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Senate Dems Want Bush to Look at N. Korea
WASHINGTON (AP) - The threat from North Koreaâs nuclear weapons program has reached a crisis stage and President Bush should become personally involved to ensure a coherent response, three top Senate Democrats said in a letter to the president Friday. "Given the stakes involved and the fact that time is not on our side, we believe this issue deserves your personal and immediate attention," wrote Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, Carl Levin of Michigan and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia.I think the surprise meter twitched briefly -- are these guys arguing for [gasp!] unilateral actionâ¢? The senators wrote that the United States "urgently needs an effective strategy for dealing with the threat posed by North Koreaâs growing stockpile of nuclear weapons." But they said U.S. negotiators "have been lacking the clear guidance and flexibility necessary for successful negotiations." The good senators, of course, have been missing the point of our negotiations, but donât let that stop you, boys. The United States has been trying to arrange a six-nation conference, also involving China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, on North Koreaâs nuclear program. A first round of the talks, in Beijing last August, ended without progress. Definite progress was in fact made when the NKors dissed the hosts and the hosts got pissed. North Korea wants to trade its nuclear weapons for economic aid and security assurances. The United States says North Korea should dismantle its nuclear weapons first, as a condition for getting aid. Seeing as they lied to us last time. The senators also asked Bush to direct his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to brief the Senate on statements by a senior administration official, appearing in a New York Times article, that North Korea has used the past year, after expelling international inspectors, to produce additional nuclear weapons and weapons material. Outstanding command of the obvious. Levin is top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and Rockefeller is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Thanks boys, nice hearing from you. Posted by: Steve White 2003-12-20 |
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