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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Foreign policy conservatives in administration appalled by NORK deal |
| 2007-02-24 |
| From Geostragegy Direct, subscription. The tentative agreement reached with North Korea to freeze Pyongyang’s nuclear program has exposed divisions within the Bush administration over concessions made to the communist regime. John Bolton, former State Department arms control official and U.S. ambassador to the UN, led the opposition to the agreement calling it a bad deal that undermines efforts to press Iran on its nuclear program. We heard Bolton's objections last week. Deputy National Security adviser Elliott Abrams, a well-known neoconservative, also opposed the deal, stating in an email that it was rewarding Pyongyang prematurely by agreeing to remove the government from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Other senior administration officials who are conservatives oppose the deal, especially the concession of agreeing to lift Treasury Department sanctions on North Korea’s key banking outlet, the Macao-based Banco Delta Asia. The money laundering bank. And what about the issue of high-class counterfeiting that has been providing foreign exchange for the NORKS? By agreeing to distinguish between illicit and “licit” funds in the North Korean accounts, the Bush administration has severely gutted a major tool that had severely curbed North Korean illegal financial activities, they argue. "It's all licit, no illicit funds here, no way!!!" “We have lost the most important lever we had on North Korea,” said one official of the banking concession. Another main reason conservatives oppose the deal is because it rewards one of the worst violators of human rights in history, according to several officials. Standing up for principles, unusual with the State Department, heh. The deal was brokered by Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill through Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Just like the bang-up job recently in dealing with the Paleostinians, oh Lawd. Conservatives in the Pentagon and State Department, including outgoing Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Robert Joseph, were excluded from the final negotiations. Also, officials in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney were kept out of the loop on the negotiations. "Sorry, boys, we're doing it Our Way™." Asked about the divisions, White House Press Spokesman Tony Snow confirmed that Abrams had questioned the U.S. plan to “delist” North Korea as a terrorist state since it undermines U.S. credibility. “This was not a political accommodation; this is not a political deal,” Snow said. “They're not going to get it without having performed precisely the kinds of activities, whether it be in terms of nuclear arms and proliferation, or also conventional weapons and sales.” We are showing weakness in this whole thing. It will come back to bite us, again. North Korea will not be taken off the terrorist list until “they've done what everybody else would have to do, for instance in the case of Libya,” Snow said. The most serious deficiency identified by conservatives is that the deal does not address the one element that triggered the entire six-part process: North Korea’s hidden uranium enrichment program. That should be part of the oil giveaway program. Jeeze Louise!!! Under the agreement, North Korea does not even have to discuss its nuclear weapons programs in the initial phase. So, according to this article, Kimmie's a$$ gets saved by his enemy, namely the US. Between this weak stance and the dems attacking our effort in Iraq, we are in serious trouble. |
| Posted by:Al Aska Paul, Resident Imam |
| #4 This agreement is looking better, but not as good as the one I made. |
| Posted by: Jimmeh Cahtah 2007-02-24 07:07 |
| #3 At the moment it sure looks like we went pussy wrt to North Korea. I hope there is more to the story and fear that there isn't Sadly I have to agree. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2007-02-24 05:53 |
| #2 At the moment it sure looks like we went pussy wrt to North Korea. I hope there is more to the story and fear that there isn't |
| Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2007-02-24 01:20 |
| #1 KRAUTHAMMER + FOX BOYS > are in rough consensus that NK must officially declare ANY AND ALL nuke efforts. FREEREPUBLIC/WORLDNEWS/OTHER > ditto + do so in 60 days lest be subject to potentially harsh UNSC Resolutions. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-02-24 00:27 |