North Korea

The Bush Administration's unwavering refusal to negotiate with tyrannies seems to have flipped or perhaps it flopped.

The regional powers in east Asia have long since called for American involvement in bi-lateral discussions to bring an end to Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. In December of 2003 Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly told the president's senior national security advisers late last year, "I have been charged by the President with making sure that none of the tyrannies in the world are negotiated with. We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it."

Now as the election draws nearer, it appears there has been a change of heart at the White House,

June 22, 2004, "President Bush has authorized a team of American negotiators to offer North Korea, in talks in Beijing on Thursday, a new but highly conditional set of incentives to give up its nuclear weapons programs...The proposal would be the first significant, detailed overture to North Korea since Mr. Bush took office three years ago...

Under the plan, outlined by American officials on Tuesday evening, in response to pressure from China and American allies in Asia, the aid would begin flowing immediately after a commitment by Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, to dismantle his plutonium and uranium weapons programs. In return, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea would immediately begin sending tens of thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil every month, and Washington would offer a "provisional'' guarantee not to invade the country or seek to topple Mr. Kim's government.

It would also begin direct talks about lifting a broad array of American economic sanctions that have been in place against North Korea for more than half a century, and providing longer-term energy aid and retraining of nuclear scientists..."

The fact of the matter is, this is the right thing to do. I fully support Mr. Bush in this endeavor, unfortunately it took him three years to overcome American hubris and do it. Why is it a big deal that it took three year for President Bush to do what the world community pleaded with him to do years ago, because...

"in the past year, the country has probably fabricated enough plutonium fuel to make six or seven new nuclear weapons, and there is still unconfirmed evidence, gathered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, that the North may have shipped raw uranium to Libya for its bomb project...”

To summarize, Bush sat on this for three years, and is now finally realizing that he needs to give concessions to the North Koreans if he wants to see results. It' a shame we didn't try this before they built the seven new nukes....

We were busy getting rid of all of Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction, it's a good thing too.....