June 30, 2008 (Information Clearing House) -- After seven
years of
nonstop
belligerence
and saber
rattling,
the Bush
administration
has given
North Korea
everything
it has
demanded. In
return, the
United States gets
nothing.
The UN's nuclear
watchdog,
the IAEA,
will not get
access to
Kim
Jong-il's
nuclear
stockpile or
its
"Top-Secret"
file on
weapons
programs or
be allowed
to conduct
surprise "go
anywhere,
see
anything"
inspections.
Kim will
continue to
develop his
long-range
ballistic-missile
delivery
system, the
Taepodong 2,
just as he
will
(presumably)
continue to
export
nuclear
weapons
technology
to allies in
the Middle
East and
elsewhere.
The Bush
administration
has made a
very
dangerous
enemy and
the present
agreement
does nothing
to mitigate
that threat.
It merely
sends a
message to
America's
rivals
around the
world that
the United States can
be
blackmailed
if the
stakes are
high enough.
The United
States has
been
humiliated
by a man who
many believe
is an
unstable
megalomaniac
and a
ruthless
tyrant. Was
that the
goal?
There was a
time when
George Bush
would have
nothing to
do with Kim
Jong-il, he
privately
scoffed at
the
reclusive
dictator and
called him
"a pygmy"
behind his
back. He
placed North
Korea on the
State
Department's
list of
state
sponsors of
terrorism,
froze their
foreign bank
accounts,
refused to
honor the
terms of the
Agreed
Framework
(which was
negotiated
by Bill
Clinton) and
threatened
to take
military
action if
Kim did not
comply with
U.S. demands.
What a
difference a
few years
and a few
nuclear
weapons
make. Now
the blustery
bravado and
swaggering
insolence
has changed
to
hand-wringing
and
hyperactive
backroom
diplomacy.
The Bush
team has
suddenly
shifted from
its ritual
chest-thumping
into
damage-control
mode, but
the change
comes too
late.
On Thursday,
Bush
announced
that he
would remove
North Korea
from the
terrorism
list and
lift other
economic
sanctions.
This follows
an earlier
decision to
provide Kim
with massive
quantities
of oil to
meet the
North's
energy
needs; a
fact that is
ignored by
the
establishment
media. On
virtually
every issue,
the sullen
despot in
the
oversized
Foster-Grants
has gotten
whatever
he's asked
for. This
has
infuriated
many of
Bush's
biggest
supporters.
Last week,
former
United
Nations
ambassador
John Bolton
blasted the
agreement
saying:
“I think
it’s
actually a
clear
victory for
North
Korea.”
They've
gained
“enormous
political
legitimacy
by being
taken off
our list of
state
sponsors of
terrorism
and out from
under the
prohibitions
of the
Trading With
the Enemy
Act. ...
It’s a very
sad day for
supporters
of the
president.
It's the
final
collapse of
Bush's
foreign
policy."
Indeed,
North Korea
is second
the biggest
policy
failure of
the Bush
presidency.
(Iraq is
still the
first, by
far) Bush
has staked
his legacy
on his
ability to
"keep the
world's most
dangerous
weapons out
of the hands
of the
world's most
worst
dictators",
but his
mule-headedness
and
incompetence
have only
made matters
worse and
pushed the
world closer
to nuclear
Armageddon.
Now that Kim
has nukes at
his
disposal,
South Korea
and Japan
will be
forced to
escalate to
maintain
military
parity.
Bush's
botched
diplomatic
efforts
signal the
beginning of
another
nuclear arms
race. At the
very least,
it is the
end of the
NPT.
A
nuclear-armed
North Korea
also creates
bigger
challenges
for the United States
in the
Middle East.
The Wall
Street
Journal
summed it up
like this in
an editorial Friday:
"Most
troubling is
the message
all of this
sends to
Iran, or
other rogue
states. The
lesson is
that when
you build a
weapon, your
political
leverage
increases.
Play enough
brinkmanship,
and you can
even receive
diplomatic
absolution
without
admitting to
having the
kind of
nuclear
device you
exploded
less than
two years
earlier. We
understand
that
diplomacy
often
includes
winks and
nods, but it
shouldn't
require
denial."
(Wall Street
Journal,
"Leap of
Faith")
There's no
doubt that
Tehran is
watching
Bush's
backpedaling
with great
amusement or
that the
Mullahs have
figured out
that the
only way to
stop the
relentless
hectoring of
the United States is by
building a
nuclear
weapon. The
only
difference
between
North Korea
and the
last-remaining
member of
the "axis of
evil" (Iran)
is five or
six 15
megaton
nuclear
warheads. If
that's what
it takes to
gain the
respect of
the
"international
community";
so be it.
The western
media has
described
Bush's
capitulation
as "a
triumph"
because Kim
blew up the
already "out
of
commission"
cooling
tower at
Yongbyon.
Big deal.
The
celebratory
photos can
be found in
any of
America's
leading
newspapers.
But North
Korea did
not develop
its nuclear
weapons at
the
plutonium
plant, but
in a
parallel,
underground
program
which made
bomb fuel
from
enriched
uranium. No
one denies
this. The
demolition
of the tower
was
meaningless
public
relations
photo-op to
confuse the
American
people and
help Bush
save face.
The people
who follow
developments
with North
Korea know
the truth,
that the
Bush
administration
has once
again
dragged the
United States through
the mud.
The harshest
critics of
the new deal
have been
Bush's
far-right
supporters,
like Claudia
Rosett, of
"The Rosett
Report" (a
favorite at
the Weekly
Standard and
the American
Enterprise
Institute)
Here's what
she says:
"The lesson
to date is
that
America,
faced with
nuclear
blackmail,
will bow
down,
dignify and
fortify
tyrants,
fork over
loot, and
celebrate
the process
as a victory
for
diplomacy.
Were North
Korea to
detonate a
nuclear bomb
over Los
Angeles
tomorrow, I
start to
wonder if
Condi Rice
and Chris
Hill, would
describe the
cataclysm as
"troubling"
and then
re-cast it
as a candid
and
informative
addendum to
North
Korea's
promised
declaration
of its
nuclear
program."
Rosett is
right. The
message to
foreign
leaders is
clear; the
only way to
change minds
in
Washington
is by
putting a
loaded gun
to their
heads.
Countries
without WMD
simply have
no
bargaining
power.
That's the
real lesson
here and
other
countries
are bound to
draw the
same
conclusion.
In 2002,
Dick Cheney
made his
famous
statement,
“We don’t
negotiate
with evil;
we defeat
it.”
Baloney.
Immediately
after the
North
detonated a
nuclear bomb
in 2006,
Bush
administration
officials
met in a
face-to-face
meeting in
Berlin. The
meeting was
kept secret
to conceal
the
administration’s
willingness
to meet
one-on-one
with their
North Korean
counterparts.
Up until
then, the
arrogant
Bushies had
refused to
negotiate in
person;
choosing
instead to
hide behind
the 6 party
talks. Kim’s
nuclear
experiment
changed all
that and
brought
about a
sudden
reversal in
the
administration’s
approach.
“According
to Japan’s
Asashi
newspaper,
the two
sides signed
a memorandum
of
understanding
under which
North Korea
would make
steps
towards
denuclearization
at the same
time as the
United States resumed
annual
shipments of
500,000
tonnes of
oil, which
were halted
in 2002.”
(UK
Guardian)
Bush was
only too
happy to
oblige.
So much for
Cheney's "We
don’t
negotiate
with evil."
In fact, we
don't
negotiate;
we cave in
and give
away the
farm.
Other parts
of Clinton’s
“Agreed
Framework”
are still
being
hammered
out, but one
thing is
certain, Kim
is not going
to back-down
on the one
thing he
wants more
than
anything
else;
written
assurances
that the
United
States will
not
preemptively
attack North
Korea. The
Bush
administration
has resisted
providing
“security
guarantees”
in the form
of treaties
because they
conflict
with the
so-called
Bush
Doctrine
which
asserts that
the United States can
attack
whoever it
chooses to
protect its
own vital
interests.
That
doctrine is
about to
meet its
greatest
challenge; a
loony
autocrat
with a
fistful of
nukes. Kim
would be
crazy to
accept
anything
less than a
signed
treaty, and
he will
probably get
it, because
no one in
Washington
wants to see
the Korean
Peninsula
transformed
into a
WMD-production
factory.
That's the
nightmare
scenario
that
everyone
wants to
avoid.
The crisis
with North
Korea could
have been
avoided with
skillful
diplomacy
and a
willingness
to
compromise
on the
central
issues. Now
Bush has
backed
himself into
a corner and
will have to
grovel his
way out.
That means
he'll have
to engage in
two-party
negotiations
and work out
a deal at
the
bargaining
table. Good
luck.
Presently,
Kim Jong-il
has a
stockpile of
six to 10
nuclear
warheads.
With a few
finishing
touches to
his
Taepodong
ICBM-system,
he'll be
able to wipe
out the nine
western
states with
a flip of
the switch.
Bush's
bungling has
put half the
country in
the
crosshairs
of a man
whose sanity
has always
been in
doubt.
You're doin'
a heckuva
job,
Georgie!