worked?
During the day today, I spoke with officials from the State Department, the CIA, the Department of Defense, President Bush’s staff, and the Office of the Vice President — and several sources from these departments confirmed that the administration was moving forward on formally asking Congress to remove North Korea from the controversial watch list — which is seen as a key confidence building step by North Korea and China in moving towards North Korea’s eventual return to the nuclear non-proliferation club.
Frankly, I’m stunned that they’d actually do this because, while all situations are different, it still puts Bush’s policy toward Iran under even further scrutiny. True, North Korea isn’t run by Islamic fundamentalists, but they’ve done plenty of sabre rattling in their day, and yet we were able to come to an agreement with them by doing this thing called…talking.
So if this is true, give another gold star to the more diplomatically minded folk within the administration, and give yet another demerit to the neo-cons. Yes, I’m talking to you John Bolton.
More as it develops…
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June 26th, 2008 at 7:10 am
The agreement came because of brutal sanctions that had been crippling the country for years, forcing them into abject isolation. They promised to dismantle the nuclear facility that produces the weoponized material, scrap their ballistic missiles and existing nuclear warheads, and allow for a 45-day inspection period with complete access by members of the 6 party coalition.
In other words, they were constantly being hit on the head with a hammer and simply gave up what they were doing to make it stop. Taking them off the Axis of Evil appears not to have been an offer of good will without preconditions. We’ll see if it lasts, or if Kim plays a Saddam Hussein move and kicks everyone out again.
Also, I’d like to see what the Bush administration has to say about that reactor in Syria that was recently blown up – along with some North Korean engineers inside, or what John Kerry has to say about the involvement of China and Japan in these negotiations, which he opposed in 2004.
Now, if only Russia China and Europe could get together to isolate and cripple Iran in this way, we’d be getting somewhere, but alas Iran has precious natural resources that those nations covet.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:22 am
[...] As hinted at yesterday, it’s happening and this decision will no doubt have far reaching consequences… The announcement came after North Korea handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear work to Chinese officials on Thursday, fulfilling a key step in the denuclearization process. [...]