Condi Rice Explains N. Korea

Condi Rice gave Brit Hume a cogent and articulate explanation of why the US is not going to negotiate head to head with N. Korea.

She explained that the Clinton folks had already done that and N. Korea had simply signed agreements, taken money, gave assurances and then continued developing nukes. The reason N. Korea doesn't like the six-member talks is simple---if they run into trouble, they can't just blame the US for breaking its side of the deal. One-on-one talks give the Norks the opportunity to do just that---break the deal and then blame the US.

The Dems are serial failures on foreign policy in this respect. Like an addict, they keep doing the same thing again and again even when it fails to get results. Negotiating with an adversary who continues to demonstrate bad faith and break agreements is placing faith in what Hitler called a "scrap of paper" and what Neville Chamberlain called "peace in our time."

As usual, Jimmy Carter is off demonstrating that he is always wrong, but never in doubt. This specious excuse for a diplomat went to the Norks in '94 and exceeded his negotiating brief. He should have been disavowed by Clinton, but the coward-in-chief as usual took the easy route, signing bogus agreements that meant nothing.

Condi Rice points out very reasonably that under the six-member talks, the Norks had one-on-one sessions with the American rep Chris Hill, and simply didn't negotiate in any way, shape or form.

When a "negotiating partner" has demonstrated again and again that it has no intention of following through its agreements, there is no reason to negotiate.

The Dems are trying to use their own failures with the miniature mini-me midget as a hammer to beat the Bush Administration, which knows that negotiating with nobody is better than negotiating with a partner with no bona fides.