The Marmot’s Hole

Paul H.

The Wed 31 Oct (US time) US edition WSJ editorial page has an article by John Bolton, decrying his perception of an imminent Bush administration/US State Department “meltdown” in ongoing negotiations with North Korea.

It’s not on the open access WSJ site at opinionjournal.com, though sometimes these mid-week editorial page articles willl appear there over the following weekend.

If it does, you-all may find it worthy of a separate post. However, in making his points ref ongoing US negotiations vs a vs North Korea, Bolton clearly implies that whatever was at Yongbyon may be long gone by now (perhaps even moved offshore!) and that any proffered inspection/”closure” of Yongbyon may be simply one more negotiating “scam” by the North.

Herewith a couple of quotes (I’ve got the hard copy in front of me):

1) (Opening paragraph): “Facts about Israel’s Sept 6 raid on a suspected nuclear facility in Syria continue to emerge–albeit still incompletely, especially regarding involvment of the [DPRK]. Important questions remain, such as whether its personnel were present when the attack occurred, and whether they had been working to clone the Yongbyon nuclear facility in the Syrian desert since the NorK commitment in February (the latest in a long series) to give up its nuclear programs.

Seemingly unperturbed, however, the Bush administration apparently believes North Korea is serious this time, unlike all the others….”

2) (later in the article): “…before it is too late, Pres Bush has to draw a deep line in the sand on verification. The State Department has yet to say anything publicly about how verification is to be accomplished, especially on the North’s uranium enrichment efforts, giving rise to the suspicion that our negotiators don’t really have a clue what they mean. The idea of North Korea for years engaged in cloning Yongbyon in Syria (or anywhere else — Burma, for instance) should be a fire bell in the night….”

Paul H.

Yes, Bolton’s scalp is one of the few trophies Congressional Democrats have been able to hang on their lodgepole, so I expected that there would be at least one derivative celebratory war dance executed here “on cue” — once I mentioned his name.

As a result, even those who agree with him feel an obligation to glance around furtively when he comes to the front door, and then brusquely direct him to the servants’ entrance in the rear for his handout sandwich. If only they’d scraped off that obnoxious mustache along with his scalp!

You’re nevertheless quite right about his consistency. Here’s another quote from his article:

“…Fourth, and most importantly, the right response to the NorK threat is to apply pressure steadily and consistently, rather than hastily releasing it. AFter its nuclear test, Pyongyang faced growing pressure from the cumulative effect of Chinese anger, UN Security Council sanctions, ongoing implementation of the Proliferations Security Initiative (PSI), and the US Treasury’s continuing financial squeeze.

There was a plan, of sorts, and it was producing some evidence of success. Instead of squeezing harder, such as by encouraging refugee flows out of the North, the administration did a U-turn. It let a desperate North Korea up off the mat, provided tangible economic support for this appallingly authoritarian regime, allwed KJI to relegitimize himself, and undercut the PSI worldwide…”

Yes, I know — the real “appalling authoritarian” is Bolton. Thanks for the warning; you’re right, what the NorK’s really need from the US is more sympathy and understanding like what’s being extended from their long-lost fraternal brothers in the South — not more “mean-spirited” neocon harshness.

Paul H.

For what? Why, for refusing to view the North through rose-colored glasses, and for refusing to go along with the modern belief that “image” is reality.