Press Still Trying to Cover for Clinton's Folly

Bush Faults Clinton Policy, But the Debate is Complex

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 12, 2006; Page A23

President Bush asserted yesterday that the administration's strategy on North Korea is superior to the one pursued by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, because Clinton reached a bilateral agreement that failed, while the current administration is trying to end North Korea's nuclear programs through multi-nation talks.

"In order to solve this diplomatically, the United States and our partners must have a strong diplomatic hand," Bush said at a news conference. "And you have a better diplomatic hand with others, sending the message, than you do when you're alone."

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put it on Tuesday: "The United States tried direct dialogue with the North Koreans in the '90s, and that resulted in the North Koreans signing onto agreements that they then didn't keep."

But the reality is more complicated, according to former and current U.S. officials and a review of the diplomatic history.

Nice try Kessler, but the talks between North Korea and the Clinton administration were two-party talks. The only parties that count are those sitting at the table. All negotiations made between nations involve consultation with allies of both parties, but it is the faces at the table that matter.

Robert L. Gallucci has no credibility. He's just covering his own tail. Besides, he's a Georgetown University Dean, that's supposed to impress me? An Ivory Towered Liberal remains an Ivory Towered Liberal regardless of the title he holds. Face it Gallucci, you blew it big time.

Clinton and Madeleine Albright gave away the farm for a bunch of empty promises from a government that should never have been trusted to hold to an agreement. I guess I have to keep repeating the fact that the enemies of freedom never negotiate in good faith. They view any form of compromise as a sign of weakness. This is a lessen the Democrats should have learned prior to World War II with Neville Chamberlain's "Peace for our time" statement just prior to the German invasion of Poland.

You can't give an inch to a dictator because he will always see it as weakness.

Full Story: Nukes in North Korea: The Real Clinton Legacy

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