From ‘Axis of Evil’ to Bush’s good graces

[one...two...tree 2,762]

In December 2003, ####### Cheney said the White House would not engage North Korea. "We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it," the VP explained.

And for quite a while, that was the totality of the Bush administration policy towards North Korea. Bush once shouted to Bob Woodward, "I loathe Kim Jong Il!" Soon after, the president mocked the N.K. dictator at a dinner with senators, calling him a "pygmy."

The approach didn't exactly pay dividends, and North Korea's nuclear arsenal grew while Bush and Cheney saber-rattled. Eventually, Bush came to appreciate the Clinton policy; the president began negotiations; and the results are striking. This announcement was hard to predict as recently as a couple of years ago.

President Bush said Thursday he will lift key trade sanctions against North Korea and remove it from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, a remarkable turnaround in policy toward the communist regime he once branded as part of an "axis of evil."

The announcement came after North Korea handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear work to Chinese officials on Thursday, fulfilling a key step in the denuclearization process. Bush said the move was "a step closer in the right direction" although he made clear the United States remains suspicious about the communist regime in Pyongyang. […]

Specifically, Bush said the U.S. would erase trade sanctions under the Trading With the Enemy Act, and notify Congress that, in 45 days, it intends to take North Korea off the State Department list of nations that sponsor terrorism.

Bush repeatedly emphasized this morning that the diplomatic process will continue, explaining, "We will trust you only to the extent you fulfill your promises. I'm pleased with the progress. I'm under no illusions. This is the first step. This isn't the end of the process. It is the beginning of the process." What's more, while U.S. trade sanctions will be lifted, U.N. sanctions will remain in place.

Nevertheless, while the right won't like today's announcement — I expect "appeasement" to be thrown around quite a bit — by coming around, Bush has done the right thing.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

In December 2003, ####### Cheney said the White House would not engage North Korea. "We don't negotiate with evil; we defeat it," the VP explained.

And for quite a while, that was the totality of the Bush administration policy towards North Korea. Bush once shouted to Bob Woodward, "I loathe Kim Jong Il!" Soon after, the president mocked the N.K. dictator at a dinner with senators, calling him a "pygmy."

The approach didn't exactly pay dividends...

Trash talk works when you play baseball.

Anywhere else, not so much.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Bush was right about one thing...he is a pygmy.

[Jack and Barbara 0]

I think this is one case of flip flopping that was for the best

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I think this is one case of flip flopping that was for the best

Agreed. He's finally embraced Bill Clinton's approach...smart move.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

(conservatives may skewer me for this but...)

How about Cuba--against which US has an embargo?

(an embargo rather easy to circumvent by the simple approach of travelling to Canada and brasening the Cuban stuff through the PFI when returning)

[GaryC 7]

It looks like Bush's strategy worked. He wanted them to declare their nuclear arsenal and start giving it up and they did. This isn't a flip flop or embraced Clinton's approach. It's a success of his policy.

The announcement came after North Korea handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear work to Chinese officials on Thursday, fulfilling a key step in the denuclearization process. Bush said the move was "a step closer in the right direction"

[HAL 9000 96]

(conservatives may skewer me for this but...)

How about Cuba--against which US has an embargo?

(an embargo rather easy to circumvent by the simple approach of travelling to Canada and brasening the Cuban stuff through the PFI when returning)

Too close to some memories of the Cold War.

It is hilarious though, that there is one possible thing that could lead to the end of Cuban Communism- a lifting of the embargo... so in a way this Bloqueo is nothing more than a way of Washington supporting the Castro regime.

If it was a case of human rights or democracy or anything like that then on an equal scale you'd have Made in China pretty much nowhere in the USA.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It looks like Bush's strategy worked.

Was that 180 he pulled part of that strategery?

[GaryC 7]

It looks like Bush's strategy worked.

Was that 180 he pulled part of that strategery?

Lets see, Bush said they need to declare their nuclear programs. To try and force them he put sanctions on them. Korea declared their programs, Bush took the sanctions off. What part of that don't you understand? Success must be to hard of a concept for you to understand.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It looks like Bush's strategy worked.

Was that 180 he pulled part of that strategery?

Lets see, Bush said they need to declare their nuclear programs. To try and force them he put sanctions on them. Korea declared their programs, Bush took the sanctions off. What part of that don't you understand? Success must be to hard of a concept for you to understand.

Korea came around after they were engaged which Bush said he wouldn't do but then ended up doing anyway. That's a 180. Engaging them was successful, Bush's strategery was not. Are the realities that hard to acknowledge?

Edited June 27, 2008 by Mr. Big Dog

[GaryC 7]

It looks like Bush's strategy worked.

Was that 180 he pulled part of that strategery?

Lets see, Bush said they need to declare their nuclear programs. To try and force them he put sanctions on them. Korea declared their programs, Bush took the sanctions off. What part of that don't you understand? Success must be to hard of a concept for you to understand.

Korea came around after they were engaged which Bush said he wouldn't do but then ended up doing anyway. That's a 180. Engaging them was successful, Bush's strategery was not. Are the realities that hard to acknowledge?

You can try and spin it any way you want but the facts are the facts. Bush's sanctions worked and when they did he lifted them. No 180, just success.

I am sure you will continue to think otherwise but that just proves you:

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ohhhh, Gary...

McCain Breaks with Bush Over North Korea

By Glenn Kessler

Sen. John McCain broke today with President Bush's new policy on North Korea, co-authoring an opinion article with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in which he called for a return to Bush's original demand of a complete, verifiable, irreversible disarmament of North Korea's nuclear programs.

With the prodding of secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush -- who once labeled North Korea part of an "axis of evil" -- has greatly softened his position on North Korea in the past year in an effort to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. But the shifts have greatly angered conservatives in the Republican Party. McCain's new stance, which is outlined in an opinion article in Tuesday's editions of the Asian Wall Street Journal, calls for a return to sanctions and other levers to prod North Korea.

The administration has argued that the diplomatic engagement -- led by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill -- has convinced North Korea to begin dismantling its facilities and turn over 18,000 documents on its reactor at Yongbyon. But conservatives say those achievements have come only after large concessions by Bush, including returning millions of dollars tainted by illicit activities, and that a tougher approach is still needed.

The Bush administration has also relented in its demand for a full accounting of North Korea's assistance to a reactor in Syria and its suspected experimentation of uranium enrichment, keeping the focus on seeking the return of weapons-grade plutonium.

"We must use the leverage available from the U.N. Security Council resolution passed after Pyongyang's 2006 nuclear test to ensure the full and complete declaration, disablement and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear facilities, in a verifiable manner, which we agreed to with the other members of the six-party talks." McCain and Lieberman write. The Bush administration essentially abandoned enforcement of the U.N. Resolution when early in 2007 it decided to negotiate an end to the impasse.

The article also suggests that the Bush administration has abandoned the traditional alliance with Japan in pursuit of a deal. "We must never squander the trust of our allies and the respect for our highest office by promising that the president will embark on an open-ended, unconditional personal negotiation with a dictator responsible for running an international criminal enterprise, a cover nuclear weapons program and a massive system of gulags," the two senators said.

The language concerning North Korea in the article -- which overall sketches out a vision for engagement with Asia -- is remarkably similar to President Bush's first-term rhetoric, which the White House has largely dropped in recent months.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2...ush_over_n.html

[almaty 19]

mccain knows bush is a lame duck do nothing unpopular chopf##k..and his friend

[eric&gen 0]

Bush is a chit head.